Alexander Moritz Jung’s new business idea, an innovative toilet seat, won him third place in the St. Gallen Startup Weekend. The MA Entrepreneurship student spent the entire weekend from 24 to 26 October 2014 working on his idea, the ‘EasySeat’, along with other aspiring company founders. As well as receiving the jury’s accolade, Alexander derived plenty of motivation and ideas for the practical implementation of his idea from the event.
Alexander Moritz Jung’s new business idea, an innovative toilet seat, won him third place in the St. Gallen Startup Weekend. The MA Entrepreneurship student is in his third semester. He spent the entire weekend from 24 to 26 October 2014 working on his idea, the ‘EasySeat’, along with other aspiring company founders. As well as receiving the jury’s accolade, Alexander derived plenty of motivation and ideas for the practical implementation of his idea from the event.
On Friday 24 October 2014, around 40 young people attending the Startup Weekend in St. Gallen came together at the Town Hall to develop or add the finishing touches to their business ideas, and work out promising business models for launching them with the help of a coach. After a preliminary presentation round, the seven best business ideas were chosen by the entire group, among them Alexander’s EasySeat. These were then discussed over the next two days, in conjunction with the other participants, and presented to a jury of investors on the Sunday in a six-minute pitch. The Entrepreneurship student and his team were delighted to achieve third place.
Alexander Moritz Jung (centre) with his team member Ingrid Fries (right) and team coach Thomas Rinklin (left)
The idea
Inspired by this year’s medical best-seller, ‘Darme mit Charme – Alles über ein unterschätzes Organ’ [‘The Charming Bowel – Everything about an Underestimated Organ’] by Dr Giulia Enders, Alexander had started to take a lively interest in the question of posture when sitting on the toilet, and the structure of toilet seats. Giulia Enders argues that traditional toilets result in an incorrect posture and that this is the reason for various intestinal complaints (you can view her presentation at Science Slam Berlin here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFsTSS7aZ5o – along with further information about her arguments).
Seen from the standpoint of evolution, a natural squatting position is the healthiest. In order to simulate this squatting position on a normal toilet, the legs would have to be raised and the upper body inclined forwards. This is where Alexander’s business idea takes off. His project is aimed at developing a novel toilet seat which will encourage a healthier sitting / squatting position.
His vision
The development and marketing of the innovative EasySeat for toilets, in a form that combines health, comfort and design.
Prospects
In his analysis of the market and the competition to date, he found that some approaches to the realisation of this kind of toilet seat were already in existence. These however still have a lot of potential for development, in terms of comfort and above all of design. He would like his product to appeal not just to the 60+ generation but also to ‘grups’ (grown-ups) in the 30-50 year old bracket. Alexander’s key skills are in marketing and sales. He is now looking for co-founders or partners who will give him effective support in the implementation of his business idea.
If you are interested, or if you have any suggestions, please contact Alexander on alexander.jung@uni.li at any time.
Startup weekend events are held at various dates in many Swiss and German cities. You can find further information about these on the following websites:
www.startupweekend.ch
www.fuer-gruender.de/beratung/termine/startup-weekend/