Vocational » Deskmag founder Carsten Foertsch interview about his experience with the red tape:
“Ass impact for companies from young industries!”

Carsten Foertsch studied political science, Sociology and geography in Berlin and made 2006 his diploma. He then worked as research assistant in an Institute of social science studies with a focus on city- and regional development, as well as labour market. Middle 2010 He founded with Joel alas Deskwanted, a search system for jobs and magazine Deskmag.

What are the biggest obstacles for business start-ups in German administrations?

A particular problem in German administrations and its private sub companies is the age of their employees, This is well above the average of the working population. Just in Berlin will young people be hardly set. Less than 2,5% of the people, You work in the Berlin, are 30 Years or younger.

What is the problem for founders?

Therefore increasingly people work in the public administrations and banks, You have hardly any current skills. Just ventures in new economic sectors of the creative industry have this difficulty. People working in the administrations know hardly out with new technologies.

A Study but shows, that in the administrations still for example. on social media applications!

The use of social media does not automatically guarantee a transfer of knowledge. Social media is, If sender and receiver each other go, the transmitter is therefore also to the recipient and vice versa. Only this interaction makes social social media.

And it will make sense only, If the results of such communications positively influence the work in the. I don't see that in most administrations so far. Usually it is only an additional single-directional channel. In addition, its use never replaced the personal contact with young colleagues, You are missing in the.

Also a question of money…

Often social media activities also increasingly like many other work carried out by contractors. This lowers the cost, brings together information. But ultimately it works like in the game the silent post, the message at the beginning is not the end, especially not, If the people in the administrations have not the knowledge, the knowledge of these commissions to evaluate properly. Since the best external commissions help them nothing.

The Berlin administration is an extreme case. The Senate faces an understandable problem with the debt reduction. By one of the conclusions, that her from moving, the virtually years hiring freeze Berlin administrations but get no fresh input on internal expertise and lose the connection since mid-90s to the economic, technical and educational innovations. This more in the daily mirror.

It does not promote so, what you do not know?

Exactly: Longer existing industries are well supported. In the example of creative is the difference between mode revealed, a millennia-old businesses and enterprises, their income solely on their knowledge in new economic activity related.

Mode is supported – see fashion week and bread & Butter. Maybe things, You have art or classic media to do, If they think at the Kunsthalle or now failed television broadcaster. Includes the newly planned national library. New utilization concepts, each track is missing. An old concept in new spaces.

Do have better ideas?

And. Why can people today, his own works on the library share, free of charge to loan and assess of the registered users? Why leave libraries to their expertise in new media Google or Apple, If they subject-oriented and independent could catalog it for a member fee?

What I mean, the Administration promotes not even internally new concepts and ideas. Because they can pay off, how hard it is for business start-ups, If they come with new ideas from the outside.

That sounds a little frustriert…

No, I want to play out not even against each other the individual sectors of the economy. On the contrary. If it is not individual companies or founders but industry event, They supported the Senate even quite easily with small sums, as a kind of small grant for temporarily even organized help for self-help. For the people of project help partners quickly future or Berlin.

What the Senate does its internal unilateral staffing policy, is unfortunately still a giant waste of economic potential. If it already missing people from the fields of, could he often exempt more people from the Administration at least for single industry event, in order to strengthen their understanding of new economic sectors. This would be a new understanding of business development. The Administration should wait no longer, come up to the people to them. She should also more actively search contact.

In the interview Christoph lang by Berlin Partner on the tuning of the InvestitionsBank Berlin verwiesen…

And, the Investment Bank advertises everywhere with loans for start-ups. You doing it more for the image of the location of Berlin. The reality is different from. But if it only the anyway…

What still?

Most companies from young industries will receive not only no support, They waste their precious time for the submission of support, from ignorance without serious editing are rejected. It is just the simple programs of the IBB.

With micro-credit of ten- or twenty thousand euros can turn many people for what in Berlin, to stand on their own feet. Straight from the creative field, where most of as self-employed or small business owners start. For assessing the competence of IBB however is missing. Restaurants and gas water sanitation are no problem, but all, what they do not know, where they built no expertise so far, is not promoted.

Na anyway you can try it…

Insufficient time for the failed applications applicants later in the development of their company. So you get the opposite of support, namely an ass kick and the loss is invested time, which can quickly develop a competitive disadvantage.

It would be easier more honest and for each, When they say before, According to whatever guidelines they promote business. She should set to transparency as to deceptive PR bla bla.

Maybe you have to manage this problem it

Since almost 15 The Berlin management practiced this approach years, without having to learn from their mistakes. By chance I found a nice example in a text on the Internet company zanox .It says:

Already 1997 develop the students of Business Informatics of the visionary project of INAB (an abbreviation for "Internet address book"), a website to store and manage bookmarks. With her thesis, they participate in a business plan competition of the Berlin business founder Forum, the savings bank and the star, but they are obvious with this project of ahead of its time. Young entrepreneurs can at least convince the jury of their visionary business model: You are subject to a Berliner "Guyz bring service" at the competition.

And today are social bookmarking services of Renner… How can something happen?

I think, they are the exception rather. The business plan competition of IBB won a bike wash last year in the field of service, a children's support service, a textile care, an online concert assessment portal and online generation project. It was not even to a credit application, on the one naked to undress and remain more people on the line.

I would like to not be misunderstood, all great things are going, but something would have to draw out the IBB ten years ago. Not a really completely new thing – in so many applications. And now think of, they want to apply for money at the IBB in this context.

What happens then?

A rejection by the micro-credit is generally, If within six to nine months not a net operating profit can be achieved, with the loan rates are paid. This is the case affects many online companies, they are first make a name and must achieve traffic, to earn money.

It takes usually at least one, two years. They do not offer yet a special development program with small loans. Twitter continued to make profits until five years after passing. Google took three years for this. And with small businesses create more jobs as with large companies. Since special micro-credit would be worth really, it take more consideration. The current micro-credits are just a product of the time, in which the short-term success counts as a long-term perspective.

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