Moderatoren:

• Wolfgang Koydl (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
• Walter Kuemmerle (HBS)
• Stefan Thomke (HBS)

• Axel Bichara (Atlas Venture)
• Michael Block (Apollo)
• Harald Borner (SAP)
• Alexander Broich (Bertelsmann)
• Max Burger-Calderon (Apax)
• Marcel Giacometti (Auda)
• Alex Hoye (GoIndustry)
• Bernd Jung (A.T. Kearney)
• Christian Ketels (Harvard Institute Strategy and Competitiveness)
• Jürgen Lohmeyer (Deutsche Post World Net USA)
• Reiner Löslein (Allianz Capital Partners)
• Gunnar Piening (Ciao)
• Marc Samwer (Ebay/Jamba)
• Rolf-Dieter Schnelle (Generalkonsul BRD)
• Klaus Stegemann (Siemens USA)
• Dr. Heinz-Gerd Stein (Thyssen/HDW/Berliner Bank)
• Heiner Thorborg (President der Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Germany)
• Sylvia Vogt (Bosch USA)

Roland Koch
Der Hessische Ministerpräsident wurde am 24. März 1958 in Frankfurt am Main geboren. Aufgewachsen in Eschborn lebt er noch heute dort mit seiner Ehefrau Anke und den beiden Söhnen Dirk und Peter.

Auf Abitur und Grundwehrdienst folgten ein Jura-Studium und die Niederlassung als selbständiger Rechtsanwalt. Spezialisiert auf Wirtschafts- und Wettbewerbsrecht übte er diesen Beruf bis 1999 aus.

Seit 1998 ist er Landesvorsitzender der CDU Hessen. Jeweils direkt gewählt gehört Roland Koch seit 1987 als Abgeordneter dem Hessischen Landtag an. 1990/91 und 1993-99 war er Vorsitzender der CDU-Landtagsfraktion. Seit dem 7. April 1999 ist er Ministerpräsident des Landes Hessen.

"Versprochen - Gehalten" ist für Roland Koch der Anspruch an sich und seine Politik. Unterrichtsqualität und Unterrichtsversorgung, konsequente Verbrechensbekämpfung sowie Wirtschaft und Arbeit haben bei ihm Priorität. Für ihn gilt: Zuerst kommt Hessen!

Privat ist er dafür bekannt, dass er gerne und gut kocht, hier und da den Tennisschläger schwingt und, wann immer es möglich ist, als Besucher in Kunstmuseen auftaucht.

Wolfgang Koydl
Wolfgang Koydl ist seit 2001 Büroleiter der Süddeutschen Zeitung in Washington.Vorher war er fünf Jahre lang der erste Korrespondent der Süddeutschen Zeitung in Istanbul, von wo aus er das östliche Mittelmeer, den Kaukasus und Zentralasien betreute. ZurB Süddeutschen Zeitung stiess er 1991 als außenpolitischer Kommentator auf der Meinungsseite. Vorherigen Stationen waren unter anderem: Bürochef der deutschen Presse-Agentur in Moskau; dpa Nahost-Korrespondent mit Sitz in Kairo; Ressortleiter bei der Zeitung "Die Presse" in Wien und Redakteur beim World Service der BBC in London.

Walter Kuemmerle
Professor Kuemmerle holds a Master's degree in Industrial Economics from the Koblenz School of Corporate Management in Germany where he graduated best in his class in 1992. In 1996 he earned a Doctorate in Business Administration with a specialization in strategy and business policy at the Harvard Business School. His thesis, "Home Base and Foreign Direct Investment in R&D," was awarded the George S. Dively Award for the best thesis research proposed in 1995 at the Harvard Business School. Kuemmerle also holds a degree in Commerce from Ecole Superieure de Commerce in Lyon/France and has studied both at Kobe University and Keio University in Japan.

Professor Kuemmerle's research has appeared in academic journals, and several bookchapters. Kuemmerle has worked as a consultant to a number of companies. His work experience prior to joining the Harvard Business School was in banking (Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs), consulting (McKinsey & Company), chemicals (Hoechst Group) and pharmaceuticals (Eisai Co. Ltd.).

