EvonikSEIZING OPPORTUNITIES EARLIER Magazine1 | 2014

The Secret of the Entrepreneurial Spirit Is it in the genes? What does it take to successfully found a startup? And why the answers matter to us all

01_Evonik_01_14_EN 1 21.03.14 11:30 2_Evonik_01_14_EN 2 We support culture. For thelove culture. We ofit. support has a feast for the ears in store: The Jerusalem Jerusalem The store: in ears the for afeast has Berlin Jewish Museum Berlin7–11, from May the 2014. For po com- contemporary and classical bring will musicians intonations. festival, music chamber Berlin’s to forward looking in International Chamber Music Festival returns to the the to returns Festival Music Chamber International third time, talented young performers and renowned renowned and performers young talented time, third sitions to life with consummate artistry. Join us us Join artistry. consummate with life to sitions www.jmberlin.de / intonations

one? At the Jewish Museum thenwhy notlisten to landmarks, Berlin. If you’ve already seenall ofBerlin’s 20.03.14 15:03

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PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREAS POHLMANN The stronger itis,themore effectively we shapethefuture can The dynamismofentrepreneurship isessential for thedevelopment oftheeconomy andsociety. A VibrantEntrepreneurial Spirit CEO ofEvonik IndustriesAG Dr. Engel, Klaus Whether we’re developing production newbusinessareas, establishing and,above of, prevalent, all,doweWhat doesitconsist whereisitespecially This issue of Evonik Magazine is devoted to the entrepreneurial spirit. spirit. isdevoted totheentrepreneurial This issueofEvonik Magazine elan whichgenerates ofcompanyfounders, thatinspiresothers. adynamism intheworld tomajorpersonalities economic powerhouse hasgiven birth examples. Today manypeoplemakepilgrimagestoSilicon Valley inorder er we succeedin developing We beentrepreneurs. thisspirit. always must developing. asourEvonik Groupoftodayarosefromtheentrepreneur- Just of entrepreneurship andgenerated greatprosperity. of entrepreneurship aregood AncientRomeandVictorian of entrepreneurship. thatisbasedona other. history Eachonehashisorherownunmistakable Dear readers, have enough of it—especially inGermany? islikeany have Noentrepreneur enough ofit—especially region to date, there is still something weregion todate, needmoreof: thereisstill theself-confident a direction. That’s because in addition tothemanysuccessesofRuhr That’s inaddition because a direction. imately 70 leading companies have joined together to form the Initiativkreis imately 70leading companieshave theInitiativkreis joinedtogether toform bejudged according towheth- we will inthefuture founders, ofits ial spirit before acting. That’s because the time is always right forgoodideas. right isalways That’s thetime because before acting. personal idea. Successful entrepreneurs don’t wait for the “ideal” conditions don’t forthe“ideal”conditions wait entrepreneurs idea.Successful personal too hasdeveloped insucharegion:theRuhrValley inGermany. This power. ofinnovative run Evonik uninterrupted fromits to drawinspiration whenwe successful behave whoare arealways likefounders the future—we Ruhr, with the aim of promoting the entrepreneurial spirit and giving it andgiving spirit Ruhr, theentrepreneurial theaimofpromoting with firmly convinced of an idea and determined touseitget things ofanideaanddetermined moving. convinced firmly thechallenges allover theworld of oraligning ourresearchwith facilities Sincerely yours, A company also needs the entrepreneurial spirit in order to continue inorderto continue spirit A companyalsoneedstheentrepreneurial Throughout andregionshave history, developed states intoincubators In order to draw strength for the future from this illustrious past, approx- past, fromthisillustrious forthefuture In ordertodrawstrength Evonik Magazine 1 Magazine Evonik EDITORIAL 21.03.14 09:24 | 2014 3 4 THE IMAGE THE IMAGE 5

THE FOUNDER Coco Chanel and Her Legendary Fashion Empire A straw hat, the “little black dress,” and No. 5 perfume—Coco Chanel revolutionized women’s fashion of the 20th century like no other couturier. In an era when ladies were breathlessly constrained in tightly laced corsets, Chanel focused on natural and, above all, wearable elegance. Her favorite material was jersey—a fabric that had previously been reserved for men’s un- derwear. Chanel’s fantasy, her stubborn- ness, and her staying power all helped to make her creations world-famous. In 1910, when she was 27 years old, she opened her first boutique in the Rue Cambon in . In 1914 she established her first fashion house in Biarritz. In the early 1930s her haute couture house in Paris occupied five buildings and employed about 4,000 men and women. This fashion icon has estab- lished a place for herself in our collective memory thanks to her string of pearls, her cigarette, and her eloquence: “I regret nothing in my life—except the things I haven’t done.” PHOTOGRAPHY: MARK SHAW/MPTV/INTERTOPICS PHOTOGRAPHY:

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EDITORIAL LEGENDS 3 A Vibrant Entrepreneurial Spirit 38 A Brief History of a Large Klaus Engel on the dynamism of entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial Family and its significance for The Goldschmidt company was one of the oldest and most important family-owned companies in the chemical sector. THE IMAGE A visit to the founder’s descendant and senior church official 4 Coco Chanel Stephan Goldschmidt This 20th-century icon was also a major entrepreneur STARTUPS 43 The Founders of Evonik INFORMING Heinrich Roessler, the Goldschmidt family, and Julius Stockhau- 8 Perspectives sen—the founders of Evonik Industries’ predecessor companies Young and successful: Many company founders in the social were well under 30 when they struck out on their own media sector are under 30 and already millionaires Three minutes with…: 44 In Search of the Entrepreneur Gene Prof. Günter Faltin offers inspiring tips for entrepreneurs How do good ideas become successful businesses? How much entrepreneurial spirit resides in each one of us? StartupBus : A bus tour through southern Africa reveals A look at the issues involved the tremendous potential of international entrepreneurs World map: How entrepreneur-friendly is our world? Which TEST country has the largest proportion of young entrepreneurs? 52 A Typology of Entrepreneurs HALL OF FAME Computer freak, self-starter or would-be millionaire: 16 The Greatest Entrepreneurs What type of founder are you? A test How were well-known entrepreneurs inspired by their models? REGION A few tributes to major entrepreneurs of our time Entrepreneurship 54 Ruhrgebiet 2.0: from the Bronze Age STARTUPS A Region on the Move—But to Where? to the digital An experimental zone and a laboratory: How can the Ruhr revolution: a foldout 23 A Short History of Founders starting on From the Bronze Age to the digital era: A comic strip’s district benefit from structural change? Ricardo Tarli investigates page 23 ambitious overview of the history of entrepreneurship WE ASKED GROUP 60 What Is Needed to Create a Company? 30 Networks for a New Boom Age Short statements by investors, company founders, Through Evonik Venture Capital GmbH, Evonik Industries AG trade journalists, professors, and a vocational counselor is investing in promising technology startups LIVING 33 An Incubator for Ideas 62 Is There an Entrepreneur Gene? Creavis, Evonik Industries’ strategic innovation unit, Tom Schimmeck investigates whether risk-taking and offers space for creative clusters—and stimulates the spirit entrepreneurship are part of the human genome of a high-tech startup

The Magic of an Industrial Monument: “The Appearance of Beauty” at the Gasometer in Oberhausen ESSAY The Gasometer in Oberhausen used to be the largest gasholder in , but today it’s the continent’s tallest exhibition hall. The tower, which rears 117.5 meters into the air, was built in 1929, destroyed in World War II, and built up again by 1949. Until 1988 the Gasometer was used 34 The Secret of Entrepreneurs Professor Jay Mitra from the University of Essex knows for storing gases for use in various industries. Now it’s an industrial monument that harbors works of art instead of clouds of gas. A variety of what successful entrepreneurs are made of. This “founders’ cultural events are staged at this venue, which is often referred to as a “cathedral of industry.” From April 11 to December 30, 2014, visitors guru” refutes many widely held prejudices can enjoy the exhibition “The Appearance of Beauty.” Our photo shows the installation “320° Light” created by the -based artist group “Urbanscreen.” The play of shapes and light forms graphic patterns with a radius of 320 degrees on the inner wall of the Gasometer.

MASTHEAD Publisher: Editor in Chief: Art Direction: Documentation: Publisher and address: Printing: Neef+Stumme Questions about PLEXIGLAS® is a registered trade- Evonik Industries AG Urs Schnabel (responsible Wolf Dammann Kerstin Weber/ Hoffmann und Campe premium printing, Wittingen Evonik Magazine: mark of Evonik Industries AG or one Christian Kullmann for editorial content) Kontor Korrekt Verlag GmbH, Telephone of its subsidiaries. It is indicated in Design: Copyright: © 2014 by Rellinghauser Straße 1–11 a company of the +49 40 68879-137 capital letters throughout the text Final Editing: Teresa Nunes (Head), Copy Desk: Evonik Industries AG, . 45128 Essen GANSKE VERLAGSGRUPPE Fax Michael Hopp (Head), Anja Giese, Wilm Steinhäuser Reprinting only with the PHOTOGRAPHY: URBANSCREEN Harvestehuder Weg 42 +49 40 68879-199 COVER PICTURE: PETER PICHLER Kristin Menzel, Arnim Knorst/Redaktion 4 permission of the publisher. Translation: 20149 e-mail Office Manager: Laura Hamdorf The content does not neces- Picture Desk: TransForm, Germany [email protected] Stefan Haver sarily reflect the opinion of the Managing Editor: Ulrich Thiessen, e-mail: [email protected] publisher. Stefan M. Glowa Beatrice Linnenbrügger

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1847 Th. Goldschmidt 1873 Degussa 1875 Employee benefits introduced Theodor Goldschmidt founds Chemische Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt (Degussa) Almost a decade before Germany introduces statutory Fabrik in Berlin. The firm rises rapidly after it is successful with its separation method. The company accident and healthcare insurance, Degussa insures its is taken over by his sons in 1882. The also introduces worker-friendly regulations, such as employees against disability. Shortly thereafter, Gold- upswing intensifies after the move to Essen an eight-hour working day and vacations schmidt introduces a company health insurance fund

The Right Top Company Founders Under 30

Self-Assessment MANY OF THE SERVICES that we use on a daily IN ORDER TO FOUND a compa- basis were created by entrepreneurs under the age of 30. Some ny you first have to assess your of these entrepreneurs had at least one false start before they own abilities. It is generally finally had a successful innovative idea. Although corporations easier to establish a new busi- such as and Apple often offered to buy up these compa- ness if you have the required nies, these offers were sometimes rejected. Today these compa- self-confidence. It’s no coin- nies are worth billions of US dollars. Here are a few examples: cidence that the is at the top of the list in this ADAM D’ANGELO, ANDREW MASON, regard. For one thing, the USA born in 1984, was born in 1980, founded “Start off has many venture capital pro- ’s first chief the discount service by asking viders, who, unlike banks, technology officer. Groupon in 2008. yourself don’t require any security. In 2009 he founded Value: In 2010 Mason The USA spends eight times the question-and-answer rejected Google’s offer to buy his what it is more money on startups than Quora. Value: US$400 million. company for US$6 billion that really Germany does. Although D’Angelo has refused offers worth Crowdfunding enabled the founders of the is also billions of US dollars BEN SILBERMANN, motivates formlabs to collect almost US$3 million to behind the USA, it is above born in 1983, worked you” fi nance the development of the affordable the European average. DREW HOUSTON, at Google. After 3D printer Form1 born in 1983, a few false starts, he Stan Skrzeszewski, created the cloud established the virtual author of The Knowledge ENTREPRENEURIAL ABILITY Entrepreneur and a Raising Money PHOTOGRAPHY: WERNER SCHUERING/IMAGETRUST PHOTOGRAPHY: Share of the population that storage service image board Pinterest. Value: librarian by training Götz Werner favors introducing a basic income for everyone. His autobiography was published in 2013 believes it has the skills and Dropbox in 2007. approx. US$3.8 billion WHAT SHOULD YOU DO if you can’t find experience needed to establish Value: US$10 billion a suitable investor to help you set up your a company KEVIN SYSTROM, own company or realize your ideas? Prof. Götz Werner—An Entrepreneur from Germany USA DAVID KARP, born in 1983, One answer is crowdfunding, which is UK born in 1986, developed Instagram a relatively new phenomenon in the GÖTZ WERNER IS ANTIAUTHORITARIAN, phil- had a vision of transferring the discount Europe founded the in 2010. Two years Internet community. It enables people to anthropic, and socially committed. As a store concept to the drugstore sector. From Germany blogging platform after its creation, the introduce ideas, create networks, and result, he doesn’t conform in the least to the the very start, he did many things different- Tumblr in 2007. photo app already had 80 million win over crowds of supporters, who traditional entrepreneur clichés, even ly from his competitors. The most unusual, He sold it to Yahoo in 2013 for users. Value: In 2012 Systrom sold donate money to get a project launched. though he is the founder and a member of and therefore most striking, difference was US$990 million the service to Facebook for In some cases, the donors can also hope the Supervisory Board of the German drug- his human resources policy. “My employees US$700 million to get something in return. store chain dm. He opened his first drug- treat the customers the way I treat my At the end of 2003, the music produc-

store in 1973. Back then he still worked at employees,” says Werner, who likes to refer 38% MARK ZUCKER- er Brian Camelio launched ArtistShare, the cash register himself. Today his compa- to himself as a toothpaste salesman. 42% BERG, born in 1984, the first online platform that allowed fans founded Facebook ny’s nearly 3,000 employees generate €7.7 Although he is now 70 years old, he is still 56% 44% to help finance their stars’ new musical billion in sales each year. Werner believes a one of Germany’s leading developers of in 2004. The site projects. Crowdfunding platforms have good entrepreneur is “someone who recog- cutting-edge management methods. His MONEY now has more than become more and more common since nizes needs early on and provides useful company has received numerous awards, Venture capital’s share of gross 1.23 billion users. Estimated then. Today such as Kickstarter. answers to meet this demand.” Although he including the ECR Award for sustainable domestic product in 2012 value: US$100 billion com and Indiegogo.com allow millions wanted to become a captain on the Neckar business practices. “Nothing is as powerful 0.171% USA of people to realize their ideas. In 2012 River as a boy, he instead followed in his as an idea whose time has come,” says Wer- 0.038% UK a total of US$2.7 billion was collected forebears’ footsteps and became a pharma- ner, quoting the novelist Victor Hugo. 0.023% Europe worldwide by means of crowdfunding. cist, as his father, grandfather, and great- Despite his success, Werner is a modest 0.021% Germany DPA(4), LANDOV, AP IMAGES, EMPICS/PICTURE ALLIANCE, ANDY RYAN; ILLUSTRATIONS: FRANK FLÖTHMANN ILLUSTRATIONS: RYAN; EMPICS/PICTURE ALLIANCE, ANDY AP IMAGES, LANDOV, DPA(4), grandfather had done. However, Werner man. “I was just very lucky,” he says. 2013 YEARBOCK 2013, OECD AND COUNTRY EVCA EUROPE REPORT 2013, GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP MONITOR GLOBAL SOURCES:

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1880 Crefelder Seifenfabrik 1898 Early works council 1907 Röhm & Haas Stockhausen & Traiser Twenty-two years before works councils were Chemist and pharmacist Dr. Otto Röhm and businessman The joint-stock company quickly becomes mandated by law in Germany, a “workers’ Otto Haas establish a company and also develop successful producing different types committee” is elected at Degussa to give a voice methods for improving hygienic and working conditions of soap for the textile industry in Krefeld to the company’s employees in leather tanning factories

Three Minutes with… Prof. Günter Faltin “Entrepreneurship Radar” Gauges Startup “A bureaucracy-free year for startups” Activity at German Universities

