Partner & Founder Dr. oec. Patrick Stähler

Erfinder by chance des Strategieansatzes der Business Model Innovation und Urvater der Business Model Canvas — Unternehmer, Executive Coach und Architekt von Geschäftsmodell-Innovationen. Digital seit 1995, geboren bei 325 ppm atmosphärischem CO₂.

Inventor by chance of the strategy approach of Business Model Innovation and forefather of the Business Model Canvas — entrepreneur, executive coach, and architect of business model innovations. Digital since 1995, born at 325 ppm of atmospheric CO₂.

Dr. oec. Patrick Stähler is the person behind fluidminds. For more than two decades his thinking has circled one question: not “which technology?”, but “what real benefit do we create for the customer — and what business model emerges from it?”. This separation of technological fascination from genuine value creation is the core of his work. From thinking in tools to thinking in business models.

His approach differs from the tool fashion in two ways. First, he understands the economic logic of a technology — its production, cost, and dependency structure — in order to derive the lever for a new, better business model, rather than transferring a pattern from a catalogue. Second, he thinks in movement, not snapshots: customer adoption, competitive advantage, and disruption are movements over time, not states — a dimension most strategy frameworks have lost.

From this grows a journey of insight in three steps that shapes his work: understand a technology and its economics; on that basis, dream bigger and rethink the business model; and from there, build a defensible competitive advantage.

Understand. Dream Bigger. Act.

Patrick Stähler Inhaber fluidminds GmbH

Erfinder steht für einen der frühesten systematischen Ansätze des Strategiekonzepts der Business Model Innovation, entwickelt in der Dissertation „Geschäftsmodelle in der digitalen Ökonomie” an der Universität St. Gallen (2001). By chance, weil er das Geschäftsmodell nicht erfinden wollte — er brauchte eine neue Analyseeinheit, um eine Frage zu beantworten, für die die bestehenden Werkzeuge versagten.

Urvater verweist auf die konzeptionellen Grundlagen — was ein Geschäftsmodell ist und aus welchen Bausteinen es besteht —, die spätere Business-Model-Frameworks einschliesslich der Business Model Canvas massgeblich beeinflusst haben. Der Anspruch gilt der zugrunde liegenden Theorie, nicht dem visuellen Werkzeug.

Architekt von Geschäftsmodell-Innovationen, weil der Fokus nicht auf isolierten Tools liegt, sondern auf der kohärenten Gestaltung des gesamten Geschäftsmodells — von Kundennutzen über Wertschöpfung bis zur Ertragslogik. Dauerhafter Wettbewerbsvorteil entsteht aus der Interdependenz dieser Elemente, nicht aus einem einzelnen.

Executive Coach, weil die Arbeit mit Führungskräften auf Entscheidungsfähigkeit, Lernprozesse und Umsetzung unter realer Unsicherheit ausgerichtet ist — und weil Veränderung Menschen braucht, die den Mut haben, die unbequemen Fragen zuzulassen.

Agenten und KI, weil Patrick Stähler bereits in seiner Dissertation (2001) darlegte, dass digitale Technologien nicht nur passive Übertragungskanäle sind, sondern als handelnde Agenten Kommunikationsräume strukturieren und selbst die Initiative ergreifen. Er hat damit die Logik der heutigen agentischen KI ein Vierteljahrhundert früher beschrieben — nicht die Technologie vorhergesagt, aber die formale Struktur, die ihr zugrunde liegt.

Autor, weil Patrick Stähler mit „Das Richtige gründen” (über 10 000 verkaufte Exemplare) eines der meistgenutzten Startup-Bücher im deutschsprachigen Raum verfasst hat — es liefert die Werkzeuge, um aus einer Idee ein getestetes, tragfähiges Geschäftsmodell zu entwickeln, und bildet zugleich die methodische Grundlage der KfW Gründerplattform, deren Mission lautet: mehr und bessere Gründungen in Europa. In deren Team arbeitet er heute an der methodischen Umsetzung mit. Er bloggt seit 2009 auf blog.business-model-innovation.com über Geschäftsmodellinnovation, digitale Transformation und Entrepreneurial Design; der Blog erreichte über 1 000 000 Leser — zu einer Zeit, als Blogs das waren, was heute Influencer-Kanäle sind, nur mit Text und Fakten statt 30-Sekunden-Reels. Er schreibt auch für Wirtschaftsmagazine wie brand eins.

