The best newspaper strategy of the digital era was to stop being a newspaper company. A case study in classifieds economics, network effects and acting while cash flow lasts.
Startup · Topic
Germany Company Stories — Page 2
Expert guides, analysis and tool comparisons on Germany Company Stories from the kurums.com Startup desk — written for business decision-makers and updated as the market moves.
- 55 guides
- 11 subtopics
- Updated Aug 5, 2026
Automotive & Mobility 5
Family Ownership, Foundations & Codetermination 5
Media, Telecom & Data Infrastructure 5
Logistics, Transport & Infrastructure 5
Retail, Consumer & Discount Empires 5
Software, Tech & Digital Platforms 5
Energy, Utilities & the Energiewende 5
Banking, Insurance & Finance 5
Chemicals, Pharma & Life Sciences 5
Industrial Engineering & the Mittelstand 5
Startups, Scaleups & the Funding Ecosystem 5
All guides · page 2
Bertelsmann: The Media Conglomerate That Answers to a Foundation
Europe’s most durable media group has no listed shares. A case study in foundation ownership, rights catalogue economics and managing structural decline by portfolio migration.
Deutsche Telekom: The German Company That Became an American One
A German telecoms group now earns most of its growth in America. A case study in market structure, a blocked sale that created the position, and the holding discount problem.
Hamburg and the Port Problem: Why German Trade Flows Through Rotterdam
German trade increasingly flows through Dutch and Belgian ports. A case study in how geography, vessel size and hinterland connections decide port competitiveness.
Hapag-Lloyd and the Container Cycle: Feast, Famine and Why It Repeats
Container shipping alternates between historic profit and losses that kill carriers. A case study of ordering lags, alliances and how shippers should contract against the cycle.
Lufthansa: The Airline Group Model and What the Rescue Really Bought
European airlines consolidate by collecting flags, not merging them. A case study of traffic rights, slots, the state rescue and where airline profit actually sits.
Deutsche Post DHL: From Postal Monopoly to Global Logistics
A state postal monopoly used its declining core to buy its way into global logistics. A case study in network density economics and acquiring capability rather than revenue.
Deutsche Bahn: What Thirty Years of Deferred Maintenance Actually Costs
German rail is spending records and running later than ever. A case study in deferred maintenance, network saturation and why repair makes performance worse first.
Metro: What Happens When a Retail Conglomerate Sells Everything
Metro spent fifteen years selling every consumer business it owned to focus on wholesale. A case study in portfolio exits, customer stickiness and delivery economics.
Adidas After the Split: What a Billion-Euro Dependency Actually Cost
One partnership carried a modest revenue share and an outsized profit share, and then ended overnight. A case study in creative dependency and brand recovery.
dm and the Anti-Discount Model: Paying More to Sell for Less
dm pays above-market wages and has lower unit costs than competitors who do not. A case study in turnover economics, store autonomy and everyday low pricing.
Schwarz Group: How Europe’s Biggest Retailer Became a Cloud Provider
Europe’s biggest retailer is building a sovereign cloud platform. A case study in converting internal infrastructure into external businesses under permanent private ownership.
