Renewable Energy Takes Entrepreneurial Spin

Hi! I’m Vincent Adler, and I’m from a small, industrial town in Germany called Bielefeld. When I was in high school, the town and a large, local enterprise created the Founders Foundation, a startup hub that encourages a B2B startup ecosystem. Taking part in events and founder talks there gave me my first insights into what entrepreneurship was about. It got me really excited about startups and turning my ideas into reality. This led me to study at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

This school is a lot like Berkeley in that there's a lot of student initiatives that you can take part in—from organizing speaker events with people such as Bill Gates to entrepreneurial endeavors as part of the START initiative. There's also so much regarding pushing students toward creating their own companies and exploring their curiosities in many different fields.

I did just about everything that I could get my hands on, which led me to getting a good idea about what I wanted to do with my professional career.

One project I worked on was called TUM Boring, where we competed and won in Elon Musk's The Boring Company's first ever "Not-a-Boring Competition" in Las Vegas in 2021. This really put me into the mindset that with the right team and a big vision, I can do anything I set my mind to. It was so much fun to believe in a topic and make it come to reality!

One of my dreams was to study in the U.S. and I was looking for places to learn that would combine all of my interests in entrepreneurship and tech. I really wanted a place where I could meet a lot of people and better shape my soft skills. A friend suggested UC Berkeley as the best place to do that—she had recently completed the Berkeley Haas Global Access Program, too!

To be part of BHGAP seemed like such an amazing opportunity: living in the Bay Area near Silicon Valley, on a college campus—which is a unique experience compared to university in Germany for many reasons—participating in events, athletics and discovering new interests! I was excited to be accepted into the Fall 2023 semester, which changed my life forever.  

Full Days in Berkeley

Pretty much every day, I would get up at 7 am and come home at midnight. The entire time in between was a great mix of classes and studying, but also of making friends, networking, going to events, sightseeing in San Francisco or on campus, joining an intramural sports league and taking part in an incredible international environment.

Berkeley really does have its own “special recipe.” Students really seem to care for each other and you notice that everyone is genuinely curious about each other.

In Germany, we take classes in huge auditoriums and it’s harder to connect with your fellow students. There’s no dialogue with the professors, really. In Berkeley, because we had small classes, discussions were encouraged and you’re given space to ask questions. I’m more of a reserved person by nature, so speaking up in class really changed that for me. It wasn’t only the teacher asking you questions, it was everyone being engaged in super-interesting discussions. So you naturally get into dialogues and look at topics from different standpoints.

This really shaped me in the best possible way forward in that it also made me much more curious and open to asking questions. From this, I really grew a lot in terms of becoming more self aware of what I really want to do and that being courageous enough to approach people is very rewarding.

Berkeley really does have its own “special recipe.” Students really seem to care for each other and you notice that everyone is genuinely curious about each other.

An Entrepreneurial Mindset

This revelation was also encouraged by my professors and peers to follow my interests, my passions and my heart—entrepreneurship. Before coming to Berkeley, I co-founded two startups, one of which was called Amazonia Spirits, which was revolutionizing the no-low spirits industry by introducing an authentic and innovative alternative to classic gins. 

Being in the Bay Area taught me that it is great to be ambitious and to follow your instincts while looking for advice from mentors and peers who will always be happy to support you.

Now back in Germany, I finished my studies at TUM and started working as a project manager in finance at young company Greenflash, a market leader in renewable energy systems. I was actually recruited from the founder whom I met in San Francisco just after my time in BHGAP.

I am discovering more potential ideas. One of those is a social app that brings people together through shared interests—replicating the college experience for young professionals who move to new cities. This is more for fun, but I had the opportunity to present this idea in a Berkeley class, which was great because my professor and former classmates gave me great feedback that I’m incorporating into the current build.

I’m already thinking ahead to my next project, which is a company that builds software for electric semi trucks so that they can be better deployed into the market. I hope I really make some impact in accelerating the growth of electric fleets around the world.

I like to think this all came from my time in Berkeley because I've had such great mentors and friends who really pushed me toward this—and who still give me advice. I think whatever topic you're interested in, there are enough people on the Berkeley campus to find a small community and to discuss it.

Being in the Bay Area taught me that it is great to be ambitious and to follow your instincts while looking for advice from mentors and peers who will always be happy to support you.

The Beauty of Berkeley and Beyond

I had the chance to visit Google, Visa and a couple of other companies. The cool part was being able to keep in touch with those you met there after the semester ended and ask for internship opportunities.

As a cohort of students, we were encouraged to explore California. So on the weekends, we drove to the redwoods and took a day trip during Labor Day weekend. I also drove down to Santa Barbara with a new group of people who ended up becoming some of my best friends.

That's also the uniqueness of California: It’s so beautiful by itself, but there are other places that are relatively easy to get to. Some of my classmates went to Mexico for a long weekend, for example. Toward the end of the semester, we found round-trip flights to Hawaii for $200, which was amazing! So 12 of us rented a house and had a fantastic time.

I spent the majority of my free time in San Francisco, though, because it’s quite easy to get there using the BART subway system. There’s always something happening in San Francisco regarding entrepreneurship, such as conferences, hackathons and meetups. I made so many friends and connections through those events that continue to last.

In fact, a few months after I completed BHGAP, I returned to San Francisco to build more connections and look for opportunities. When I reached out to my network, so many of those friends offered me accommodations and invited me to more events. I was never alone.

There’s always something happening in San Francisco regarding entrepreneurship, such as conferences, hackathons and meetups.

My Bucket List for You

1. Join an intramural sport group. No matter what you do, it really is fun and definitely an experience.
    
2. Attend campus sporting events. You get to know so many Americans by doing so. I think one of the struggles of being an international student is that it can be hard to connect to Americans; it can be more comfortable to stay in your peer group. But participating in clubs or sports connects you to the main students on campus.
    
3. Pick out random events happening in San Francisco and just go! You will end up meeting great people and creating great connections.
    
4. Go to Taco Tuesday! It was the first event I attended and where I met new people when I came to Berkeley, so I’m a bit biased ;)
    
5. This is something I did when I first got to campus: I told myself, “Just walk up to 10 new people on campus and introduce yourself.” It's really frightening the first time because it's very unusual to do, but it's worth it.

Berkeley changed my life forever.

Berkeley Vibes Stay With Me

What I learned at Haas, especially, is to question things more. What you do as a young professional is normally take what is being currently done as correct. Because of the discussions in class, I really honed in my critical-thinking skills, which helped me to get my current job, as well. It helps me lead the team forward and myself, as a professional, because I learned that it’s okay to question the status quo.

Overall, the biggest learning I took from BHGAP is to be courageous and follow your gut. We all only have one life, so why not pursue the things that we are genuinely interested in?

Berkeley changed my life forever. No matter what situation you’re in, this program is worth it—it opens up so many opportunities and will leave you with amazing friends for life.