Inventor stands for one of the earliest systematic approaches to the strategy concept of Business Model Innovation, developed in his doctoral dissertation „Geschäftsmodelle in der digitalen Ökonomie” (Business Models in the Digital Economy) at the University of St. Gallen (2001). By chance, because he never set out to invent the business model — he needed a new unit of analysis to answer a question the existing tools could not.

Forefather points to the conceptual foundations — what a business model is and which building blocks it consists of — that significantly shaped later business model frameworks, including the Business Model Canvas. The claim is to the underlying theory, not to the visual tool.

Architect of business model innovations, because the focus is not on isolated tools but on the coherent design of the entire business model — from customer benefit through value creation to revenue logic. Durable competitive advantage arises from the interdependence of these elements, not from any single one.

Executive coach, because the work with leaders is geared towards decision-making, learning, and execution under real uncertainty — and because change needs people with the courage to allow the uncomfortable questions.

Agents and AI, because as early as his dissertation (2001) Patrick Stähler showed that digital media are not merely passive transmission channels but, as acting agents, structure spaces of communication and take the initiative themselves. He thereby described the logic of today’s agentic AI a quarter of a century early — not predicting the technology, but the formal structure underlying it.

Author, because with „Das Richtige gründen” (over 10,000 copies sold) Patrick Stähler wrote one of the most widely used start-up books in the German-speaking world — it provides the tools to turn an idea into a tested, viable business model, and it forms the methodological basis of the KfW Gründerplattform, whose mission is: more and better start-ups in Europe. He works within its team today on the methodological implementation. He has blogged since 2009 at blog.business-model-innovation.com about business model innovation, digital transformation, and entrepreneurial design; the blog has reached more than 1,000,000 readers — at a time when blogs were what influencer channels are today, only with text and facts instead of 30-second reels. He also writes for business magazines such as brand eins.

Digital since 1995, because Patrick Stähler built his own web presences early on, analysed digital business models in the high-tech group of Lazard — a leading global investment bank for technology and M&A mandates — contributed to early e-banking applications at the mcm institute of the University of St. Gallen, and co-founded and led the Swiss subsidiary of Experteer (2009–2012), helping to build a digital platform. Founder Christian Göttsch says to this day that without Patrick Stähler’s dissertation, Experteer would never have come into being — concrete proof that real companies emerge from his theory.

CO₂, because the level of atmospheric CO₂ today stands at more than 428 ppm — a record that shows how strongly economic and technological decisions shift the planetary boundaries. For Patrick Stähler this is a design challenge: to develop, through business model innovation, value creation that works within these limits — a stance he not only teaches but lives privately.

Lehre

Teaching

Patrick Stähler loves teaching. What drives him is the moment a person’s view of their own business changes for good — when technological fascination turns into the question of real customer benefit, that insight into the courage to think bigger, and that courage into genuine action. Understand. Dream Bigger. Act. — not as theory, but as a lived sequence. He is a lecturer and programme director of the CAS Business Model Innovation at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, a lecturer for sustainable start-ups at the University of St. Gallen, and teaches at the HWR Berlin.

Sometimes in life you meet people who lastingly change the way you see a subject. In the Executive MBA at the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons, I had exactly such a moment — in Patrick Stähler’s class. He conveys technology not as an end in itself, but as an enabler of new business models. While many talk about AI, blockchain, or digitalisation, he asks a more fundamental question: what real value do we create for the customer — and what business model emerges from it? His strength lies in the clear separation between technological fascination and genuine value creation. He challenges, thinks in horizons, and connects strategic depth with entrepreneurial practice. Thank you for the impulses, Patrick. You make an impact — in thinking and in action.

Yves Germann — Managing Director