Start-ups as Employers. MBA Graduate of HHL Successful on Start-Up Show "Dragon's Den"

[HHL gGmbH - 22.10.2014] Florian Metz, 34, MBA graduate of HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, scored with the "Meine Spielzeugkiste" ("My Toy Box") business concept on the German version of the start-up show "Dragon's Den" together with co-founder Florian Spathelf, 29. Not only customers like the idea that parents can rent children's toys via an online subscription, the dragons were also convinced of the idea. The two founders were prepared to sell 5 percent of their company shares for a EUR 150,000 investment. Frank Thelen and Jochen Schweizer initially wanted to invest EUR 200,000 but demanded 10 percent of the company shares. Eventually, a deal with the dragons materialized. Florian Metz comments, "This deal is a major milestone for our company. In addition to the capital and the expertise from the investors, we have gotten a lot of attention and, of course, we are also very proud to have two experienced investors and entrepreneurs share our vision." Looking back at his MBA program at HHL, the alumnus, who was born in Nürtingen, says, "HHL's MBA program certainly provided the perfect foundation for my career so far; the practical relevance and the 'Roll up your sleeves' mentality in particular have helped me a lot. The fantastic network of HHL entrepreneurs, who inspired me to become a founder myself and continue to guide me, has always been very useful as well. I also think it is fantastic to see HHL consistently pursuing its path and turning into a hotbed for entrepreneurs." http://www.meinespielzeugkiste.de

HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management as a hotbed for entrepreneurs

With over 150 start-ups established by HHL alumni over the past 16 years, Germany's top address for young managers has also developed into an incubator for company creation. Well-known examples are Gollmann Kommissionierungssysteme, Mister Spex, SunCoal Industries - the winner of the Founder's Prize awarded by WirtschaftsWoche magazine - or Leipzig-based companies Spreadshirt and billigflieger.de. The founders' entrepreneurial commitment has created more than 2,500 jobs already, over 1,100 of which are located in the Leipzig region alone. The Financial Times awarded HHL 1st place internationally for its 'Entrepreneurship' focus. In late 2013, Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Founder's Association for German Science) honored HHL as one of the leading entrepreneurial universities in Germany. http://www.hhl.de/EntrepreneurialGraduateSchool