You’ve said that anyone who invests a lot of time, entrepreneurial design that takes all relevant aspects CAN UNIVERSITIES SERVE AS ly with knowledge and technol- money, and passion in establishing their own into account. We use a systematic process to find out CENTERS FOR STARTUPS? ogy transfers in order to attract company in Germany has to be crazy. Does this what really motivates people who establish startups. What are German universities more students, companies, and mean that you are also crazy? My experience has shown me that close observation doing to support a culture of private investors. Govern- If you’re going to start a company, you obviously have of one’s own wishes and those of one’s customers entrepreneurship? ment should continue providing to be courageous enough to pursue new and crazy offers a better chance of success than chasing trends The answer is provided by incentives and other assistance ideas. However, these days it seems you also have to and market analyses. “Just about the Gründungsradar (“Entre- to promote a culture of entre- be a jack-of-all-trades. The ideal type for conventional What can government do? preneurship Radar”) study that preneurship, and companies startup consultants is a person I would describe as an Politicians in Europe think they need to subsidize anyone can was published in 2013 by the need to proactively support “extreme athlete with masochistic tendencies.” Still, entrepreneurship. That’s wrong, in my opinion, come up with Stifterverband für die Deutsche universities’ efforts to foster you don’t need to be a genius in business, legal issues, because at its core, the entrepreneurial spirit means Wissenschaft and funded by an entrepreneurial spirit. and marketing. Anita Roddick, the founder of The making money yourself. We need an entrepreneur- an idea. Germany’s Ministry for Eco- Body Shop, once said that if she’d gone to business ial culture that grows within society rather than being Businesswomen from Saudi Arabia at the What counts nomic Affairs and Energy. Key results: school, she never would have established her com- suffocated by bureaucracy. After 30 years of dealing Jeddah Economic Forum—the think tank According to the study, German • €49 million invested in of the Middle East Günter Faltin, 69, author pany. with this issue, I can truly say it would be a big help if is to be able students and university facul- programs to promote startups of Kopf schlägt Kapital, Your suggestion then? we gave startups a bureaucracy-free year. ty remain wary about starting • 1,123 startup-related is a professor at Freie Entrepreneurs need to develop concepts that address What about competitiveness? to turn it into their own companies. events held at universities Universität Berlin, where the problems of our time, and they need to do this with The West needs to come up with new ideas if it wants The IT Sector’s Feminine The study examined four • 2,089 extracurricular startup he serves as Director a practical of the Entrepreneurship economic, ecological, and artistic imagination. It all to keep up with the emerging markets. Well thought- Face in the Middle East key areas: startup culture, events staged outside universities department. Faltin starts with education. The problem is that the German out ideas and concepts play a much greater role now in product” awareness, support, and activity • 101 chairs for entrepreneurship initiated the Entrepre- ONLY TEN PERCENT • 4,284 startup plans supported education system discourages creativity and generally today’s information society. This means we also need of the world’s IT Henry Ford, founder of at 54 percent of German univer- neurship Lab and the Tea leads students into careers in accounting and finance. to change our attitudes. entrepreneurs are women, according to the Ford Motor Company sities. It presented an overview • 1,145 startups launched Campaign for importing We need to take a more enlightened approach to the What makes a good entrepreneur? The Economist. As its source, the Brit- of strategies to support start- chemical-free tea to Germany. He is also a study of economics, one that explains the true mean- One doesn’t have to be born an entrepreneur. I believe ish magazine cites the company Start up ups and the factors determin- The most exemplary universities: business angel who ing of money and the market and exposes students to that everyone has what it takes to start a company. Compass, which examines such issues. ing their success, and also issued • University of supports various startups the various possibilities of entrepreneurship. However, many people stop too soon—they get dis- The Jordanian capital, Amman, and recommendations for govern- Applied Sciences What are you doing to improve couraged after the first few steps because of the huge other major cities in the Middle East don’t ment, industry, and universi- • Leuphana University of Lüneburg education in this regard? effort it takes to go the whole nine yards. That’s why seem to have gotten the message, since ties. The latter were advised to • HHL Leipzig Graduate I established the Entrepreneurship Lab to help stu- perseverance is the most important trait an entrepre- women account for 35 percent of all align their curricula more close- School of Management dents transform their ideas into a well-developed neur needs to have. Internet entrepreneurs in these cities on average. Why is this the case? The first thing Mining Data for Business Ideas you have to know is that more than half Every startup begins with an idea. But where does the idea come from? of all college graduates in many Middle Max Levchin, an American computer scientist and one of the Eastern countries are female, but most co-founders of PayPal, has been developing business ideas from real- industries are dominated by men. The world data since 2011. What this means is that Levchin uses big-data one exception is the Internet, which is analyses to try to optimize things that don’t run smoothly. Levchin’s exactly where most female entrepre-

approach is based on the notion that successful business ideas can be neurs are to be found. This makes sense, AFP/GETTYPICTURE ALLIANCE/ZB, IMAGES derived from observations of daily behavior. The concept is similar to given the fact that an Internet startup can global market research, but it’s much less difficult, mainly because be launched from a home office, which

social networks, search queries, movement profiles, and even debit card makes such a venture easier for women PHOTOGRAPHY: payment histories can already provide the data that has to be mined. who need to be able to care for their A lecture hall in Leipzig: Students at the Graduate School of Management

ILLUSTRATIONS (TOP): FRANK FLÖTHMANN, TAWFEEQ TAWFEEQ FRANK FLÖTHMANN, (TOP): ILLUSTRATIONS SHUTTERSTOCK 4; PHOTOGRAPHY: MOHAMMAD/REDAKTION children, even as they pursue a career. go on to become entrepreneurs and business leaders

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1914–1918 World War I 1938 Chemische Werke Hüls 1945 Re-establishment after the war Exports plummet at Degussa, Röhm, and The Hibernia mining company Chemische Werke Hüls re-establishes its operations Th. Goldschmidt. Factories are confiscated and then and the I.G. Farben Group establish under British administration. The now independent expropriated after the war. It takes time for a plant in Marl for manufacturing company produces both Buna rubber and the companies to recover from these huge losses synthetic Buna rubber an increasing variety of basic chemical products

Touring Africa in the StartupBus lored to the African market. After they Creating Chances: Change arrived in , the “buspreneurs” Agents as Entrepreneurs A group of young “buspreneurs” took a fi ve-day bus tour through presented their ideas at the Global Entre- southern Africa at the end of 2013. During the trip, the group developed preneurship Week event, where they original and innovative app ideas for various business sectors hoped to find willing investors. THEY’RE DEDICATED to solving the prob- lems of society, improving people’s lives, Apps for Africa and creating new opportunities: They are THE STARTUPBUS TOUR important to Fabian-Carlos Guhl, The Workforce App team finished in first the change agents of society, who live by began in , the capital Harare the co-initiator of the StartupBus place. The team’s developers from Zimba- the famous words of Gandhi, “You must of . It then moved Africa tour. “We wanted to help cre- bwe, the USA, Germany, , and be the change you wish to see in the across the South African Johannesburg ate networks, promote knowledge addressed one of South Africa’s big- world.” Social entrepreneurs such as Flor- Bloemfontein “The way border into Johannesburg and transfer, and establish an ecosystem for gest problems—unemployment. Job-seek- ence Nightingale, the founder of modern Bloemfontein, finally ending startups in Africa,” says Guhl, who is ers can use Workforce to quickly connect IMAGES/ALAMY MAURITIUS PICTURE ALLIANCE/AP IMAGES, to get started nursing, date back to the 19th century.

2,500 kilometers away in Cape Cape Town from Berlin. with potential employers via text messages. However, it wasn’t until Dr. William Town. The designers, program- “There’s so much to do on the bus, you The app also has a trusted assessment is to quit Drayton established Ashoka: Innovators

mers, and business developers on the hardly have any time to enjoy the country- platform where former employers can post PHOTOGRAPHY: talking and for the Public in 1980 that social entre- trip formed teams to create business ideas side,” said one participant, who was evaluations. That helps potential new Maya loves to use her creativity for the purpose of making preneurship became a business sector in that might help Africa in the areas of impressed by the dedication displayed by employers make hiring decisions. the world a better place begin doing” itself. Ashoka supports companies in this mobile communications, healthcare, and the whole group. Participants were met at Among the other top finishers was the Walt Disney, sector by providing them with capital, energy. They later presented their the various stops along the way by success- Bribed App, an anti-bribery application Maya Shea Penn: A Passionate founder of the advice, and contacts. Today’s young Walt Disney Company concepts to a panel of judges, also with ful African entrepreneurs who provided that documents corruption among police Entrepreneur at the Tender Age of 14 and creator of entrepreneurs are inspired by people like the hope of finding investors. feedback on the participants’ budding officers and government officials, which is Mickey Mouse and Prof. Muhammad Yunus, who was award- Half the participants were from nine ideas and offered tips on overcoming also a major issue in many African coun- SHE’S AN ENTREPRENEUR, runs a non-profit organization Donald Duck ed the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, among countries in Africa; the other half came certain obstacles on the African market. tries. The Funeral.ly App, which simplifies philanthropist, environmental called Maya’s Ideas 4 The Planet other things for the microcredit programs from Asia, Europe, , and The ideas produced were as varied as funeral planning for families, also did well activist, designer, animated film that fights injustice and envi- offered by his Grameen Bank. It seems . Their average age was 27. A the “buspreneurs” themselves—40 individ- in the competition. The app solves a big producer, and author—yet Maya ronmental destruction around that whenever crises call prevailing eco- total of 30 percent of the bus-tour partici- uals from 14 different countries who spent problem in Africa, where funerals are a Shea Penn is only 14 years old. the globe. nomic models into question, more and pants were women, which was also very their time on the bus developing apps tai- lucrative and sometimes shady business, Nevertheless, Maya has what it Articles about Maya have more people begin looking to develop and thus costly for families. Funerally, takes to soon take her place appeared in Forbes Magazine, responsible business ideas. however, helps families save money on among an aspiring generation Huffington Post, and many oth- burials. Many other interesting ideas were of entrepreneurs who will er publications. She has also developed during the bus trip. However, change things for the better in appeared on TV shows and an interesting idea isn’t always enough, as the future. Maya hails from was a featured speaker at a In 1980, William one of the sponsors of the tour explained: Georgia in the USA. Back in TEDxYouth event, where she Drayton founded “The biggest challenge is not to come up 2008, she became dismayed by talked about her sustainable Ashoka, which supports social with a good idea but rather to develop it in working conditions in the glob- business enterprise, which is entrepreneurs in a way that offers customers outstanding al garment industry and there- now a global success. Her phi- more than 70 service.” fore founded her own design losophy is that every entre- countries Two similar StartupBus tours have label—Maya’s Ideas. Today she preneur starts out small; the already taken place in the USA and Europe. continues to design accessories important thing is not to be Guhl and his team plan to repeat the tour such as headbands, scarves, and intimidated by big corporations, next year, as their goal is to link entrepre- hats using eco-friendly materi- and to always remain passion- neurs from around the world in order to als. She donates 10 to 20 per- ate about what you do. Maya’s is help establish new and exciting companies. cent of her company’s profits to an inspiring story. She’s already The program needs more supporters, local and global organizations accomplished a lot at her young

PHOTOGRAPHY: STARTUPBUS AFRICA(3); ILLUSTRATIONS: FRANK FLÖTHMANN, PICFOUR FRANK FLÖTHMANN, AFRICA(3); ILLUSTRATIONS: STARTUPBUS PHOTOGRAPHY: however, because StartupBus is a volun- dedicated to helping people or age, and her example encourag- Mobile offi ce on a bus: A total of 40 young participants from around the world developed ideas for new teer initiative that only charges partici- protecting the environment es others to take a stand on the apps during a trip through southern Africa pants a small fee. around the world. Maya also things they believe in.

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2001 Merger forming Degussa AG 2006 Acquisition by RAG 2007 Evonik Industries AG The Degussa, Hüls, Röhm, Stockhausen, and Degussa AG is completely taken over by the RAG A new company is established—RAG Beteiligungs-AG Goldschmidt companies merge once and for all to corporation. The previously acquired components of the becomes Evonik Industries. It is now one of the world’s form Degussa AG—creating an internationally non-coal business areas—chemicals, energy, and largest specialty chemicals companies and generates around operating specialty chemicals company real estate—are integrated into RAG Beteiligungs-AG 80 percent of its sales from leading market positions

DAYS DAYS 14.5 Global Entrepreneurship 5 % 15 5.8 % A good startup climate requires favor- Germany Russia able conditions and a culture that encour- Even though founding a company here is relatively easy, there New startups and young Russian companies are relatively ages self-employment. A variety of crite- is a clear entrepreneurial gap compared to countries with a rare. The reason is that here many people are striving to get a similarly friendly environment. One reason for this could be secure well-paid job at a big company ria play a role here: regional infrastructure that people are afraid of the risks involved. Governmental as well as legal, governmental, and financial support programs aim to counteract this trend processes. An equally important consid- eration is the time it takes just to register a company. These factors differ from country to country—sometimes dra- matically. Yet exactly in those countries where it seems particularly difficult to start a company, an especially high level of entrepreneurial activity is taking place. Countries with a low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) often have a larger proportion of young entrepreneurs, DAYS because the number and range of formal 5.5 job situations is smaller in these countries 6.9 % than in industrialized nations. DAYS South Korea 5 Despite an excellent business climate, Business conditions 12.7 % for companies short company registration times (within five and a half days), and a ≤34.9 USA The American dream of “being one’s own boss” business-friendly government, 35–49.9 still exists, because the climate for starting a new the proportion of young entrepreneurs in the population is relatively low 50–64.9 business is relatively positive. For example, it takes only a short time to register a company 65–79.9 ≥80 No information DAYS DAYS DAYS How easy is it to do business? 107.5 2.5 33 The higher the index value of a country on a scale from 0 to 100, 17.3 % 10.7 % 14 % the easier it is to found a company there. (Included in the calculation Competitiveness are the following processes: obtaining building permits and Brazil Singapore China a power supply, registering a site, obtaining financing, providing Brazilian authorities often take more than three This country tops the list of most entrepreneur- More than one tenth of those who want to be en- legal certainty for investors, trading across borders, paying months to process a company’s registration. friendly environments. Now that the authorities trepreneurs in China have to wait about a month for taxes electronically, and enforcing contracts) This makes it more difficult to found a company have switched to a Web-based system for recording, their companies to be registered. It also usually and has an effect on the activities of young archiving, and retrieving information, it is possible takes quite some time to receive a building permit. entrepreneurs. But reforms are being worked on to efficiently and inexpensively found a company in However, recently smaller and mini companies The number of days it takes to register a company DAYS an extremely short amount of time were exempted from a number of administrative The average time required for the responsible authorities XX fees; thus founding a company is now less costly in each country to process a company’s registration (according to legal experts and government officials) Ghana An entrepreneurial revolution is reviving this country and bringing new opportunities. Thanks Entrepreneurial activity to administrative reforms, the startup culture here DAYS Percentage of the adult population (aged 18–64) of a continues to flourish and the level of entrepre- national economy who are now founding a company or 14 neurial activity is one of the highest in the world have founded a company in the past three and a half years 25.8 %

SOURCE: GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP MONITOR (WWW.GEMCONSORTIUM.ORG), WORLD BANK GROUP (WWW.DOINGBUSINESS.ORG) ILLUSTRATIONS: FRANK FLÖTHMANN; PHOTOGRAPHY: THOMAS PFLAUM/VISUM; INFOGRAPHICS: PICFOUR

Evonik Magazine 1 | 2014 Evonik Magazine 1 | 2014

14_Evonik_01_14_EN 14 21.03.14 09:31 15_Evonik_01_14_EN 15 21.03.14 09:31 16 HALL OF FAME HALL OF FAME 17 “It Wasn’t Victories But Setbacks That Made Him Stronger”

Daniel Reilly on Richard Branson I’ve been fascinated by flying since I was a child. Inspired by Richard Branson, the famous airline owner, I wrote my final school exam paper on the topic “How can I found an airline?” When I was 18, I was ready to imple- ment my plan, but I had trouble get- ting financing. So my dream of flying was dead in the water. I wrote a letter to Richard Branson—and got a reply! He told me he had experienced countless setbacks during his career, but that it was exactly these negative experiences that had made him so strong. So I decided not to give up. I worked for several years in industry and learned how to take advantage of the opportunities the economy offers. Then I went back to the drawing board. I was full of motivation. In 2012 I founded JetXtra—my very own airline. Sir Richard Branson, 63, and Nearly eight years after I originally his Virgin Group conglomer- set out to make my dream come true, ate have been active in the my first passengers took to the air on music, wireless communica- tion, and aerospace industries May 28, 2013. The words of Richard since 1970. Branson has also Branson helped me very much while established several charitable I was pursuing my dream. And his organizations words are very true.

