No. 12 Getting Together With Old Friends

 In early 2004, after taking an early retirement  package from Schering Plough, I started consulting for a venture capital company in Boston. One of the assessments I did was for  a company two Germans , Achim  Schaeffler and Jochen Mattis, were starting  with a novel oral formulation of an old product, prednisone. Given my background in these types of products and the fact that it sounded very interesting and quite promising, I inquired as to whether they were looking for a full time consultant to help them assess and develop the product for the US market. I met them  in Frankfurt in August, quickly hit it off, and we agreed to work together. In fact, I was the first person they hired after officially starting the company. 

We worked closely together for 6 years until the company was bought out in 2010 ( unfortunately no big payday), but we have stayed  in close touch since then. With the exception of 2020, I have seen at least one of them each year, either in Germany or in the States. Jochen and his wife Britta even attended both of our boys’ weddings. We got together for dinner last night to celebrate Achim’s birthday as well as to catch up and enjoy life. A typical meal for when we get together - good food , good wine  and good conversation in a traditional German restaurant.

Interesting Note: The  first time I met them was actually on my birthday.  When one of the guys asked me how old I was (strictly verboten in the states) , I told him that it was my birthday, which we both took as a good sign.

 

In the picture from the left- Achim Schaeffler, his wife Bergit and son Felix, Britta and Jochen Mattis 




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