lessons from Business Meetings
The most surprising thing I learned from the meetings was the kind of ideas that these entrepreneurs had in other countries. I thought that every idea was unique and I questioned why I had not thought of the business idea in the past. I truly learned about entrepreneurship and how numerous startup companies have grown throughout the years into successful companies. I noticed that in the Italian startups, the incubator was aware that the U.S. has many more startup companies than Italy. They made it seems as if it was easier to begin a startup in the United States than in other countries. In Germany, the startup companies explained that the United States has a fast growing market such as Stylight's insight about the fashion industry in the United States. They explained that they are attempting to expand the company as far as possible among European countries and begin developing in the United States lastly. I thought that Stylight waited to invest and expand their fashion-website idea until many aspects of it was figured out. Stylight explained that they created a website that was used for presentations, but was not fully functional.
Some special observations that I made about the business culture in general was the dress code. Every business that we visited, employees were dressed in a casual manner. The dress code seemed casual, not even business casual, amongst employees at businesses. Almost every entrepreneurship we visited was filled with young people ranging what seemed like mid 20's to early 30's. The businesses seemed informal except for a few companies such as BMW, Telecom Italia and MTZ Muenchen, which seemed more professional. Most businesses began by showing the class around the office, highlighting different departments and what kind of work they were currently doing. Stylight showed us around their entire office and explained the latest fashion trends included neon colors and sneakers. I felt that in the United States, businesses are more professional and hold a "serious" tone in the office that many of the startup companies in both Italy and Germany did not have. I think that starting a business in both countries seems similar to how a business might startup in the United States. Startup companies must start with an idea, build on the idea and present a business plan. I do think that in the United States, there is more competition amongst startup businesses because there is a larger number of U.S. citizens attempting to startup companies. Overall, I enjoyed my visits with all of the businesses in both Italy and Germany. I felt that I was able to see how an idea can grow into successful companies. I can only hope that some of the advice that the businesses shared with me, such as hiring friends/colleagues that you can trust and that will stay with you in the longrun, will help me one day when I decide to begin my own startup. Below are some photographs from some of the businesses we visited in both Italy and Germany. |