Venture Builder

Business model development for solar parking lots. Software product development. Service design. Market analysis and segmentation for solar parking lots. Value stream design & end-to-end. Go-to-market.

Parking4Future is a young startup focused on solar parking lots for industrial clients. Specifically, it turns sealed parking lots into decentralized solar power plants. A key focus is the circular economy of the construction materials for the canopy, which should also be low-emission. The goal is to simplify and accelerate building solar parking lots for industrial clients through a platform that provides pre-vetted suppliers, skilled workers, and service providers.

• Market and competitive analysis, including interviews with companies in the sector
• Customer segmentation using outcomes-based innovation through interviews with the Jobs-to-be-Done methodology
• Designing the strategic and technical unique selling proposition
• Initiating and leading a collaboration with CEMEX Switzerland
• Mapping the entire supply and value chain (end-to-end)
• Designing an evaluation system for potential suppliers and service providers
• Business modeling, profitability for industrial solar parking
• Preparing customer presentations
• Designing a service design concept
• Gaining market insights
• Initiating a joint innovation project with CEMEX Switzerland and architects from the USA
• Developing a PV calculator

• Business model development & operations
• Product and concept development
• Tech architecture design
• Fundraising
• Customer jobs, market research, competitive analysis
• Scrum
• LEAN
• TRIZ
• Value stream mapping

SmartCloudFarming is an agritech startup developing soil analysis and monitoring technologies using remote sensing and neural networks. The company created patented software to remotely monitor soil carbon content and moisture over time. The mission is to bring trust and transparency to carbon measurement in agriculture.

• Turning a pure technology into a usable and valuable product concept
• Outlining all planned product and service offerings/upgrades for the next 5 years
• Developing an architecture for the complete offering
• Concept design of soil data pipelines for AI applications in agriculture
• Competitive analysis & defining the USP—both strategic and technical
• Business modeling, strategy design & execution
• Market research and calculating unit economics/cost per unit
• Customer surveys and research with Barilla/Italy using the Jobs-to-be-Done framework
• Fundraising, grant applications, competition entries
• Managing business operations
• Designing public appearance and communication, copywriting
• Identifying relevant B2B customer segments
• Defining customer jobs to be done for those segments
• Developing a holistic & modular product concept
• Validating the value proposition
• Validating pricing in key European and North American markets
• Technology transfer agreement with Fraunhofer AISEC
• Public funding over EUR 750,000 & investment commitments over EUR 1.3 million

• Product & go-to-market strategy
• Tokenomics
• Market analysis (tokens/coins)

RXXO was a blockchain startup that developed a new protocol for blockchain domains and token curated registries. The project later pivoted into the NotQ initiative. InitiativeNotQ was the crypto equivalent of InitiativeQ—a digital currency and payment system—and aimed to be a crypto store of value similar to gold. It is now called UniversalUnit.

• Advising on strategy & token curated registry launch
• Designing tokens and tokenomics

• Member of Innovation Advisory Board @TE Connectivity
• Licensed Practitioner InnoSurvey™
• Jobs-to-be-Done Specialist
• Technology consultant & scout
• Futurist
• Continuous improvement (KVP)
• Innovation architect & strategy consultant for startups
• Product & concept design
• Data visualization (Tableau)
• UI/UX
• Future research for renowned futurist Gerd Leonhard

Designed and produced a 3D-printed product from wood waste for the B2C sector with Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (project in planning).

Redesigned transport and urban infrastructure in Kolkata with Global Policy Incubator (project in planning).

Member of the innovation board of a large U.S. automotive and industrial company. Advised on agritech and agri-food market topics.

Conducted data-driven innovation analyses and strategy design for SMEs in southern Germany using InnoSurvey™ by Innovation 360 Group/Sweden. Identified jobs to be done and customer value propositions.

Supported early-stage startups in Austria and Switzerland on strategy (marketing, launch, product) and performed analyses including Porter’s Five Forces and PESTELD.

• Interim quality manager for Nordsee One
• Project lead for material qualification GFRP @ GMA Engineering
• Type certification lead for wind turbines @ GMA

Nordsee One was RWE Innogy’s offshore wind project. It aimed to install 54 turbines at sea to generate 1.2 billion kWh of power.

• Quality assurance for 54 turbines, components, and related quality processes
• Analyzing client requirements and reflecting them in quality agreements
• Designing, implementing, and tracking activities from customer demands and internal QS guidelines
• Preparing inspection and test plans for turbine components
• Planning and coordinating project-specific communication on inspections, QS status, and defect management
• Representing QS goals, managing QS processes, and recommending new QS measures
• Customer support and supplier development
• Defining QS agreements, standards, and setting up project and communication structure until project was retendered

Innovation projects/wind energy:

• Developed a PLM strategy to extend turbine life for Vattenfall AB, Sweden (adopted by Vattenfall)
• Initiated and concepted an innovation project for real-time turbine condition monitoring and preventive maintenance with SAP SE (not pursued further)

• Supervised non-destructive rail inspections
• Project lead
• Developed innovation and strategy concepts
• Technology & supplier scouting

DB Netz AG: Manages the German rail network infrastructure, including tracks and overhead lines, which are inspected year-round using non-destructive methods to plan preventive maintenance.

• Oversaw and supported rail testing with ultrasound and eddy current
• Measurement data analysis and technical procurements
• Defect assessment and preparing inspection reports
• Wrote NDT test instructions and guided inspection staff
• Planned and led projects, negotiations, and technical specifications
• Managed suppliers and development partners
• Initiated and completed five projects in 18 months
• Improved availability and reliability of inspection tech and vehicles
• Successfully led diverse teams

Innovation projects @ DB Netz AG:

• Designed a startup logic for a central measurement and inspection computer in the new rail testing train (accepted and implemented)
• Established a university partnership between DB Netz AG and Aachen University of Applied Sciences
• Developed innovative business ideas for DB Netz AG
• Designed a cloud-computing strategy for the inspection department
• Generated ideas for new personnel outreach, later awarded

• Developed process technology for manufacturing precision blank forging dies (EU project)

Fraunhofer IPT: An EU-funded project among three European countries and India to develop processes for making precision blank forging dies, previously only done by Japanese firms.

• Process and tool simulations for precision blank forging die manufacturing using FEM software
• Writing project proposals and risk analyses
• Introducing a project structure
• Identifying risks and developing countermeasures

• Java developer