In 1999, Professor Kuemmerle was named one of two Novartis Fellows at the Harvard Business School. Kuemmerle has taught in Harvard Business School's MBA, doctoral and executive education programs. He is currently teaching a new MBA elective course "International Entrepreneurial Finance," which he developed. He has served as a consultant to financial institutions, large and small corporations and governments around the world. He serves on the board of several companies.

Stefan Thomke
Stefan Thomke, an authority on the management of technology and product innovation, is Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Stefan Thomke was born and grew up in Calw, Germany. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering, a S.M. degree in Operations Research, a S.M. degree in Management from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he was awarded a Lemelson-MIT doctoral fellowship for invention and innovation research. His doctoral dissertation won first prize in the Product Development and Management Association's (PDMA) International Dissertation Proposal Competition.

Prior to joining the Harvard Business School faculty in 1995, Professor Thomke had worked in electronics and semiconductor fabrication and later was with McKinsey & Company in Germany where he served clients in the automotive and energy industries. He lives with his wife and their three wonderful children (ages 11, 8, and 7) in Lexington, Massachusetts where they can occasionally be caught watching Hindi movies and playing videogames on weekends

Michael Block
Mr. Block joined Apollo in 2001. Prior to that time, Mr. Block worked in the Munich office of Apax Partners, founded his own advisory firm for mergers and acquisitions and also co-founded a start-up in the healthcare services sector, where he served as commercial director and operations director. He also worked in the New York and London offices of James D. Wolfensohn Incorporated. Mr. Block began his career in the corporate finance department of Matuschka GmbH in Munich. Mr. Block graduated from Columbia College with an A.B. in History and German and received his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Harald Borner
Harald studied physics in Munich and Oxford, UK, where he earned an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in elementary particle physics, while also completing a BA degree in economics. The award afterwards of a Fellowship at CERN carried him as project leader to French speaking Geneva.

Prior to joining the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 1993, he was then seen in a yeti-like dress code on Cho Oyu on the Nepalese-Tibetan border, at 8201m the world's sixth hightest peak, which his group reached without artificial oxygen or sherpas. The momentum of the downward slide sufficed to propel him through ten years of strategy consulting, mostly in the automotive and high-tech industries. At BCG he also served as a recruiting director for the German speaking offices.

Recently, Harald joined the senior team in SAP's global strategy group, co-located in Walldorf and Palo Alto, CA., which works on core strategic, operational and organisational issues to ensure SAP's further growth.

Alexander Broich
Dr. Alexander Broich ist Senior Vice President Corporate Development bei Bertelsmann in New York. Im Anschluss an seine Ausbildung bei der Daimler Benz AG und sein Betriebswirtschaftstudium promovierte er im Bereich "Unternehmensstrategie". 1995"kam er als Consultant im Bereich Unternehmensentwicklung New Media zu Bertelsmann und arbeitete an der Entwicklung und Umsetzung der Internet Strategie von Bertelsmann, wozu Neugruendungen von Firmen ebenso gehoerten wie Beteiligungen (z.B. Bertelsmann-AOL Partnerschaft). In den folgenden Jahren uebernahm er die Geschaeftsleitung eines medizinischen Fachonlinedienstes in Berlin und eines E-Commerce Unternehmens in London. Ende 2001 wechselte Alexander Broich ins Corporate Development und arbeitet seitdem fuer die weltweiteweite Performanceinitiative "Bertelsmann Excellence" sowie an der Entwicklung einer Wachstumsinitiative fuer die Bertelsmann AG.

Axel Bichara
Axel Bichara joined Atlas Venture in 1993. He focuses on IT investments. Before coming to Atlas Venture, he was Vice President of Product Development at Premise, a venture-backed software company which he co-founded in 1987. Premise was acquired by Computervision in 1991. Axel was lead investor in SolidWorks, a mechanical design automation software company that was acquired in 1997 by Dassault Systemes. Between 1997 and 1999 Axel spent 18 months in Munich to build up Atlas Venture's German activities.

A German citizen, Axel holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Master of Science degree from MIT and a Masters degree in mechanical engineering from Technical University in Berlin.

