Start-ups: "Germany has no capital problem, but a founder problem"

Düsseldorf. Philipp Baaske joins the interview online. He, a type with shoulder-length hair, sits in his new office at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Not too long ago, he was the CEO of his own biotech company, Nanotemper, which he founded. It develops biophysical measuring devices for basic research, biotechnology, and the pharmaceutical industry.

But then, in May 2025, he received a call from the LMU president. He wanted Baaske to become Vice President for Entrepreneurship. The job: to reduce bureaucracy in order to enable more spin-offs. "That was high-risk," says Baaske. Others had warned him: the LMU and bureaucracy were so different from the start-up world, he could fail.

But Baaske is actually never afraid. At least not of anything to do with money. And so he stepped down as CEO of Nanotemper and is now only active as a shareholder and so-called Executive Chairman - in order to pursue a completely different goal.