Entrepreneur Women find each other

Germany is not very entrepreneurial. The government is trying to nurture this trait but it really is not being successful. Why is it not successful? Yesterday, I asked Germans this questions... actually, I asked one German this questions but as an expatriate, I have made this person the spokesperson for all Germans (I know I am also German but I don't count)

This man works for a large company and has a very good position. According to Gene (not his real name) Germans are just interested in security. They want to know that they have money coming into their bank accounts and, that they will have a pension. Do you get this kind of security as an Entrepreneur? No. You have absolutely no security. So how do you get people whose prime motivation is security to start their own companies? You can't. You have to change the mindset. how do you do that?

Gene said that Germans are born with this mindset... but I am German. I was raised by a German. the main difference is that I was raised in the United States. Why does being raised in the United States make a difference? That answer is the job of sociologist to figure out but I know that this need for security is not a genetic thing. It is not something we have in our DNA. It is cultural. Changing this attitude is not going to be easy. It is not going to be quick, but it really needs to be done.


In addition to my daily polling of Germans. (why why why do you do that?) I met four expat business people for coffee. I knew two of the entrepreneurs and two are new faces. Sean Kendrick, Susan Byron (my German teacher), Cathy van Mastrigt-Hite (a communications, Marketing and PR expert), and Astrid Friedlin (designer of beautiful handbags)

Astrid was on her way to a show and had samples. Beautiful samples which made me want to be a purse collector. I have not bought a purse in four years so the idea of wanting to buy one tells you something. They are beautiful and unique. The price is affordable for unique bags. In fact, the designs are just so beautiful that you could think of them as art pieces... an investment in art... not just something to carry your mobile and keys. Goodness, I sound like I am trying to convince myself that I need a new handbag.

Why is this group forming. We did not plan to start meeting but this is now our second coffee clutch. Sean and Susan are taking turns organizing the get together and it is a high energy group. All entrepreneurs are high energy and full of ideas... so a few hours having coffee is actually very valuable. Not only do I get to talk about podcasting (my current addiction) but I get to hear the struggles that other companies are facing. Seeing other companies growing gives me an added push... shows me that yes, having a start up in Germany is possible.

Why is that important? It is important because an entrepreneur can struggle for years (6 years like a recent acquaintance from Bremen), an entrepreneur can feel lonely when entering an underdeveloped market (my venture), and an entrepreneur hears No so many times that it is good to be around people who wil say Yes, that is an awesome idea. Not only Yes, but this is what I think will help you.

This group will never tell me to get a regular job. They know what it is like to want to bring an idea to reality. What it is like to dream something and than bring it to life.

One little note about podcasting... I know, I will talk about this alot in the next few weeks. My audio link from itunes is now one of the top 15 downloads for the genre group. That is up from yesterday's 75th place. This was possible because Dr. Kern upgraded my Mac account so that it could handle the traffic... Aren't investors wonderful. I think you deserve an extra percentage point for this one.