ONLY FOR IE MBA APPLICATION

1. Application for IE MBA
C. Describe a time when you took a great risk. What was the outcome?

2. Who:
Those two young Gentmen are the main players of the story.
We did internship, graduate traineeship and worked together with
Commerzbank in Frankfurt. He becomes my business partner later.
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3. When:
My partner and I quit the
Commerzbank CEO
job with Commerzbank and
announced the merge with
Dresdener Bank set up our own trading
company
Sep. 2008 Oct. 2008 Jan. 2009 Dec. 2009
Lehman Brothers German government
filed bankcruptcy took over 25% shares
of Commerzbank.
Commerzbank Share
from 2008 to 2011
Dec. 2009
I quit my job,
and set up my own company
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4. What:
- In 2009, the darkest moment in the last turmoil, my partner and I quit our
job and set up our own trading company.
- The company is legally based in Frankfurt, Germany.
- We were luckily appointed as cement supplier for a social housing
project in Benin (West Africa).
- In order to faciliate the first transaction, we invested all our saving.
Toghther with a guarantee of his family, we issued a letter of credit
amounting to 1.2 mio USD, and bought 13 000 metric ton cement from
China and shipped to Benin.
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5. Where:
Germany
Frankfurt
China
Qingdao
Port
Benin
Cotonou
Port
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6. Outcome:
- Due to lack of experience, the first transaction was not profitable.
- However, despite all the difficulties, we executed three transactions
successfully thereafter.
- It is my conclusion that from NO books in the world, one can learn more
and faster than a true entrepreneurial experience.
Thanks for your attention
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