Building the Leadership Capacity Behind Alive’s Next Stage

Growth changes the questions a founder has to ask. In Alive’s next stage, the focus is expanding beyond the product and investing in the leadership capacity, skills, and relationships needed to build a resilient organization.

Leadership is infrastructure

The Leadership Talent Academy at Campus Founders offers a structured space to sharpen leadership practice, learn with other founders, and start building the team around the company’s long-term direction. For Alive, this is not separate from the mission — it is part of the infrastructure required to deliver it.

A practical leadership curriculum for founders

According to Campus Founders, the academy is designed for founders with high motivation and leadership potential who already have employees or expect to hire soon. The program is built to run alongside founder responsibilities and combines eight intensive, application-based workshops in Heilbronn with personal 1:1 leadership mentoring and peer-to-peer learning.

The curriculum moves through four connected areas: Good Leadership; Challenges and Resilience; Communication; and Team Management. Topics include self-leadership, appreciative communication, psychological safety, authentic leadership, conflict resolution, body language, intercultural leadership, team culture, and an ethical perspective on AI and leadership in startups.

From reflection to everyday management

What makes the LTA relevant to Alive’s next stage is its application focus. Mentoring gives founders a place to work through real management challenges, while peer learning creates a safe environment to compare decisions with people building companies in similar phases. The program also includes a digital leadership simulation, giving participants an opportunity to experience complex situations and reflect on their own leadership behaviour.

The current program format includes nine on-site workshop days at Campus Founders in Heilbronn from September to December 2026, with 25 scholarships supported by the Karl Schlecht Stiftung. Applications for this cohort close on 19 July 2026, followed by online interviews from 27 July to 6 August and notification on 13 August. The academy also connects participants to experienced mentors, workshop coaches, Startup-Managers, the Campus Lab, and the regional ecosystem. For founders outside Heilbronn, travel and accommodation remain their responsibility.

Why the program matters for startup teams

Campus Founders frames poor leadership as one of the major reasons startup teams fail. That makes the LTA's focus especially relevant for companies moving from founder-led execution toward a team with shared responsibility. The program is intended for founders whose startup is no more than five years old and who already have employees, or expect to hire their first employees soon. Female founders are explicitly encouraged to apply.

The program is free for selected scholars because the 25 places are funded through the scholarship partnership with the Karl Schlecht Stiftung. Participation is expected in person, creating the conditions for deeper peer learning, honest discussion, and continuity across the cohort. Campus Founders also offers access to the Campus Lab and an opportunity to apply for the Akademie Führung und Persönlichkeit at the Institut für Philosophie und Leadership.

Learning in the room with other builders

The value of a leadership program is not only in workshops. It is also in the room: founders and experts solving different versions of the same problem, exchanging approaches, and creating conversations that can lead to more useful decisions. Campus Founders describes the in-person setting as essential to peer learning and exchange, while the program’s language alternates between German summer cohorts and English winter cohorts.

Alive is entering the next chapter with a clear view that sustainable growth depends on both strong systems and strong people. Building the leadership team is how the company can keep moving quickly without losing the quality, accountability, and purpose behind the work.

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