Other highlights (26)
“Until I met Hans-Peter Wild a few years ago through my friend Theo Müller (both live in Switzerland and are multiple billionaires)”
“"After all, my goal was from the beginning to make Capri-Sun and WILD-Flavors global players. You have to set goals and not lose sight of them, despite any unforeseen difficulties along the way."”
“Sam Walton, who founded Wal-Mart, the largest company in the world at the time, explained his secret to success like this: "I always set pretty high standards for myself: I set extremely high goals for myself personally."”
“The legendary entrepreneur and billionaire Richard Branson put it succinctly: "The lesson I have learned from all this is that no goal is out of reach, and even the impossible can become possible for people with vision and self-belief."”
“Winners live in the future. Every entrepreneur must be future-oriented. But the direction he takes, and the measure of his success, depend not least on the size of his goals. Wild writes that he actually lives in the future: "My thinking, my commitment, my investments had and have distant goals in sight. These are concrete goals that are supposed to make our future safer both in the company itself and beyond."”
“The economist Joseph Schumpeter characterized the psychology of the entrepreneur with these words: The one who wants to do something "new and unfamiliar" not only has to expect external resistance, "but also has to overcome such within themselves". The type of entrepreneur described by Schumpeter swims "against the current". "The fact that something has not been done yet, he does not perceive as a counter-reason. He does not feel those inhibitions that otherwise form firm barriers to the behavior of economic subjects."”
“The key to entrepreneurial success is the combination of perseverance and a willingness to experiment. Perseverance is important, but it leads to nothing if it does not combine with the joy of experimenting.”
“A Capri-Sun or a portion of fries might seem like simple things. You have no idea how difficult it is to perfect such a product for the global market, how many difficulties and setbacks have to be overcome. This can only be achieved if the entrepreneur takes delight in experimenting.”
“Larry Page, the creator of Google, said that we should "never be intimidated by the impossible". Therefore, we should be careful not to prematurely classify a goal or a heartfelt wish as "impossible". Because once we have done that, a dangerous automatism begins: We start to gather all those reasons that can prove why it can't be done.”
“Trust is crucial in business life. Nobody else but John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men in history, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of trust. A key experience for the young Rockefeller was when he noticed after founding his first company that even "older men immediately trusted me". "I owe my success in life mainly to my trust in people and my ability to inspire trust in me in other people," says Rockefeller. People who gain the trust of other people also quickly trust other people themselves.”
“A core sentence from the famous book by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich, reads: "Every failure carries the seed of an even greater success for those who are convinced of themselves and their goal and do not give up their efforts!"”
“The life of a person, an entrepreneur, even when he has made it to a global conglomerate, is not a continuous success story. Of course, over the years and decades, there are misjudgments, mishaps, setbacks. I too have made mistakes. However, my attitude in such situations was and always is the same: You can learn at least as much from defeats as from successes - and sometimes even more.”
“In scientific studies and in online publications, one comes across the note that nine out of ten of the world's wealthiest people have gained their status through the establishment and development of their own businesses. I do not belong to these top ten. I did not found the company. Nonetheless, I acquired my wealth through my work and the management of my companies in the league of world corporations. I was fortunate, in 1974, to join a small, but innovative operation my parents had established, which under my leadership became the basis for two globally operating companies: Capri-Sun and WILD Flavors.”
“Lifelong learning and contemporary, youthful thinking have determined the decades of my professional path in their interaction. The ability and willingness to do so probably remain indispensable in our modern world, shaped by digitization.”
“The future orientation of my entrepreneurial thinking and commitment is reflected in the explanations about the history and development of my two companies. Remarks about my funding activities and investments in different areas such as sports, art and especially in scientific research should round off my autobiography.”
“"Capri-Sonne", which is now offered worldwide under the name "Capri-Sun", is originally a WILD product that quickly became a branded drink after its introduction. It has been led by me to a global position among the refreshing drinks.”
“And fortunately, the young soldiers, the "last levy of the Fuhrer," as they were called back then, reacted to her words with insight. One after the other, the boys threw their rifles into our large garden and left. Presumably, they made their way to their home communities. And so the war in our region ended six weeks before the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht: We were allowed to experience the days of liberation in our region before May 8, 1945.”
“We didn't have to be afraid, the GIs were especially friendly to us children. I was more concerned with the question of whether the Easter Bunny would find its way to our garden in these turbulent days? My mother had secretly made pretty Easter nests, but she couldn't find any sweets anywhere. Some GIs watched her and quickly understood her situation. It wasn't long before the American soldiers had brought her sweets from their supplies and made sure that the mother could give her children a beautiful Easter.
The grass and deciduous trees shone in the spring green during April weather. I hopped and ran through the large garden and was happy to discover colorful Easter nests with chocolate and other treats. The GIs watched me smoking and applauded loudly when I found something again. They shared my childlike joy.”
“My love for animals is one of my often beautiful, unfortunately sad in this case, early childhood memories. Later, I passionately devoted myself to horses and equestrian sports. And even today, dogs at my Swiss domicile await my return from business trips.”
“He became exemplary for my entire career. Furthermore, he also was a universally respected person outside the family circle, who, not least, has created the foundation of a fascinating corporate culture full of innovative power in Eppelheim.”
“He always had the big goals and some visions in mind. He preferred to devote his time to new challenges rather than the rather lengthy implementation of his ideas in the company. My mother's special strengths, on the other hand, were her consistency and persistence. She paid attention to details in the business process and took a lot of time for the employees and their questions, worries and needs. In her, my father had found an ideal partner.”
“So what matters in life? I ask this as a conclusion to the memories of my childhood experiences. Is it origin, nationality, denomination, religion, or a certain worldview that plays a decisive role in entrepreneurial perspectives? No, what matters are actions. This is not only about entrepreneurial action, but also about the willingness to help. With the support of kindergartens or sports clubs or the promotion of art, culture or other charity projects. Or with the foundation of a bell, the sound of which remains with the people in the region for decades and centuries.”
“Switzerland, which I have known since my youth, is among the countries whose mentalities and lifestyles have particularly appealed to me. The long past familial origin was unknown to me and certainly not decisive for my decision to make the country my private and entrepreneurial focal point in the early 1990s. But the origin and what is passed on in family life in terms of traditions and lifestyle, some of it perhaps unconsciously in my case, are more formative than we often suspect. Perhaps the hidden Swiss roots have shaped my life path more than I have perceived myself, and my holistic thinking in the larger dimensions, the "big picture thinking" as the Anglo-Saxons call it, has been decisive. I did not emigrate to Switzerland, but in a sense I returned home.”
“As children, we conducted a kind of decathlon, the disciplines of which became increasingly demanding over the years. It started with swimming, running, jumping, table tennis, badminton, and the like, and over time, these turned into whole weekends where we competed in various disciplines. The lawn in our beautiful garden was surrounded by tall trees that were planted four years before my birth, right after my parents had purchased the former glass factory on the new company site. Trees that grew and became large with me.”
“"I dreamed that life was beautiful; I woke up and saw that life was work; I worked and found that life is joy!"
Mother meant by this, and it coincides with my view, that young people should explore what they really like to do. Only then does the profession also bring joy. If you approach professional work with fun, you are much more likely to be successful.”
“On two wheels, I whizzed around the area, but particularly liked going to Heidelberg. That's where the hot music was played in the Capitol-Keller on Bergheimer Straße, the rock sound rumbled, and we danced on numerous evenings, sometimes almost to the point of collapse.”
