The Early Shoots: Genes Ventures, Matuschka/TVM, & HANNOVER Finanz

Abstract

The first early shoots of a more entrepreneurial approach to growth and venture capital emerged in the period 1978-1984. This was a time of much unrest in Germany, coming shortly after the “German Autumn” of 1977, when Red Army Faction terrorism began. It was a period when many West German citizens had grown tired of the Cold War, with its legacy of “mutually assured destruction”. Yet despite a growing scepticism of the US’s role in the world, many Germans were captivated by the technological miracle of Silicon Valley, and questioned whether such innovation could be stimulated in Germany. The prospects looked poor. Germany’s corporations had become conservative and bureaucratic, so heavily divided into functional specialisms that no manager had oversight of the whole. If Germany was to keep up with the Americans, it would undoubtedly require a new generation of entrepreneurs. But where were they to be found, and how could they be empowered to break new ground?