Simon Kissel - When Passion meets Innovation
Simon Kissel, Managing Director and owner of Kissel
Ventures GmbH, can be described in two words: Persistence and
devotion. Already at the age of seven, Kissel started programming and
he has already learned this himself without being instructed. It is
not uncommon to find the inventor of the patented Viprinet router
technology immersed in the source code of his products, because that
is Kissel's passion. As a teenager he found his way into the
"demoscene", a community of computer artists and developers, and was
guided by the limits of what is feasible. So it's no wonder that his
first job had to do with computers: He opened a specialist shop for IT
and computers in his hometown as a teenager.
Kissel is a doer. When he sees a problem, he tackles it and tries to
find a solution. That's how it was with the computer shop, because he
saw the problem in the fact that something like this was missing in
his home town. When he realized that he had the technical, but not the
business management skills to do so, he drew the consequences - and
did not give up, but rather closed the business to concentrate more on
programming his best-selling product, a software for internal
corporate communications and web-based live chat. He transferred the
experiences of his first company to the second, and when he came
across another problem, the lack of local Internet access, Viprinet's
idea was conceived in its present form.
Many programmed nights, hair-raising deals with Asian chip
manufacturers and difficult negotiations with numerous investors later
on, Kissel was able to found Viprinet in 2005, and with it the
development of not only a software, but also a suitable hardware to
bundle several Internet accesses to a total connection with
accumulated bandwidths. Today, this company, which was born out of
necessity, has 50 employees, generates sales in the millions and even
has a branch in Silicon Valley, California.
None of this would have been possible without Kissel's persistence in
opposing circumstances and his devotion to programming. Only in this
way he was able to inspire investors and employees for his cause again
and again on his way, even if it surely comes to friction again and
again because of his rather controversial character. Nevertheless,
this is also a trademark of Viprinet: a router manufacturer whose
management is the responsibility of a sophisticated programmer.
Now that Viprinet can be considered an adult, Kissel is gradually
withdrawing from the operational business, with vision and innovation
continuing to be his responsibility. This gives him the time to
successfully drive his own and foreign start-ups to market maturity
with Kissel Ventures GmbH. The current projects and investments of
Kissel Ventures are described under Investments.
Since Kissel has been strongly represented on the Internet since 1995,
he has one day arranged himself well with giving a large part of a
public and transparent life. On his private
website, Kissel tells his business and personal life story
willingly and in great depth.
Profiles and Links: