Today I ran into a childhood friend I hadn’t seen in at least 10 years. Naturally, there was a lot to catch up on—our life paths, old school friends, and memories from the past.
I don’t know why, but somehow the question came up: who has shaped my journey (entrepreneur, investor, IT nerd) the most, and from whom have I learned the most? A question that isn’t easy to answer and that I had to think about for a while.
Family First
First and foremost, of course, my parents. My mother, who showed me every single day from early childhood what it means to be self-employed (she worked as a freelance architect and interior designer before retiring) and who strongly influenced not just me, but also my sister, who followed in her footsteps—in her own style and with her own individual touch. My father, who taught and trained me in diligence, precision (pedantry?), and who initially calibrated my moral compass (he holds a doctorate in law and worked as a lobbyist in the insurance industry before his retirement).
School Days (or: How I Almost Ended Up Elsewhere)
I never liked going to school. Wasn’t particularly engaged and was already under observation by the school psychologist at my elementary school (unfortunately, I no longer remember his name), who nevertheless diagnosed (or attributed to me) empathy and a high degree of social competence, and certified me as fit for further academic pursuits. Through him, I had my first contact with computers and fell in love immediately. If it hadn’t been for him, I probably would have ended up at a special needs school…
I attended Gymnasium Ohmoor (at the time more of a “socialist tree nursery,” as we called it) at my parents’ explicit request—I didn’t have the recommendation for Gymnasium. Here I muddled through with mediocre grades until the pre-diploma year (that was the 11th grade back then, before the actual Abitur phase). From 11th grade onwards, I got lucky and had some truly great teachers.
Worth mentioning especially:
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Bernd Tißler (my tutor and someone who knew how to put my IT skills to good use for numerous school and extracurricular projects). Bernd (I was already allowed to call him by his first name back then) showed me how to do sustainable things with IT and showed me that there is also life outside and after school that can be a lot of fun. He even gave me the opportunity to teach IT to teachers at the “Institut für Lehrerfortbildung” while I was still a student myself. He showed me that students and teachers can also be friends.
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Carl-Jürgen Bausch (whom I had for chemistry, a subject I didn’t like at all), but who always managed to motivate and challenge me.
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Herr Steinhof (unfortunately, I no longer remember his first name), whose hard line taught me that diligence can also pay off and who ignited my enthusiasm and joy for mathematics.
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Walter Fischer (“The Old Swede”), who further supported my passion for mathematics, with whom we took an unforgettable hiking trip in Swedish Jämtland.
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Peter Schneider (“Quote: When I’m done with you, you’ll have no problems in your mathematics degree”), whose toughness but also absolute fairness in the advanced math course fascinated me.
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Frank Schmidt, the then-deputy headmaster and rock-hard math teacher, from whom I learned a lot about leadership.
Looking back, I have to say the teachers who were (for me) the best were those who were the strictest and toughest. And Bernd—he was the opposite.
Beyond the Classroom
Besides the teachers at Gymnasium, there were a few other formative people. My neighbor Gabi Z., whose PC I regularly repaired and who, through an acquaintance, organized my first part-time job as a working student at Philips in IT. Then Jan-Peter Tietze, a schoolmate two years ahead of me, from whom I learned a lot about IT, Linux, etc. (together with “Sebastian B.—TAFKAP ‘The Cleric,’” we built and operated the school’s IT network), and with whom there were also professional crossovers later on. One of the smartest people I’ve ever met and certainly a great role model at the time.
First Love, Philosophy, and Email Pen Pals
Through the internet and some student chat website (back then, the internet was still “safe”), I met my first girlfriend. At that time, I was quite active in Usenet and met a teacher from southern Germany through a mathematics Usenet group—whose name I unfortunately, unfortunately, unfortunately no longer remember. An email pen-pal relationship developed that lasted several years and accompanied me through high school. He helped me with math questions, and we wrote a lot about politics and also philosophy. At some point, he gave me a book by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker—I believe it was “Zeit und Wissen” (Time and Knowledge)—which I devoured with enthusiasm. I don’t think I ever thanked him for that gift… Unfortunately, contact broke off at some point when other things (=girls) became more interesting to me. I wish I still knew his name and what became of him.
Career Launch: The Year 2000
I never got around to studying (I actually wanted to study computer science and law). It was the year 2000, and if you knew how to turn on a PC without incident, a princely income in professional life was guaranteed. My first real job after civilian service (at the Red Cross as a bus driver for the disabled) was at the company SC Service Concept. There, the managing director Günther Penczek placed a great deal of trust in me despite my tender age of 19 and enabled me to implement and operate real-time stock information systems from Reuters at banks and insurance companies. A cool time.
The System House Years and CEMA
I then worked at various system houses, learning a lot about cybersecurity and open-source systems. My time at CEMA AG was particularly formative, where I was able to contribute significantly and develop into a branch manager. The founder and board member Thomas Steckenborn certainly shaped me very much. He exemplified courageous entrepreneurship and showed me that you can achieve a great deal if you roll up your sleeves, work hard, and go where it hurts. Thomas (“Tom”) is a cool cat, and even though we parted ways somewhat roughly at some point, I respect and appreciate him greatly. Even though he was three heads shorter than me, he was five heads taller in many situations.
Going Global: VMware and Red Hat
After that, I switched to the software vendor side and got to know international business with really large and exciting companies at VMware and Red Hat. At both companies, I was truly lucky and had really outstanding bosses.
At VMware, it was Andrew Rose, who showed me for the first time how Leadership by Excellence really works and what it means. He was my first boss with whom I could only speak English, and who taught me so much more than he probably realizes. I believe he was the best boss I ever had.
At Red Hat, it was similar: Mark Schulze was the dream of a boss and offered me all the freedom one could wish for to develop further and reach one’s potential. Also: a cool cat. Red Hat was the best employer of my career. But the desire to become entrepreneurially active had grown so strong in me that it could no longer be ignored. And since there was no better employer than Red Hat at the time, I had to build it myself.
Bright Skies: Building Something of My Own
So I founded Bright Skies and quickly built Germany’s Microsoft Cloud pioneer together with old companions like Marco V. and other longtime fellow travelers. An exciting journey that found its exit to Rackspace in the midst of COVID-19. Accompanied and coached by my friend Kai Lemke, this success story came to be.
Angel Investing and Back to Consulting
After the exit, a few years followed focusing on business angel activities and startup investments. Some highs and some lows in the latter. But in sum, always inspiring and quite fun.
For three years now, I’ve been back in the IT services business with alfatier and a deliberately small, highly specialized team. In addition to Cloud Transformation, Cyber Security & IT Resilience, and for two years now AI, we occupy as a boutique the topics that are currently really relevant.
Thank You
Who else has shaped me: Colleagues, employees, partners, friends, and customers. Hannes B., Guido B., Sabine F., Oliver K., Ingo B., Marco V., Stephan S., Sascha Th., Milen K., Sven W., Suzan A., Carlo D., Mohammed E., Wolfgang E., Patrick P., Nils P., Stephan R., and so many more. You know who you are!
For all of this, thank you.