Daniel Reilly, 28, is from the UK. In They gave birth to successful companies that were based only on an idea and reshuffl ed markets 2012 he established the JetXtra airline in Liverpool. Since then, he’s been or created new ones. In this manner, they became role models for new generations of flying passengers from Humberside

entrepreneurs. Some of these “descendents” talk about how they were inspired by those pioneers STREIBER/AUGUST ART PHOTOGRAPHY: Airport to Alicante and Palma in

Evonik Magazine 1 | 2014 Evonik Magazine 1 | 2014

16_Evonik_01_14_EN 16 21.03.14 11:47 17_Evonik_01_14_EN 17 21.03.14 11:47 18 HALL OF FAME “Mateschitz Ingrid Li on Zhang Xin She’s one of the richest women in the world, Gave Us All and an influential person in the business scene in China. However, it’s not Zhang Xin’s fame that impresses me so much; it’s her story that I find so inspiring—a proverbial “dishwasher to Wings” millionaire” tale. Zhang grew up poor, and by the time she was 12 she was already working Ferenc Papp on Dietrich Mateschitz 12-hour shifts in a sweatshop in Hong Kong. As a young woman, she gathered all her courage The first time I met Dietrich Mateschitz was in the fall of 1987. The and everything she’d saved and bought herself person I encountered was a tall athletic businessman who had outrageous a one-way plane ticket to England, where she plans. “There’s no market for it yet,” he told me, “but we’ll create one.” was able to get scholarships to study at a univer- Mateschitz was referring to his new Red Bull energy drink, which he was sity. She later spent time in the USA working just attempting to launch on the Austrian market. His next plan was to on Wall Street. In the mid-1990s she decided to conquer the world with it. However, back in 1987 that was like predicting return home. There she eventually met her hus- that an Austrian team would win the Formula 1 championship in the band and started up a company with him. Today foreseeable future. I met Mateschitz again in 2011 for what has turned Zhang is the creative mind behind SOHO China, out to be the only major interview he’s given in the last few years. He where she develops major avant-garde real was still the same wiry tanned guy, but he no longer wanted to be estate projects that are shaping the architectural photographed. There’s no point in trying to praise his merits—what the landscape in the country. Zhang Xin represents man has accomplished in 27 years speaks for itself. For me, he remains a new generation of entrepreneurs in China an extremely un-Austrian Austrian. Unlike most of his countrymen, who are well educated, learned their business Mateschitz has always tried to achieve the impossible, and the optimism and management skills abroad, and have made he’s shown even in the face of setbacks would be construed by many valuable contributions to their country’s devel- Austrians as manic hubris. opment since they’ve returned home. Zhang is self-confident, accomplished and, more Ferenc Papp, 59, is the publisher importantly, she possesses the determination and Editor in Chief of the Austrian magazine to achieve what she sets out to do. There’s no Cash Flow – das Abenteuer Wirtschaft PHOTOGRAPHY: BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHY: other way to say it: I simply admire her.

Ingrid Li, who lives in New York, used to be an investment banker and also worked for various news agencies. She interviewed many of Zhang Xin’s friends and acquaintances while writing her book Zhang Xin, On The Return to China, which was published by Jorge Pinto Books. “A Girl from Dietrich Mateschitz, 69, was a sales representative for Jacobs coffee and Blendax before he invented the Red Bull soft drink in 1987. His the Sweatshops” skills as a marketing expert enabled him to turn Red Bull into a prominent sponsor Zhang Xin, 48, is a Chinese entrepreneur in the of extreme sports events and real estate sector and the Managing Director the Formula 1 racing circuit. of SOHO China. She is involved in many social Mateschitz’ Red Bull projects and serves as Chair of the Governing eventually became the world’s Board of the non-governmental organization

PHOTOGRAPHY: MANFRED KLIMEK/ASABLANCA.COM PHOTOGRAPHY: best-selling energy drink Teach for China

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18_Evonik_01_14_EN 18 21.03.14 11:47 19_Evonik_01_14_EN 19 21.03.14 11:47 20 HALL OF FAME HALL OF FAME 21

Béa Beste on Arianna Huffington “He Rode the Success is defined by money and power. “At least it still is,” says Arianna Huffington, the impres- sive founder of the amazingly successful Huff- ington Post media company. Huffington wants Right Wave at the to expand this definition of success to include well-being, wisdom, the ability to give back and, most importantly, a feeling of wonder. As an en- Right Time” trepreneur in the field of education, I think that’s great. I’m also inspired by her story: She left the Boris Grundl on Jeff Bezos country she was born in when she was 16, just as Jeff Bezos is a master of timing, which is similar I did. Huffington, who is from Greece, studied in to surfing. Bezos knew exactly which “surfboard” England and went to the USA at the beginning of to use after he gained extensive experience in the 1980s. She started out writing biographies computer science and investment through his and initiating media campaigns that included ev- studies and initial jobs. He chose as his surfboard erything from producing a controversial com- the field of online sales, and he rode it on a wave mercial to launching a website calling for Presi- that came just at the right time, when more and dent Bill Clinton’s resignation. Huffington’s more people were beginning to trust the Internet establishment of “HuffPo” gave her tremendous as a sales channel. That’s how was born. influence in the media world. I think the best Bezos’ achievement illustrates the extent to which thing about her is her ability to attract and inspire internal will and external circumstances need to the people who work with her—her strength is be in sync if a business venture is to be successful. the strength of the community. Everyone blogs

Big things can happen when the implementation TWOMEY/CORBIS OUTLINE ROBYN PHOTOGRAPHY: for her—including me. of a good idea is well prepared for and the right time comes. I have tremendous respect for Béa Beste, 45, is an education entrepreneur the determination and concentration Bezos has who founded the Phorms Education chain displayed when implementing his idea, despite of schools. She is also the founder and creative the justified criticism that almost seems normal director of TOLLABOX, a company that when a business such as his grows so quickly. produces an education kit for fostering creativity and innovation in children Boris Grundl, 48, is a leadership coach, author, and wheelchair athlete. In 2001 he established the Grundl Leadership Academy, which advises companies on management and leadership issues “Her Strength Is the Strength of the Community”

Arianna Huffi ngton, 63, founded The Huffi ngton Post online newspaper Jeff Bezos, 50, founded the e-commerce with Kenneth Lerer in 2005. company Amazon in 1994. In 2000 he Just one year later, she was launched the Blue Origin aerospace included on Time maga- company. Last year Bezos purchased the zine’s list of the World’s 100 US newspaper The Washington Post Most Infl uential People PHOTOGRAPHY: MARTIN SCHOELLER/AUGUST MARTIN PHOTOGRAPHY:

Evonik Magazine 1 | 2014 EvonikEvonik-Magazin Magazine 1 | 2014

20_Evonik_01_14_EN 20 21.03.14 11:47 21_Evonik_01_14_EN 21 21.03.14 11:47 22 HALL OF FAME

“Steve Was Obsessed by Simplicity” James Dyson on Steve Jobs In general, all Apple products are based on a system of intuitive operation. That’s how it’s been from the beginning, because Steve Jobs was obsessed by sim- plicity in terms of both design and technology. I bought an Ap- ple computer in 1983. I actually had to sell my car to pay for it! Although, technically speaking, it was a very complex device, I nev- er had to consult a user’s manual. I simply learned how to use it by using it. These days, computers are a normal part of our lives. Howev- er, back then it seemed absolute- ly amazing to be able to operate a technical device more or less instinctively. I’m still using Apple computers 30 years later. The reason is simple: Their technolo- gy is just better.

James Dyson, 66, is considered the “Steve Jobs of the vacuum cleaner industry.” The British designer in- vented the bagless vacuum cleaner. Dyson’s vacuum has a clear design and always delivers the same vacu- uming power. That explains why it’s now the world market leader.

Steve Jobs, who died in 2011, was the co-founder and chairman of Apple Inc. He was also the largest shareholder of the Walt

PHOTOGRAPHY: PICTURE ALLIANCE/AP IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHY: Disney Company

Evonik Magazine 1 | 2014

22_Evonik_01_14_EN 22 21.03.14 11:47 23_Evonik_01_2014_EN 23 21.03.14 10:45 GREECE THE 19TH CENTURY “Computer” is an English word derived from WAS THE AGE OF THE FIRST RAILROADS Latin. It means “calculating machine.” THE EARLIEST FORM OF TECHNOLOGY AND INCREASED USE OF AND RAILROAD COMPANIES DEMOCRACY AROSE IN ACCORDING TO LEGEND, MIDDLE AGES UNTIL EARLY MODERN AGE SCIENCE. STEAM POWER AND WERE FOUNDED. In the Middle Ages and the early modern age, IN 508 B.C. A FEMALE WOLF NURSED ELECTRICITY. The Digital the word “computer” was a job title refer- A Short History of Founders ROMULUS AND REMUS, BRONZE AGE ABOUT 5TH TO 15TH CENTURIES TURNING POINT: 15TH TO 18TH CENTURIES ring to people who made calculations. The computer was THE FOUNDERS OF ROME. OTTO LILIENTHAL born in 1941. From Carthage to - ideas founders have come up with WAS THE “FIRST HUMAN 2200 TO 800 B.C. This was the year “ROBBING A BANK IS NOTHING THE FIRST BANKERS WERE BEING TO FLY.” Revolution when Konrad Zuse and COMPARED TO FOUNDING A BANK” ORIGINALLY WHOLESALE Helmut Schreyer built (MACK THE KNIFE IN BRECHT’S MERCHANTS, COMMISSION OTHERS SOON Late 20th century the Z3 in Berlin. “THREEPENNY OPERA”). AGENTS OR SHIPPING FOLLOWED… …AND MANKIND’S “In all beginnings dwells a magic force…” Isn’t it true that, as Hermann THE KINGDOM OF CONTRACTORS. THEY DREAM OF BEING ROME WAS FOUNDED TURNED TO THE BANKING ABLE TO FLY IN 753 B.C. IN 1327 THE JURIST ABU BAKR B. BECAUSE THE COPPER AND TIN NEEDED BUSINESS VIA THE CREDIT CAME TRUE. ’s poem suggests, this special moment has a quality of pure MASE-UD AL-KASANI ESTABLISHED FOR MAKING BRONZE WERE NOT AND CURRENCY EXCHANGE THE HAWALA FINANCIAL SYSTEM AS BUSINESS, WHICH WAS UNIVERSALLY AVAILABLE, A FAR-FLUNG April 1, 1976 is AN INSTITUTION REPRESENTATIVE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH magic? Haven’t all of us at some point felt a longing to leave tracks in TRADING NETWORK DEVELOPED. In 1975 Bill Gates considered A milestone BRONZE IS A OF ISLAMIC LAW. THE SALE OF GOODS. and Paul Allen in the history of the MIXTURE OF NINE MONEY WAS MINTED HERE PEOPLE BEGAN TO STEAM-POWERED founded . computer. On that day, freshly fallen snow? As long as anyone can remember, people have PARTS COPPER TO FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE BRONZE IS HARDER THAN COPPER, SPECIALIZE. FOR THE FIRST AUTOMOBILES the Apple I was pre- ONE PART TIN. FOURTH CENTURY B.C. AND THEREFORE MORE SUITABLE TIME, THERE WERE RICHER ROLLED ALONG THE sented. invented, created, and founded—again and again, in spite of every failure. FOR MAKING WEAPONS AND TOOLS. AND POORER PEOPLE. STREETS. FOUNDED IN 1462, ’S OLDEST CLEISTHENES INTRODUCED THE BANK IS THE FONDAZIONE DEL MONTE COUNCIL OF 500, REFORMED THE DI PIETÀ DI PERUGIA. TODAY IT IS DEMES, AND DIVIDED ATHENS’ PART OF THE UNICREDIT BANK. According to legend, the Phoenician princess What drives founders? “Freedom is the POPULATION INTO TEN TRIBES OR PHYLES ACCORDING TO REGIONS. A REVOLUTION OF EXPLORATION AND CENTRAL PERIOD FROM THE FIRST BANKS TRANSPORTATION CONSTRUCTION OF A Dido founded the city of Carthage with a motivation,” asserts Iris Kronenbitter, OPERATING THROUGHOUT CONNECTIONS VIA WATER, RAILROAD NETWORK. 1200 B.C. TO 600 A.D. EUROPE AROSE IN THE 13TH LAND, AND AIR. ANTIQUITY CENTURY, WHEN FLORENCE thinly shredded cowhide, and the who is the project manager of BECAME A POWERFUL TRADING CITY AND ITS BANK BUSINESS In 1951, an Industrial Park THIS MEANT THAT NOT ONE OF THE FIRST MONEY- THE EGYPTIANS BEGAN TO FLOURISH. developed next to Stanford Mayans developed their own gründerinnenagentur in Germany. This ONLY THE ARISTOCRATS ISSUING BANKS WAS THE EGYPT WERE USING THE University; today it is known HELD POLITICAL POWER. THE EGYPTIANS BANK OF , WHICH FROM 1837 TO 1901 Apple was founded HIEROGLYPHIC as Silicon Valley. THE COASTAL REGIONS ALREADY HAD WAS FOUNDED IN 1609. one year later. system of mathematics. The roots may be where the circle closes. “There SCRIPT AS EARLY AND THE COUNTRYSIDE A KIND OF AS 3300 B.C. THE METALLURGY CHAIN LED NOW HAD MORE PAPER THAT WAS 1455: JOHANNES of theater date back to is no happiness without TO THE RISE OF PERMANENT PEOPLE BUILT SETTLEMENTS, INFLUENCE. MADE FROM THE GUTENBERG SETTLEMENTS, GENERALLY CULTIVATED FIELDS, AND RAISED PAPYRUS PLANT. 960-1279: TRADE RELATIONS BETWEEN LEONARDO DA VINCI MADE The global PRINTED BOOKS. THE VICTORIAN AGE THOMAS A. EDISON demand for AT FLOURISHING TRADE HUBS. DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. EUROPE AND CHINA INTENSIFIED DURING EXAMINATIONS OF CORPSES AND SUCCEEDED IN CREATING ancient Greece, and the roots liberty, and no freedom energy is THE SONG DYNASTY IN CHINA. FOUNDED THE MODERN SCIENCE A MARKETABLE INCANDESCENT OF ANATOMY IN 1503. growing THE OLYMPIC GAMES WERE HELD EVERY FOUR YEARS THEY ALSO THE FIRST MAJOR COMPANIES LIGHT BULB IN 1879. rapidly. of IT technology lie in without courage,” FROM 776 B.C. TO 393 A.D. AS A SYMBOL OF PEACE. ESTABLISHED AROSE AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF FOUNDATION OF CARTHAGE, 814 B.C. …IN ORDER TO FOUND A 1492: CHRISTOPHER A HIERARCHIC CHEAP LABOR. A BROAD TRADING NEW WORLD EMPIRE FAR COLUMBUS DURING THE GAMES, SOCIETY. CLASS DEVELOPED. Silicon Valley. And almost all declared the Greek ACCORDING TO LEGEND, DIDO, THE FROM HER HOMELAND. DISCOVERED AMERICA. DAUGHTER OF THE KING OF TYRE, THE GREEK CITIES DIDN’T WAGE FLED FROM HER BROTHER PYGMALION… LITERATURE THE BRITISH VILLAGE OF ANY WARS. such beginnings are small. statesman Pericles, AROSE A CROMFORD IS REGARDED DIDO AND HER THOUSAND AS THE CRADLE OF THE FOLLOWERS LANDED IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES YEARS LATER. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. The starting capital the founder of NORTH AFRICA, WHERE WERE REINTRODUCED IN came from the sale THEY ENCOUNTERED THE MODERN ERA IN 1896. of Steve Jobs’ VW van democracy, in the HOSTILITY FROM THE and Steve Wozniak’s LOCAL BERBERS. programmable HP pocket calculator. fifth century B.C. BABYLONIA THE MAYANS THE INCAS EDISON’S RESEARCH The great FOUNDATION OF 1848: KARL MARX AND FRIEDRICH YOU WILL RECEIVE AS 2100- 600 B.C. 600-900 A.D. 1200-1532 A.D. TEAM PRODUCED THE challenge is to SEVERAL ISMS: MARXISM, ENGELS PUBLISHED THE BASIC MUCH LAND AS YOU CAN FIRST MOVING PICTURE satisfy this SOCIALISM, AND PRINCIPLES OF MARXISM IN THE ENCIRCLE WITH ONE THE MAYANS HAD MEDIA IN 1891. demand for energy GILGAMESH IS ONE LIKE THE ROMANS OF CAPITALISM. COMMUNIST MANIFESTO. COW’S HIDE. THREE CALENDARS In 1957 the American military Transnational companies in a manner that Ray Tomlinson presented the Steve Jobs started Apple in OF THE BEST KNOWN THAT THEY COMBINED EUROPE’S ANTIQUITY, commissioned the creation of a are the driving force of is sustainable. first e-mail program in 1971… FIGURES OF ANTIQUITY. INTO ONE SYSTEM. THE SMALL INCA communication network, thus… globalization. NATION SUCCEEDED MANDATORY LICENSING IN 1820 SLAVERY WAS ABOLISHED NORTH In 2010 his garage, and the founder TO ENSURE THE IN BUILDING SOUTH 1492: MARTIN DIDO CUT THE HIDE INTO …THAT ENABLED SHE FOUNDED FOR STOCK CORPORATIONS OF THE 36TH PARALLEL. THE AMERICAN the global PROSPERITY OF AMERICA’S LARGEST BEHAIM’S GLOBE. THE WORLD’S FIRST Of founding fathers WAFER-THIN STRIPS… HER TO EASILY CARTHAGE. WAS ABOLISHED IN GERMANY COLONIZATION SOCIETY BOUGHT A STRIP investments CARTHAGE… EMPIRE WITHIN INDUSTRIAL COTTON MILL, of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, MARK OFF A BIG IN 1870, LEADING TO THE OF THE GUINEA COAST IN AFRICA FOR in renewable 300 YEARS… IN 1609 WHICH WAS WATER-POWERED, PIECE OF LAND. RAPID PROLIFERATION OF SETTLEMENTS OF FREED SLAVES. energies grew and foundation myths: GALILEO WAS BUILT HERE IN 1771. 1610: ASTRONOMICAL SUCH COMPANIES. by more than THE TZOLKIN GALILEI started out in his parents’ DISCOVERIES. one third to CONSISTED OF 260 PROBABLY 1519-1522: FERDINAND STOCK VALUES US$211 billion. an entertaining DAYS DIVIDED INTO CREATED MAGELLAN’S CREW WAS THE INCREASED shed. It’s possible to start 13 MONTHS OF 20 THE FIRST FIRST TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE SHARPLY. DAYS EACH. THERE TELESCOPE THE GLOBE. …the Arpanet, predeces- and subjective tour WERE 20 NAME BY REFINING sor of the Internet, companies, political parties, partnerships, IN STOCKS COULD GLYPHS FOR THE AN EXISTING was created in 1969. BE BOUGHT FOR A PARTIAL DAYS. EACH DAY’S SPYGLASS FROM PAYMENT; THE REMAINDER schools, banks, and collectives. of world history NAME WAS A HOLLAND. COMBINATION OF WAS TO BE COVERED BY NAMES AND NUMBERS. INCREASES IN THE STOCKS’ VALUE. CERN employee Tim THE SECOND THE FOUNDING Berners-Lee invented the THE END OF THE The illustrators: Mart Klein and Miriam Migliazzi CALENDAR HAD IN 1873 THE FRANCO-HUNGARIAN BANK OF LIBERIA. World Wide Web in 1989. The various facets of globaliza- THIS STRONGLY WALLED THE GILGAMESH EPIC IS THE FIRST 365 DAYS… IN BUDAPEST DEMANDED PAYMENT OF ONE FOUNDERS’ ERA. tion are having negative as well since 2008 Mart Klein and Miriam Migliazzi have been creating comics and other works under the name dainz.net. Their customers CITY BECAME THE …QUEEN DIDO ADVENTURE SAGA; IT DESCRIBES ON Wind energy posed the SUCH BALANCE. MANY INVESTORS COULD as positive worldwide effects. SACRIFICED HERSELF ON 12 TABLETS THE FATE OF THE DEAD But the breakthrough of …and introduced the @ greatest worldwide increase in include major corporate groups, newspapers, and popular magazines. In 2009 they jointly founded the publishing company unfug verlag, CRADLE OF A RAPIDLY …AND THE “LONG COUNT” WAS …AND BUILT A ROAD SYSTEM THAT NOT PAY, AND THE ENSUING BANKRUPTCIES A FLAMING PYRE. www came only in 1993 with symbol as a fixed compo- Organizations that are critical 2010, followed by hydroelectric GROWING CENTER IN THE UNDERWORLD. FOR LONG TIME CALCULATIONS. WAS 40,000 KILOMETERS LONG. CAUSED A PANIC AND COMPLETE COLLAPSE where they specialize in publishing high-quality artwork dealing with unconventional themes. the Web browser Mosaic. nent of e-mail addresses. of globalization arise. power and photovoltaics. OF TRADE. OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE.