Board participation includes: Bluespec, Inc., E Ink Corp, Liquid Machines, NaviMedix, Inc, Open Ratings, Inc, Phase Forward, Inc, Salu, Inc

Max Burger-Calderon
studierte Wirtschaftswissenschaften an der Universität St. Gallen und hält einen MBA von der Harvard Business School. Er begann seine Karriere 1978 bei der Dresdner Bank in Singapur. 1980 wechselte Max Burger als Associate zu The Boston Consulting Group nach München. Im Anschluss wurde er Mitglied der Geschäftsleitung der Schweizer Burger Söhne AG, einem der führenden Unternehmen der europäischen Tabakindustrie.

1986 war er Mitbegründer der Corporate Finance Partners AG. Aus dieser sind die heutigen Apax-Gesellschaften in Zürich, München und Madrid hervorgegangen.

Sein Schwerpunkt bei Apax Partners liegt im Business Development, insbesondere in den Bereichen Informationstechnologie, Leveraged Transactions, Management Buy-outs und Management Buy-ins.

Er betreut zahlreiche Apax Portfolio-Unternehmen, ist Mitglied des Executive Committees und war Vorsitzender der European Venture Capital Association (2002-2003).

Marcel Giacometti
President and Chief Executive Officer of Auda Advisor Associates LLC, established the Auda Group's office in New York City in 1989. Although the Harald Quandt family office has been investing in the U.S. since the early 1980s, Marcel Giacometti is the individual who identified the opportunity and established the Auda Group Prior to founding the Auda Group, Marcel Giacometti was Vice President of Corporate Finance at J.P. Morgan Inc., where he worked for ten years. Altogether he has more than 20 years of financial and investment advisory experience. Mr. Giacometti obtained a doctorate degree from the Law School of the University of Zurich and passed the membership exams of the Zurich Bar. In addition, he received an M.B.A. at INSEAD (European Institute of Business Administration) in Fontainebleau, France.

Alex Hoye
Alex and his two co-founders, Andrew Heath and David Nahama, developed from concept to reality a global surplus industrial asset sales institution with a scale and scope of service offerings unseen before 1999. Combining professionalized marketing, technology, knowledge management, and financial capabilty with strategic acquisitions bringing experienced managers and key brands, GoIndustry is now a global market leader in a sector formerly dominated by local or regional family institutions. After building a base in Germany and the UK, the firm is now in 20 countries.

In addition to his newly-appointed role as head of North American operations and Corporate Solutions development, Alex is responsible for integration of key acquisitions, technology and web marketplace development, and strategic growth projects.

Prior to GoIndustry, Alex was a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. with experience in eCommerce, technology migration, market analysis for new market entry, restructuring and M&A throughout the Americas and in Germany. Before that, Alex was a manager at Disney strategic planning for Filmed Entertainment, where he project managed the launch of the Theatrical Productions business unit, finance activities, and M&A projects.

He received a B.A. in Economics and International Relations at Stanford and an MBA at Harvard.

Bernd Jung
ist Senior Berarter und Recruiting Manager für Central Europe bei A.T. Kearney in Düsseldorf. Herr Jung begann 2001 bei A.T. Kearney und hat seither eine Reihe von Projekten im Bereich Controlling, Organisation und Sourcing durchgeführt und geleitet.

Seine Aufgabenschwerpunkte liegen als Kernteammitglied der Operations Practice in den Bereichen Innovation und Sourcing vornehmlich in der Automobilindustrie und bei Logistikunternehmen.

Herr Jung hat bevor er Top-Managementberater wurde 7 Jahre Industrieerfahrung gesammelt. Beim großten europäischen Produzenten für Heizungs- und Warmwasserprodukte war er zuletzt als Leiter der Entwicklung und des Produktmanagements für eine Produktsparte ergebnisverantwortlich.

Herr Jung ist durch seine Ausbildung als Dipl.-Ing. der Elektrotechnik (Universität Wuppertal) und Dipl. Tech. Betriebswirt (Europäischen Akademie Köln) sowie von seinem beruflichen Werdegang in technischen und wirtschaftlichen Fragestellungen zu Hause.

