Leonard Clemens: “We create jobs and help to develop new products.”
- Alumni Portraits
- ETH seniors Alumni
- Chapter Munich Alumni
The former ETH Juniors President, Leonard Clemens, gained his Diploma in Industrial Management and Manufacturing from ETH in 2004. Today, he is joint-owner of a private equity company in Berlin, which links up medium-sized companies with investors. He talks to us about his time at ETH and the valuable lessons he learnt during his university days.
“As ETH Juniors President I was constantly in contact with different companies which inspired me and shaped my career path.”Leonard Clemens
You are a graduate of ETH. Why did you decide to study at ETH?
I come from Bregenz, an Austrian city at the eastern end of Lake Constance. So studying at ETH was an obvious choice. I started a course in civil engineering in 1998, which got a bit too technical for me and after three years I decided to switch to industrial management and manufacturing. I actually had to take the ETH entrance examination twice because I was overconfident of my maths skills the first time round. Thanks to an intensive preparatory course, I got through the second time.
What was your role with the ETH Juniors?
I got involved with the ETH Juniors student consultancy pretty early on and was the President for two years. I liked the fact that the projects had commercial relevance. For example, we carried out process measurements for UBS: at the time, they were still manually scanning pay-in slips. We demonstrated how these processes could be optimised. As ETH Juniors President I was constantly in contact with lots of different companies - including consultancy firms - which inspired me and shaped my career path somewhat.
After graduating, you joined the Swiss consultancy firm Bain. How did that come about?
That is correct. Interestingly, I hardly had to even apply for the job because they knew me from ETH Juniors. That was one of the major benefits of being involved with ETH Juniors. I stayed at Bain for two and a half years.
Can you still recall your first project at Bain?
Sure, it was as operations and production engineer for ABB. I was the interface between the technicians and industrial managers. We were working to optimise the global procurement of cables. On the one hand, you needed technical and product knowledge while on the other hand, you needed to know a bit about the suppliers. ABB was buying cables locally at the time and the aim of the project was to globalise procurement and optimise prices.
“I learned how to think in a structured manner.”Leonard Clemens
What particular abilities and skills did you learn during your time at ETH that you now apply to your job?
The most important thing I learned was to think in a structured manner. I have never been a theorist. Practicality has always been important for me, which is why I chose a technical course of study. I have always tried to view and tackle tasks in their entirety. While writing my diploma thesis in Japan; and during time spent in China and Mexico I was also able to gain a lot of international experience thanks to ETH and its excellent reputation.
Are you still in contact with the people you knew at ETH or ETH Juniors?
There are a lot of my colleagues from my time at Bain who I am still frequently in touch with and some of them are ETH graduates. We have a common understanding that we all learnt when studying for our diplomas and that bonds you forever. My best friend, who is godfather to my son, is someone I met at university. However, I have also spent a huge amount of time abroad; I have been away from Switzerland for 16 years.
What did you learn from your time with ETH Juniors?
Dare I say it, ETH Juniors was my first company. I was just 20 when I became President, so I was still pretty young. I suddenly had to make a lot of decisions about previous payroll accounting, which unfortunately had been undertaken carelessly as a result of which we faced legal implications. I found this time to be a very useful experience for my future career. I wanted to be employed for ten to fifteen years before later working for myself. So my time at ETH Juniors had a big impact on me.
When did you first get involved in private equity? Why did you move into this field and did you then specialise in any particular area of private equity?
To be honest, I did not know what private equity was when I graduated from ETH. It was not as well-known then as it is today. Initially, I carried out market analyses and pricing studies for major private equity firms at Bain. Then I moved to a large private equity firm in Hamburg, which I was made aware of by a headhunter. My work then took me to London and other posts before I finally settled in Munich.
“We invest in growing companies.”Leonard Clemens
You have had your own company now for three years? What exactly do you do?
I work with investors to buy companies, which we develop and then sell again. We concentrate mainly on mid-sized companies in the technology sector.
It must be a huge responsibility having your own company and staff. How do you find it?
Certainly and I like it. I view this responsibility as positive pressure. We are not a huge company and employ twelve members of staff. We are growing slowly. Alongside our own staff, we also have a responsibility towards our investors, the portfolio companies and their staff. I consider it a huge privilege that people trust us with their money. We invest in growing companies. I never like to restructure companies under the guise of a new “growth strategy” and to have to suggest to a CEO which of the company’s staff need laying off.
What is the most interesting aspect of your current job? Can you describe a typical day for me?
I actually spend a lot of time on the phone; I have to interact with lots of different people, mainly management teams. We look at several companies a week. If we consider them interesting, we look for investors. But we are not managers or CEOs; instead we are a kind of sparring partner, and so get involved in strategic projects. No two days are the same. We create jobs and help to develop new products.
What advice do you have for young ETH graduates looking for a job?
I can only recommend working at ETH Juniors as well as gaining practical experience during your time at university. Of course, that is my personal opinion because I am a very down-to-earth person. Take yourself out of the university environment, check out lots of different companies and get as much experience as possible. Never losing sight of reality is something that I find tremendously important.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
I would basically like to be doing the same job in ten years time. I really enjoy it. We will probably have grown a bit by then and perhaps be more international. I could imagine us operating across the whole of Europe. Sustainability is an issue which is gaining in importance all the time. We firmly believe that sustainable companies will be more profitable and more successful in the long term. But most importantly for me: our company has three founding members. I hope that the “three-men-team” remains as it is today.