From a Swabian village to the biggest waves on earth: a story of building, breaking, and beginning again. It leads through Bali, a Cologne bone lab, and an exit that promised freedom and brought emptiness – all the way to Nazaré.
An adventure story about courage, personal responsibility, and the question of what can grow out of personal growth for others.
“A crazy and impressive story: bootstrapped entrepreneur, successful exit, a complete break – and then everything all over again. And all of it documented.”
Dr. Fabian Heilemann · Investor · AENU
In a Swabian village, the path was drawn before I could walk it: study something solid, take over the family business, build a house, park a Daimler in front of it.
But I wanted out. Into sport. Into the world. Onto my own path.
At fourteen, I turned a CD burner into my first business. Later I left for university in Cologne – against everything that had been planned for me. A bike instead of the Daimler. A shared flat instead of a house. The world instead of the village.
Six borrowed surfboards. A thick Swabian accent. More recklessness than plan.
Out of that, I built my first profitable company – together with local people who took on responsibility and found new prospects through the school.
Then it became successful. The resistance grew. In the end, I was deported.
The idea began with a wrong break. My father and I built a machine meant to simulate a bicycle crash. But the first real specimen broke differently than planned.
The surgeon looked at the injury and said: “That is exactly what I had on my operating table yesterday.”
From that mistake came RIMASYS. A small Cologne lab grew into surgical training for the whole world – self-funded, against plenty of resistance, at full personal risk.
Then came Covid. Overnight, nobody was allowed into the training room. So RIMASYS reinvented itself: broken bones became digital avatars, local courses became worldwide live surgeries, and one lab became an international community of surgeons. What began with a wrong break suddenly connected surgeons across continents.
RIMASYS had reinvented itself. With the AO Foundation, the company finally reached more than 50,000 surgeons across six continents.
The founder's dream was achieved. On paper, I was free.
But much of what I had lost along the way could not be brought back by the exit. One question grew louder and louder: What was it all for?
I didn't want to be the millionaire who simply disappears after the sale.
So I stayed, kept leading, and prepared RIMASYS to grow without me – even though my own strength was long gone.
On January 1, 2024, I handed over operational leadership and initially stayed on the board. Because for me, responsibility did not end with a signature. But with letting go came a question that reaches far beyond the sale of a company: Who am I when the company is no longer my life?
After the handover, I wanted to take real risk again. Not for the next exit – but to keep growing.
One question would not let me go: Do the tools you use to build a company also work for building a whole life?
I moved to Portugal and made Nazaré my next adventure. With a vision. A team. Preparation. And the attempt, this time, not just to reach a goal – but not to lose myself again on the way there.
On February 5, 2025, I faced my greatest fear. Not without fear. With it. Was it healing – or just the next thrill?
And the cycle begins again.
I believe growth begins where people decide for themselves again and take responsibility for their path.
Courage does not mean having no fear. It means deciding even though it is there.
But personal growth alone is not enough. A good life is not measured only by how far you get, but by what it makes possible for others.
That is why I share my story today. Not as a finished manual. But as an invitation to stop managing your life and start shaping it again – and to leave something behind along the way.
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