The end of September is the most colorful time for Munich. Every September, the city is filled with tourists wanting a taste of the famous Oktoberfest and entrepreneurs worldwide, all wearing Lederhosen, Dirndls, and traditional Bavarian jackets.
Bits and Pretzels, the German networking-heavy entrepreneurship conference, has continued since 2016 with the motto “the event from founders to founders,” bringing celebrities such as Jessica Alba, Barrack Obama, and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Bavarian Capital to inspire and be inspired.
As usual, this year’s event had an exciting lineup of speeches, covering topics such as “how to cure loneliness,” “personal branding,” and entrepreneurial success stories. The highlight guest was Michelle Obama.
For participants, it is more common to spend the day networking and scanning QR codes rather than sitting in the conference room; however, we gathered some highlights for our readers. There it goes:
- This year, many sessions were dedicated to Germany’s role as a start-up nation. Although we are not there yet, the ambitions seem high for state and nationwide institutions. Many start-up and research initiatives, including EXIST and de:hub, were introduced.
- The exhibitors presented different solutions, from skincare to LegalTech.
- One of the most interesting booths was the German AI booth, exhibiting Navel, the social robot.
Navel has unique social capabilities and offers a new user experience through deep tech and innovative interaction design. The creators urge the counterparts of Navel not to worry about how Navel must be “operated” as “Navel communicates in a completely natural way.”
I also tried my luck with Navel and had a smoother conversation compared than some business meetings I had that day. When asked about what AI is, Navel answered: “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer or a robot to respond and act like a human being. In other words, AI is when a machine can learn and process data in similar ways to how humans think, learn, reason, plan and solve problems.”
Later, during our conversation, Navel claimed that AI can solve complex human issues. However, it didn’t specify which exact complex issues can be solved.
Navel is currently used as
- a research robot, navel enables research into new methods in social human-robot interaction.
- a service robot, e.g., in retail, navel arouses sympathy and at the same time offers helpful information and services, and
- a care robot, navel autonomously activates people in need of care, increases their well-being, and relieves caregivers.
According to Claude, the mastermind behind Navel, the AI prototypes are used for research purposes and are being produced to be distributed to universities and retirement homes. These robots help with the socialization sensation, giving pensioners a feeling of connection. Excellent use case, in my humble opinion, as loneliness is becoming more of an issue in today’s society.
- Judith Williams and Frank Thelen’s panel was one of the most crowded sessions of the event. Following a talk about the challenges of being a celebrity and having a strong personal brand, the famous investors gave valuable tips to (future and current) entrepreneurs.
The famous duo warned entrepreneurs about the hardships of entrepreneurship. “Startups are tough, and some people are not ready to go all in,” said Thelen, adding, “Get ready to work on the weekend and skip vacations the first years.”
According to Thelen, there is no one successful that didn’t “go all in.”
During her talk, Judith Williams stressed that the talk of “passion” is overrated. “When entrepreneurs discover and work according to their talents, passion is doomed to follow.”
For Judith, a founder’s personality is the most significant factor when selecting the companies to invest in. “(All startups) start as two or three-man shows, so obviously their personality is something we pay lots of attention to see if they can deliver their promises,” stated Judith, adding that startups are all about “people empowerment.” Accordingly, a combination of the right founders, investors, brand, market, and a favorable topic form the dream team.
Next, Williams and Thelen advised new investors. “I don’t like McKinsey alum investors,” revealed Frank, adding that investors need to be founders and be in the “machine room” before switching to investor positions.
“Don’t invest in things you don’t really understand, ” said Judith. “Don’t invest in FOMO.”
Accordingly, venture capital is one of the WORST-performing asset classes in the world. You have to understand the game before playing it.
“Founding is easy; creating nonstop, growing, and maintaining is hard. Challenge yourself to see if you are ready.”
- The LegalTech Panel, including Stefan Blenk, Lilian Breidenbach, Jorn Vanysacker, and Friederike Wilde Detmering, dived into the role of lawyers in the future of legal services. Accordingly, LegalTech is here to stay. Lawyers will also be a part of the future as long as they adapt to the changes.
The panelists mentioned that the adaptation of new technologies for lawyers has never been faster as the job is changing, and “some lawyers already started thinking in technical terms.”
Security, accuracy, and control/audit mechanisms were mentioned as the fundamental topics to look into when building services for the legal industry. The panelists noted that VCs are already flooding the LegalTech space, and many applications are coming from non-lawyers.
There will likely be fewer lawyers in the legal space in the future. Like other industries, legal services will also go through a much-needed transition, and the best way to keep up is to move along with the changes.
Following two days of panels and networking, the event adopted the Oktoberfest spirit on the third day as mandated by tradition. Here are some impressions from the three-day festival:
