Story 1: asphericon - How it all began

Cover sheet of Sven Kiontke's final thesis 'Simulation of the polishing of aspheres'

The founding of asphericon came at the beginning of the new millennium, which had just begun - and with it endless possibilities. Sven Kiontke, a computer science student in his mid-20s, a bright head with fuzzy hair, always in a T-shirt and jeans, wrote his final thesis in 1999. Driven by the idea that semi-automated processes could simplify and thus revolutionize the process of manufacturing optical components, he dug deep into the subject and passed his thesis with flying colors. The result is a software that enables the grinding and polishing of aspheres. The proof-of-concept is promising. But Sven is not a person who is satisfied with a diploma in his pocket. A researcher’s curiosity and insatiable desire for more drive him and will become the engine for every project in the years to come.

The potential inherent in the findings of the final thesis must be realized. But how do you proceed? With his grandfather’s credo in mind: “The easy way may be easy, but the hard way is where you learn and grow,” Sven Kiontke took advantage of the drive of the anything-is-possible mood at the turn of the millennium and founded a company. The attempt failed. But mistakes are part of the game. You learn from mistakes, and you grow from them.

If you ask Sven Kiontke today where he got the courage to start again, he points out that he had to develop personally to do so: “At the time, there was a seminar at the Institute of Business Administration in which I went through my options. In the end, the result was clear to me and I was able to tackle the idea of starting asphericon.”

Original notice by Sven Kiontke

However, Sven did not want to make the second attempt alone. He was looking for partners who believed in the idea and the technology behind it. Because he often frequented the bulletin board at the university himself, he saw a chance to meet fellow campaigners here. So he quickly went to the computer to prepare the notice, then to the copier and finally taped it to the bulletin board. “Promising startup from Jena seeks committed business professional who wants to grow with the company and is willing to invest accordingly.

He knew his strengths and was looking for someone to add his own focus to them. Soon after, the phone rang. On the other end was Alexander Zschäbitz.

“A fellow student called me at the beginning of February 2001 and told me that there was a notice on the bulletin board at the university next to the housing ads that read: ‘Seeking co-founders’. That same evening, I went there, tore off a tab and left the rest of the notice hanging. “, recalls Alexander Zschäbitz, who had just graduated with a degree in economics at the time. “I still have that tab today,” he smiles.

Founding team of asphericon: Alexander Zschäbitz (CEO), Sven Kiontke (CEO) and Thomas Kurschel (CTO)

Through his faculty, Sven Kiontke also got to know computer scientist Thomas Kurschel. Both speak the same language, understand each other and the subject, and continue to develop the software together. Thomas Kurschel, now CTO at asphericon, remembers the circumstances back then and the fact that he didn’t even have Internet in his apartment in 2001. He describes the working atmosphere in asphericon’s early days: “It was a tough time. When we started in our first lab in the university building in 2001, we had a sacred pillow on which we took shifts to get some sleep. At that time, we took extremely long hours to get asphericon started. The pillow had allowed us to get some rest. And it’s great how far we’ve come since then. Our software, which we’ve continuously developed since then, hasn’t been offline for more than a day in all those 20 years.”

The trio was complete: Sven Kiontke had the technology, Thomas Kurschel the know-how, Alexander Zschäbitz the business knowledge. The company asphericon was founded.