From traditional farming in India, consulting, and corporate strategy to Antler — Johannes’ journey for Impact
Johannes is in love with nature and is very passionate about GreenTech. His professional path took him through India and Uganda, management consulting, and corporate strategy. Throughout this journey, Johannes remains grateful for his friends and family, and for the beautiful experience called life. Read on to get to know him!
Welcome to Antler, Johannes! Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
I was born in Germany and am currently based in Munich and Berlin. I was fortunate to have lived and worked for several years in more remote parts of the world such as Bangladesh, India, and Uganda. During these times, I worked as a traditional farmer, researched arsenic water pollution, and modernized urban water supply systems. These experiences allowed me to explore our beautiful planet, made me experience how rewarding impact and social work are, and also made it very clear to me how privileged I am.
I studied a mix of geology and biology as well as environmental engineering, focusing on biochar and smart grid technologies. I additionally enrolled in an MBA to learn more about the business side of things and started my first startup venture building a medical care chair. After graduating, I worked as a management consultant focusing on renewable and fossil energy. I then had the opportunity to work for one of the large German corporate energy players and headed strategy for one of its O&G businesses shaping its decarbonization journey. Just a few months back, I decided to take the next step, quit my job, and started my journey of becoming an entrepreneur.
Why did you choose to leave corporate and start your journey as an entrepreneur?
Good question — the short answer is that it felt like the right decision to make.
The long version is that I initially went from consulting to corporate as I wanted to drive change end-to-end, and saw great potential in working for a large corporate to really make a difference at scale. I focused on the O&G sector as I saw, and still see, great potential to reshape and decarbonize an entire industry. My approach to make this happen was to build new business areas. I did so by investing and building partnerships with DeepTech startups focusing on robotic asset inspection to eventually build a robotic division next to our O&G core business. I am happy to say that just last year the first major cooperation went live in Europe. During this time, I rediscovered my passion for startups, the speed, the agility, and the “we are in this together” vibe. So, I thought about switching sides to become an entrepreneur myself. Once the thought was planted, there was simply no “thinking-back”. Although I really enjoyed my corporate journey, I filed my resignation to set course to start my own venture. It just felt like the right thing to do.
How did you come across Antler and what made you apply?
A close friend of mine recommended the program to me and I was instantly hooked by the idea of joining a guided startup program with 50+ hungry entrepreneurs from all over the world in Berlin. My initial expectations were more than met. Our cohort consists of so many rockstar talents including satellite engineers, robot builders, blockchain champions, NLP experts to just name a few. Needless to say that the Antler team provides world-class support and the program provides an excellent structure.
On the more personal side, what did you want to be when you were a child and how did that change growing up?
I believe my first concrete answer as a child to the question “What do you want to be when you are a grown-up” was to become a crisis manager for the UN. In addition, and perhaps more secretly, I was also dreaming about becoming a basketball superstar. The professional side of my basketball dream ended quite abruptly when I moved to the US and realized that pursuing this path would require deprioritizing all other passions of mine (and that I probably should have started playing way earlier and that I would need to grow a little more). Up to this day, however, I love spending time on the court. My UN crisis manager dream converted to doing development work, which I did for a good amount of time in my early twenties. These experiences have shaped my choice to study science and engineering as well as my early career choices. Looking back today, the drive for impact has remained and is the reason why I now embark on the journey of becoming an entrepreneur.
What are you passionate about?
Where to start… I love nature and the outdoors and many different types of sports. I just started freediving and can’t wait for the summer and some free time to come. I am passionate about GreenTech solutions and thrilled that so much is happening in this space. I am currently focusing on biological and technical decarbonization methods. If any reader should be into this, please hit me up. I enjoy spending time with my family, and friends, and currently exploring Berlin.
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