By all accounts, initial discussions about the planned standard with the German Institute for Standardization and the Ministry of Economic Affairs have already taken place. The standard will apparently be based on the DIN SPEC 91354 specification published by the consortium. A kind of checklist will go over all essential points and influencing factors before the actual founding. This includes the reason for the founding, the functioning of the business model, financial planning, marketing and sales and the competitive situation. According to the originators of the initiative, the idea is to standardize the procedure. They aim to reduce the rate of failed startups, which is currently around 80%. The DIN certificate is nevertheless not meant to become an obligation for founders.

The founders themselves and their association are, however, not exactly fond of the idea: they feel that standards contradict the very nature of startups, which are often about taking new and unconventional paths. Sonja Jost, founder and Deputy Chairman of the Federal Association of German Startups , told the Handelsblatt newspaper that she sees the project as counterproductive. According to her, applying for subsidies already involves an enormous amount of red tape.