Official Follow-up Report

At the invitation of Prof. Dr. Leo Brecht, Max Meier was a guest speaker in the lecture series “Entrepreneurial Founding Process.” The event took place on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, and Thursday, October 30, 2025, with Max Meier's guest lecture taking place on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

Max Meier is an entrepreneur, managing partner, and lawyer, and is one of the youngest supervisory board members in the entire DACH region. In his lecture “Founding – From Idea to Execution – Methods from Practice,” he provided practical business and legal insights throughout the entire corporate cycle – from founding to sale – and linked these with personal anecdotes from his own entrepreneurial career.

Using a structured five-step model, Meier guided the students through the various phases of a company – from the initial idea to a successful exit. In doing so, he drew on his diverse experience as a founder, managing director, and supervisory board member in the food & beverage, bioenergy, and asset management/finance sectors.

The highly practical nature of the lecture was particularly impressive: Meier presented real illustrative material from his entrepreneurial activities, including

• original trademark applications for his companies,

• development calculations and business plan excerpts,

• SWOT analyses, and

• pictures from everyday company life and from production and filling processes.

  
  

This content was supplemented by detailed anecdotes that gave students an authentic insight into the challenges and success factors of entrepreneurship.

At the end of the approximately two-hour event, the participants joined Meier in examining three case studies of entrepreneurs who have established successful business models in supposedly saturated markets:

• Mate Rimac (automotive industry)

• Sam Altman (software/AI)

• Ben Francis (sportswear)

The students actively participated with questions, assessments, and their own ideas, which led to a lively and interactive exchange.

The lecture was very well attended and received consistently positive feedback. It not only offered participants valuable insights into the theory and practice of starting a business, but also inspiration and motivation to pursue their own entrepreneurial paths.