The discussion about spin-offs from the public research sector is generally limited to the case where findings of a research project are brought to market by scientists within the scope of a company start-up. This perception does not do justice to the start-up scene or the start-up potential of public research. The majority of scientific start-ups use knowledge beyond research findings, starting companies in the shadow of publications by academic institutions and drawing from the realm of tacit knowledge at universities. The method of cognitive mapping allows us to systematically access the tacit exploitation potentials of research institutions, which is the prerequisite for potential exploitation.