Coming to Entrepreneurial Berlin and Making Their Way in Silicon Allee: The Ups and Downs of Two Women Entrepreneurs

Abstract

This case study examines the life stories of two female entrepreneurs, from their early childhood experiences to their more recent and strenuous experiences in their professional lives. We focus on the common arena of their life paths—Berlin—and their personal differences. Although both entrepreneurs hail from different locations and have different previous experiences, they also share similarities which will become clear when working through the case. The following recounts how they entered the German start-up scene in Berlin and how they have experienced and coped with failure. Our case focuses on their current failure. It also shows how this failure and the personal experiences, thoughts and emotions, as well as the reactions and coping strategies it triggered are nested in each individual’s life. While the experience of failure is prominent in the case study, it also highlights key coping mechanisms. We additionally pay attention to the specificities of the Berlin start-up scene throughout the case.