26_27_Evonik_01_14_EN 26-27 21.03.14 11:14 24_Evonik_01_14_EN_Klapper 24 21.03.14 10:48 25_Evonik_01_14_EN_Klapper 25 21.03.14 10:48 STARTUPS 31

Networks for a New Boom Age Through its Corporate Venturing unit, Evonik Industries is investing in startups and disruptive technologies. In the past year alone, the unit took a close look at 350 young companies TEXT TOM RADEMACHER

ON THIS COLD JANUARY MORNING, Dr. Bern- wide—from heat-insulating concrete to insecticides hard Mohr is taking part in a special kind of “match- made from spider venom. However, the participa- making” event in . Mohr is here to find potential tion in selected specialized funds is just the first step partners for his employer. He’s looking for compa- in the process. “The funds provide us with a very good nies that are innovative, creative, and a great invest- overview of the global technology landscape,” says ment. The partners he seeks are technology startups, Mohr. “However, we also plan to increase our direct and the event in question is the High-Tech Gründer- investments over the medium term.” There are risks Electricity from hot air? fonds’ (HTGF) Partnering Conference—a gathering involved, of course, but it wouldn’t be much of a “ven- The company DeVeTec PROTECTING CROPS that Mohr and his team from Corporate Venturing ture” otherwise, as Mohr points out. “Not every start- GmbH in Saarbrücken builds engines that can effi ciently cannot afford to miss. Corporate Venturing is a unit up will one day become another Google or Amazon,” convert even low heat fl ows WITH SPIDER VENOM? of Corporate Innovation that enables Evonik Indus- he says. into electricity, enabling Evonik Industries has a special fund tries to invest in tech startups. The unit, which reports Mohr and his team carefully assessed around 350 waste heat from more sources through which it participates in a number directly to the Chief Innovation Officer, was launched young companies last year alone. Business experts to be used in 2012 with the aim of investing €100 million in high- call this process a “deal flow.” “We have to quick- of companies, such as Vestaron. Based in ly promising technology companies over the medi- ly but carefully determine which ideas are suited to Kalamazoo, Michigan (USA), the um term. “There’s still enough capital available for us and which technologies could actually be promis- good business ideas,” replies Mohr when he’s asked ing,” says Mohr. To ensure that this is the case, his team high-tech firm develops environmentally how much of the €100 million has already been spent. includes expert chemists as well as specialists for mar- friendly insecticides on the basis of Evonik is proceeding carefully, because it wants keting and finance. The search for partners is conduct- spider venom. These products make it to find the gems in the large startup market. That’s ed by a group of seven people. Since the end of 2012, why Mohr and his team have so far participated in spe- the unit has also had an office in the USA. Mohr is a possible to specifically target pests cialized mutual funds that invest their money in espe- chemist himself. He has worked in Germany, the USA, without endangering human beings or cially pioneering technologies. One of these funds is Spain, France, and Japan. In 2006, he became involved Ceramics for hardening the German HTGF, through which the Federal Min- in venture capital activities, a task he has performed the environment. According to Vestaron, steel? Components from the istry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Group, for Evonik for the past two years. WPX Faserkeramik GmbH the products have a market potential and around 20 large German companies have invest- company in Cologne enable of over US$20 billion ed more than €500 million to date in German start- A clear pattern of predation manufacturers to employ ups. Moreover, Evonik is involved in the specialized The team recently completed its first direct invest- new tricks to harden metal parts such as those used in international funds Emerald Technology Ventures AG ment. “It was a perfect fit,” says Mohr. The venture cars. What’s more, these and Pangaea Ventures Ltd., which invest in ground- capital sector is very international, focusing espe- processes help save energy

PHOTOGRAPHY: PICTURE ALLIANCE, RICH SERRA, IMAGES MAURITIUS PHOTOGRAPHY: breaking green tech and clean tech systems world- cially on the USA and to a somewhat lesser extent

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An Incubator for Ideas It’s no coincidence that Evonik Industries’ strategic innovation unit, Creavis, simulates the spirit of a high-tech startup

Networking: pany. Based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts (USA), FRX IN THE WORLD OF STARTUPS, an every new project. “We don’t just evaluate busi- today in deep-sea strata low in oxygen, and re- At the High-Tech recently completed a production facility in Antwerp incubator is a place where inventors and entre- ness potential; we also examine the ecological programming them to produce pure 2-hydroxy- Gründerfonds (Belgium), only a stone’s throw away from the local preneurs transform ideas into mature market- and social impact new technologies might have isobutyric acid, which is a precursor used to conference in Bonn, Dr. Bernhard Mohr Evonik plant. In the future, Evonik’s Corporate Ven- ready products and services. Evonik Industries’ in the future,” Buchholz explains. manufacture PLEXIGLAS. meets representa- turing unit plans to make more direct investments of incubator, Creavis, is located in Marl. Creavis is Bülter just joined the team a few weeks ago tives of startups and this kind. the Group’s strategic innovation unit, and its A thriving atmosphere after working at a biotech startup in California. other major The Group could theoretically spend up to €5 mil- headquarters’ glass façade actually looks a little Evonik currently has 500 projects in its innova- “The atmosphere here is very similar,” he says. investors lion on each startup. However, Evonik is interested in like an incubator. Some 160 researchers and de- tion pipeline. One such project is being worked “Obviously, it’s a little different working for an more than just money. “We hope to get much more velopers work at Creavis’ headquarters, which on in the biotechnology lab, which is just oppo- international company than for a five-person out of these partnerships,” says Mohr. “We want to has an open-plan office design, small teams, and site the cleanroom for microelectronic systems. operation. You really notice an unconditional support the companies and their technologies with high-tech labs just a few steps from every desk. A research team here is turning the genetic clock will to succeed here.” Evonik Industries invests roughly €400 mil- back 3.5 billion years to produce plastics with His colleague Martin Demler is a biotech-

PHOTOGRAPHY: STEFAN WILDHIRT, ALFRED KRAUSS WILDHIRT, STEFAN PHOTOGRAPHY: our market expertise and structures.” The aim is to ensure a place at the forefront of developments when lion in research and development every year. A the help of bacteria. “Back then, there was vir- nologist who came to Creavis two years ago A million-dollar markets head in new directions. “In exchange, we get total of 15 percent of that investment flows into tually no oxygen in our atmosphere, but there from Technische Universität München. Demler deal at every table? Access to invest- access to young teams with disruptive ideas and great strategic projects that help create completely were bacteria that fed off hydrogen, carbon di- is clearly proud to be working at the interface ment capital is minds,” says Mohr. new, long-term business opportunities. Creavis oxide, and carbon monoxide,” says Dr. Thomas between basic research and product develop- especially critical There is often talk of such “cross-pollination” at is responsible for such projects. “Our work in- Haas, Head of the Creavis Science & Technolo- ment. “The equipment we have here is like a for startups during the HTGF meeting in Bonn. In his opening speech, volves extensive financial risk—but the opportu- gy unit, which also houses all of the company’s Ferrari compared to what we had at the univer- their early stages the organization’s managing director, Dr. Michael nities are just as extensive,” says the Head of biotechnology expertise. This mixture of gases sity,” he says as we approach a device used of development Brandkamp, uses the image of a busy bee that flies Creavis, Prof. Stefan Buchholz. can be found today as a waste product in the for work with bacteria in a vacuum. One of the from blossom to blossom. Brandkamp and his team These opportunities can literally be seen if steel industry, for example. Up until now, it has many experiments with bacteria is being con- have arranged around 350 one-to-one meetings at one takes a look over Buchholz’ shoulder either been burned off or used as a raw material ducted right next to us at the moment. “We’re the event. In these discussions, the young and some- through four glass walls and into a cleanroom for plastic production, which requires a lot of trying here to determine the ideal working times not-so-young entrepreneurs present themselves illuminated in a gold-yellow tone. Developers energy. Researchers such as Dr. Martin Demler conditions for the bacteria,” Demler explains. at standup tables. Corporate representatives such as wearing special white suits are working here and Dr. Thomas Bülter are looking to make the Creavis, for its part, certainly seems to have Mohr go from table to table and also hold talks while on printed semiconductors—one of the latest latter process a thing of the past. Their approach already discovered the right conditions on their way to another one-to-one meeting. Many success stories that might end up revolutionizing involves taking bacteria, such as those found for fostering the creativity of its workers. participants know each other and introduce new peo- an entire industry. The project was recently ple. “You’ve certainly done something wrong here if transferred to the Coatings & Additives Business you still have business cards left over at the end of the Unit, which will attempt to turn the project day,” says Brandkamp. results into a market-ready product. Creavis has “It’s a bit like speed dating,” says Mohr after the transferred 20 such projects to Evonik Business meeting is over. “Although such events account for Units over the last three years and is currently on Europe, even though Asia is rapidly becoming only a fraction of the work we do to get to know and working on another 20. more important as well. According to Mohr, Evonik evaluate new companies, its very important to have The projects are carried out by small teams has very exact conceptions of the technologies that fit looked into each other’s eyes before you can venture whose members come together from various its corporate strategy. “They have to serve one of the into a partnership.” That’s good advice for any kind disciplines and backgrounds to develop new megatrends we’ve identified: healthcare and nutri- of partnership. technologies. Such creative clusters of diversity tion, resource efficiency, and globalization,” he says. are no coincidence, as Buchholz points out: “And they should target a market that is or will be inter- SUMMARY “We need mavericks and the free-thinking atmo- esting for at least one of our business units.” This is the •Through its Corporate Venturing unit, sphere they thrive in. This is what we have case with FRX Polymers, Inc., for example. It produc- Evonik Industries plans to invest €100 million in here—but we expect results as well, and our es new kinds of halogen-free polymers with special promising tech companies over the medium term people also need to make sure they never lose flame-retardant properties. This makes FRX a per- •Evonik Industries primarily assesses startup sight of the market.” fect fit for the Essen-based Evonik Group, which man- companies on the basis of its future markets Sustainability is another issue Buchholz and ufactures additives and plastic for everything from air- •After making several investments in leading special his teams are keeping a watchful eye on. In

planes to oil platforms. Evonik invested US$2.5 million funds, Evonik has now ventured to make its fi rst direct the aftermath of the Creavis 3.0 restructuring INDUSTRIES BERND THISSEN/EVONIK PHOTOGRAPHY: in FRX, because it is a fairly mature technology com- investment in a new fl ame-retardant technology program, sustainability is now an integral part of High-tech everywhere: Creavis paves the way for new technologies in Marl

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You can find an exclusive video interview with Professor Jay Mitra in the iPad app

Understanding the Secret of Entrepreneurs The Chinese professor of industrial design If we could mix the DNA of an eagle, a balloonist, a leopard, a colony of ants, and a woodpecker, Junjie Zhang designs modern bamboo lampshades we could create the perfect entrepreneur and company founder. But of course we can’t and vases at his company, Sozen. He is integrating Chinese villages and their artisans into this process in a TEXT JAY MITRA special way

IF WE COULD MIX the DNA of an eagle, a balloon- ist, a potter, a leopard, a colony of ants, and perhaps At the heart of successful a woodpecker, we could create the perfect entrepre- entrepreneurial activity is the neur! We do not, and hopefully will never have the technologies to make this mix work. But what we see realization of opportunity among successful entrepreneurs comes pretty close to the human equivalent of what may be referred to as an unusual mix of capabilities, competencies, and characteristics. Alertness to opportunity (the eagle), the motivation to aim high and lift one’s imagination to make new combinations (the balloonist), agility and alacrity of movement from one point to another (the of the entrepreneurial spectrum are all about making leopard), networking with strong and weak ties (col- money by hook or by crook! Contrary to that popular ony of ants), and persistence in the face of odds (the opinion, entrepreneurs are “value creators.” It is in woodpecker)—these are what entrepreneurs are made the creation of economic, social, cultural and person- of. This is not the stuff of celebrities but of ordinary al value that entrepreneurs change the way we use people. It is about men and women who are able to ask products and services and create new organizations the “what if” and the “why not” questions of life. In cre- with which to make such products. It is in this new- ating new and successful businesses, entrepreneurs ness, in their creative approach, in being innovative bring to bear their ability to identify real opportunities that they find ways to change what we have already for entering and growing in the market through new and generate genuine value propositions. Where products and services that you and I want, need or sim- innovation can be defined as the generation of new ply play with as we stroll along through life. products, services, and processes, entrepreneurship Popular opinion continues to associate entrepre- is associated with the identification of opportuni- neurs with money-grabbing opportunists at worst or ty in society for such products and services, and in

PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREA ARTZ, PR(2) ANDREA ARTZ, PHOTOGRAPHY: generous wealth merchants at best. These two ends the realization or exploitation of that opportunity through the organization of resources with which Professor Jay Mitra to make the products available in the market. Entre- has been studying preneurs create successful businesses by making this entrepreneurship critical connection between innovation and new firm and the dynamics formation to create value. of establishing companies for At the heart of successful entrepreneurial activity many years is the realization of opportunity. So in China, a Hang- zhou based industrial design professor revitalizes

