It’s like a hackathon with NBA all star players of the Munich startup ecosystem.
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All participants have been selected because they have previously been educated in entrepreneurship and built startup MVPs themselves. THE POOL is a pressure cooking event with participants needing to find a team, ideating and validating a business idea, and building a prototype - on their own. Of course, we help with whatever you need if you ask for it. But it is up to you how far you can take it.

Yes and no.

Yes, we would love to see you build B2B software using Machine Learning (ML). But no, we do not force you to work anything. Follow your heart, passion and intuition.

First and foremost you focus on building an interdisciplinary team of rockstars that you love to continue working with.

Yes. Keep in mind, every company will be an AI company. Every startup needs an AI strategy - not just for fundraising or press appeal. User expectations have changed.

Here are a few examples of personas that we have built THE POOL for.

Persona 1: You studied at the TUM Munich School of Engineering. In your Manage & More scholarship you have already tried and tested a few startup ideas. At the Digital Product School you learnt how to build user-centered software. Now, before finishing your master thesis, you have decided to go all in. Thus, you join THE POOL.

Persona 2: You are an alumni of LMU informatics. During your studies you focused on machine learning and participated in a few hackathons like TECHFEST and Start Hack. Since four years you have worked for a startup. Now you want to try to build your own startup.

Persona 3: You are a young professional based in Munich. You have always wanted to try building a startup and you are part of the Y combinator co-founder matching platform looking for a community of founders and a startup ecosystem. Now you have heard of THE POOL and you decided to take a week vacation for THE POOL.

Yes! THE POOL is made exactly for you. You will find like-minded co-founders to brainstorm, build and validate ideas at THE POOL.

You need to know and have applied the basics like Lean Startup, Design Thinking and Agile Software Development.

However, there are always a few exceptions to the rule. Please explain your situation in the application form. We will be in touch with you. We will still consider your application if you are a young professional with B2B insights into problems, or if your university doesn’t offer explicit entrepreneurship courses, like the HFF, or if you have successfully built an awesome tech or startup project in the past.

Otherwise, we would highly recommend the other entrepreneurship programs (see list of our friends) or have a first look into the
“AI and Responsible Entrepreneurship course”.

Yes. We go all in and expect you to do the same. We start at 09:00 and finish at 18:00. If you are not on time or absent without excuse, you will be dismissed from THE POOL.

THE POOL offers multiple batches with various dates and lengths so that we enable as many people as possible to participate in THE POOL:
A batch of THE POOL can have 5 days and take place from Monday to Friday afternoon.
Or a batch can have 3 days from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon

Yes. You can join us again and again until you find the right team, problem, and idea for your startup.

No, unfortunately not yet currently. We believe in the power of spontaneous interactions and ideation. Thus, we currently favour onsite participation, team building and team work. However, please join our newsletter. We encourage the teams to list what they need, such as more co-founders with specific skills like software engineering etc. That’s your chance to join a team with a initially validated idea, problem and MVP. Reach out to them and join these teams!

09:00 Daily Standup
12:00 Founder Lunch
18:00 Official end of the day

We do not give any lectures or workshops. However, we do want to inspire and challenge you. Just like Bits&Pretzels every table has a table captain. We offer 5 THE POOL participants to have (free) lunch with successful entrepreneurs/professionals. They often have a lot of other startup ideas. They know how to spot and validate your ideas and markets.
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11:00 Networking coffee between the mentors (no participants).
12:00 Founder Lunch of 5 THE POOL participants and 1 mentor per table.
13:00 The end (mentors are welcome to stay longer).

We invite the smartest and most inspiring people we know: Successful founders, VCs, Angels, MBB consultants as well as representatives of the MUNICH INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM.

You have 3 minutes to pitch. Ideally, you and your team show: 10 slide pitch deck or landing page, design prototype and/or functional MVP, a customer funnel and/or LoI’s. The Jury will consist of various players from the MUNICH INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM!

No problem. No hard feelings. But if you are still alone after day 2, or if you don’t have an interdisciplinary team (at least 1 business and 1 tech person), we might have to ask you to leave THE POOL and apply again for another batch. At THE POOL you need to build, test and iterate your startup idea. Thus, you need an interdisciplinary team.

No problem. Every member can continue the project after THE POOL - even in a different team setting. The projects are developed under open source licensing during THE POOL. Therefore we can ensure the the startup projects have a higher chance of continuing.

No worries! We don’t force anyone to be there. The opposite is true. Be curious, be on fire or don’t come at all. You can drop out of THE POOL at any day and time, if you don’t want to be there.
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If you learnt that the startup life is not your cup of tea, that is great! You will have tried and learnt a lot about yourself. The lessons you may have learnt and the people you have met will most likely have a great and positive impact on your life.

No. The program is free of charge. We do not take equity.

You. The teams, of course. However, our experience is that it is best for teams if the “IP” is open source because it allows all team members to continue with the idea - even if there are disputes over the direction after THE POOL.

Yes.

Yes. We have office space / group tables with whiteboards. For software prototyping we can offer cloud credits and access to a few software suits. For hardware prototyping we can even organise access to the MakerSpace. In any case: Please bring your own laptops.

There are many ways to continue and to get further support. At the Demo Day you could pitch to raise a small angel investment. However, we would recommend to apply for a follow up program like Xpreneurs, or the incubators of TUM, LMU, or SCE. Or you might decide to join Werk1 or the Gate in Garching. Whatever adds the most value to your venture! We glady provide you with information about all the possibilities here in Munich.

You. Are. Awesome. Great choice! Simple fill out the application survey. We are looking for: 1. Previous startup (educational) experience 2. Skills and gender diversity as well as a diversity in education and institutional background 3. We value doing more than anything else. If you have a track record of building awesome stuff, of hustling and selling, of inventing new things and bringing them to market, tell us about your projects and passions. 4. We try to enable as many people as possible to participate in The Pool. But we have only very limited capacity. Thus the more flexible you are with the dates, the more likely you are to get in.

If it doesn’t work straight away. Don’t worry, try again! In the meantime, join our newsletters, events in Munich's Innovation Ecosystem and Demo Days. And continue your entrepreneurial path! With hard work and a bit of luck, we will meet you soon at THE POOL. Also get personal referral from one of our supporters. If they call us to refer you, you will have a higher chance to get in.

Great. Thanks for asking. We would be happy to add you. However, we first need to get to know you and some alumni of your program. In order to provide the best experience, we need the best quality people. Please get in touch. We also need a dedicated supporter, an ambassador, a point of contact in both ways.

A supporter is basically an ambassador and a trusted source of high quality people. We want to add value to the community and startup ecosystem. In order to provide the best experience we need the best quality people.

Just apply. We will reach out to you. The best mentors are the ones who have successfully started a startup themselves.

We noticed that the best participants already participated and other programs and courses before, like Tomislav Tomov or Andreas Kunze. They told us that “You need the opportunity to try what it’s like to be a founder and you need practice. Therefore you need to try again and again.”
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THE POOL provides this opportunity to try again and again - each time with more startup experience and skills - in a different team setting. With THE POOL being open to all of Munich’s Innovation Ecosystem participating Universities and Entrepreneurship Centers, we can create a Pool of and for Munich's most promising talents.
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Together with you we hope to tackle and solve the biggest challenges of our time using latest technology.
*The Pool was originally an idea and brand conceived by Alexander Waldmann and Philip Schneider at UnternehmerTUM in 2018.

THE POOL refers to a pool of people. But also allows for some great story telling.