Munich Startup: What does your startup Amind do? What problem do you solve?
Marius Merkle, Amind: The Amind brand is the flagship of Amind GmbH. Our primary goal is to educate individuals and organizations in the field of Applied MindScience in an evidence-based way. By promoting mindfulness, we strive for an increase in (self-)protection and (self-)care, which in turn leads to a sustained higher level of performance on an individual and organizational level.
Our approach is characterized by fact-inspiring and data-driven language. We support organizations, employees, and entrepreneurs to sustainably improve leadership, performance and team building by promoting effective stress management, focus accentuation, strengthening relationships and (self-)care.
Our programmes focus on key questions: How can an organization grow profitably and sustainably while strengthening individual well-being and building a positive organizational culture? Although our programs do not replace psychotherapeutic measures, they do achieve therapeutic effects. In times of uncertainty and technologization, we want to provide individuals and organizations with a secure and humanized foundation: “The Secure Base”. This secure and caring base promotes the maintenance and development of efficient, collaborative and innovative organizational cultures.
Munich Startup: But there are already so many coaching offers!
Marius Merkle: Amind is not a conventional coaching service; rather, we strive to share experiences. We are aware that we can never know everything, which is why we rely on intrinsic curiosity to better understand our partners’ backgrounds both cognitively and emotionally. Our aim is not to present ready-made solutions through a fixed framework, as this would unnecessarily restrict the creative development process of our partners.
Companions in the process of self-development
The Amind Experience merely uses a few tools to support our partners in recognizing, cultivating and transferring their own safe bases. We see ourselves less as traditional coaches, but rather as supportive and empowering companions in the process of self-development of our partners, so that they feel intrinsically more secure and can communicate this perceived security to the outside world.
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Marius Merkle: During my studies at IIM-C in Kolkata (India) towards the end of 2017, I first came into contact with the phenomenology of mindfulness, especially through formal sitting meditation practices. The insights I gained in these courses helped me to get through a severe dengue fever illness. I had to learn to accept situations without falling into lethargy. Formal meditation practice then became a daily routine.
When I took up my first full-time position at Meta (formerly Facebook) at the end of 2018, I was delighted to see that the first initiatives to support employees’ mental health were also emerging there. Free self-taught self-help apps enabled us to work on our “soft skills” on our own initiative. However, I realized from my own experience that although trying things out for yourself is an important first step, key aspects such as integration, reflection and sharing experiences were neglected.
“Enabling sustainable and profitable growth”
For these reasons, I decided to work on a mindfulness-based counselling concept that fully integrates the aforementioned aspects. After two years of behavioural therapy and two years of training as an MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) teacher, I finally felt ready to translate my ambitions into an evidence-based counselling concept. This focuses on cultivating and communicating an inner secure base, as this secure base is what connects and unites us humans: the need to feel safe. After all, we can only convey security to the outside world if we have created (self-)security on the inside. This will be crucial for organizations and managers to enable sustainable and profitable growth.
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Marius Merkle: In my professional career at companies such as Meta, Amazon and Tiktok, I have always had the opportunity to work with startups from different sectors. It was an exciting experience to support these young companies. However, from a distance, I could never fully understand the constant uncertainty and self-doubt that comes with starting a business. Questions such as “What happens if my project fails?” or “Why should I leave the safe boat of a permanent position?” only became clear to me in the middle of the founding process. This is not to diminish my conviction in my idea; rather, I see these questions as gifts to help me weigh up options without judgment.
Amind and the challenges of the founding process
The challenges of finding a “market” for my idea and translating its mindfulness theme, which is (wrongly) dismissed as esoteric, into a contemporary language were initially abstract, but have now become concrete tasks. From my previous freelance work, where my partners preferably grew organically, I now have to switch to targeted new partner acquisition in order to be profitable as a company. The focus here is on creating cross-channel content and implementing effective marketing campaigns. What was merely theoretical during my time at Meta, Amazon and Tiktok is now becoming the practical and existence-preserving reality of my startup.
The uncertainty associated with the founding process is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges. Looking back, I cannot emphasize enough my respect for all the young entrepreneurs I have worked with in recent years. Courage and resilience are essential. However, my own meditation practice and the Amind Experience help me to create an inner secure base and feel more confident in the midst of this perceived uncertainty.
Amind’s social orientation, both as a brand and as a company, is an unshakeable guiding principle for us. As a company committed to the widespread concept of social impact, we must be able to skilfully balance philanthropy and profitability. Although we do not consider ourselves “pro bono”, we are committed to providing our consulting services to organizations of all kinds without barriers.
In search of the business model
Munich Startup: Where would you like to be in one year, where would you like to be in five years?
Marius Merkle: Over the next five years, my focus will be on further optimizing my consulting services and positioning them even more successfully on the market. In doing so, I aim to work on a scalable business model, be it in the area of platform-based e-learning or fashion & lifestyle, for which I have already conceived ideas. My self-image in this vision of the future is based on the fact that I am in line with the current state of my development and that I don’t feel “forced” to change at all costs.
It is essential for me to be fully aware of the projects I have already initiated. Especially at the beginning, the focus is on raising awareness and sharing experiences in order to clarify the importance of the perceived or felt internal security (secure base) for individuals and organizations. My aim is to have taken many of the necessary measures so that in five years’ time I can say that I have made a comprehensive contribution to this. If I succeed in gaining a foothold both in the consulting industry and in the field of the ideas I have conceived, I will not only be satisfied, but may also be able to benefit from some valuable partnerships as a human being.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Marius Merkle: Thanks to my network, which mainly developed during my Master’s degree, I am impressed by the large number of startups that are emerging in Munich. From deep tech to various SaaS solutions, I find the Munich startup ecosystem to be extremely diverse.
Amind’s mission: Admitting weaknesses and fallibilities, and growth
Nevertheless, I must confess that I unfortunately never had the privilege of studying in Munich, let alone living in this beautiful city for more than four years. Therefore, I wouldn’t call myself an expert by any means and therefore claim that I need to gain a lot more experience to be able to make an informed judgment. But this is exactly Amind’s mission: to admit so-called weaknesses and fallibilities in order to grow with intrinsic motivation. For this reason, I consider it a valuable learning gift to be able to find out even more about Munich as a startup location.
Munich Startup: Risk or security?
Marius Merkle: Counter question: why not both? In this way, I can maintain a feeling of inner security in potential risk situations and convey this to the outside world. At the same time, it allows me to take a certain residual risk into account in supposedly safe situations. The two aspects are not mutually exclusive. In terms of my professional career, I have always sought “security” in permanent positions at large technology companies. In retrospect, I can only guess whether I felt intimate security in these positions.
However, I have now taken the first steps towards self-employment and can definitely imagine combining the two. This would help the cause, as I could gain first-hand practical experience as a manager in an organization, which could then be integrated into Amind’s range of services. Security and risk are extremely personality related in my opinion. Personally, I would describe my inclination as ambivalent, as I consciously seek risk in perceived safety and at the same time find safety intentional in a risky scenario. Both feelings are always self-inclusive and reinforce each other.