Christian Ketels
Christian Ketels is member of the faculty at Harvard Business School and Principal Associate at Professor Michael E. Porter's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness. As the Institute'ss Head of Research and Chief-of-Staff his responsibilities cover the full breadth of the Instituteb s intellectual agenda. Dr. Ketels leads initiatives and research projects on regional and national competitiveness issues in Asia, Europe, and the United States, and conducts case studies on company strategy topics. He is part of the faculty teaching boeconomic of competitivenessbcourse at Harvard, and teaches executive strategy courses at the Norwegian School of Management BI. He has a special research interest on the relationship between company strategy and location and on competitiveness at different geographic levels, especially in Europe. He has written a numerous articles and papers on economic policy issues, and has been a speaker at many events in Europe, the United States, and Asia on issues of country competitiveness and company strategy.

Dr. Ketels received his PhD (Economics) from the London School of Economics (LSE) where he worked on microeconomic models analyzing the relationship between international competition and firm efficiency. He holds further degrees in economics from the Kiel Institute for World Economics (IfW) and the University of Cologne. Before joining Harvard Business School, Dr. Ketels worked as a strategy consultant for Monitor Company from 1997 to 2000 in the UK, Germany, and Scandinavia. In 2000 he was part of a team that founded Cell Strategy (later Adcore AB), a Swedish-based Internet strategy consultancy. He continues to have a keen interest in the politics of his home country Germany and serves on a number of economic policy advisory groups. He lives with his wife Cecilia and twin sons Tobias and Marius in Stockholm, Sweden and Somerville, Massachusetts.

Mr. Ketels recently published in Germany's Wirtschaftswoche on the state of the German economy (article).

Jürgen Lohmeyer
Jürgen Lohmeyer is currently Vice President of Deutsche Post World Net USA, Inc. The company represents the Deutsche Post World Net Group in Washington DC, focusing on public policy issues and public relations.

Jürgen Lohmeyer joined Deutsche Post in 1990 - prior he spend 4 years with the international consultancy McKinsey and Company - immediately after the first postal reform which broke up the old Deutsche Bundespost into three separate companies. In several functions - as Director of Strategic Planning, Director of Strategic Projects, Market Research and Quality Development and as Director of Strategic Partnerships - Mr. Lohmeyer participated directly in all stages of the restructuring, corporatizing and privatizing of the German post office. On secondment by Deutsche Post, he worked from 1999-2001 for the World Bank Group in Washington DC and directed numerous postal modernization projects all over the world.

Jürgen Lohmeyer studied political science, economics and sociology in Germany and the US, he holds a B.A. from Elmira College and a Ph.D. from the University of Bonn. He lives with his wife and three children in Bethesda, Maryland.

Reiner Löslein
Seit 1999 Mitglied der Geschäftleitung der Allianz Capital Partners GmbH, einer Tochtergesellschaft der Allianz AG. In seiner Funktion ist er mitverantwortlich für die Private Equity und Mezzanine Aktivitäten der Allianz Gruppe. Bevor Herr Löslein zur Allianz Gruppe kam, war er von 1998 bis 1999 Direktor bei der Deutschen Bank AG in Frankfurt und verantwortlich für das Leveraged Finance Geschäft im deutschsprachigen Raum. Davor war er von 1995 bis 1998 als Abteilungsdirektor bei Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. tätig, mit dem Schwerpunkt auf Finanzierung und Beratung von Firmenübernahmen und Fusionen. Von 1985 bis 1995 war Herr Löslein bei der Dresdner Bank AG im Bereich Corporate Finance in London, Frankfurt und München beschäftigt. Er verfügt über ein abgeschlossenes Studium der Betriebswirtschaft und ist ausgebildeter Bankkaufmann.

Gunnar Piening
ist Vorstand der Ciao AG in München und dort verantwortlich für Global Business Development der Business Unit "Ciao Consumer Access". Zudem leitet er als als CEO die amerikanische Tochtergesellschaft Ciao International, Inc. Die Ciao AG ist ein global operierendes Marktforschungs- und Medienunternehmen mit derzeit 60 Mitarbeitern an fünf Standorten.

