Marcel Hermann once dreamed of being an astronaut, then became a nuclear engineer at RWE, until Fukushima ended that path overnight. After detours through the Mittelstand and private equity firm Aurelius, he eventually went independent, buying companies without succession plans, and found himself crying behind the factory building on his second day owning one, realizing he'd made a mistake.

In this conversation, Marcel speaks openly about the insolvency he had to announce to 50 employees in 2024, and about what the time since has taught him about himself in therapy. Instead of retreating, he took another risk, took over a pharmaceutical production facility with 50 employees, and kept going.

In the end, the conversation turns to what success actually means. Marcel's answer has little to do with money and a lot to do with the ability to keep getting back up, without losing the fun along the way.

In this conversation we discuss:

- how Fukushima destroyed Marcel's entire career plan overnight

- what really happens during corporate restructurings

- how a fabricated sales pipeline and a tyrannical managing director led to insolvency

- what it felt like to announce insolvency to 50 employees

- what systemic therapy has to do with facing your own guilty conscience

- why Marcel took another risk despite a failed company

- how AI is used under controlled conditions in his new pharmaceutical production

- why success, for Marcel, is mostly about having fun

Timestamps:

00:00 — Intro

00:57 — "Jack of all trades": explaining Marcel's job

03:42 — From industrial engineering into nuclear power

04:31 — Fukushima: the abrupt end of a corporate career

07:03 — What really happens during restructurings

10:15 — The defining moment: landing his first own deal

17:18 — Leaving RWE: "You're just not passionate about it"

22:19 — Going independent: buying companies without succession

26:49 — The day he announced insolvency to 50 employees

27:13 — "We made a mistake here"

33:16 — What failure taught him about himself

35:06 — Systemic therapy: talking to his own guilty conscience

42:21 — Taking over the pharmaceutical production facility

45:26 — Using AI under controlled conditions

48:34 — Why middle management may become obsolete

50:25 — What success really means to Marcel

52:48 — The most important advice: try everything and get back up