Katharina Kreitz, co-founder of the measuring probe specialist Vectoflow, hopes that the individual plans of the parties in a traffic light or Jamaica coalition “will not go under because of the consensus and that we will not linger in the shock of recent years”. Christian Miele, President of the Federal Association of German Start-ups and Investors, demands: “We need a new federal government quickly.”
Manuel Müller already knows exactly what it should look like. “It is important that a government is no longer led by the CDU and that we are spared another grand coalition,” says the founder and managing director of the mattress start-up Emma.
Müller Favorit is a traffic light coalition: “I hope that the SPD under Olaf Scholz will be a stable cornerstone. Green issues are indispensable in our world: we have to move towards more climate protection and, in the long term, towards climate neutrality. The FDP would be a good counterweight to red and green. ”
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
So you can see whether the FDP is actually delivering and promoting promised topics such as digitization, the promotion of young companies and reducing bureaucracy – “or whether these are just empty words”.
“Bans don’t help”
The German founder Max Bittner looks at the outcome of the elections from Paris, where he runs Vestiaire Collective, a platform for luxury second-hand fashion. He had already voted for the Greens by postal vote weeks ago and is pleased that the party has become the third strongest force despite losses compared to the poll results.
“The upcoming government will be forced to change irresponsible policies and stop climate change,” says Bittner. He looks to the negotiations between the Greens and Liberals with confidence. “The Greens will know how to pull out the carrot rather than the whip. It helps to support innovation. Don’t bans. “
“The focus is on the topics of talent, capital and fair competition,” says the investor and president of the Federal Association of German Start-ups.
(Photo: Dominik Butzmann for Handelsblatt)
Whether an alliance of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP or the CDU / CSU, the Greens and the FDP, whether with a Chancellor Scholz or Laschet: The start-up scene has clear ideas about what the future government must tackle – and not until the new year . Even after the TV triumphs, the industry criticized the fact that there was too little discussion about future topics.
The construction sites with a view to start-ups and digitization are huge, says association boss Miele. The new government would be well advised to quickly get a comprehensive “start-up strategy” off the ground, according to the entrepreneur. “The focus is on the topics of talent, capital and fair competition.”
Germany’s claim must be to be attractive to the best minds in the world, believes Tao Tao, COO of the travel platform Getyourguide. “We can only do that if we become more competitive in international comparison when it comes to wage costs and employee participation.”
“Special tax zones for start-ups”
Many start-ups also fear the tax plans of the SPD and the Greens. “We have to encourage young people to develop the next vaccine or the next climate technology in Germany,” says Tao Tao. “To do this, we have to keep reasons in Germany tax-attractive.”
Germany already has a high tax rate. If this were to be increased further, highly qualified workers and companies could migrate, fears Kreitz from Vectoflow. “Special tax zones for start-ups would make it much easier to set up and gain a foothold,” she says.
In addition, digitization should finally become a priority, demands Tao Tao. For this, a digital ministry is needed to ensure “that the framework conditions for more innovation are created”. According to Gesche Joost, professor for design research at the Berlin University of the Arts and entrepreneur, data plays an important role.
The professor demands: “Every child in school should be equipped with a digital device.“
(Photo: imago / photothek)
“Access to data is central to innovative business models, so the options for using non-personal data should be expanded,” says Joost. The exploitation of research results, their transfer into the economy and the spin-off of start-ups are weak points in innovation policy. “Keeping up” will certainly not be enough “to expand Germany’s role as an innovative technology location,” says Julia Bösch, head of the Outfittery shopping platform.
SAP supervisory board member Joost also advocates combining digitalization and sustainability. “Digitization should be used to achieve the sustainability goals, and conversely, we need a socially, ecologically and economically sustainable digital strategy.”
The two-degree target must become a top priority and mean radical changes for all actors – “in the economy, mobility, in our everyday life”. However, measures against climate change should not become a question of being able to afford oneself.
When it comes to sustainability, both the Greens and the Liberals have good approaches, says Anna Alex, founder of the climate technology start-up Planetly. The Greens stand for ambitious climate protection, the FDP for faster approvals of appropriate measures. “That is why we hope from the business community that a strong market economy and ambitious climate protection will now be triggered in the new governing coalition,” says Alex.
“In the future, it will count whether a child speaks digitally”
The start-up representatives also value the topic of education. “So that other countries do not finally leave us behind, we have to invest in education,” said Kreitz from Vectoflow. “Digital education is about securing opportunities,” says Tao Tao from Getyourguide. “In the future, it will not only matter whether a child can speak English or French, but whether they speak digitally.”
For digital expert Joost, it is important to bridge the “deep social inequality” revealed in the corona crisis. “Every child in school should be equipped with a digital device, WLAN in all schools must – of course – be standard and further training for teachers in digitization must be compulsory.”
More: Laschet vies for Jamaica – what the Union FDP and Greens has to offer