Gunnar Piening studierte zwischen 1994 und 2000 Geschichte und internationale Politik in Göttingen, Berlin und Uppsala und hält einen BAB int. pol. der Uppsala Universität sowie einen MA phil. der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. Noch während seines Studiums begann er, für die Ciao AG in München zu arbeiten und bekleidete dort seither verschiedene Positionen. Er ist maßgeblich verantwortlich für den Aufbau des internationalen Kundenstamms der Ciao AG.

Marc Samwer
Marc Samwer studierte Rechtswissenschaften in Berlin, Köln und Genf mit dem Schwerpunkt deutsches und europäisches Wirtschafts- und Steuerrecht. Er schloss 1996 nach acht Semestern sein Studium unter den Besten seines Jahrgangs ab. Marc arbeitete im Industrial Risk Management des Gerling-Konzerns in Brüssel, in der Finanzabteilung der Münchener Rückversicherung und in der strategischen Planung von Saint-Gobain in Paris. Anschließend arbeitete Marc in Corporate Finance für eine internationale Anwaltskanzlei in Madrid und erhielt ein Angebot der Investmentbank Schroders in London. Nach dem Zweiten Staatsexamen arbeitete Marc in Silicon Valley im Marketing und Business Development von Visto Corporation, dem Pionier für Internet-basiertes Informationsmanagement.

Im Frühjahr 1999 gründete Marc zusammen mit seinen Brüdern Oliver und Alexander die alando.de AG, die schnell zum Marktführer für Internet-Auktionen in Deutschland wurde. Im Sommer 1999 fusionierte alando.de mit der eBay Inc., dem amerikanischen Weltmarktführer für Internet-Marktplätze. Zusammen mit seinen Brüdern leitete Marc als Managing Director Europe das Deutschland-Geschäft von eBay und plante die Expansion in weitere europäische Länder und neue Geschäftsfelder. Im Sommer 2000 gründeten sie die Jamba! AG, um ein neues Start-up für das mobile Internet zu gründen. Die Jamba! AG ist das führende, netzunabhängige mobile Internet-Portal in Europa und entwickelt insbesondere Entertainment-Dienste für SMS, WAP, Java und GPRS. Jamba! beschäftigt heute 130 Mitarbeiter und hat Niederlassungen in Berlin, Zürich und Amsterdam.

Rolf-Dieter Schnelle
studierte Geschichte, Englisch und Geographie in Marburg und an der Freien Universität Berlin (Staatsexamen), sowie Geschichte in Stanford (MA in Geschichte) und an der London School of Economics.

Nach dem Studium unterrichtete er von 1971 bis 1975 als DAAD-Lektor am Polytechnic of Central London und an der Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III) in Paris.

Zwei Jahre nach Eintritt in den Auswärtigen Dienst ging er 1977 als Wirtschaftsreferent an die Deutsche Botschaft Tokio. Anschließend war er Mitglied der deutschen Delegation bei der Konferenz für Sicherheit und Zusammenarbeit in Europa (KSZE) in Madrid. Nach dreijähriger Tätigkeit in der Politischen Abteilung des Auswärtigen Amts (USA-Referat) wurde er 1985 an die deutsche UNO-Vertretung in New York versetzt (Aufgabenbereich: Wirtschafts- und entwicklungspolitische Fragen). Nach einem weiteren Inlandsaufenthalt als stellvertretender Referatsleiter in der Kulturabteilung war er von 1993 bis 1998 Ständiger Vertreter des Botschafters an der Botschaft in Oslo. Vor seiner Versetzung nach Boston war er Leiter des Referats für Internationale Zusammenarbeit im Bereich Wissenschaft und Hochschulen (Studien- und Forschungsstandort Deutschland).

Seit September 2002 ist Herr Schnelle deutscher Generalkonsul für die Neuengland-Staaten in Boston. Er ist verheiratet und hat zwei Kinder.

Klaus Stegemann
Klaus P. Stegemann, 46, was named Chief Financial Officer of Siemens Corporation (New York) in February 2002.

