Working hand in hand to transform the legal landscape

Meet our team

• 

  Dr. Stefan Blenk

  Managing Director

  stefan.blenk@unternehmertum.de

  

  Why I do what I do

  Curiosity and a sense of purpose have always been my driving forces: Curiosity about what technology could do led me to spend many childhood days tinkering with Commodores, i486 PCs, and small machines. The desire to improve people's lives and make a difference is what motivated me to become a lawyer. Bringing the two together eventually led me to co-found an AI start-up, and now to help other founders push the boundaries of what is possible to create impact with technology.

  How I get things done

  In both my professional and personal life, I adhere to a simple yet powerful principle: listening is key. By dedicating 80% of my time to listening and only 20% to talking, I strive to truly understand the needs and aspirations of those around me. I am an open-minded, enthusiastic and creative entrepreneur with many years’ experience as a lawyer at Freshfields, now supporting other founders with a solutions-oriented, structured and analytical approach. Fun fact: I am second to none when it comes to navigating unfamiliar cities.

  My role at LTC

  With a good idea of what technology is and is not capable of, I provide guidance at the intersection of law and technology, particularly generative AI. Combining my own experience as a lawyer with insights from my constant conversations with decision makers in in-house legal teams and law firms, I bring valuable data, opportunities, and challenges back to our start-up ecosystem.

• 

  Charlotte Falk

  Program Manager

  charlotte.falk@unternehmertum.de

  

  Why I do what I do

  From the very beginning of my legal education, I saw a gap between traditional legal practice and the innovative potential of technology. This was also the reason why I quit my first student job at a law firm after just one day because the entire operation was completely paper-based, which came as a shock to me. To help change the legal market, I founded the student association MLTech to bridge this gap between law and technology. This was just the beginning of my passionate approach to innovating the legal sector. Today, armed with a background in law, communications and business, I am dedicated to creating a more accessible and customer-centric legal system.

  How I get things done

  Connecting the dots is at the heart of my daily work with start-ups and potential founders. Leveraging my networking skills, legal knowledge, and experience I provide comprehensive support to entrepreneurs navigating the complexities of the legal landscape. And when I say networking skills, I mean just that: put me in a random group of people, and I will always find a topic that not only facilitates simple small talk but truly keeps the conversation engaging and inspiring.

  My role at LTC

  My main goal is to support promising early-stage legal tech start-ups to create value. Therfore I focus on fostering collaboration and innovation within our community to support start-ups on their journey. I play a key role in helping start-ups overcome various challenges, such as finding pilot customers, mentors, or funding opportunities. By providing tailored guidance and resources, I ensure that each start-up has the tools they need to succeed in our dynamic environment.

• 

  Alexander Laprell

  Operational Director

  alexander.laprell@unternehmertum.de

  

  Why I do what I do

  During my law studies I always loved to dive into a new topic. However, once I got an understanding of the new topic my enthusiasm slowly faded. I needed something new. So when I passed my bar exam rather than becoming a lawyer I wanted to learn about how businesses work. Fun fact: I got fired as a pizza boy in Australia for listening to business podcasts during working hours. 8 years later with an MBA under my belt and having co-founded my own e-commerce company, I am still learning everyday and gladly help founders find out how their business works.

  How I get things done

  Finding out the jobs to be done by interviewing people and then building processes and systems to tackle them makes me strive. For example when a finance sheet automatically connects to bank accounts, accounting software and other systems, so no one has to manually input data anymore but everyone knows in real time where the company stands financially, I am happy.

  My role at LTC

  Having a legal domain expertise but also business acumen and entrepreneurial experience, I will help our members to fully get to their potential regarding their business model, product roadmap and financials. By providing them with our infrastructure offerings such as a legally fine-tuned LLM, we will speed up their product roadmap together so they can go to market even quicker.

• 

  Nina Gramüller

  Marketing Manager

  nina.gramueller@unternehmertum.de

  

  Why I do what I do

  My journey into the realm of collaborative innovation began during my university years when I organised an interdisciplinary conference. This experience ignited my passion for fostering connections and facilitating the exchange of ideas among diverse minds. I love bringing people together and empowering them to transform their ideas into tangible value for society.

  How I get things done

  My approach to challenges is grounded in leveraging the power of interdisciplinary collaboration to drive meaningful change. I believe in seeing the big picture while meticulously attending to the finer details. Thriving on teamwork and diverse perspectives, I cultivate an environment where creativity flourishes and innovation thrives.

  My role at LTC

  In my role at the LTC, I manage content, social media strategy, event coordination, and community engagement. Moreover, I'm committed to crafting events and content that inspire individuals to delve into the realms of entrepreneurship and legal tech. I am also the first to raise my hand when it comes to writing on flipcharts and doodling in workshops.

• 

  Máté Csomor

  Working Student

  mate.csomor@unternehmertum.de

  

  Why I do what I do

  I am passionate about startups, entrepreneurship, and cutting-edge technologies, I thrive on supporting their growth. Despite a non-legal background in management and technology, I realized the great potential of legal tech during business law exam preparation with ChatGPT. The Legal Tech Colab is the ideal space to witness the convergence of technology and law, drawing on my comprehensive understanding of both business and tech aspects.

  How I get things done

  I adopt a structured approach to execute tasks with precision. For effective problem-solving, I delve into understanding the broader context of a problem and defining the goal. Valuing diverse perspectives is very important to me. I believe collaborative input enriches solutions and broadens perspectives, facilitating the achievement of the goal.

