Link=IS427 cities wiki: 2013T1 Munich PostTrip

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Munich Post Trip

Cultural Experience

Munich, the capital city of Bavaria, was simply captivating and enchanting with its rich history and culture. Its ability to stay at the forefront of technological developments and maintain its cultural heritage is truly inspiring and admirable. It was true for most of us that Munich brought to most people’s mind the picture of happy jolly beer guzzling people. In our trip, we could see drinking beer at whatever place we can think of. They are indeed hospitable and enjoy gathering friends and guests, especially foreigners like us, for a good meal – their hospitality was top-notch, and the Bavarian traditional fare is to die for. Renowned for its tasty fare and generous portions, the Bavarian traditional fare comes in family-style dishes. From our observation, the people in Munich are brisk and efficient and they take punctuality very seriously. Through meals and normal interactions with the Bavarians, it is evident that they are very proud of their heritage.

Cultural Trail and City Tour

It might be down to the clear blue skies or simply the city's beauty (the cold weather was unbearable for some of us though!), and one may argue that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but one has to admit it, the monuments, buildings and churches in the Munich city center are undoubtedly one of the most beautiful architectural buildings we had seen in the trip. The town hall glockenspiel is as much part of Munich's identity as the Hofbräuhaus beer hall or the two clocks of the Church of St. Peter that can be seen for miles around. Though time was short, browsing through the stalls of the Farmer's Market (Viktualienmarkt) was a feast for all the senses - there were too many things to see!

Hofbrauhaus: In a city where beer flows more visibly than the River Isar, the name "Hofbräuhaus" runs second only to Oktoberfest as a tourist icon. But Munich's most celebrated beer hall is not just a destination for visitors: According to the Hofbräuhaus management, about half of of the customers are regulars, the luckiest of whom keep their personal mugs padlocked in storage cages on the main floor. Tables reserved for regular guests.

Feldherrnhalle (Monumental Loggia): The Feldherrenhalle whose architecture was modeled on the "Loggia dei Lanzi" in Florence, was commissioned by King Ludwig I of Bavaria from 1841 to 1844 according to plans by Friedrich von Gärtner. With the construction erected a monument for Louis the Bavarian army and its victorious generals. The bronze statues of Count Tilly and Prince Wrede were cast after a design by Ludwig von Schwanthalerstraße from melted cannons. The "Army Monument" in the middle of the hall was added in 1892 by Prince Regent Luitpold. This monumental bronze group by Ferdinand von Miller the Younger reminiscent of the Franco-German War of 1870 / 71st The marble lions flanking the staircase William Ruemann created in 1905. It is said that one is growling at the Residenz and the other is keeping its mouth shut towards the church.

Theatinerkirche: It is a Catholic church built from 1663 to 1690. During the Second World War, particularly in the years 1944/45, the church was bombed, and the west wing of the monastery was destroyed. Since then, the building was restored, and still remained the pride of the people of Munich.

Church of St. Peter: Oddity of two clocks on each side of the tower.

National Theatre München (Home of the Bavarian State Opera & Ballet): The National Theatre Munich (German: Nationaltheater München) is an opera house in Max-Joseph-Platz in Munich, Germany. It is the home of the Bavarian State Opera and the Bavarian State Ballet (Bayerisches Staatsballett).

Farmer’s Market: A farmers' market (also farmers market) is a physical retail market featuring foods sold directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets typically consist of booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, where farmers sell fruits, vegetables, meats, and sometimes prepared foods and beverages. Pig’s brain and pig’s blood, which has since stopped being sold in Singapore in However, live animals are not sold there. Ban of pigs blood in Singapore in 1999, due to the nipah virus and that the pigs blood was scooped up from the drains, so it was deemed as unhygenic.

Neues Rathaus (New Townhall): It was built between 1867 and 1908 by Georg von Hauberrisser in a Gothic Revival architecture style. The bay of the tower contains statues of the first four Bavarian kings.

Entrepreneurship/Technopreneurship Ecosystem

In Munich, we saw evidently how there were positive results of collaborations with academic institutions (namely with The Munich Business School), and how they had and still continue to have, a strong role to play in the building of a vibrant entrepreneurship/technopreneurship scene and or ecosystem locally. As another case in point, the students from the Munich Business School organize the Munich Venture Summit every year (since its inception in 2009, and was held on 12 April in 2013 at the Wayra Academy). As a side point to note, Prof. Marc addressed the attendees at the opening of the summit. The Munich Venture Summit focuses on the meeting of talented individuals, discussions surrounding cutting edge topics, development of ideas for construction and presentation to top investors, and to make headway for collaboration opportunities.