Prior to joining Siemens Corporation, he was the CFO since 1999 of the worldwide Angiography, Fluoroscopy and Radiographic Systems Business of Siemens AG Medical Solutions (Forcheim, Germany), where he applied the financial strategies and tools that ultimately turned the business around in less than two years.

Klaus has had an exceptional 28-year career in financial operations at Siemens, both in the U.S. and in Germany. He has taken on a variety of important global challenges, in each case making a major contribution to Siemens' business performance.

Before he joined Siemens Medical, Klaus cultivated a unique array of business unit experience in the U.S. and Germany, including projects at the Company's Transportation Systems, Automation & Drives, Power Generation, Industrial Solutions & Services Groups, and at the Siemens AG corporate headquarters, where he helped solve the tough business challenges associated with restructuring, integration and profitability improvement.

Earlier in his career, Klaus held a number of accounting, reporting and planning positions in various production and headquarter locations at several major Siemens businesses in Germany. In the early 1990s, he spent three years in the United States -- at Siemens Energy & Automation in Atlanta -- where he served as the Director of Business Planning & Financial Analysis.

A fisherman who also enjoys hiking, traveling and art, Klaus resides with his wife in New York City, while his daughter is studying in Germany.

Heinz-Gerd Stein

Formation
1961 - Graduated from High School
1961/62 - Military service, officers' school
June 15, 1966 - Graduated from Cologne University in business administration (Diplom-Kaufmann)
Febr. 26, 1968 - Ph.D. at Munich University

Professional career
July 1, 1966 - Joined August Thyssen-Hütte AG in Duisburg, later: ThyssenKrupp AG, Tax Department
August 1, 1974 - Head of Finance Department
October 1, 1978 - Head of Accounting/Controlling
November 30, 1979 - General Deputy
April 1, 1982 - Sept 30, 2002 Member of the Executive Board, Thyssen AG later: ThyssenKrupp AG

Member of the Supervisory Board:
AXA Colonia Versicherung AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Dürr AG
HDW AG
Landesbank Berlin -Girozentrale-
Thumann & Heitkamp Verwaltuns-GmbH
ThyssenKrupp Budd Company
ThyssenKrupp Elevator Holding Corp.
Wilo AG

Member of the Advisory Management Council:
Dresdner Bank AG

Chairman of the Tax Committee:
Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V.

Heiner Thorburg

Heiner Thorborg is a graduate from the University of Hamburg (Dipl.-Kaufmann b(ISMP12). Before joining Egon Zehnder International, he worked in Johannesburg, South Africa, for almost 7 years as Managing Director of BOMAG (Pty.) Ltd. In 1979, he accepted an offer from EZI for their Düsseldorf office. In 1981, he established the EZI Frankfurt office, taking over responsibility as Managing Partner. In 1989, he founded his own executive search firm in Frankfurt (www.heinerthorborg.com).

He serves as President of the HBSA of Germany and was Co-Chairman of the HBS Global Alumni Conference 2000 in Berlin. From 1992 to 1997 he served on the Board of Directors of the HBSAA in Boston. In 2003, Heiner Thorborg was elected Director of the European Leadership Council of the Harvard Business School.

Sylvia Vogt
Sylvia Vogt was named vice president, corporate affairs, for Robert Bosch Corporation on January 1, 2003. She is responsible for overseeing corporate communications, and industry and government relations activities, in addition to her duties as assistant to Dr. Kurt Liedtke, chairman and president of Robert Bosch Corporation, and a member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

Vogt joined Bosch in 1994 as legal counsel in the corporate legal department in Stuttgart, Germany. In 1998, she relocated to Chicago, Ill., to serve as chief counsel of the Robert Bosch Corporation legal department. In 2000, Vogt accepted the position of director, contract management, for the Bosch Automotive Group North America, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Mich.

Vogt attended law school at the University of Cologne, Germany, where she received her undergraduate and masterbigns and produces precision automotive components and systems sold to vehicle and powertrain manufacturers in the U.S. and abroad. These include systems and components for gasoline and diesel injection, airbag components, and brake systems, as well as small motors, electrical and electronic equipment.

Robert Bosch Corp. is the wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.