Day 6 Munich. On the schedule was Deloitte, Target Partners, and a German venture capital firm. Finding Deloitte turned out to be one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced so far due to our lack of experience in navigating the underground station.
When we finally arrived at Deloitte, Dr. Alexander Boersch walked us through the most intricate explanation of Brexit any of us have heard, going into detail about each step of the process of a Brexit and the potential impacts of each exit case - exit with a deal, hard exit with no deal, and no exit. Our next presenter, Dr. Florian Klein, walked us through how the Centre for the Long View uses AI to scour databases for information and connect relevant information to form a vast in-depth idea map. Deloitte Digital Ventures offered a different perspective on how tech innovation occurs. They combined the startup culture and ideology to innovate products for larger corporate clients, all within the walls of Deloitte.
After a small lunch, there was still over an hour until our next meeting. What was there to do? Ride a giant Ferris wheel next to the Deloitte office of course! We were able to go up for a brilliant view and photo opportunities, while some of us stayed on the ground.
In the afternoon, we went Dragon hunting at Target Partners with Kurt Muller. Similar to the idea of “unicorn”, the billion-dollar startup, a Dragon is a startup that returns the entire value of a Venture Fund. This meeting was a great experience for us to learn just how successful the combination of technology and finance can be when leveraged in venture capital. It was also a great opportunity for the members of SAF’s Student Venture Fund to learn firsthand how a successful VC firm is run. A great takeaway from this meeting was the positive outlook on the German startup culture, just behind China and the USA, but still having an international impact.
We ended the day with a highlight for our Bavarian journey, a traditional dinner experience at the historic Hofbrauhaus in central Munich. Everything you order is essentially larger than your head, from the pretzels to the beer steins to the pork knuckle!
We also got the opportunity to talk to several members of the BMW and BDO teams prior to our meetings with them, mostly yelling at the top of our lungs over the buzz of a thousand beer hall patrons, German men wearing lederhosen, and the live Oompah band that played for four straight hours. A once in a lifetime opportunity, we were exhausted and turned in for an early start tomorrow.
Learn more about SAF International Study Trip