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A tourism project in Robertsport, Liberia, is having positive social effects: The Kwepunha Retreat is a youth center that employs local people and houses volunteers Founders of successful Naihan Li is passionate about unusual enterprises don’t wait for design. In China, she designs modern furnishings and manages art the right conditions projects. She has collaborated with the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei Only a resilient and

persistent “woodpecker” the technology is enabling unusual opportunities for entrepreneurs to break into one of the world’s most can stay the course regulated markets. Apple’s App Store has allowed third parties (or “app entrepreneurs” to post around He/she also needs to ground these ideas in reali- 20,000 programs or applications on its “App Store.” ty, in facts and figures, and to articulate it to differ- The stories abound. What they tell us is that pro- ent audiences—funders, champions, governments. spective entrepreneurs’ chances of starting a suc- These audiences will inevitably weigh up the risk that cessful business are dependent on the opportuni- JAY MITRA is the is associated with any opportunity, and the entrepre- ties that they can find where they live, work and Professor of Business neurs need to demonstrate how they can mitigate play. They tell us that making use of your person- Enterprise and the forgotten artisan skills of craftsmen who work any threat to the realization of the opportunity. One al- networking outside your comfort zone, Innovation and the with bamboo. He integrates modern design with tra- of the ways in which they can do so is to show how taking advantage of modern technologies, turning Director of the ditional skills to create a new firm called Sozen and they can scale up the business. Success lies not just in my seeks new ways with which to both manage limit- things upside down when you have the least resourc- International Centre for Entrepreneurship offer new designer products for a younger market. starting a venture but in being able to grow it locally, ed resources and grow out of trouble. Good entrepre- es, dreaming globally in local nests, all form part of Research at the In Beijing, Naihan Li uses her digital design skills to nationally, and even internationally. As the venture neurs always beat good economists in making things the entrepreneur’s experience of uneven success. University of Essex in make “toys for grown ups,” as in modular furnish- grows, those whose investment helped the entrepre- happen. While the latter predict and generally get it They tell us that the opportunity for success lies in the the UK. He has worked ings such as minimal wood dining tables that fold up neur to play out the risk in the market will want to exit, wrong, successful entrepreneurs navigate the field local context and how that shapes your and with the UN, the OECD, the European to A4 size. In war-torn Liberia, two hours outside and this too will need to be understood at the start. of opportunities in different conditions in different the market. We may never have an eagle’s eye for the Commission, and Monrovia, locals work with eager surfers to create Only a resilient and persistent “woodpecker” of an environments, and often get it wrong to make it right! kill, combined with the balloonist’s slow journey to various universities and the country’s first sustainable surf camp. In the little entrepreneur stays the course, not least because the the sky of endless imagination, but we have the basic partners from the restaurant Fanmstead in , Massachusetts, USA, trials that entrepreneurs face after the first flush of civic and economic duty to open up opportunities fi elds of industry and the owners use online services to process credit card a great launch can be complex and challenging. Iden- Technology as a driving force for productive endeavor wherever we can find them. government all over the world payments and collect customer data (birthdays, anni- tifying teams and networks of people, those whom Today the idea and practice of entrepreneurship has What we need are more entrepreneurs in all walks versaries, what they eat, when they come in, togeth- they know well and those with whom they may have gone mainstream. Political leaders on the left as well of life. What entrepreneurs need in order to be suc- er with how social media activity and the weather weak ties, becomes an absolute necessity. Even the on the right, together with powerful pressure groups, cessful is “venturesomeness,” or the spirit of engag- affects daily sales) to make special meals and bring resolute and independent-minded Steve Jobs could are working with universities and venture capital- ing with change, in government, the wider society, in more custom through individualized food menus not have done without Steve Wozinak and Guy Kawa- ists to create new popular heroes such as Richard and networks across the world. and a personal experience. Or take the story of Isa- saki, among others. Branson and India’s software kings. The rapid emer- belle Jasmin Roth, the young German entrepreneur Contrary again to popular wisdom, successful gence of entrepreneurship is being driven to a great based in Delhi, India. Starting first with a business entrepreneurs do not wait for stable economic con- extent by technology, as we witness how the person- consulting firm in the field of environmental tech- ditions to start their ventures. Opportunities often al computer, the mobile telephone, and the Internet nologies and market entry for German companies, flourish during recessionary times, when the econo- are helping to democratize entrepreneurship. Low she is now the Managing Director of a German mar- entry thresholds make it possible for individuals with keting and communication agency, Avantgarde. For even limited financial resources to launch new enter- SUMMARY her, being an “entrepreneurial existentialist” is an prises and reach wide markets. This is evident in, for • Successful entrepreneurs need diverse capabilities, attitude toward life rather than a job. example, the rise of the Internet bloggers or competencies, and characteristics users who are outsmarting well-established news- • Entrepreneurs are value creators in an economic, papers on breaking stories, while various automated social, and cultural sense, because they change the way Seizing opportunities—creating news-collecting services such as RealClear Politics we use products and services something new are using small amounts of capital to set themselves • The founding of an enterprise does not depend on Generating great new ideas to take advantage of up as “tools for news junkies.” With around 3.3 bil- specifi c economic conditions. The time is always right

opportunities is the entrepreneur’s starting point. PR(3), ANDREA ARTZ PHOTOGRAPHY: lion people using mobile phones around the world, for a good idea

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36_Evonik_01_14_EN 36 21.03.14 11:15 37_Evonik_01_14_EN 37 24.03.14 15:55 LEGEND 39 The lab of Karl and Hans Goldschmidt. The pioneering inventions they made here, including the use of chlorine gas to extract tin, turned the company into a major enterprise

His world is the church: Stephan Goldschmidt For Stephan Goldschmidt, the “Goldschmidt spirit” is a senior church isn’t just a meaningless romantic phrase. “This spirit is offi cial and the great- expressed in an entrepreneurial attitude and a broad great grandson horizon,” he says. The basis for this corporate philoso- of the chemical company’s founder, phy is laid by the company’s founding father, Theodor. In Theodor Goldschmidt the mid-19th century, he not only travels extensively to educate himself, but also publishes articles, holds presen- tations, and meets with outstanding chemists, philoso- phers, and writers. Among the latter is Theodor Fontane, who is not only a novelist, but also a pharmacist. Fontane is a friend of Theodor Goldschmidt, whom he immortal- izes in his novel Frau Jenny Treibel. In the book, Gold- schmidt (under the name Councilor Treibel) epitomiz- es the late 19th century family and business patriarch. However, the Goldschmidt saga then stalls for a time, A Brief History of a Large because Theodor Goldschmidt isn’t a brilliant entrepre- neur. His company, Chemische Fabrik Th. Goldschmidt, manufactures sodium stannate in Berlin. He primarily supplies the product to the neighboring textiles facto- Entrepreneurial Family ry run by his two uncles. He is therefore dependent on this factory, which is why his business never grows to have more than 10 to 15 employees. Goldschmidt feels Berlin, 1847. Theodor Goldschmidt lays the foundation for a chemical company that his family no need to expand operations—especially since he suf- manages through several generations and two world wars. The history of the Goldschmidt fers from heart disease. In spite of his wife’s death, Gold- company refl ects the ups and downs of German industry. In a discussion with Theodor’s schmidt successfully steers his company through the early stages of Germany’s Industrial Revolution from descendant, Stephan Goldschmidt, we fi nd out what the family’s entrepreneurial spirit was the 1840s to the 1870s, and makes a name for himself like—and how it continues into the present day as a manufacturer of a high-quality product. TEXT: MICHAEL HOPP, LAURA HAMDORF (ASSISTANCE) The foundations of the Folkwang Museum

PHOTOGRAPHY: HENNING SCHEFFEN PHOTOGRAPHY: The company doesn’t really take off until sons Karl and Hans take charge a few years after Theodor’s death in 1875. Karl is only 25 years old when he takes over the firm, and his younger brother, Hans, doesn’t join him CANS PILE UP in the factory’s courtyard. Behind the brick walls, men work The Goldschmidt family saga is a long story of entre- pany in Berlin in 1847. TEGO brand products are today offered by Evonik until six years later. In order to better serve the large between steaming boilers and conveyor belts. They heave stamped metal cans preneurial achievement. The company is a family- Industries AG. sales market and take advantage of the good transporta- weighing from 60 to 100 kilograms into a water basin and haul them along owned business over a period of four generations and We meet the descendent of the company founder in Hanover, at the head- tion connections in the Rhenish-Westphalian industrial sprocket drums. Here, holes are punched into the cans so that they can be thor- more than 150 years. The company survives two world quarters of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). The EKD is a federation region, the two brothers relocate the plant to Essen. The oughly cleaned. The cans are then placed in large iron containers, where chlo- wars and becomes an international brand. Its recipe for of 20 Lutheran, United Protestant, and Reformed church bodies. The headquar- local residents initially oppose the new factory, because rine gas separates the liquid tin from the sheet metal. This process turns the success is innovation, specialization, and rapid inter- ters’ approximately 230 employees serve around 23 million Protestant Chris- they fear the fumes might affect the residents of a near- cans into scrap metal useful for heavy industry. The tin can be reused and sold national expansion. A distinctive “Goldschmidt spir- tians in Germany. Although the building’s red brick exterior is somewhat for- by finishing school for respectable young ladies. Hap- to silk dyers. it” already develops early in the company’s history. It bidding, its interior is filled with light and plays with perspectives. Stephan pily, Dr. Karl and Dr. Hans Goldschmidt defuse the pro- Conditions at Chemische Fabrik Th. Goldschmidt in Essen are hot, dirty, inspires the employees and repeatedly leads to the cre- Goldschmidt likes to laugh, which he does often. He holds a senior position tests by establishing the facility in an industrial zone. It and sticky. The work is hard, but the effort pays off. The family-run enterprise ation of groundbreaking inventions. within the EKD, where he heads the department for Liturgy and Church Music. is located right next to a slaughterhouse, whose stench is becoming a pioneer for extracting tin from tinplated sheets—a process that “Among them are the disinfectant sprays with the “I’ve always had a rather ambivalent attitude toward chemistry,” says Gold- is just as noticeable as the fumes of the chemical facto- would probably be referred to as “recycling” today. The process is patented in TEGO logo. When I was a child, I primarily identified schmidt, who visited the plant in Essen for the first time when he was 17. “It ry. The brothers also respond to the concerns with a 1895, and a comprehensive network of can collection centers is set up through- myself with my family’s company through this logo,” was slippery and hot. I found myself in a completely different world than what determined strategy of transparency and integration, outFriedrich Europe Bergius’ over labthe in next the decade. Within a few years, the company establishes says Dr. Stephan Goldschmidt with a laugh. The letters I was used to,” he says. However, he thinks it has positive aspects as well. “A lot which is particularly expressed in their support of edu- factoriesnew Goldschmidt in England laboratory and the United States. The demand is great and is expect- TEGO stand for the name of his great-great-grandfa- of what we call sustainable business practices today is made possible by devel- cation and culture. Karl’s initiative leads to the creation edbuilding to continue in Essen to (1914) increase in the years ahead. ther, Theodor Goldschmidt, who founded the com- opments in chemistry,” he says. of Essen’s Academy for Administration and Busi-

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Stephan Goldschmidt is Theo’s grandson. He created Karl and Hans Goldschmidt the Goldschmidt Foundation took over the company in the 1880s. for the promotion of education. Karl (bottom) was the manager, He is a senior church offi cial Hans the researcher. Together, they responsible for church music created a globally operating enterprise. and liturgy The brothers fell out in 1915, and Hans left the company

Theodor Goldschmidt Theo Goldschmidt, Karl’s son, established Chemische Fabrik became head of the company Th. Goldschmidt in 1847. He in 1908. He led the Essen plant manufactured sodium stannates, through two world wars and most of which he supplied to successfully reestablished it his uncles’ textiles company afterwards both times PHOTOGRAPHY: HENNING SCHEFFEN PHOTOGRAPHY:

The family’s strength—and weakness

ness. Later on, the brothers donate their mansions says Stephan Goldschmidt about his great-grandfather. In 1911 the Tin cans were the ers that are still produced today under the names TEGIN and the associated properties to the Folkwang Muse- firm is turned into a joint stock company so that it can obtain enough basis of the fi rm’s and PROTEGIN. um Association. Today’s world-famous museum is built capital to finance its rapid international expansion. The two brothers success in the In the 1930s, the company, like the rest of the chem- early 20th on the foundations of the main facility in Essen, and the initially complement one another perfectly, which is why their lat- century: It became ical industry, benefits from the orders placed by the name Goldschmidt has become part of the Ruhr region’s er estrangement is especially tragic. It clearly shows that the dynas- a world market National Socialist government. Beginning in 1942, collective memory. ties’ strength is also their weakness: the relations between the indi- leader for the these activities can only be maintained with the help The Goldschmidt family always cultivated the rela- vidual family members. This ambivalence is still noticeable within extraction of tin of forced labor. The company is almost totally destroyed from sheet metal tions with its employees. Almost every employee knew the Goldschmidt family today. by the end of the war, when 85 percent of the Essen Goldschmidt personally and felt part of an extended, As the years pass, Karl becomes less and less interested in work- plant consists of rubble. “In Theo’s handwritten dia- cohesive family. Karl Goldschmidt builds a recreation ing together with his brother as a team. Without asking anyone ry, I read how he deliberated with himself whether it center in which the employees can spend their vaca- else’s permission, he gives the company new regulations that make was worthwhile to rebuild the ruined facility in Essen,” tion for one mark per day. him the firm’s Director General. Even more grievous for Hans is explains Stephan Goldschmidt. In the end, Theo decides Karl’s decision to hire the chemist and later Nobel Prize winner to rebuild. Not only is the Essen plant completely rebuilt, The family ties break for the first time Prof. Friedrich Bergius in 1914. Bergius’ job is to put the compa- it is also greatly expanded over time, as the neighbor- The brothers Karl and Hans pursue a strategy of special- ny’s research on a new footing, shifting it away from metallurgy ing ruined properties are cheap and it costs little to con- ization. “At an early stage, everyone in the family was and toward the chemical production of ethylene and glycol as well struct new buildings. “Production is more important convinced that we should specialize in a few products as the synthesis of fuel from coal. In doing so, Karl completely trans- than discussion,” says Theo Goldschmidt, who is now for which we wanted to be the world market leader,” forms Hans’ research department. Deeply offended, Hans leaves a professor as well. His motto succinctly epitomizes the says Stephan Goldschmidt. The approach that old The- the company and Essen. Bergius manages the lab throughout the attitudes during Germany’s “economic miracle” era. odor used on a small scale with sodium stannates is con- First World War. However, ultimately the company can no longer The heavy responsibility that Theo Goldschmidt tinued by his sons, who concentrate on two processes. finance the development of coal liquefaction. bore during these difficult times is still noticeable today. Karl revolutionizes the process of extracting tin from Beginning in the 1990s, Goldschmidt AG once again tinplated sheets by using chlorine gas for the first time The grandson steers Goldschmidt through interacts with its former forced laborers, who con- to separate tin from the cans’ sheet metal. Hans, mean- two world wars tact the company in order to have their claims for com- while, develops the thermite process, a welding method A little later, Karl’s son, Dr. Theo Goldschmidt, witnesses how Gold- pensation confirmed. The company even had person- for tram and railroad tracks, which is patented in 1895. schmidt AG is shaken to its foundations in World War I and almost al contact with some of its former forced laborers, to Ever since electric trams began to replace horse-drawn totally destroyed during World War II. Despite this, Theo rebuilds whom it continues to send birthday and Christmas cards. streetcars in the 1890s, simple fishplates no longer suf- the company both times. In 1912 the Goldschmidt company creates The thermite welding technique has been used since 1901 and is now standard “This responsibility for the forced laborers, which is still fice to connect two rails with one another. To this day, a new raw materials’ basis for itself by acquiring a chemical factory worldwide. Together with tin extraction from sheet metal, it formed the basis of noticeable today, can only be understood against the the Goldschmidt thermite process continues to be the in Rheinau (now a part of Mannheim). This is also the location of the company’s success backdrop of the close, almost familial relations that were most important method used in railroad construction. the pilot facility for Bergius’ process of liquefying coal into gasoline. cultivated at the time within the company. I’m convinced Whereas Hans Goldschmidt is an exceptionally gift- In the 1920s, Theo Goldschmidt purchases several smaller compa- that Theo always tried to be as humane as possible,” says ed researcher, Karl is responsible for strategy and man- nies and his firm develops numerous new products. Beginning in Stephan Goldschmidt. agement. “Karl was the most influential Goldschmidt 1927, the work initiated by Friedrich Bergius in the area of ethyl- If Theo Goldschmidt had been able to pass on the for me. He turned the company into a major enterprise,” ene leads to the creation of the first successful products: emulsifi- management of the company to his sons he certainly

