What I do, and why.

I’m Leonard, based in Frankfurt and originally from Heidelberg. I study Management, Philosophy & Economics at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and am a shareholder at MSI Partners, where I work on digital strategy, business development and elderly care M&A.

My path here has taken a few turns: a Waldorf school, an exchange year in Michigan playing varsity football as a kicker, and then graphic design training back in Germany. I started my first business at 19, initially taking on design and web projects. You can find some of that work in the design archive.

Those projects gradually led to work in development and AI. One example is a quality-management handbook I built with a project partner for a Red Cross organisation. Staff can ask questions in everyday language and find the relevant guidance, with a reference to the original document. Working on it brought together much of what I enjoy: understanding a practical problem, learning the technology and building something people can use.

Building MSI Partners

My father introduced me to the care sector, where he had already spent much of his career. I started with presentations, LinkedIn posts and the website, then joined client meetings and industry events and became increasingly involved in transactions. Today, I’m helping build MSI Partners alongside him as a shareholder, with responsibility for digital strategy and business development.

We are an M&A and investment advisory focused on elderly care, working with business owners, buyers, founders and investors across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Our work includes company sales and succession, acquisitions and the search for investment partners. It spans established care businesses and younger companies developing new products and services for the sector.

On transactions, I support the process from the initial analysis and conversations with an owner through to signing. That includes identifying and approaching potential buyers or investors, reviewing incoming bids and helping owners assess their options. Understanding what someone wants for the business they have built is as important as understanding what a prospective buyer is looking for.

I particularly enjoy working with founders. I help them prepare for funding rounds, refine their pitch materials and connect with investors who understand their business. Alongside that, I develop the systems we use to reach and work with clients: our website, CRM, marketing and outreach. It lets me combine design and technical work with the commercial side of building the firm.

What makes the work meaningful to me is what follows a transaction or funding round: a care business finding a suitable successor, or a founder gaining the backing to develop a useful idea. Decisions about capital and ownership have consequences for staff, residents and families. I want to help build a firm that takes those consequences seriously, while giving entrepreneurs the connections and support they need to grow. Building it together with my father is a part of the experience I especially value.

Why philosophy belongs in the picture

I hadn’t always planned to go to university. Through my work, I kept coming back to questions that practical experience alone couldn’t answer: how to assess a decision beyond its financial outcome, what responsible use of AI looks like, and who bears the consequences when things go wrong. I chose Management, Philosophy & Economics to give those questions the same attention as the business itself.

Alongside my studies, I’m an active member of Frankfurt School’s Entrepreneurship Initiative and serve as Vice President of Venture Capital in the Portfolio Management Initiative. Both are a way to explore entrepreneurship and investing with other students and bring experience from my own projects into university life.

Longer term, I want to keep building companies and help strengthen Europe’s ability to turn ideas into businesses. Part of that is encouraging more young people to try entrepreneurship themselves. Through AI Netzwerk DACH and the Young Founders Network, I meet people working towards similar goals and contribute what I have learned from my own projects.

Away from work

Aviation has fascinated me since childhood. In 2026, I completed my flight training and earned my private pilot licence. One day, I’d love to fly a small aircraft across the North Atlantic, with plenty of experience and preparation before attempting it. Closer to home, I enjoy astrophotography: I have photographed the Andromeda Galaxy and the Horsehead Nebula through my telescope.

My grandmother introduced me to exhibitions and classical concerts when I was young, and both have stayed with me. I’m drawn to architecture and contemporary art, especially the ideas and experiences behind a work. Some of my favourite conversations are still the ones we have standing in front of a painting. Time with family and close friends, and a walk in the woods around Heidelberg, matter just as much to me as the next project.