Entrepreneurial Resilience
Building on a Technology That Keeps Changing – How AI founders develop resilience when the ground keeps shifting
About the Researcher
Sarah Stötzel is a doctoral candidate at the Entrepreneurship Research Institute and part of Prof. Breugst‘s research group. Her research explores how founders navigate uncertainty, setbacks, and rapid change – and what they learn along the way.
The Research Project
AI is reshaping everything, including what it means to build a startup. Founders building on AI know this better than anyone: the same technology that makes their venture possible can disrupt it overnight. Navigating this means facing a constant tension between committing to what works today and staying open to what changes tomorrow. This study explores how founders develop resilience in that process, that is, how they stay functional under pressure, bounce back after setbacks, and find a new path when the old one no longer works. To do so, we follow AI startup founders for ~6 months as they build on a technology that keeps changing. We want to learn from founders and share what we find back with them.
The study is part of TransforM – the Munich Center for Transformative Technologies and Societal Change Excellence Cluster funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Why Join
- Benchmark yourself against your peers: Participants receive an anonymized insights report from the study – see how other AI founders are navigating similar challenges, what strategies they use, and how their approaches compare to yours.
- Student collaboration opportunities: At ERI we supervise project studies, IDPs, and APs where TUM students work on a real project in your venture for 3-6 months.
- Low time commitment: Participation is designed to fit around your schedule. Interviews are flexible (online or in person), check-ins are short and voluntary.
How Participation Works
The study runs for approximately 6 months and consists of two 60-minute in-depth interviews, a shorter follow-up conversation, and monthly check-ins between interviews to capture what’s happening in your venture in real time. All interviews can be conducted online or in person and are scheduled flexibly around your availability.
Interview 1 | 60 mins
A conversation about how you experience building your startup on a rapidly evolving technology.
Interview 2 | 60 mins
Exploring specific challenges you‘ve faced and how you responded, and what you‘ve learned.
Follow-Up | 30-45 mins
A closing conversation to reflect on your journey and how your venture has developed.
Between Interviews: Optional monthly check-ins via a short online survey to capture what‘s happening in your venture in real time.
Who We Are Looking For
Active founders or co-founders of early-stage startups (up to 6 years old) whose core product or service is built on AI technology.
Get In Touch