![XVIIth [IP]² Seminar: Dr. Hendrik Brandis (Earlybird Venture Capital), November 2013](/fileadmin/ipmpg/content/aktuelles/brandis.jpg "XVIIth [IP]² Seminar: Dr. Hendrik Brandis (Earlybird Venture Capital), November 2013")
The seventeenth [IP]² Seminar on November 22, 2013, had Dr. Brandis holding a presentation on "Adventure Startup - what makes the difference?" based on his extensive experience as a Venture Capital investor at Earlybird, which he founded in 1997, and his previous role as a partner at McKinsey. Speaking to an audience of researchers as well as current and future entrepeneurs, Dr. Brandis highlighted the aspects that matter for startups. Interestingly, inadequate technology is the cause of only a very small number of startup failures. Premature market entry is more important, but the vast majority of start-ups fail because of deficiencies in execution. A high energy level, good analytics and gut feeling have to be combined with complementary team composition. He sees vast opportunities for today's founders coupled with reduced risk - the cost of founding an internet company has declined sharply with the emergence of open source solutions and cloud based computing. IP protection only matters for some sectors such as biotech, while customer lock-in is much more crucial. Dr. Brandis currently sees a supply gap in Venture Capital, calling also for more public financing of startup companies in Germany.
[IP]²