Dr. Thilo Bobrowski
- Growth strategies in the B2B and B2C sectors
- E-business strategies for shop-based and mail order companies
- Market-oriented transformation of the value chain
- Restructuring in shop-based and distance selling
- Strategic due diligence in M & A mandates
Mastermind and Powershopper
Thilo Bobrowski's expertise ranges from identifying and developing new growth areas, through market-driven business restructuring to turnaround management. He also advises clients on portfolio optimization and M&A mandates. His customers include the largest shop-based and mail-order companies in Germany, as well as leading mid-sized retailers.
Before SMP was founded in 1998, Thilo Bobrowski worked at Boston Consulting Group in Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. Here he advised mainly financial service providers and industrial clients on issues relating to strategy development, reorganization and controlling.
Thilo Bobrowski studied business administration at the University of St. Gallen and the Università L. Bocconi in Milan. After a subsequent MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago, he gained a doctorate in economics at the University of St. Gallen.
Thilo Brobowski describes himself as a "committing Düsseldorf resident". Privately, he is interested in vintage cars, music and literature.
Time is a valuable commodity. If something can be achieved to a high level of quality and quickly, while still being fun to do, for me that’s the best. Left school at 18, graduated from St. Gallen at 22, MBA in Chicago at 24, PhD at 26, project director at the Boston Consulting Group at 28, founder of SMP at 30. No need to hurry and certainly no need to be bored, ever.
My expectations regarding a successful SMP project and our company itself are one and the same: bBetter results in less time - not just output, but also input for the next step. The top of the mountain is not yet in sight. At SMP we have only just left base camp. The only way is up!
What qualities do friends admire in you?
Humour, openness, reliability and loads of optimism.
What challenges do you enjoy taking on?
The pragmatic search for ingenious solutions - and vice-versa.
What's your favourite thing to do after finishing a successful project?
I love spending the evening with a great beer on the banks of the beautiful Rhine.
What dream do you still have to realise?
Surrounded by friends and colleagues, I am sitting in a rocking chair in my old age, and telling stories about the first 50 years of SMP. In the background, the Champions League final is on TV and Fortuna Dusseldorf wins it easily for the seventh time since 2014.
What do you do to recharge your batteries?
Short or long weekends in Sylt and the South Tyrol, with hot pasta and cold wine, in fast cars and not-so-fast cars.
What adventures lie ahead?
Well, it would be boring to know that beforehand, wouldn't it?
What mistakes can you put up with?
Winston Churchill said: "A wise man doesn't make all his mistakes himself. He also gives other people a chance." If someone has seized this chance and openly admits his failure, I'm ready to talk and will try to ensure that the same mistake doesn't happen again.
What was your biggest achievement at SMP?
Winning a major project at a time when SMP had three employees and our competitor had 30,000. Size doesn't matter.
Which personal item would you least like to be separated from?
My 1973 Porsche 914 in saturn yellow.
What's the motto you live your life by?
Live the way you would have liked to have lived when you come to die.
CF Gellert