We also discovered insights about how Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are involved in the local Entrepreneurship/Technopreneurship Scene and or Ecosystem. This was largely through Incubators/Accelerators (E.g. for Siemens, their Siemens Technology Accelerator, also known as STA). Looking at Siemens as a case study, we see how they feel that this is a rich and relevant area to park investment dollars in - with willingness to spend over 5 billion euros on research and development alone, as it aids their long-term strategic interests and pursuits. This comes in the form of innovating non-core Siemens technologies into their business to either enhance their product lines, realize opportunities for development or even explore alternative revenue streams. This poses as an option and or opportunity for individuals and teams with strong technologies or innovations to bring to market. However, catching the eye of bigwigs such as Siemens is not without its own share of risks (the hard truth that they may look to kill the advancement to protect their interests), and bringing something of strong potential to market takes a considerable amount of time (e.g. through spin-offs) given the hierarchical nature of the organization and levels of red tape.

It was interesting to see as well how some other accelerators like Wayra has done a lot in helping and encouraging the development and growth of startups. The diversity pool was highly interesting to note (various country origins, team mixes, across different industries and target markets). Looking at the "support structures" need in its entirety was also enlightening - from the sponsoring of office space, facilitating of funding opportunities, mentoring and organizing of networking events not only to aid singular entities, but to foster collaborations on a larger scale. It was also interesting to note the wealth of options and paths available to startup companies that grow to a certain level and exhibited their potential, and to hear of the case studies and "life cycles".

A personal story: The interaction opportunities were great - and we saw how the ecosystem in Munich creates a good platform for entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams (and inspirational aspect for sure). We had the opportunity to find out more about AN TRAN and his backstory. AN TRAN is the co-founder and CTO of Cleverlize - one of the startups at Wayra. He is Vietnamese and has stayed in Munich for 7 years. Before coming to Munich, he had "typical" aspirations of wanting to work in a big firm as an engineering researcher. Exposure to Munich's strong entrepreneurship atmosphere however changed him, and he was inspired to make the switch from his engineering to that of delving into IT. His thirst and passion for entrepreneurship and to "do his own thing" surfaced and he took a leap of faith - self-learning programing skills from YouTube for two years before becoming an IT technician, and consequently staying in Munich to make headway with Cleverlize.

Investment Scene

We had several opportunities to find out more about Venture Capitalists (E.g. Target Partners), and were also interested to note as a learning point if there were any distinct characteristics or notables that would be specific to Munich/Germany/Europe (as relevant) as compared to Asia and or Singapore. What we found significant was how they (Target Partners) were interested only in specific types of prospects and had highly selective areas of interest. For example, Target Partners relayed to us clearly how they were not interested at all in your typical photocopy company - e.g another social media application or platform (which would otherwise stand no chance of any discussions/funding opportunities with them). Also, their practicality in approach and strictness (in terms of investment selection) on how much ROI they expect was a further poignant point to take note of. In addition, we could see how selection and or interest had strategic origins and specific criteria - referencing the point of Target Partners being largely involved in investments and initiatives affiliated with Germany (german founders, companies with business interests in germany), and how they target mainly series A & B.

In the area of Multinational Companies and their presence in the investment scene, our exposure to STA-Siemens (who boost an impressive 5 billion in investment dollars with interest in 4 sectors- Industry , Energy , Healthcare and Infrastructure & Cities) also resulted in several learning points. It was interesting to note how they used the option of an accelerator to fuel creation & innovation (non-core) in their organization, and to support their core business. The eye they had on destructive technologies also paved some insight to the management of risks for a company such as their - through the use of STA as a window to identify potential threats and possibly take action on it. As how we realize early on that MNCs have trouble being nimble and responding to market needs and changes, this presented itself as a viable avenue to balance understanding the competition in the market and making an opportunity to enhance existing in-house offerings. In terms of the options and opportunities it brings to the surface for Siemens, having an accelerator appears to be a clear investment need - which once again presents itself as an opportunity for funding, for entrepreneur/technopreneur hopefuls.

Looking at the role of disruptive technologies - we see how a sizable interest in them is exhibited across the board (e.g. from Fraunhofer Venture to Wayra, Target Partners and Siemens). Though the interest can take root as a result of different motives, the appreciation for the intrinsic value and potential was strongly evident.

Business Experiences & Final Takeaways

• Attitudes towards foreign expansion plans

- These said attitudes differed across industries, and were highly dependent on their resources, development and progress roadmap
- The accessibility to networks, connections, support from home governments was a huge topic of interest and even a decision maker/breaker (Experience at Wayra, Flixbus)

• Local, Regional, International plans

- Constantly adopted a comparative view of home market potential versus that of the new/potential market (Experience at Flixbus, Veact)
- Evaluation of market size (Local, accessibility of Europe, which is a huge market, as compared to having to "jump" all the way to Asia where their connections, networks and outreach is at times severely limited)

• Long-term strategies

- Need leeway, time and resources to respond to market changes
- Reacting and staying ahead of the competition requires constant attention and searching of new opportunities
- Seldom the case that they would "pack up" in the home market and take their business elsewhere entirely (strong ties to the local market and they value their own insight and expertise)

• Collaboration opportunities

- Vertical and horizontal (e.g. Veact)

• Approaches for aspiring entrepreneurs & technopreneurs

- Need to know your potential pool of investors well and do your research - who will be interested in you and who won't - prioritize and do your research to maximize efforts
- Know your options and risks (e.g. being "adopted" into STA - how likely is a successful spin-off or do you risk being "killed")