Post by Dirk Busche

A unicorn at early retirement age: Senior engineer becomes founder for the first time. At 61. Mechanical engineering startup with partners. Unicorn: a horned spouse? No. A mythical creature, in the form of a horse or a black horse? Again: no. Ah, a radical rarity in the German business world? Bingo. The Anglo-Saxons call it: Unicorn. Stands for: unique, unprecedented. And here we are at Proform GmbH, the name of new specialty machine manufacturer in Langenhagen, home to Hannover Airport (code: HAJ). An ideal location for transportation. But what is USP of the newly founded company? Digitally controlled high-tech systems for manufacturing packaging for candies and fruit treats of all kinds? Others offer those too, such as ULMA Packaging in Memmingen (Bavaria) or Hänsel Processing, Hanover. But the mention of Hänsel Processing GmbH points the way to the co-founder of the reborn Proform Germany: Heiko Kuehn (*1965), Hänsel’s managing director until September 25. It could have been early retirement. Think again. Kuehn, formerly salaried manager, is taking risk; he is copartner and “Business Strategy Director” at Proform Germany. "Full-time." That’s what it says on LinkedIn profile. Full-time job complete with a risky new start at early retirement age. And all this in mechanical engineering, Germany’s flagship "Made in Germany" industry. You can call it: unicorn. In trio with two younger top managers at Proform (see photo). Unicorn cross-check: really? AI Gemini found no comparable case like Kühn’s. Gemini had previously hallucinated a whopping four false examples complete with fake names, which I discovered through follow-up research. More on that later, or rather: soon, in a LinkedIn extra post, full of docs and screenshots. In short: A mechanical engineering startup in the midst of the global economic crisis and the stagnating local economy: a daring feat, even reckless? The adjective has nothing to do with Heiko K.’s last name. Nor does it have anything to do with his core expertise. He is, just like his fellow managers/co-partners, extremely experienced and has excellent global network in industry. The antithesis of bullying business. Could something go wrong if Trump does drive the global economy completely into crisis? Possible. But Proform (20 employees) benefits from its cooperation with Kühn’s former employer, Hänsel. The portfolios of the two mechanical engineering firms complement each other. They were neighbors at the Interpack trade fair (photos in comments). In the main photo, from left to right: Marc Hammon, Thomasz Miczynski, Heiko Kühn. Foto: Proform. TRANSPARENCY Note: I have known Heiko Kühn well for 5 years; we sometimes saw each other every workday at the same regular café. There are no financial or organizational ties to Hänsel or Proform. Text: 🅾️I-generated (Organic Intelligence). Translated by DeepL, Cologne Research sources: Proform and Hänsel websites, commercial register, personal knowledge. 🈵