"The environment doesn't necessarily make it easier for mothers"

Margarete Koch is a mother of two and founder of mapadoo, a learning platform with online courses for parents-to-be. In this interview, she talks about what it's like to take the plunge into founding a start-up as a mother, the advantages of doing so and where there is still a lack of support.

How did you come up with the idea of founding your start-up?

I really enjoy continuing my education. I actually always have an online course on a topic where I learn something new. I really appreciate the freedom to learn when, how long and where I want. I'm also very IT-savvy and love digital innovations. When I was pregnant with my first child and didn't know what to expect, I wanted to find out more about having a baby. Unfortunately, there is a lack of well-founded digital offers. Non-fiction books and on-site courses are in the foreground. On-site courses are quickly booked up and when the baby arrives, you run into the challenge of having to organize childcare. An emergency course for babies, which was very important to me, was fully booked when I wanted to register in the 4th month of pregnancy. The next free place was after the due date. Babies not allowed. So my husband went alone.

What happened next?

At that time, I already had the idea that there was a lot of digital catching up to do in this area. It wasn't until my second pregnancy, when I was confronted with the problem again, that I decided to take matters into my own hands. I continued to work on the idea during my pregnancy and was then able to convince my founding partners. Mapadoo was launched in 2020, in the middle of the coronavirus crisis. What was it like to start up during the crisis?

There were certainly better circumstances. Formally, it was no problem. What we are missing as a team is this joint start-up phase: . Sitting together, brainstorming on flips, team building, laughing together and simply thinking up crazy ideas. We have been working remotely since the start of our company. That works too, but developing a "we" feeling is much easier in a shared office. In economic terms, we are not suffering from the crisis, quite the opposite: parents are certainly booking an online course with us that they would otherwise have done on site. The increasing general digitization and its acceptance is also beneficial for us. Our business model is more of a winner from the crisis.

You founded your start-up mapadoo during your second pregnancy. What is it like to start a business as a mother?

This combination is perfect for me. I have maximum flexibility and can organize our family life and self-employment as we need it.

The challenge as a mother is not the actual start-up itself. Mothers are used to improvising and being flexible. It's more the environment and the offerings that are difficult for mothers to take advantage of. Founder meetings at 8pm in the evening, nice, but not possible as a mom. Not with such small children anyway. I'm also currently doing further training in sales psychology. Many of the calls are at 5:30 pm. That's great for anyone who might want to listen in after their working day. As a mother, the evening program with the children usually starts at 6 pm. The environment doesn't necessarily make it easier for mothers.

What advantages do founding mothers have?

Statistically speaking, it's mothers who take parental leave. This time is very special. During parental leave, you take a break from your previous job, you are confronted with having to think about your priorities in life, your child completely reflects your emotions and you are forced to think about them: What values do I want to pass on to my child? What kind of world do I want for my child? How do I want to be co-responsible for the use of resources in the world?

What else would you like to see for the future of Baden-Württemberg?

I myself was a student and lecturer at the University of Stuttgart and unfortunately I didn't even come into contact with the topic of start-ups. And I studied business administration. I think that's a real shame. I would like to see more campaigns here to sensitize students to the topic of founding a company.

Thank you very much for the interview.

Personal details: Margarete Koch completed her doctorate in economics and business informatics at the University of Stuttgart. During this time, she worked as an academic assistant at the Chair of Business Informatics and dealt with the topics of Business Intelligence, Big Data and Industry 4.0. After working as a project manager in the private sector for five years, she decided to found her own company.