  My role at LTC

  As a working student in program management, I contribute significantly to daily operations. My responsibilities include scouting innovative startups poised to disrupt the legal field. Leveraging my startup experience, I actively engage in providing the necessary resources to our members, drawing on my understanding of their unique needs and challenges.

• 

  Claudia Müller

  Working Student

  claudia.mueller@unternehmertum.de

  

  Why I do what I do

  During my A-levels, I had the opportunity to take part in a seminar where I was given the task of organising an exhibition. It was during this project that I discovered my passion for event management and working with people. I like the challenges that come with it and the creativity with which they can be solved. But an event can't be successful without people attending it - which is how I got into into marketing :)

  How I get things done

  I am a very structured and organised person. Before I start a project, I sit down and make a to-do list - the old-fashioned way with pen and paper. I work through this list piece by piece and make sure that I always communicate with my team about everything. Teamwork is essential and you get the best results from all the different perspectives.

  My role at LTC

  As a working student at LTC in the events and marketing department, I help out wherever I can. I help implement projects, organise events and manage our social media content. This way I can finally justify my long screen times on Instragram and Tiktok: All research ;)

• 

  Emin Tufanoglu

  Venture Consultant

  emin.tufanoglu@unternehmertum.de

  

  Why I do what I do

  My journey into entrepreneurship began when I fell in love with the vast start-up ecosystem during my Masters in Lisbon. I always wondered how I could make a difference in my environment and soon found a way - what started as a membership in my university's start-up club quickly turned into a passion for entrepreneurship and building impactful and sustainable business models. So far, I have supported ventures at different stages and in different industries - from student-led to corporate.

  How I get things done

  I put a lot of focus on nurturing and constantly expanding my knowledge of the ecosystem and technical skills required to help start-ups reach their potential. However, I believe that at the end of the day it all comes down to people. I am a communicative, open-minded and empathetic innovator. Combining a human-centred and analytical approach allows me to get inside the heads of founders and the inner workings of a start-up, as well as fostering optimal collaboration within our vibrant ecosystem.

  My role at LTC

  In my role as Venture Consultant with a focus on legal tech start-ups in the XPRENEURS incubation programme, I coordinate the programme's activities and start-ups' needs with the Legal Tech Colab and other project members. As part of this collaboration, I help identify and evaluate promising early-stage legal tech start-ups in the ecosystem and build a strong network within the legal tech ecosystem. Fun fact: I may not have the voice of an angel, but I promise I can put on a show at karaoke!

• 

  Philipp Gerbert

  General Managing Director TUM Venture Labs

  

  Why I do what I do

  I am passionate about helping the NextGen of entrepreneurs in (deep) tech and life sciences and about building a hub to assure European tech sovereignty. In Germany, the automotive industry will not carry the country through the 21st century – so we need fresh ideas and business models.

  How I get things done

  My favorite leadership principles are: Bring clarity to complexity! Create positive energy! Get things done in a constrained world! Act as one team! Empower and develop! Care!
  Add to this an aspirational: 95% acting, 5% talking (I am almost there ...) – that should sum it up.

  My role at LTC

  As General Managing Director of the TUM Venture Labs I founded the Legal Tech Colab. Why? Well, Georg Eisenreich can be very persuasive... :)
  Also: I have been an AI afficionado all my life, and after GPT-3 was published in May 2020 the opportunity to fundamentally increase the performance and create amazing scalable novel businesses in the (stubbornly word-based) legal profession became obvious. Even in continental (civil) law! Even in conservative Germany! And I feel very strongly that lawyers should stop just working harder and instead implement leverage tech to become drastically faster, more customer-friendly and less expensive – we will all enjoy the results! So I simply support my team at LTC as best I can to make this happen!

• 

  Stefan Drüssler

  Chief Operating Officer UnternehmerTUM

  

  Why I do what I do

  Quite a few years ago, I created two startup business ideas as a student of TUM as part of the Business Plan Seminars. Instead of founding a company, I joined a strategy consulting firm after graduating. Maybe that left an unfulfilled desire. I am now eager to help talents and founders to find their personal path for innovation. I love being around passionate people who want to really change things for the better.

  How I get things done

  First: Know which direction you want to go. I like to leverage the knowledge of the ecosystem around me, where I can find an expert in almost any field. Second: Get started and never forget that 80% really done is most of the time more than others will produce. Third: Improve the 80% to over 100% with your network.

  My role at LTC

  I act as a liaison between Legal Tech-specific professional offerings and networks with successful services in the areas of education, incubation/acceleration and investments. I want to bring in the full expertise of more than 20 years of UnternehmerTUM to be applied in the legal tech domain.

• 

  Prof. Dr. Dirk Heckmann

  Academic Director

  

  Background

  As a constitutional judge and internet law professor, Dirk combines tradition and modernity like no other in Germany. He is not a sceptic of digital innovation but rather a shaper of its progress. He has been researching law and digitalisation for more than 25 years.

  Specialisms

  He is passionate about legally secure and fair digitisation and modernisation of the state, economy and administration. Legal tech as a matter of course: Dirk finds the law in the digital and the digital in the law.

  How should we disrupt legal?

  We need courage and the will to change. Digitalization may be risky here and there. But the greater risk is not to digitize - for example, to miss the opportunities of artificial intelligence. Fundamental rights cannot be guaranteed without the use of data.