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up supervisory boards in order to continue to moni- tor the companies, even though every member of the Goldschmidt family now pursues a different profession. Everyone Starts Out Small Stephan Goldschmidt says that, “We all met recently Venerable founding fathers—not hardly! The founders of Evonik Industries had and talked about our family history. Almost everyone The Goldschmidt said that they had unusual jobs. We then noticed that quite a bit in common with today’s startup pioneers company was very this nonconformist attitude is typical of our genera- brand-conscious at an tion.” However, this might change with Stephan Gold- early stage. Posters from the 1920s schmidt’s daughters, Nora and Solveig. They are both The future-oriented networker pioneering discoveries, they turned a small The tireless tinkerer advertise the TEGO studying at the university, where they are majoring in Heinrich Roessler earned his doctorate when he textile auxiliaries business into a world-class Actually, Otto Röhm wanted to be a scientist. In- brand, which still business administration, and both recently completed was only 21, under the great chemist Prof. chemical company. Karl discovered a way stead, at 28, this doctor of chemistry found him- exists internships at Evonik. Friedrich Wöhler in Göttingen. But he didn’t to recover the tin from old tin cans. Thus the self in ’s municipal gasworks, where he have time for the city’s riotous student life, be- first large-scale recycling company was created monitored the quality of the purchased coal and Between two worlds cause work was waiting for him back home in at the height of the tin can boom. Meanwhile, the town gas the city produced from it. He found For nobody in the family is the contrast probably big- . He took over his father’s precious Karl’s sensitive brother Hans, a passionate or- the job unfulfilling, so in his off hours he devel- ger than for Stephan Goldschmidt, who is a theolo- metal refinery and founded the firm Friedrich chid grower, developed a revolutionary welding oped a mordant for the tanning industry made gian. He was a member of the Goldschmidt Thermit Roessler Söhne with his brother Hector. Hein- process that tremendously accelerated the from a by-product of gas scrubbing. At that time, The family continues to be Group’s Supervisory Board and belongs to the family rich, who was a brilliant chemist, single-hand- laying of railroad tracks in the 20th century. dog and pigeon feces were used as mordants. He holding’s shareholder committee. Although he doesn’t edly improved the process of refining silver and To find out more, read the large portrait of worked tirelessly on his invention for three years committed to education have a degree in business administration, he enjoys and made his method freely available to others. It this family of founders on the previous pages. before registering it for a patent in 1906 under is interested in human resources topics and strategy was a strategy that paid off. When the German the name “Ohnekot” (“Poop-free”); at this point would have done so. But because two of his three sons are killed during World issues. How easy is it to switch back and forth between empire was founded in 1871, all of the currency The incurable optimist he promptly quit his job. Röhm wrote in a letter War II, Theo has no choice but to continue working at the company despite his two such contrary worlds?, we ask him. “I actually enjoy had to be re-minted as marks and pfennigs. Julius Stockhausen, a young father, had taken a that his boss was jealous and intended to prevent age. Theo’s last chance is to hand over the business to his third son, Bernd Gold- working in these two different worlds,” he replies. “One Heinrich, who was then 26, had an excellent position as managing clerk in a soap factory in him from being successful. But Otto Haas, who schmidt—Stephan Goldschmidt’s father. “My father was under a lot of pressure weekend, I attended a meeting in the St. Michael’s Mon- reputation in the field ,so the brothers landed Krefeld, Germany. But the company went bank- was a salesman in the USA at that time, went and had to study chemistry even though he would have preferred to do something astery in Hildesheim, while on the next I was at a typical a large government contract. They raised the rupt just one year later. Instead of looking for a into partnership with his friend Röhm as soon as else for a living,” explains Stephan Goldschmidt. Bernd Goldschmidt is appoint- business hotel. Both of these experiences are enriching necessary capital by forming a corporation—a new job, he started his own company in partner- he heard about his business idea. Yet even be- ed director of the Mannheim plant—and falls ill. “It ultimately broke him,” says his in their own way.” To this day, the Goldschmidt fam- company that would later come to be known ship with one of his former employers. They fore the two launched their company, Röhm and son. Theo keeps on going until he is 77 years old, before finally stepping down ily strives to help other people get a good education. as Degussa AG. The newly married Heinrich produced Marseille soap (made of olive oil) for Haas—aged 30 and 34 respectively—suffered as the Chairman of the Management Board. The company is then headed by a For example, it established the Goldschmidt Founda- was soon to become a father, but he didn’t see the local textile industry. After a good first year, their first setback. Their product was inferior to chemist from outside the family for nine years until Dr. Curt Edeling, a nephew tion in 2011. Stephan Goldschmidt is its chairman. “It much of his family. A progressive and a believer Stockhausen’s partner and technical director died. dog feces. Haas was worried, but Röhm plunged of Theo Goldschmidt, is appointed to the position. Following Edeling’s retire- allows us to promote education in various ways,” he in the free market, he continued to experiment But Stockhausen didn’t give up. He acquired back into his research and discovered the ingre- ment in 1981, the company management no longer includes any family members. says. Next year, the foundation will present the first Karl and corresponded with scientists. He was the necessary knowledge and developed an im- dients missing from his mordant. They were Since 1997, the company has no longer belonged to the family financially Goldschmidt Award for initiatives that enable people to also a visionary when it came to labor practices. proved textile auxiliary used to pretreat natural pancreatic enzymes, which help to process either. After Hans leaves the company with hurt feelings in 1916, he soon suf- study at a university without first having to obtain the In 1884 he introduced the eight-hour work- fibers for dyeing. His 17-year-old son Hans had the animal hide. From then on Röhm recovered fers financial losses that force him to sell his shares of the firm. As a result, the diploma normally required for this in Germany. day—34 years before it was required by law. just begun his studies in chemistry. When the the necessary enzymes from offal. He also Goldschmidt family continues to own only 30 to 40 percent of the company. In the 19th century, the Goldschmidt company’s father made his break-though in the lab, the son invented a preservation method and in 1907 However, thanks to a pooling agreement with Allianz, which owns a substan- first logo was the Goldschmidt tree. “The tree is a really The brilliant brothers was called home. Hans’ task was to make the lab- marketed the first specialized mordant based on tial number of shares at the time, the Goldschmidts can continue to maintain good symbol. On the one hand, its roots—its heritage— When Karl Goldschmidt took over his father’s oratory product ready for mass production. Once enzymes. In 1908 the firm sold about ten tons majority control of the company. This changes in 1997, when Allianz cancels still play an important role. However, the energy doesn’t firm he was just 25 years old. Shortly thereafter, again, Julius had made the right choice. Hans of it, in 1909 plants were set up in France and the agreement and sells its shares to Viag AG, which now has majority control. flow downward into the past, but instead has an innova- he brought his younger brother Hans into the was successful. “Monopol” soap became a highly the USA, and in 1910 production grew to After being in control of the company for 150 years, the family is now no lon- tive impact on the future,” says Stephan Goldschmidt, company. Each of the brothers already held a sought-after specialty product worldwide and 150 tons. By then, Röhm was already working

ger the main shareholder, which is why it decides to sell its stocks. The compa- who identifies himself very much with his family’s his- PICFOUR INDUSTRIES/MONTAGE: EVONIK PHOTOGRAPHY: doctorate in chemistry. Together, thanks to their Hans became the formative head of the company. on his next stroke of genius, PLEXIGLAS. ny continues to exist for a while after it is acquired by Viag in 1997. In 2005 it is tory. In particular, he looks for connections between his converted into a limited liability company and affiliated with Degussa. It becomes own biography and the lives of his ancestors. “I look for- part of Evonik in 2007. ward to doing more research once I retire,” says Stephan Goldschmidt with a laugh. The theologian, his children, The continuation of the entrepreneurial gene and the preceding dynasty of chemical company found- “If you’re part of this family, you have no choice but to be an entrepreneur,” ers—the Goldschmidt family’s broad horizons will con- says Stephan Goldschmidt. Although the family decides to rigorously sell all of tinue to make many things possible. its stocks after it becomes a minority shareholder of Goldschmidt AG in 1997, Otto it also buys Goldschmidt Thermit Group, which it purchases from the larger SUMMARY Heinrich Röhm Hans company. Goldschmidt Thermit Group has a strong global position today and •The German chemical company Goldschmidt can look Roessler Goldschmidt operates a manufacturing facility in Halle an der Saale. The rest of the money back on more than 150 years of history as a family- Karl Goldschmidt from the sale of the shares is reinvested. “Among other things, we invested in owned enterprise—an era that covers almost the entire Julius

THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN WITH THE HELP OF INFORMATION AND PHOTOS FROM THE EVONIK CORPORATE ARCHIVE IN MARL ARCHIVE CORPORATE THE EVONIK FROM AND PHOTOS WRITTEN WITH THE HELP OF INFORMATION WAS THIS ARTICLE a globally operating automotive supplier,” says Goldschmidt. The family sets period of Germany’s Industrial Revolution Stockhausen

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Peter Thiel The cofounder of PayPal (1998) and the Founders Fund (2005) invested early on in enterprises such as Face- book—but he has his doubts about the Internet’s productive force

Robert Gordon The third industrial revolution— the digital one— is overestimated, according to Gordon, who may be the most widely discussed US economist today. He explains his core thesis in the forthcoming book In Search of Beyond the Rainbow the Entrepreneur Good ideas alone aren’t enough. They have to be implemented Niall Ferguson in order to become innovations. But do we have enough The world of finance Gene good concepts to safeguard our prosperity? What sort of ideas has a creative power—it will companies be based on in the future? destroys old structures TEXT DR. TORSTEN OELKE, AXEL KADEN and creates new ones. That’s the argument of

PHOTOGRAPHY: CONTRASTO/LAIF, DAVIDS/GREGOR DAVIDS/GREGOR CONTRASTO/LAIF, PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK SANDISON/EYEVINE, DAVID FISCHER, this British economic historian in his book The Ascent of Money

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We wanted flying cars; instead, we got 140 Twitter characters

PROFESSOR PETER HOFBAUER could have had a ply for a long time. The telephone, electricity, the pleasant retirement, enjoying California’s sun, beach- combustion engine, the bicycle, the flush toilet, and es, and wines. Instead, he founded his own company at the incandescent bulb were all 19th-century inven- the age of 66. That’s because he was fascinated by the tions. So too was assembly-line production, which idea of an innovative, efficient two-stroke engine in was perfected by Henry Ford and made mass auto- which the cylinders are arranged not next to each oth- mobility possible. er but opposite each other. Hofbauer, a former pro- Gordon admits that many inventions are still being fessor of mechanical engineering who worked as the generated today, but he believes none of them is capa- head of engine development at Volkswagen for many ble of transforming society as fundamentally as the years, conceived this idea back in the 1980s. Volk- telephone, the combustion engine, or the flush toi- swagen, his employer at the time, wasn’t interested, let once did. He asserts that even the invention of the claiming that the idea was too bold and harbored a computer and the Internet has been comparative- huge risk of failure. As a result, Hofbauer took ear- ly unimportant for national economies. “Electricity ly retirement in 1997 at the age of 55 and decided to and sewer systems triggered much stronger growth enjoy life in California. in their day than computers, the Internet, and smart But neither beautiful landscapes nor excellent phones are doing today,” he says. wines could distract him from his idea. Finally, he decided to develop the engine on his own. He founded Not enough innovation in industry the EcoMotors company, persuaded Microsoft found- One doesn’t have to share Gordon’s pessimism con- Peter Hofbauer is the founder, Chairman, and Chief Technical Officer of the EcoMotors er Bill Gates to be his first investor, and received one of cerning innovation. However, he’s not the only one International company. He also teaches Advanced Propulsion Technologies at Oakland University in Rochester, his first orders from the US military. Last year the Chi- expressing this opinion. The British economic histo- Michigan, USA. As the head of Advanced Propulsion System Research at Volkswagen, Hofbauer, who was nese auto parts supplier Zhongding expressed inter- rian Professor Niall Ferguson, the US economist and born in , developed the OPOC two-stroke engine in the 1980s. In his engine the pistons and the cylinders est in this efficient engine, and now it plans to invest Nobel Prize laureate Professor Edmund Phelps, and do not lie next to each other as usual but rather opposite each other. This two-stroke engine can be used with $200 million in a factory that will produce 150,000 the former Head Economist of the World Bank, Pro- gasoline, diesel fuel, and natural gas, and it’s more economical, smaller, lighter, and cheaper than other engines. units of the engine annually. Production is set to begin fessor Lawrence Summers all complain that far too The engine was not implemented at VW, but Hofbauer could not get this idea out of his mind, so in 2008 this year. few innovations are being generated in the industri- he established his own company. Today he is in his early 70s, and through his company he has already collected al sector. Inventions of the 19th century more than €65 million of investment capital from sources including Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Starting Even the venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who made this year, 150,000 units of the OPOC engine will be produced by a Chinese auto parts supplier in Shanghai. It’s stories like these that keep alive the myth of the billions by investing in the online payment system company founder as a busy tinkerer and a born entre- PayPal and the social network Facebook, and who preneur. And yet, according to the US economist Pro- is one of the biggest capital investors in the IT mec- fessor Robert Gordon, they are hardly sufficient to ca Silicon Valley, says he’s disappointed. “We want- give the Western nations’ economies the growth ed flying cars; instead, we got 140 characters” is the boost they would need to safeguard their prosperi- subtitle of an online manifesto of his company Found- ty. Gordon believes that such a boost would require ers Fund—a reference to the short messaging service

PHOTOGRAPHY: SCOTT STEWART/WIRTSCHAFTSWOCHE SCOTT PHOTOGRAPHY: genuine innovations, which have been in short sup- Twitter. Thiel complains that Silicon Valley has

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In 1911, Schumpeter expanded the factors “land,” “capital,” and “labor” to include a fourth—”entrepreneurship”

indeed created many new companies, but hardly an acute and farsighted thinker, not only the concepts any pioneering ideas that could transform the human of innovation and venture capital but also the power- race. ful metaphor of “creative destruction” as the precon- Why is that? One reason could be that industri- dition of every true innovation. al products are more complex today than they used In his work Capitalism, Socialism and Democra- to be. In the past, many success stories followed the cy, Schumpeter describes creative destruction as a same pattern: Someone was annoyed about a certain process “that incessantly revolutionizes the econom- problem, invented a product that solved the problem, ic structure from within, incessantly destroying the and founded a company that manufactured this prod- old one, incessantly creating a new one.” To the three uct. For example, the veterinarian Dr. John Boyd Dun- production factors land, capital, and labor, he added lop, who invented the inflated bicycle tire in 1888, is a fourth one, entrepreneurship. He believed that the reputed to have come up with his invention because entrepreneur is the one who advocates and imple- he was annoyed by the noisy metal wheels of his son’s ments new ideas, by contrast to the inventor, who tricycle. It’s true that simple products are still being only develops them. From this perspective, the great developed according to this pattern. company founders of the 19th century were not only However, because of high development costs, gen- the creators of a new technical wonderland but also, uine innovations can nowadays only be implement- whether intentionally or not, the destroyers of the old ed by governments or companies with a great deal of world of horse-drawn carriages and gas lanterns, as capital—and large companies are in many cases not well as cesspits and epidemics. very friendly toward innovations. That’s the thesis Nowadays the creative destruction described by Promoting Innovative Business Ideas An office floor in the heart of Berlin, lots of of Gunter Dueck, a mathematics professor and for- Schumpeter can be seen most clearly in the digital desks, a ping-pong table, colorful cushions and walls. Eight selected teams of company founders are working here on mer Chief Technology Officer at IBM. In his book economy. For example, in Silicon Valley, the global their business ideas. They are participating in the Axel Springer Plug and Play accelerator program, a joint project of the Innovation and Its Enemies, he argues that compa- center of entrepreneurship in the digital world, com- Axel Springer media group and the Plug and Play Tech Center, a leading startup investor from Silicon Valley. This nies, like all systems, have an immune system that ini- panies such as Google and Facebook, which are using three-month program, which takes place twice a year, has been promoting future-oriented digital companies since 2013. tially treats every new idea as a disturbance. Instead their business models to break up the value chains of The participants receive €25,000 in startup financing, free office space in Berlin, coaching sessions, a mentor training of revolutionary ideas, companies prefer to promote existing sectors and thus conquer their markets, are course, and access to the partners’ international network. “Through the program we help the startups get through the first small improvements. But there’s also resistance from being celebrated as creative destroyers. It would be difficult year,” says Jürgen Hopfgartner from Axel Springer Digital Ventures. In return, the accelerator program receives a another direction: Individuals don’t like to change hard to deny that the digital achievements of the IT five percent share of the respective companies. The program concludes with a Demo Day, on which the young company their lives, especially if they don’t see a need for it. pioneers have already substantially changed the way founders have the opportunity to present their business ideas to potential investors we live, think, and work. And the digitization of busi- LOHSE BILD-ZEITUNG/CHRISTIAN PHOTOGRAPHY:: 3-D printing: the next big thing? ness is probably just beginning. The consequences of Nonetheless, the Austrian-American economist Pro- developments such as 3D printing technology can’t fessor Joseph Schumpeter realized over 70 years ago even be predicted as yet. This technology could upend that innovation and progress are not possible if com- entire industries and turn out to be exactly the kind panies and individuals are not willing to radically of pioneering innovation that Professor Robert Gor- change the status quo. The world owes Schumpeter, don so painfully misses.

