part of the cover story of Hanno Charisius, Dagmar Schwell (Fotos)
How to succeed
Germany innovative: Across the republic there are many professional scientists and people who have good ideas through their hobby and which fight for it.We came to visit them.
Serial inventor
As to Horst Veith, inventing is in his blood – and he knows how to make money out of it. For Horst Veith inventing seems to be as important as for the others to breathe. At the age of seventeen he invented the concertina barrier, which put between the doorframe prevents little children running through the house. In his twenties he scored a big success with the flexible straw. The moonboots of the 1980`s, automatically darkening glas, a spray against the SARS virus now belong to the Veith portfolio. The serial inventor has registered around 70 patents. He sold the straw patent for a few million DM, „far too cheap“, as he points out now. But Veith does not work anymore because of money. After moving from Düsseldorf to Bavaria he soon found it boring to be a person who lives on private means. Strolling along the sea he finds market gaps and is inventing even more: For instance a mattress cleaning system, which across Europe became the basis of existence to 5 000 enterprises, as explains the press experienced Veith.
…Are you well, Mister Veith? Yes, and how! You feel it when you shake hands with the inventor from the Tegernsee, a powerful, cordial handshake, broad white teeth in the sunburned face, which laugher Veith likes to show as often as possible. The first million he made through the patent of flexible straws, says Veith. Nowadays he is selling detergents for mattresses and as premium mattress expert he is not only known in the television, but is testing hygiene levels in Mallorquin hotel beds and praises his products in the shopping channel three times a month strictly personal. For „BILD“ , a German newspaper, he allowed to be photographed together with a bikini girl on his 33 m yacht. …
... Country of innovators
However, as the example of Veith and Gmelin demonstrates, there are people in the country, who are in good spirits to make business out of a good idea – real innovators therefore. And as is demonstrated their number is growing.
... Top subjects innovation
All those inventors presented here - except radiant millionaire Veith - have in common that they fight for it. And this may be ok, says venture capital veteran Straschleg: "If you possess the right attributes, it does not matter where you want to set up an enterprise. Who fails because of formalities will not manage the rest." ...
You can read the whole article in the TECHNOLOGY REVIEW of august 2006, pages 34 to 43.
