How I Got the Opportunity to Go To China

My experience in TIE2 Program

After participating in the Tech Challenge with our safewAI app, I and my team members became aware of all the great opportunities that UnternehmerTUM offers to startups, or even to us, who wanted to found a startup. UnternehmerTUM is the biggest innovation and entrepreneurship center in Europe, so no surprise they offer great programs. One of these programs that we as a team came across was the TIE2(THU-TUM) International Lab. TIE2 offers two exchange periods, one in China, Beijing, and the other one in Munich, Germany. During these exchanges, 16 startups (8 from China and 8 from Germany) experience the similarities and differences between the German and Chinese market conditions and startup cultures. It sounds cool, doesn’t it? That’s what we thought, and so we applied.

Only 2 members of the team have the chance to participate in the TI2. In our case, it was me and Lysander. I really could not believe it when we got accepted. We were going to China! Can you believe it? That was like one of my dreams finally coming too (Yes, I always dreamed of climbing the great wall of China). So here we were, me and Lysander preparing everything about this experience. It would all start with 8 startups from Germany going to Beijing to meet there the 8 startups from China, work with them, meet investors, and coaches, and learn about the Chinese market. And the cool thing about this is that we didn’t have to pay for either the flight or the hotel.

Luckily for me, Lysander had been to China for an exchange before, and not only did he know how to navigate, but he also could speak some Chinese, so there was no chance we could get lost. Once we arrived in Beijing, we had a campus tour at Tsinghua University, met our fellow Chinese colleagues, and went on to play an ice-breaking game that they had prepared for us. We had to take pictures of specific places with as many people as possible in them. After that, we enjoyed some Chinese food, which to my surprise, I loved it!

The next day we had the opportunity to watch the Final Competition of 2019 Tsinghua University President’s Innovation Challenge, where a startup from Germany also won a prize.

And before starting off our busy week, our Chinese friends had prepared a visit to the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. How awesome is that?

We spent the week at the Tsinghua x-lab where all 16 startups pitched their ideas and prototypes and worked together. We had the chance to visit many companies in China such as Zhen Robotics, Plug and Play China, and BOE company. We also had workshops on how to do business in China. I found it really interesting some differences we have when it comes to business. For example in China, you cannot complain directly to your manager or speak openly about something you don’t like, you should always be careful. This also means that business in China is very hierarchical. Also, age was really important there. Managers were usually in their 50s because the age meant they had more experience. What I found interesting was also the way they pitched. If the startups in Germany would use mostly pictures and one or a few words in their slides, in China they used paragraphs, which for me personally was a bit hard to follow, but apparently, that’s how pitching works there. During that week we had the chance to talk to mentors, coaches, and investors too in order to improve the projects we were working on. For those of us that wanted to expand in the Chinese market, this was a great opportunity. At the end of the week, both German and Chinese teams pitched their ideas and the progress they made during the week.

I felt really welcomed and was overwhelmed by the Chinese hospitality. They seemed to take care of every detail. Since I wanted to experience China a little bit more for myself, I also visited Shanghai and Nanjing afterward, but you can read more about them here.

After 3 months it was our time to host our Chinese friends in Germany, in Munich to be specific. They showed us the wonders of China, so we decided to show them the wonders of Bavaria before the intensive week would start. Neuschwanstein castle was one of the destinations where we went. Of course, we also introduced them to Bavarian food and beer, needless to say, our Chinese friends loved them.

Together we visited many start-ups in Munich like Building Radar, NavVis, fos4X, and the open innovation hub Wayra.

However, that was not all. During the week we had different workshops with many coaches and mentors such as Michael Ohr, Xin Chen, Thomas Strassner, Benjamin Rapp, Andrea Sanfilippo, and even visited the BMW factory.

After the final pitches and prizes, we had one more thing to show to our Chinese friends. You guessed it right: Oktoberfest! The best way to end this amazing experience.

I am so grateful to have had the chance to experience all this and to make friendships that last not only in Munich but also in China.

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