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From TUM student to founder

In 2019, Moritz Schüller attends a course during his “Master in Management & Innovation” degree program at the Technical University of Munich that will have a decisive impact on his professional career. The task in “Innovation Prototyping,” which is led by Prof. Dr. Holger Patzelt: iteratively develop a product idea. His project team tries its hand at an innovative bottle cooler, and Moritz is fascinated by the idea. Max Huber joins, who brings an engineer’s perspective. The idea eventually leads to the first business start-up of the master’s program, which was only introduced in 2017: In 2021, Moritz and Max start their own business.

BEEZER Technologies” is the name of the company founded by the two former students a neologism of the words “beverage” and “freezer. The product innovation is designed to cool a bottle of beer to the optimum drinking temperature in a maximum of three minutes, and a bottle of wine in a maximum of seven minutes. As CTO, Max, who studied chemical engineering at TUM, is primarily responsible for product development and patenting, while Moritz is in charge of issues such as financing, sales and marketing. He already completed a bachelor’s degree at TUM, and then the double degree in the Masters in Management & Innovation in cooperation with HEC Paris. After his studies, he first worked in M&A consulting.

“A fundamental aspect in founding the company was definitely bringing together our different perspectives and strengths. We complement each other perfectly,” says Moritz. “And the development approach that Prof. Patzelt taught in the Master in Management & Innovation still helps us today: it didn’t give us the ambition to develop a perfect product in one fell swoop – that’s not possible. Instead, we think in much more productive stages and look at problems and possible solutions anew each time: What have we learned so far? How can we get even better? What does the next prototype look like?”

Moritz Schüller (left) and Max Huber (right); image: BEEZER Technologies

Putting knowledge from the classroom into practice

The two founders made the decision to start their own business at the beginning of the year. Then it went relatively quickly: rounds of financing, renting their first own office, getting started in marketing – and, of course, further developing the product. Moritz and Max’s advice to people who also want to start their own business: “Starting up is fraught with many prejudices, but it’s actually easier than you think. And there are an incredible number of places where you can get help: We have made the experience that experts and established companies are very often willing to work with startups if the idea convinces them.” As an entrepreneurial university, TUM supports startups with various initiatives: This year, it once again took the top spot in the “Startup Radar” of the Stifterverband Deutsche Wissenschaft.

By the end of 2022, Moritz and Max want to bring their product to market. “What drives us is above all the enthusiasm and positive feedback we receive time and again when we present our idea to companies, investors or other new contacts,” Max explains. The two have already been guests in Moritz’s previous master’s program and told current participants of the Master in Management & Innovation about their path from TUM student to founder.

We wish them both every success!

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