Simon Kissel – Inventor, Founder and CEO
Computer nerd, inventor, leading figure, and executive – Simon Kissel unites several extraordinary gifts and qualities. As self-educated person, he started programming at the age of 10; at the age of 17, he dropped out of school, and opened a computer shop. He soon became known throught the international community of computer artists, and organized the world's biggest festival of computer art, the Breakpoint, for 8 years. Kissel is known as strong character, able to put up a fight, and bound to put people's backs up due to his analytical and critical reasoning combined with open, direct communication.
By trial and error, Kissel, having mastered the technology, managed to gain experience in the area of economy even without taking up respective studies. His computer shop turned into a software developing company, which became market leader for chat server systems in times of New Economy, and had its ups and downs.
Simon Kissel is 35 years today, and lives near the Viprinet Europe headquarter in his adopted place of residence, Bingen am Rhein in Germany.
In 2005, Kissel invented the worldwide unique VPN bonding method our products are based on; he first implemented it, and filed a patent application for it. In 2006, he founded Viprinet GmbH together with several shareholders, in order to further develop the bonding technology in form of hardware routers, and market it then. For Viprinet, he thus always played a double role: CEO and head of development rolled into one.
The way of transforming his idea and his proof-of-concept implementation into salable router products was one filled with many obstacles: Despite extensive and conclusive business plans, banks and other possible investors were sceptical about Kissel's plans to build up a specialized IT manufacturer in Germany, and lacked to support him. Thus, it proved to be very difficult to raise 2 million euros of investment necessary for profitability. Kissel had to sell a big part of his shares to get enough capital.
After their entry, one of the investors he could win for his project suddenly exchanged their management in 2010, leaving Kissel with a complete stranger as one of his company's shareholders. Despite the company's success becoming apparent (Viprinet earned millions and had reached profitability), this financial investor who was inexperienced in IT business tried to massively interfere with Kissel's business strategy. The sustainable growth strategies "Made in Germany" were opposed; instead, there was an attempt to snatch business away from Kissel. The patents and technology developed by Kissel had woken desires. One hoped for fast profit by disbanding the company in Germany, and selling the intellectual property into the US, with production in China. Ethics did not seem to play any role in this attempt.
From 2010, Kissel was thus bound by trying to protect the company he had built up so laboriously from a take-over and suppression by one of its own shareholders. During that time, Kissel expanded business, and, together with his team, brought more products on the market. At a turnover of about 3.5 million and a considerable profit, his strategy proved successful despite all sabotage by his co-shareholder. At the same time, this dispute concerning leadership culminated in increasingly bizarre forms – his co-shareholder tried to eliminate Kissel while trying to gain control over his intellectual property. It proved to be a stroke of luck for Kissel that he wrote most of the products' software source codes prior to founding Viprinet, and that they thus belonged entirely to him. Savage fighting started.
To be able to work at all without constantly being distracted by interruptions, Kissel founded a new company in 2011, Nerdherrschaft GmbH, in which he wanted to bring to bear his development know-how to keep being innovative. In order to be able to better strukture his company shares, and to help other innovative founders find a start into business, he also founded Kissel Ventures GmbH.
From the beginning of 2012, the condition was unbearable for Kissel – continuing attempts to sabotage Viprinet, and snatch any control away from him caused the company to be excluded from any kind of financing. Due to that, Kissel decided to call it quits, and filed for insolvency proceedings for Viprinet GmbH.
In the course of the insolvency proceedings, a preliminary insolvency administrator took over control over the company, and thus withdrew it from the shareholders' access. The insolvency administrator assigned Kissel again with the operative management of the company in order for business operation to continue without further interruptions. After commencement of the actual insolvency proceedings, Kissel then bough back the company together with his co-founder and long-standing partner. By that, the unwelcome shareholder was expelled.
Today, Kissel is not only Viprinet's CEO and head of development; with his Kissel Ventures GmbH, he also holds a clear majority of Viprinet's shares. His co-shareholders fully agree with him on strategy and his claim to leadership. Thanks to Simon Kissel, the company now trading as Viprinet Europe GmbH is again profitable and growing. At the moment, he and his team of about 30 employees are earning record-breaking amounts of money, and determining the course for expansion of market leadership. With Kissel, the success story "Viprinet" will now make rapid progress.