Your free introduction to founding a startup — alongside your studies, hands-on, right in the heart of Aachen's startup ecosystem.
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👉 Current dates, speakers and registration: Collective Incubator Academy
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The Academies are a free lecture series by the Collective Incubator. Over seven evenings per semester, we walk through the entire founder journey: from your first idea through validation, team and legal matters all the way to funding.
The lectures are given by founders, investors and experts from practice.
From all disciplines who are interested in founding a startup
Anyone who already has an idea and wants to know what comes next
Anyone who is simply curious how startups work from the inside
No prior knowledge required. You can join every evening or just pick the topics that interest you.
| When | What | Details |
|---|---|---|
| First 15 min | 🎤 Startup Pitch | A startup from our community presents itself — 10 min pitch, 5 min Q&A |
| Then | 📖 Lecture | A speaker from practice on the topic of the evening |
| Afterwards | 💬 Questions & Networking | Time for your questions and conversations with the speaker, startups and other participants |
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Kickoff: Startups in Slices — Every semester starts with our biggest evening: three keynotes and several startups on site you can talk to directly.
Includes the lecture 🌱 What is a Startup — what turns an idea into a startup, why startups play by different rules, and how to tell whether your idea could be the start of something big.
Register now: Startups in Slices
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Founders aren't born with all the answers. They learn to move forward without them. Discover how founders make decisions under uncertainty, why failure is part of the process, and how you can start building that mindset today, long before you have a company.
The biggest risk isn't building something badly. It's building something nobody wants. Learn how founders test their ideas fast and cheap, what a real MVP looks like, and how talking to customers can save you months of work in the wrong direction.
A great product alone doesn't make a company. Find out how startups turn value into revenue, how to choose the right business model, and how to win those first customers who believe in you before anyone else does.
Investors often say they back teams, not ideas. Learn what makes founding teams work, how to find co-founders who complement you, and how to talk about roles, equity and expectations before they become a problem.
Legal questions sound dry until they decide the fate of your company. Get a clear, practical overview of legal forms, contracts, intellectual property and the mistakes that are easy to avoid if you know about them early.
Every startup needs fuel to grow. Understand the difference between grants, business angels and venture capital, what investors really look for, and how to find the funding path that fits your vision instead of bending your vision to fit the money.
Alongside the lectures, we offer workshops with external partners where you can dive deeper into specific topics hands-on. All current workshops are listed on the Collective Incubator Academy page as well.
📣 Before every lecture, a startup from our community pitches to an engaged audience. If you'd like to present yours, get in touch.