Create Tech Products Customers Love
Attention
Registrations for the winter term now open! Use the provided form.
In the Product Builder Program at HPI, you’ll turn an idea into a real MVP. Over the course of 15 weeks, you’ll work in agile, interdisciplinary teams, tackle real problems, and build practical solutions. Come with a concept or start from scratch, the program gives you hands-on experience in entrepreneurship and digital product development.
Term(s)
Summer & Winter Term
Time investment
4 semester hours per week, 180 hours in total
ECTS
6
Module type
Elective module
Module selection at HPI
Module selection of the “Product Builder” at HPI (preliminary)
ITSE: HPI-MK, HPI-SSK-RW, HPI-SSK-ML
DE: HPI-PSK-EI
CS: HPI-DE-RWM, HPI-PSK-ML
DH: HPI-PSK-MLE
SSE: HPI-PSK-EI
ITSE BA: HPI-PSK
Grades
Yes
Enrollment deadline
Examination date
Teaching format
Project seminar: Every week, we will meet on Wednesday from 1:30 pm to 4:45 pm in room L-1.06 with workshops, coaching sessions and guest speakers
Teaching language
English
Registration requirements and link
Fee
Free
Team budget
500€
HPI Founder Scholarship
Participants
Maximum number of Participants
20 master's students
Room (Location)
Room L-1.06
Key dates
15.10.2025
Kick-off event from 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm in L-1.06
03.12.2025
Challenger Day
28.01.2026
Demo Day
Learning and Teaching Methods
No idea yet? No problem - you’ll develop one during the first weeks.
No team yet? We’ll match you with like-minded innovators.
During this 15-week seminar, a group, consisting of three to five members, will refine an initially generated idea into a tangible product prototype, develop a business model, and prepare a pitch deck.
The seminar kicks off with an orientation lecture on October 15, 2025, 1:30 pm at HPI in room L-1.06, giving participants a chance to connect. The initial session will foster team work and lay out the overall structure of the class. A field trip in week 2 will help students to uncover problem spaces they would like to work on. Teams will then be formed in the seminar's third week, based on these selections. Midway through, we'll host "Challenger Day" on December 2, 2025, at HPI. Here, teams will present their progress through pitches to a jury for constructive feedback. The seminar concludes with"Demo Day" on January 28, 2026, where each team showcases their evolved idea and prototype through another presentation to a panel of judges and an audience, marking the culmination of their hard work and innovation.
The Digital Health Product Builder as a branch of the HPI Product Builder gives teams the opportunity to work on medical and health challenges with industry-specific topics. Guest lectures and workshops convey basics on the regulatory and legal aspects relevant for the healthcare domain. Thus, understanding market dynamics helps Digital Health teams thrive as tech founders shaping a healthier tomorrow. For more information, please contact Dr. med. Philipp Stoffers: philipp.stoffers@hpi.de
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A 15-week course of extensive ideation, engineering, innovation, and user interaction.
■ 02
Work on your own ideas.
■ 03
Combination of theory and practical work by learning and implementing.
■ 04
Self-reliant interdisciplinary teamwork partnering with students from various universities in the Berlin-Potsdam area.
■ 05
Intensive tutoring within a creative space in dedicated project rooms.
■ 06
Budget for prototyping and travelling.
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■ 10
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■ 12
The project seminar takes place every week according to the following schedule.
Preliminary schedule. All lecture topics are subject to change.
Part 1
Week 1
Day 1
15.10.2025
Introduction
Idea Generation
Week 2
Day 2
22.10.2025
TBD
Week 3
Day 3
29.10.2025
Problem Space Definition
Week 4
Day 4
05.11.2025
Customer Understanding
Week 5
Day 5
12.11.2025
Lean Business Model
Week 6
Day 6
19.11.2025
Market & Competition
Week 7
Day 7
26.11.2025
Pitch Preparation
Week 8
Day 8
03.12.2025
Challenger Day
8 Minute Pitch + 5 Minute Q&A
Week 9
Day 9
Week 10
Day 10
Week 11
Day 11
Week 12
Day 12
Week 13
Day 13
Week 14
Day 14
Week 15
Day 15
Week 16
Day 16
Week 17
Day 17
Week 18
Day 18
Week 19
Day 19
Week 20
Day 20
Part 2
Week 1
Day 1
Week 2
Day 2
Week 3
Day 3
Week 4
Day 4
Week 5
Day 5
Week 6
Day 6
Week 7
Day 7
Week 8
Day 8
Week 9
Day 9
10.12.2025
MVP Development & Testing
Week 10
Day 10
17.12.2025
Marketing Strategy
Week 11
Day 11
07.01.2026
UX/UI Design
Week 12
Day 12
14.01.2026
Go-to-Market Planning
Financials
Week 13
Day 13
21.01.2026
Pitch Training
Week 14
Day 14
28.01.2026
Demo Day
8 Minute Pitch + 5 Minute Q&A
Week 15
Day 15
04.02.2026
Wrap-up
Feedback Session
Week 16
Day 16
Week 17
Day 17
Week 18
Day 18
Week 19
Day 19
Week 20
Day 20
The assessment takes place via a presentation and associated project documentation and is carried out in two steps:
Date: 03.12.2025
Presentation, pitch deck (live deck and reading deck), first prototype and project documentation (based on deliverables throughout the course) account for 25% of your final grade.
Important: Challenger Day presentations account as your first examination performance, the 2-day rule thus refers to 01.12.2025
Date: 28.01.2026
Presentation, pitch deck (live deck and reading deck), final prototype/MVP and project documentation (based on deliverables throughout the course) account for 75% of your final grade.
All grades are recorded as individual grades. Please contact the study department if you do not want to participate in the performance recording (2-day rule).
Hendrik Laflör
Program Manager
Requirements
Program Structure
Data Rights
Please use the registration form