Start-up Event: From Science to Entrepreneurship

On 10 September PROXIDRUGS had the pleasure of bringing together early-career researchers for an inspiring start-up event at FUTURY in Frankfurt.

Under the title “From Scientific Innovation to Entrepreneurship: A Goethe University Start-up Story”, PROXIDRUGS member Manuel Kaulich shared his perspective as a scientist and founder, offering open and valuable insights into what it means to translate a scientific idea into a company.

Manuel described himself as “pathologically enthusiastic about science” and this enthusiasm was clearly reflected in the way he spoke about turning scientific ideas into entrepreneurial action. He spoke about his situation of wearing “two hats” by being a professor at Goethe University and CEO at Vivlion, the company he cofounded in 2017, and reflected on the challenges and opportunities that come with building a start-up from science.

The conversation touched on many aspects that are highly relevant for early-career researchers considering entrepreneurship: building the right team, balancing scientific depth with the need to become a “salesperson” for an idea, finding lab space, navigating financing and contracts, and dealing with the lack of established blueprints for many of these steps.

A key message from the evening: founding a company requires hard work, smart work, resilience, support and sometimes also a bit of luck.

Thank you to Manuel, for the open insights and engaging discussion. We are also grateful to FUTURY for welcoming us as part of their summer party and creating the space for this exchange.