I do not sign a contract with someone I do not trust
The contract records the agreement. It does not create the relationship.
About
Where you come from should not decide where you can go.
Kirchleus, a village of 250+ people in Upper Franconia. Forest, beer, football. My mother a kindergarten teacher, my father an electrician, unemployed for much of my youth. Capital: none. Network: none. Everyone deserves a real chance.
But I had access to something extraordinarily powerful: free state education. Grammar school. University. A doctorate — here at LMU.
The state invested in me. Teachers, professors and a business angel called Volker Hofmann believed in me and gave me a chance. One of those chances became NanoTemper in 2008.
I studied physics with a focus on biophysics at the University of Bayreuth and did my doctorate at LMU Munich. In 2008 I co-founded NanoTemper Technologies with Stefan Duhr as an LMU spin-out. I led the company until the end of 2024 and am today a shareholder and Executive Chairman.
Since October 2025 I have been Vice President for Entrepreneurship at LMU Munich. In 2026 my book Ein ehrbarer Entrepreneur was published by Herder.
Outside work: running, football, science fiction, and time with the people I love. I value small things and I like being surprised by people.
In 2006 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. That is the reason NanoTemper builds instruments for drug discovery — and why I find it hard to be patient with a process that costs a therapy eighteen months.
The honorable entrepreneur
A concept from the 13th century that has aged remarkably well.
The idea of the honorable merchant emerged in the Hanseatic League. Trust first, then contracts. It describes almost exactly how I want to run a company.
Responsible to employees and to society
I do nothing that damages the environment or the place I work in.
Proud to pay taxes
I grew up through a tax-financed education system. Paying into it is not a burden. It is the deal. — 44.7 million euros in taxes paid in Germany, through end of 2024.
Value beyond profit
Lasting success comes from doing what is right for both business and society. That takes longer and it holds.
Recognition
2026
Senator h. c. of the Bundeswirtschaftssenat, awarded at the Hamburg Hafengeburtstag on 9 May 2026.
Prizes
German Innovation Prize, German Founders Award, Technology Transfer Prize of the German Physical Society.
Lists
Capital „Top 40 under 40“. NanoTemper repeatedly named TOP100 Innovator of the Year.
Committees
IHK München & Oberbayern, committee for industry and innovation.
What does an honorable entrepreneur owe society?
My book, Ein ehrbarer Entrepreneur, is part memoir, part manifesto — the real story of building something that lasts.
Read the book