Richard Branson, four out of five lions and a winner in the pitch competition: that was the second day of Bits & Pretzels.
Bits & Pretzels Monday begins with top-class startups from Munich and Bavaria. BayStartUP, Bayern Kapital and BayBG invite you to ABC of Bavarian startupsTop startups pitch to the audience: Cevotec, eluminocity, Personio, Wearable Life Science, Fineway, NavVis, SimScale, Tickaroo, ViaLight Communications, the Global Savings Group (formerly Cuponation Group) and Konux.
Richard Branson's dazzling appearance
Exciting workshops and events fill the day. Following Kevin Spacey's performance on the first day of the festival, the second highlight follows after lunch: Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire and avowed philanthropist in conversation with the smart tech journalist Kara Swisher.
Branson is an eccentric in the truest sense of the word: extraordinary, inspired, and sometimes a bit confused. He often answers Swisher's questions only briefly, using them as an opportunity to talk about himself and his worldview. The experienced journalist nevertheless maintains constant control of the conversation. Interspersed film sequences showcase the social commitment of Branson's company, Virgin, its space program, and an upcoming film about Branson.
The entrepreneur promotes the existence of an entrepreneur, or more precisely: the life of an entrepreneur who strives to do good. Branson believes that a good entrepreneur must also be a good person. Entrepreneurship, after all, is all about improving people's lives. To lead people, you have to respect and motivate them. But Branson doesn't preach an ethic of self-sacrifice. The bon vivant is concerned with nothing less than simultaneously initiating good, developing visions, making a lot of money, and improving the world.
He praises the innovative power of private entrepreneurship over the perceived inertia of publicly managed organizations, but never tires of praising the results of progressive politics. He advocates for climate protection and calls not joining Ryan Air a business mistake. This sometimes seems a bit contradictory. But his strong presence makes everything fit together: It's fun to listen to Branson. And you know that, ultimately, he means well.
Lions leave their den
Following Branson, four of the five investors from the TV show "Die Höhle der Löwen" (The Lion's Den) will take the stage. Only Ralf Dümmel is unable to attend. Instead, his colleagues share their insider tips: Jochen Schweizer says that the edited film material reflects the real events quite well 80 percent of the time. Carsten Maschmeyer believes that boring, standard questions are the most common ones that fall victim to editing. Viewers also learn something unexpected: He and his wife Veronica Ferres are sometimes called "Veronicarsten." Judith Williams defends the investors that they sometimes let deals fall apart without reason. Frank Thelen is excited to be able to step out of the startup bubble with his role on the show and also learn something about soup.
Spottster wins trip to Necker Island
Throughout the day the Pitch competition Startups will compete against each other in six clusters. The grand finale will take place on the Main Stage in the late afternoon. Spotter from Hamburg convinced the high-caliber jury and won tickets to Richard Branson's dream island, Necker Island. Tomorrow, Munich startups will be in the running again. Mayor Josef Schmid will then award the 5,000 Euro prize for the first time. Munich Startup Award to a startup from the state capital.
