Dr Tschentscher visited the  beyourpilot team and the supported start-ups on site to get his own impressions of the extraordinary success of the cooperative venture. He was welcomed by Martin Mahn, CEO of the beyourpilot operator, Hamburg Innovation GmbH, and beyourpilot project manager Tatjana Timoschenko as well as six representatives of the science organisations involved in the project. Developments, challenges and future trends in Hamburg’s start-up environment were explored in individual discussions. Six start-ups supported by the programme introduced themselves briefly and had relaxed and informative conversations with the Mayor. They reported on the various challenges they were facing as young companies with the help of beyourpilot.