Preventing “foundation exhaustion“ Award of the Stöbich Entrepreneurship Promotion Prize 2022

Mrs. Dr. Aishwarya Kakatkar from the Technical University of Munich was awarded the Stöbich Entrepreneurship Promotion Prize 2022. Her dissertation deals with the cognition and well-being of founders. The Entrepreneurship Hub of Technische Universität Braunschweig and Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences has been awarding the prize since 2021 in cooperation with Stöbich GmbH & Co. KG for outstanding dissertations in the field of entrepreneurship.

Award of the Stöbich Entrepreneurship Promotion Prize 2022. From left: Prof. Dr. Reza Asghari (Head of Entrepreneurship Hub), Prof. Dr. Angela Ittel (President of Technische Universität Braunschweig), Dr. Aishwarya Kakatkar (Prize winner 2022), Wolfgang van Pels (Member of the Stöbich Management Board). Photo credit: Entrepreneurship Hub

With her scientific research, Dr. Aishwarya Kakatkar was able to close the research gap on the important role of entrepreneurial cognition in the context of entrepreneurial teams and the entrepreneurial exhaustion of founders. Research to better understand the human interaction within founding teams and its impact on the entrepreneurial cognition of start-ups provides valuable insights into the governance options of early-stage businesses. An important aspect of the research was also how founders develop persistent and extreme exhaustion and how they can recover from this exhaustion.

“Founding is a roller-coaster ride, but entrepreneurial exhaustion can be managed,” says Dr. Kakatkar.

The jury chose Dr. Kakatkar as the prize winner from many very good applications. The chairman of the jury, Prof. Dr. Reza Asghari said: “Her work convinced the jury with a very high scientific quality.” Aishwarya Kakatkar has been able to present her research findings at important international academic conferences on entrepreneurship and management.

The results of her research are of practical relevance for the start-up ecosystem. Founders, but also those supporting them along the start-up process, are shown how development and decision-making processes function in a team and how a possible “founder exhaustion” can be prevented.

The award ceremony took place on 5 October 2022 in Goslar. Representatives from the start-up ecosystem gave speeches and acknowledged the commitment to knowledge transfer and more entrepreneurship. The president of Technische Universität Braunschweig, Mrs. Prof. Dr. Angela Ittel:

“Research always has to do with enthusiasm for a specific topic. This enthusiasm also inspires the motivation to transfer the research result into the ecosystem in the form of a business start-up. The Stöbich Entrepreneurship Promotion Prize supports this process in a unique way!”

The prize is intended to generate new impulses for the transformation of scientific findings into innovative goods via start-ups. The Stöbich Entrepreneurship Promotion Prize is endowed with 7,500 euros.

Text: Dagmar Wilgeroth, Reza Asghari