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THE WORLD’S TOP 20 STARTUP ECOSYSTEMS

1 Silicon Valley (USA) 6 Boston (Massachusetts, USA) 11 Paris (France) 16 Waterloo (Canada) 2 Tel Aviv (Israel) 7 London (UK) 12 (Australia) 17 Singapore 3 (USA) 8 Toronto (Canada) 13 São Paulo (Brazil) 18 (Australia) 4 (Washington, USA) 9 (Canada) 14 Moscow (Russia) 19 Bangalore (India) 5 (USA) 10 (Illinois, USA) 15 Berlin (Germany) 20 Santiago (Chile) Throughout history, self-employed workers Six of the world’s top ten startup ecosystems are located in the USA. However, other regions are also showing exponential growth. The Startup Ecosystem 2012 study created the above ranking on the basis of the following criteria: entrepreneurial activity, use of have been more common than employees venture capital, performance, use of new technologies, support qualities, talent, and specialization

STARTUP STANDOUTS— SOME COMPARISONS

Silicon Valley is still the Number One region for startups, but other locations have 20% 97% 11 hours of all entrepreneurs in of the entrepreneurs in Paris have is the length of the average an independently acting entrepreneur. In historical entrepreneurial advantages to offer Santiago, Chile, are women. university degrees. In Silicon workday of an entrepreneur in terms, this would be a logical development. What ACTIVATING THE ENTREPRENEUR GENE that leave this center of the IT By comparison, in Silicon Valley Valley, only 42% are college Singapore. In Silicon Valley, the many of us have forgotten is that the form of work that industry far behind that fi gure is 10% graduates equivalent fi gure is 9.95 hours How can the “entrepreneur gene” that slumbers in almost every company has been practiced longest and most widely is not that and every employee be activated? The first question every up-and-coming of the employee but that of the self-employed worker. entrepreneur should ask is: What is my personal theme? That’s because The form of work practiced by the hired laborer and every individual harbors a particular motif relevant to entrepreneurship. It can SUCCESS FACTORS later on by the employee was simply a response to the be a talent, a particular passion, or something one has wanted to do since FOR A STARTUP needs of the age of industrialization and is thus a tem- childhood. Only an individual who has found his or her special theme can feel porary historical phenomenon. It’s very possible that the true entrepreneurial spirit and act on it. Some people immediately realize Every startup company is unique in the future the greatest market success will go to what this theme could be, but others have to look for it. Many people don’t and goes through its own development the companies who manage to inspire and exploit the admit their own themes to themselves because they don’t see any possibility process. The keys to its success might kind of entrepreneurial spirit that the Apple found- be very traditional ones, such as Specialization State support Art = entrepreneurship of earning money with them and founding a company on this basis. Others are In order to compete with Silicon In countries such as Canada, There is a connection between er Steve Jobs defined in his legendary speech at Stan- the technology that is available, or, almost afraid of their own talent and protect themselves with excuses such Valley, other regions must Singapore, and Russia, there is a lively art and music scene and a ford University as a combination of courage, heart, as “I don’t have any time for that now, I can do it later when I don’t have to work alternatively, success could hinge on differentiate themselves and focus much investment in promotional successful entrepreneur scene. and intuition. If that were to happen, corporate cul- anymore.” And yet the workplace is precisely where the real entrepreneurial something quite unusual on many themes. Sydney, São Paulo, programs that strengthen joint New York, , and ture would become a culture of entrepreneurs and and Moscow are doing just that entrepreneurship Berlin are good examples spirit can come to life. Once an individual has discovered his or her personal company founders, in which failures as well as prog- theme, passionate commitment generally develops automatically, along ress are part of ultimate success. with two other characteristics that are needed for the foundation of every new “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most company: perseverance and a refusal to be discouraged by failure. certain way to succeed is always to try just one more Years ago, the music industry experienced the will increasingly have to adjust to new contexts and time,” said Dr. Thomas Alva Edison. This brilliant revolutionary power that is unleashed by digitization. customer needs. inventor is said to have personally tried out more than The development of the MP3 format made the indus- In order to avoid having to go on the defensive, 9,000 types of carbon filament before he found the try’s original business model obsolete overnight. At the more and more companies are trying to join forces one that made the incandescent light bulb possible. moment we are experiencing how automobile devel- with the entrepreneur scene. Accelerator and incu- The biographies of many other successful company opment is being pressured by digital technologies. bator programs are proliferating in many major cit- founders show that almost none of them had imme- Google recently announced that it had formed an ies such as Berlin, London, and San Francisco. In diate success with their groundbreaking ideas. None- alliance with General Motors, Audi, and other auto- these programs, companies take on the role of men- theless, they repeatedly took on the risk of failure. SUMMARY makers in order to establish the Android smartphone tors, transfer their knowledge and skills, and help new Professor Peter Hofbauer also needed more than •Creative destruction is the precondition for every software for the infotainment systems of cars. The entrepreneurs by providing them with venture cap- one try before his engine ran the way he wanted it genuine innovation, and innovation is the basis of the long-term goal is a car that drives autonomously. This ital, the companies’ own personnel, or appropriate to. But even if this two-stroke engine, which is being foundation and growth of companies project is not without risks for the automakers: The workspace. In return, these companies profit from praised by the specialist media as a “miracle engine,” •The symbiosis between existing companies and startups more that a car’s digital equipment becomes a pur- the startups’ ideas. Many of these programs are still doesn’t change the world, it still has what it takes to can cause a transformation of industrialized societies chasing criterion, the more pressure is felt in the auto- in their infancy, but they could be the forerunners of a shake up the market for diesel and hybrid engines— •Historically, the form of work that has been practiced makers’ traditional areas of expertise such as skilled transformation of our industrialized society, in which and thus write yet another chapter in the history of most widely is not that of the employee, as people often

engineering and design. In other words, automakers a coworker is seen less as an employee and more as INC.COM GENOME/TELEFONICA, STARTUP PICFOUR; SOURCES: ILLUSTRATIONS: entrepreneurship. assume, but that of the self-employed worker

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Are you planning to create your own company and become self-employed? Are you really passionate about your idea? And, are you more interested in getting enough What Type of Founder Are You? sleep or in ensuring your customers’ satisfaction? Test yourself to fi nd out more

At a startup event, somebody Company founders are a A venture capital firm is asks you what your company very heterogeneous group that interested in your company. 1 does and what your business consists of a wide variety 2 The investor has asked model is. You… you to hold a presentation. How of personalities and character do you plan to proceed? …are perfectly prepared for such moments types. What kind of company so that you can convincingly and concisely pres- founder are you? A hipster You are perfectly prepared and have ent your business concept in just three minutes. answers ready for any in-depth question that After you’re done, you give your listener a fact or a nerd? A networker or a might be asked. But that will hardly be neces- sheet and your business card. 10 points jack-of-all-trades? In a self-test sary, because who wouldn’t want to be a part of your enterprise when you set out to change …provide a lengthy and detailed descrip- that shouldn’t be taken too the world? 5 points tion of the technology on which the product seriously, you can find out is based. Unfortunately, after you’ve finished The PowerPoint presentation is neither your explanation you’ve forgotten what the what your strengths, weaknesses, too long nor too short. You’ve rehearsed original question was. 2 points and aptitudes are. Each it a dozen times in front of the mirror. Your The Computer Freak The Self-actualized Person The Wannabe Millionaire suit is casual but professional-looking. …explain which problem you are solving answer comes with a certain You’re not leaving anything to chance. 10 points You are a real professional in your disci- You have no choice but to found your own Of course you want to found a company, and how you’re doing it. In addition, you talk number of points, letting you pline. You love numbers, programming, company. You really want to achieve some- because it will make you immensely rich! ecstatically and endlessly about how revolution- Money is always needed, so you plan to quickly find out what kind and experimenting, and are willing to thing. You don’t want to waste your energy All you need is a brilliant idea for an online ary and unique your idea is. 5 points keep the appointment. But you don’t need spend an entire night precisely adjusting a and enthusiasm in the cogwheels of a cor- business and a few weeks of marketing of company founder you are. to sell your soul, do you? You’ve always dressed tiny screw in your product. However, be- poration where you toil ten-hour days and work, and the startup company will be sold casually and will continue to do so. 2 points cause you spend your nights at your desk, your supervisors simply shake their heads for mega-bucks to Google, Apple, Ama- you sometimes forget an appointment uncomprehendingly whenever you pro- zon, or whoever. Your plan is simple: To be with a customer that has been scheduled pose an innovative idea. Your head is full of a millionaire by the time you’re 30! After Some media coverage would Your startup company will Although you’ve been pushing for the following day—but that’s what the ideas, which you would all like to imple- all, you don’t want to lag behind the other be nice when your company soon hold a summer party. all the sales channels for team members who studied business ad- ment in order to solve the world’s problems. students you knew at college. However, enters the market. How do What do you have planned? months now, sales are still ministration are there for, right? You only You are convinced that your project will be you don’t understand much about the 3 4 5 get angry when your employees tell you of successful, because you work on it with product that your programmers are cur- you get the pertinent trade media very sluggish. What do you do? customer complaints and ask you to sug- such determination. Your enthusiasm has rently working on. No matter! You know to report on your company? gest improvements. You’re convinced that also spread to your colleagues and employ- how to sell it! You know exactly what to do You have reserved a fashionable rooftop There has to be a mistake in the html any problems that occur are the customer’s ees. Although venture capitalists can be and have convinced everyone you’ve ever The media? Oh no! You might even end up bar in a great downtown location. Champagne code somewhere. There simply can’t be any fault and not yours. It just goes to show helpful, you want to remain true to yourself had to deal with. And because you’re also a having to give an interview. That’s the last thing and caviar will be served, of course. As an up- other possible explanation… 2 points that not everybody is ready for your pio- at any cost. If necessary, you can also be great networker, it’s easy for you to gain you need! You think you urgently need to go and-coming millionaire, as far as you’re con- neering innovations. successful without investors. investors for your startup company. configure a new router now… 2 points cerned a person can’t begin to enjoy a carefree The situation stems from the fact that you lifestyle of savoir-vivre too soon. 10 points are the only person who knows what customers You immerse yourself in the topic. want. You’ll have to do some plain talking at the After only a few night shifts, you know all It will once again be very stressful. A round next team meeting. 10 points TIP You are the team’s creative mind and TIP You are a real entrepreneur who is TIP You probably don’t need any advice about PR work and how to talk to journalists. or two of homemade punch after work is more the company couldn’t survive without your passionate about his work. But watch out! anymore. However, it should be clear to ideas. However, you have to listen to the Although a startup company can be quickly you that founding a company is a lot of hard than sufficient. All that small talk gets on one’s You’ve clearly misunderstood what That’s enough to convince you to publish business administrators now and then established, the real feat is to turn it into a work. You should prepare yourself for the customers really want. You contact all of the your first press release. 5 points nerves anyway… 2 points because you need to generate some sales if profi tably operating business. Reality will unavoidable setbacks and perhaps even for people who are interested in your business you want to get ahead. catch up with you sooner or later. failure. You will then have to learn from You commission a PR agency, because the You have reserved a table at the nice Ital- and ask them to suggest improvements… 5 points your mistakes and slog on. As everyone whole affair should be organized as profession- ian restaurant around the corner. What’s more, knows, it’s hardest to make your fi rst Giovanni recently added organic dishes and million… ally as possible. It goes without saying that you IN OCTOBER 2013, A SELF-TEST FOR ENTREPRENEURS APPEARED select the most renowned PR agency with the pizza with tofu salami to his menu. You’ll dress IN A SPECIAL EDITION OF THE MAGAZINE VENTURECAPITAL – DAS MAGAZIN FÜR INVESTOREN UND ENTREPRENEURE. WITH THE KIND best contacts. The costs will eventually be re- up as a clown, and every employee will PERMISSION OF SUSANNE GLÄSER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF VENTURE- CAPITAL, WE HAVE USED THAT QUIZ AS A BASIS FOR PREPARING Up to 22 points 23–34 points 35 points or more OUR OWN TEST. ILLUSTRATIONS: PICFOUR ILLUSTRATIONS: couped anyway. 10 points get a small, inexpensive gift. 5 points

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“Tiger & Turtle—Magic Mountain” is a sculpture in Duisburg that visitors can walk on. Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth built the sculpture, which is now one of the landmarks of the Ruhr district

Ruhrgebiet 2.0: Numerous initiatives to further the region’s structural transfor- mation are being launched this year. Evonik THE RUHR REGION NEEDS A NEW LOOK. It’s the region’s coal industry began in the 1950s. But where still strongly marked by the images of smoking chim- is the Ruhr region heading? And what will it look like Magazine takes a look at the situation neys, red-hot steel, and soot-covered faces of miners when it gets there? TEXT RICARDO TARLI A Region on the that are locked into the collective consciousness. In this People often complain about the “museumization” region, world-renowned companies such as Krupp and of the Ruhr district. Such concerns also reflect the fear Thyssen began shaping an industrial society in the 19th that the region might be going nowhere in economic century. The heart of the region beats on, but at a dif- terms. The low number of new businesses established ferent pace. Other parts of Germany have moved ahead in the Ruhr reinforces this fear. However, this point of of the Ruhr district, which has undergone the biggest view overlooks the dynamic forces that are unleashed

Move—But to Where? PRALL WESTEND61/CHRISTOPH PHOTOGRAPHY: structural transformation in Europe since the crisis in when former mining sites are converted to new

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The Ruhr district is a lively and dynamic economic center that is rich in innovation. Despite the difficulties it has experienced, no other former coal mining region has managed structural transformation as well. That’s because economic development and social responsibility go hand in hand here. Michael Vassiliadis, Chairman of the Mining, Chemical, and Energy Industrial Union

Events: Consol Park in Gelsenkirchen is a big attraction, thanks to its theater and museum on the site of the former Consolidation mine

The Ruhr district has a long tradition of integration. Its residents learned much earlier than anyone else in Germany what it means to live together Industry: The biomass cogeneration plant in Moers converts green waste from the area into energy with people from different backgrounds. The region has been enriched by this—culturally, economically, and as a society. Prof. Ulrich Lehner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ThyssenKrupp AG

uses. For example, the Zollverein Coal Mine Indus- The employment situation and worker productivity Ruhr – Modellstadt Bottrop” project is a perfect exam- trial Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Essen, have also improved, as workers in Essen create over ple of the “new urban economy” in action. The goal became well known beyond the region through the €80,000 more value per capita on average each year here is to implement climate-friendly urban restruc- RUHR.2010 campaign, which earned the Ruhr recog- than their counterparts in Stuttgart, Munich, and Düs- turing while also safeguarding the city as an indus- nition as a European Capital of Culture. The Zollverein seldorf. The debt clock at the city’s website has also trial location. The ambitious project resulted from a complex is considered a model for successful land-use been running backwards since the beginning of 2014. regional competition staged by Initiativkreis Ruhr in conversion and neighborhood development. The for- In fact, Essen is lowering its debt for the first time in the spring of 2010. Initiativkreis Ruhr is an association mer coal preparation plant at the Zollverein now hous- three decades—by 71 euro cents each second. of 66 leading companies, including Evonik Industries, es the Ruhr Museum, which has become a huge success whose goal is to implement forward-looking strate- since it opened in 2010. The transformation can’t be stopped gies and projects that further the development of the The transformation of the region from an economy Ruhr district and ensure its long-term competitiveness. BJÖRN FUCHS FOTO: A new landscape is emerging based on heavy industry and natural resource con- Klaus Engel: The “museumization” criticism also makes no sense in sumption to an environmentally friendly, mixed-sec- Heavy industry still leads the way Publicizing the “Land of Startups” the light of the huge creative potential being released tor economy that rewards creativity and personal com- Companies that develop the technologies of the future, The Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries by changes that affect a large portion of society and mitment can no longer be stopped. The “new urban such as systems for energy efficiency and digital com- AG has served as the moderator of Initiativkreis Ruhr since October 2013. Engel’s goal is to make the Ruhr well an extensive geographical area. The industrial mon- economy” propagated by the economic assistance pro- munications, have gradually come to dominate the known far beyond the region as a “land of startups.” uments in the Ruhr are not silent witnesses to a glori- grams in the region illustrates just how extensive this economic landscape. Nevertheless, the financial crisis “Conditions are outstanding here for startups,” says Engel. fied past. They are living symbols of transformation structural transformation has been. The success of made it clear that basic-material sectors—i.e. the chem- “We have a dense network of universities, technical and the reawakening of an entire region that no lon- products and services in this economy is determined ical, plastic, iron, steel, and metalworking industries— colleges, and research institutes, a strong industrial base and ger relies on the legends of its past but can instead pres- by whether they are able to address the social chal- are still the backbone of the regional economy in the business environment, and excellent infrastructure. If the Ruhr is to continue prospering in the future as an economic ent firm evidence of a promising future. Consider the lenges associated with demographic developments Ruhr. This industrial core, and the services linked to it, and industrial center, it won’t be enough to simply hold amazing story of Essen, which nearly went bankrupt and climate change, while at the same time spurring therefore continue to play a crucial role in the region’s on to the companies that are already here. Instead, we will in 2009. The city increased its nominal gross domestic economic growth. economic development. Innovation is important here, have to put just as much effort into attracting new companies product (GDP) by nearly 40 percent between 2000 and In 2009 Bochum proclaimed itself Germany’s first and that’s why companies in the Ruhr cooperate with and supporting young entrepreneurs with their startups.” 2011, thereby outpacing Munich, Berlin, and Cologne. model city for electric mobility. The “Innovation City university research centers in the region. The new

