Next Folder: German bureau­cracy vs. young foun­ders? #DHDL

The two „Next Folder“ foun­ders were not the only ones, and by no means the youn­gest candi­dates on the show. And they also seam­lessly joined the ever-​growing number of extre­mely young foun­ders who received a lot of praise from the lions.

Their latest-​generation folder, which finally replaced the uncom­for­table metal rings inside with flexible plastic rings that are even supposed to be 100% sustain­ably assem­bled in perspec­tive, defi­ni­tely got a lot of praise. Ralf Dümmel directly remem­bered his school days and how often he had pinched his skin pain­fully in the snap­ping metal rings.

He praised the fact that the foun­ders solved their own problem by designing a folder in which you can write directly and where you don’t have to constantly unfold and refile the sheets. Although Carsten Masch­meyer is scep­tical about doing this anyway, the foun­ders confirm that they have exten­si­vely tested the folder, which is currently still produced in 3D prin­ting, and had also started a survey on it, which gave them good feed­back.

And although the foun­ders are well prepared and seem to have an answer for ever­y­thing, one lion after another gets out. Ever­yone attests that the two students of a sports high school have a good and self-​confident, but likeable appearance, but cannot neces­sa­rily get enthu­si­a­stic about the topic of school mate­rial or do not see them­selves as the right investor for it. Finally, there remains Ralf Dümmel, who somehow also seemed the most enthu­si­a­stic of all. And anyone who remem­bers the writing lear­ning booklet „Schreib­pilot“ at this point knows that he had already invested in lear­ning mate­rials and was quite successful with it. So not only does he have the right retail distri­bu­tion chan­nels, he has also already had good expe­ri­ence with how they can work for a start-​up.

But he still has one last ques­tion: whether the two of them have already founded a limited liabi­lity company. Yes, a UG, is the answer. A capital company, which inves­tors neces­sa­rily need in order to be able to invest, is there­fore already in place. However, with one restric­tion: since they were still minors at the time of the founda­tion, grandma Margit founded the company in her name, but now wants to sign over 50% to each of them again, i.e. hand over ever­y­thing without residue.

There is abso­lutely nothing wrong with such a thing if the investor can rely on ever­y­thing happe­ning as planned without any problems, which is to be expected in such a family constel­la­tion. And of course it’s also kind of sweet. But only on the surface, because what lies behind it is simply sad. Star­ting a busi­ness as a minor in Germany is very, very diffi­cult and bureau­cratic. In almost all cases, first the parents and then the family court have to agree after their appli­ca­tion. That can go well, but many cases have come to light in which the family court has made it incre­dibly diffi­cult for foun­ders and parents alike. It is certainly not clear to ever­yone that this is a burden on the courts, because things like conclu­ding a loan agree­ment are still reserved for minors anyway.

In an age of influ­en­cers, of digital busi­ness models, in which you don’t need anything more than a credit card and a reason­ably fast internet connec­tion to become an entre­pre­neur – ok, that’s still not a matter of course in Germany, as we know – you would think that things would be made a little easier for the next gene­ra­tion. But far from it. Don’t we want young people to stand on their own two feet econo­mic­ally earlier?

In the case of the Next-​Folder foun­ders, it is appar­ently okay for a young man to repre­sent our country as an athlete at the Youth Olympic Games and the European Youth Cham­pi­onships and win medals there. But we don’t trust the same, obviously highly disci­plined young person, who even deve­lops start-​up ideas on the side and does the rele­vant market rese­arch, enough to let him do entre­pre­neu­rial work? Or are we afraid that the youth will solve their own problems – as happened in the Next Folder case – and outstrip our old-​established compa­nies? Do we also prefer to see the next gene­ra­tion in the corpo­rate hamster wheel rather than in a self-​determined life?

In the case of these foun­ders, the family was comple­tely behind them, trus­ting them more than society and the state appar­ently did. But what happens when young foun­ders are denied the approval of their parents for a start-​up project? If there is no Grandma Margit to register the busi­ness in her own name, but other­wise has full confi­dence in her grand­children? Then the dream of setting up a busi­ness is over until the age of majo­rity. Just like that, not because you didn’t have a good idea, not because you didn’t have enough moti­va­tion or the wrong approach, but simply because you were born into the „wrong“ family. And no, just waiting is rarely an option in our fast-​paced times. It’s easy to imagine that parents with a high affi­nity for secu­rity and perhaps more educa­tio­nally distant, less enligh­tened parents are more likely to forbid their children to take this step than well-​situated acade­mics. This then drives the gap even wider than it already is. Is this something deli­be­rate?

Mode­rator Amiaz was abso­lutely right that such young foun­ders are an abso­lute role model and an inspi­ra­tion for other young people. Let’s hope that at some point German bureau­cracy will finally stop putting obsta­cles in their way.

Ralf Dümmel, at any rate, has exactly the oppo­site in mind with his latest invest­ment.

Photo (above):  TVNOW / Bernd-​Michael Maurer