This week, the New Europe students quickly made the transition back into the classroom from a Karneval vacation filled with parades, candy, and costumes that put Halloween to shame! Fortunately for those enrolled in business classes, however, we were able to make an excursion of engaged learning to the headquarters of a startup company called SHAMS Coffee in the nearby city of Cologne.
Centered out of Clusterhaus, an office building specifically designed for startups, this team of three young entrepreneurs has created and managed a scaling business of mobile espresso carts, selling affordable coffee mostly to university students and serving at certain special events. Consisting of a founder from which the company gets its name, as well as two more members coming from backgrounds in IT, Finance, and even Engineering—we were able to witness the synergy of an eclectic team successfully working together. The SHAMS founders spoke a bit on everything from necessary startup resources and business plans, to the details of marketing and branding for a name or company image. Even so, the presentation became more of a conversational discussion and learning experience for the New Europe students. We were able to easily relate to these young professionals, only a few years older than us, working passionately to develop their company.
Afterwards, we were lucky enough to casually talk with the founders, pick their brains a bit, and compare the entrepreneurial business climate in Germany with that of the United States. Not to mention we got some incredible complimentary SHAMS cappuccinos along the way!
Written by Dane Vaughn, NEP Spring 2013