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North Rhine-Westphalia is a land of entrepreneurs. Every year, tens of thousands of new companies liven up its business scene. Creative mavericks produce new ideas and have the perseverance to successfully launch them on the market. NRW also has a major competitive advantage because the many companies and people here provide a huge market for the products and services developed by the startups. Hannelore Kraft, Premier of North Rhine-Westphalia

Culture: Ruins of walls and parts of the foundation of the Mont Ceris mining facility in Herne were transformed into an open-air sculpture by the artist Herman Prigann

If stasis is the opposite of gentrification, then I’m very pleased with the pace at which we’re moving. The Ruhr district is home to truly outstanding Shopping: Manufactum’s fi rst luxury department store is located at the former Waltrop mine, whose shaft design is one of the most attractive in the Ruhr region institutions with widespread appeal in the area of culture in particular. We can therefore compete with the major cities of the world. Benedikt Stampa, Director of KONZERTHAUS DORTMUND e. V.

companies that have emerged from the mining reclaim land that had been mined for decades. These a single community. For example, residents of the city nation of the coal industry has also caused paternalis- industry promote the structural transformation of the reclaimed areas are now the sites of parks, recreation- of Hamm at the eastern edge of the Ruhr district have tic structures to wither away. The feeling of protection Ruhr district in other ways as well. For example, RAG al facilities, residential complexes, commercial prem- a completely different mentality than people in Wesel offered by rigid social structures has given way to a Montan Immobilien GmbH, a subsidiary of RAG AG, ises, and a vibrant cultural and recreational scene. In at the western edge of the region. However, regard- society marked by individualism and mobility. Shared owns nearly 12,000 hectares of land, making it the last addition, RUHR.2010 – European Capital of Culture less of any supposed or actual differences between experiences have become rare. However, if the peo- “big landowner” in North Rhine-Westphalia. The com- spurred new cultural developments throughout the the citizens of the Ruhr, the current global challenges, ple of the region come to view this dynamic yet pain- pany plays a major role in the development and con- entire region. Today the Ruhr Museum and Museum international competition, and tight municipal bud- ful process of change as a different kind of common version of public spaces, thereby improving the qual- Folkwang in Essen are lighthouses in the Ruhr’s cul- gets make stronger cooperation imperative. experience, a stronger feeling of cohesiveness and a ity of life in the region. One successful example of its tural landscape, and their impact extends far beyond Still, the initiatives launched to promote such coop- new regional self-confidence can emerge. If that hap- work is the new Mont Cenis district center in Herne. the region. eration are being fiercely resisted by some in this pens, the Ruhr district could transform itself into an The center includes a continuing education academy time of structural transformation. Campaigns such experiment that preserves the old even as it welcomes with an attractive architectural design. The compa- A new sense of home builds self-confidence as RuhrStadt (Ruhr City) stoke fears of a loss of identi- the new. ny was also responsible for the redevelopment of the The wide range of recreational options in the Ruhr ty rather than inspiring hope for regional development former pit heap and coal storage facility in Dortmund- district is one of the main reasons why young college that will generate economic growth. The proponents Ellinghausen, which now houses IKEA’s biggest distri- graduates remain in the region and urgently needed of cooperation dismiss such arguments as manifes- SUMMARY bution center worldwide. skilled professionals move there. Large-scale cultur- tations of local patriotism and “parochial thinking.” • The basic-material sectors—the chemical, plastic, al events, and soccer especially, are helping to create They want to strengthen institutions such as the “Ruhr iron, and steel industries—are still the backbone of the Inspiration from cultural lighthouses a new sense of home through common experiences. Parliament,” which is the assembly body of the Ruhr regional economy The Ruhr district is still regarded by most Germans That also makes the region attractive to newcomers, Regional Association. The RUHR.2010 campaign did • Criticism of the “museumization” that has accompa- as a depressed region. Opel AG’s announcement that particularly young people. in fact promote cooperation on the regional level, as nied the transformation makes no sense, because the it will close its plant in Bochum at the end of this year cities and municipalities pulled together in a rare dis- process of change also unleashes great creativity. hasn’t helped to change this view. However, a clos- United or divided? play of unity on various issues. • There is no “Ruhr district” as such. The region is not a er look at the Ruhr reveals a region that’s extreme- A lot of people talk about a “Ruhr mentality,” but given Nevertheless, the far-reaching structural trans- unifi ed community but rather a polycentric entity ly varied. For example, the ecological restoration of the polycentric nature of region with its 53 municipal- formation in the Ruhr region is being accompanied by consisting of 53 municipalities, including 42 organized old pit heaps and coal mines has allowed people to ities, it’s not really possible to view the Ruhr district as fears of displacement and a loss of identity. The elimi- in four administrative districts

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58_Evonik_01_14_EN 58 21.03.14 10:30 59_Evonik_01_14_EN 59 21.03.14 10:30 60 WE ASKED WE ASKED 61 1 2 3 4 5 6 DR. MARIANA STEFAN AND CHRISTINA CHRISTIAN VATER PROF. STEPHAN URSULA MARIA BOZESAN CHRISTOPH SIGEL CASSALA He founded “Deutsch- A. JANSEN LANG The investor, author, and In 2012 these highly A freelance journalist land rundet auf,” a fund- The President of A leading consultant, expert in the new invest- motivated brothers based in Berlin, Cassala raising campaign that Zeppelin University and author, and speaker, Lang ment trend is a full mem- worked long hours to has been studying the enables people to help holder of the Chair for runs her own company, W hat Is Needed to Create a Company? ber of the Club of Rome establish the metal-pro- digital economy and socially disadvantaged Strategic Organization & Berufungsberatung, and the founder of several cessing company SCS startups for many years. children in Germany by Financing focuses his which has won numer- This question is asked by everyone who contemplates founding his or her own company. But which companies. She is a lead- Metall. This year they She writes for a number donating just a few cents, attention on the support ous awards. She empha- preconditions do you have to fulfi ll in order to turn a business idea into a successful startup? To fi nd out ing expert on social entre- plan to expand their small of online magazines and he writes about given to startups that are sizes the importance of preneurship and sustain- business into an industri- about Germany’s Inter- the factors that make established by college “vocation” for the estab- more, we asked company founders and other experts from a variety of sectors about their opinions able fi nance strategies al-scale enterprise net startup scene entrepreneurs successful. students lishment of a company

Don’t be afraid to Having the New firms must Founding a firm is Five hypotheses for Your strengths and make mistakes right skills be well planned like building a house entrepreneurs motivation count An entrepreneurial spirit and a The essential success The most important fac- 2 convincing manner are, by them- 4 factors for a new com- 6 tor is the company’s selves, not enough to successfully build pany are passion, persever- founder. Does the proposed up a company. Alongside a good busi- ance, and teamwork. company match your skills, ness idea that has been carefully thought To start off with, you need strengths, and talents? Even through, entrepreneurs also need addi- to be absolutely convinced of more importantly, is it some- tional traits such as diligence, persever- your idea. You have to firm- “You need thing that you really like doing— ance, optimism, and the ability to prop- ly believe in it and be deter- something you look forward to erly handle potential clients so that they mined to turn it into reali- many helping when you get up in the morn- become satisfied customers. ty. Next, you need to have hands to be ing? If so, the concept will The most important thing Great motivation, lots of overtime, The decision to establish a company is never great resilience and per- Researchers still don’t fully know be unique and the entrepre- 1 is to have a strong desire and the ability to make tough decisions 3 easy. In the digital sector, entrepreneurs need severance, even if you suf- successful; 5 what refugees from hierarchy, rule- neur will be a top perform- to realize your own potential are the most important success factors to be extremely flexible and dedicated. The team fer setbacks and challenges— you can’t breakers, and people who are torn between er who radiates success. We through your own idea. This in this undertaking. Only people who often consists of only a few people, especially during because that will happen on knowing and not-yet-knowing need, in refer to this as one’s “vocation.” incentive must be so strong that firmly stand by their decisions have the the startup phase. As a result, a young college gradu- an almost daily basis. You also do it on order to be successful. I would nevertheless So before founding a com- it brings you through the tough chance of achieving their goals over the ate can quickly become not only the managing direc- need great flexibility so that your own” like to offer five hypotheses: pany, young entrepreneurs times. The actual idea and its long term. tor, but also the head of human resources and mar- you can always adapt your- 1. “Future perfect” thinking: Although should take the time to careful- implementation are initially of The employees also have to be flexi- keting as well as a PR expert, and, last but not least, self to changes, strike out in Christian Vater it’s something high-schoolers find diffi- ly reflect on their plans and ask secondary importance. About ble, especially during the startup phase. the person who buys the coffee powder for the office. new directions, and think out cult to do, successful entrepreneurs are themselves, “What is my moti- 80 percent of a startup’s suc- That’s why it’s important to use soft skills At the same time, an entrepreneur has to be able of the box. Founding a firm is good at perfectly communicating complet- vation? What am I especial- cess is due to a good team. You for motivating the employees and gain- to act quickly, because even the best idea is worth- like building a house. A good ed futures. ly good at?” Another important need colleagues who are equally ing their loyalty. less if a competitor implements it earlier and puts it concept looks simple and per- 2. Ability to reflect on failures: As many question is: Which tasks in the qualified and who complement Last but not least, entrepreneurs online. Copycats are often more successful than the fect on paper. However, all entrepreneurs demonstrate, Icarus and the future company correspond one another. They have to be need the backing and support of their people who have original ideas, because they avoid kinds of unexpected chal- phoenix are indeed mystically linked to one to my strengths, and for which just as motivated as you are, and families and friends. making the same mistakes and adapt the successful lenges can arise during the another. But you can only benefit from that ones do I need suitable part- should even be better than you concepts. concept’s implementation. if you reflect on failure patterns. ners? For each new compa- in their own disciplines. You will Entrepreneurs should be really passionate about Everything takes longer and 3. Resilience: Entrepreneurs always bounce ny, my motto is: Find your own get the capital for your idea’s their ideas. People who establish companies just to requires more work than was back, and they organize their companies vocation, because your talents implementation if you real- get ahead quickly will often fail. If you aren’t con- originally planned. in such a way that they can always adjust to are your most valuable busi- ly believe in yourself and know vinced of your own idea, you will find it difficult to The most important thing disruptions. ness factors. how to address potential invest- successfully manage a company. That will make the in all this is to have people 4. Strong networks: Entrepreneurs think of ment risks. That’s when the firm uninteresting for potential buyers and investors, who support your idea and their friends and networks when they are actual work begins. You need and you won’t be able to make a living from it either. who implement it in a about to enter the next financing round or lots of courage, flexibility, and That’s why you need a lot of courage, energy, and competent, responsible, need a critical assessment of their concepts. panache, because everything perseverance in order to put a startup company on a and creative manner. 5. Are universities really the breeding will turn out differently from solid footing. grounds for graduates who will one day what you originally thought. be successful entrepreneurs? Many of the You also shouldn’t be afraid to entrepreneurs during Germany’s “econom- make mistakes. To paraphrase ic miracle” of the 1950s and 1960s didn’t Bertolt Brecht, you could say have college degrees. that those who take risks can lose, but those who don’t take

PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRISTIAN KLANT, STEFAN GIHRING, PRIVATE(4) STEFAN CHRISTIAN KLANT, PHOTOGRAPHY: risks have already lost.

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Entrepreneurs ©istockphoto/CEFutcher and Their Genes

Is an appetite for risk-taking part of our DNA? Tom Schimmeck writes about an issue that is being hotly debated by researchers ILLUSTRATION PETER PICHLER MY OUR EDUCATION FACILITIES

RESEARCHERS are currently on the look- pares the DNA of prehistoric human beings Patterson believes that an explanation of out for the “entrepreneur gene,” the “mon- with the human genome of today. economic development in terms of genet- ey gene,” and the “success gene.” They’re “I’m a data guy,” Patterson explains. After ics would be “fairly implausible—where- searching the human genome for predispo- studying mathematics at Cambridge Univer- as the situation for prostate cancer, for sitions toward risk-taking and inventiveness. sity, he worked for two decades as a code- example, is quite different.” Above all, he The field these researchers are exploring is breaker at the British intelligence agency says, it’s “dangerous to make genetic com- known as “genoeconomics.” GCHQ, which was recently made famous by parisons between various groups of peo- An article published in the American Edward Snowden, and at US agencies. This ple and thereby ignore all cultural effects.” Economic Review in fall 2012 by two US was followed by a decade of work on Wall He offers a “stupid example” of that: Let’s economists, Dr. Quamrul Ashraf and Dr. Street at a hedge fund that employed math- assume that we want to find out more about Oded Galor, sparked tremendous interest. Its ematicians as financial forecasters. people who eat lots of pasta. We would authors asserted that the per capita income of In 2001 Patterson asked himself: Where have to collect genetic samples from a lot a nation depends partly on the genetic diver- are the most interesting and complex data- of Italians and a lot of Norwegians. We’d sity of its population. The more diversity, bases today? He found them in the field of find out, first of all, that the Italians eat a lot the more innovation, they argued—because biology and moved to MIT to do genome more pasta than the Norwegians, and sec- genetic diversity means more cognitive abil- research. According to Patterson, genetic ondly, that the genes of these two groups ities. Journalists promptly asked, “Does our research is currently “awash in DNA codes are different. And then? “We wouldn’t financial future depend on our genes?” from all over the world.” How much of his have discovered anything really useful,” Other scientists—geneticists, biologists, life has he spent working at a computer? he concludes. physicians, and anthropologists—were scan- “Oh, quite a lot!” he says laughing. That’s because such research confus- dalized. More than a dozen Harvard profes- Behind the current dispute in the sci- es correlation with causality and ends up Dortmund ©Gerber Architekten sors wrote a devastating critique of the arti- entific community stands an age-old ques- comparing apples with swimming trunks. cle. They claimed that the authors’ “weak tion: What portion of ourselves, our per- Patterson believes that the message that data and erroneous methods” had led to “bad sonality and our behavior, is hereditary? “I is actually conveyed by some social scien- Anyone who is in a classroom situation as a student or teacher wants to have a modern environment that meets their needs. That’s science” that was “consistently inexact.” think it’s likely that many characteristics of tists is obviously that poor people are poor why, the world over, HOCHTIEF develops and builds educational facilities in which learning and teaching is fun. Take, for example, the Why was this counterattack so energet- human behavior have a substantial genetic because they have bad genes, and there’s “Dortmunder U”. In a joint venture at a downtown location in the city of Dortmund, we are realizing a new urban quarter for education, art ic? “The authors really did bad work,” says component,” Patterson speculates. “How- nothing they can do about it—it’s just bad and creativity. On the site of a former brewery, two vocational colleges for a total of 6,000 students will be developed by 2015 in addi- Dr. Nick Patterson from the Broad Institute, ever, in many cases it’s not just one magical luck. “I believe this is a very unattractive tion to a competence center for creative business and a public garage, thus creating one of the biggest school campuses in Germany. a joint research center of Harvard Universi- gene. Rather, it’s due to thousands of things line of reasoning. I’d rather find out when ty and the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- in the genome that might make an individu- we human beings developed in Africa, and If you ask us: This learning environment deserves top grades. nology (MIT). Patterson too is interested in al somewhat more of a risk-taker, for exam- how many of us there were at that time,” Pat- human genetic variation, which he terms ple.” But even if it were possible to find some terson concludes. “the heritage of our species.” Together with weak genetic component of this predisposi- But now he has no more time to talk to colleagues from all over the world, he com- tion, it wouldn’t be significant, he adds. us—his computer is calling. Turning Vision into Value.

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62_Evonik_01_14_EN 62 21.03.14 12:33 63_Evonik_01_14_EN 63 21.03.14 12:34 www.evonik.com

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