
FOUNDER & SENIOR MANAGER
MICHAEL BRINKMANN
ABOUT ME
Results-driven executive with 20 years of accomplishment in strategic marketing, sales, and new business development within the electronic payment, advertising, and financial services industry. Outstanding track record of delivering revenue and market share growth, process improvements, and profitability gains. Adept at building and managing strategic partnerships. Highly skilled at developing integrated, multi-channel marketing strategies that drive demand, brand awareness, and customer acquisition. Fluent in German and English.
WHAT I HAVE DONE SO FAR

TRUSTFUND GMBH
New projects coming up, beginning 01.2024 until present
Stay tuned
Now, as we progress into the latter half of 2024, I am pleased to announce my involvement in some highly anticipated new projects. One of these initiatives, provisionally titled Trustfund (working title), is particularly significant to me. Trustfund has consistently represented a forward-thinking endeavor focused on creating strategic alliances and partnerships between complementary companies to maximize value. I am convinced there is substantial untapped potential in this domain, and I am committed to revitalizing this enduring project. Our objective is to cultivate collaborations that drive innovation, spur growth, and generate mutual success for all stakeholders.

TIME FOR A BREAK
What comes next ?
I don’t know
After almost 2.5 years in my job as Managing Director of ADAC Finanzdienste GmbH, I have now decided to actively step down. It has been a privilege to serve this organization for the past 2.5 years and I am proud of what we have accomplished together during this time. After careful consideration, I have concluded that I am at a stage in my personal career where, if I did not do it now, I would always look back and regret what I did not do. I am confident that ADAC Financial Services will continue to grow with the talented team, and I would like to thank everyone who supported me during my time.

ADAC FINANCIAL SERVICES GMBH
Managing Director from 10.2020 until 06.2023
I don’t know
New services for new mobility. We care that you can be mobile safely. For every situation in life. The Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil-Club e. V., short ADAC is Europe’s largest roadside assistance club. Its headquarters are in Munich. The purpose of the ADAC is „to represent and promote the interests of motoring, motor sports and tourism“. It is committed to the private and professional mobility of its members and their families. Its original and best-known service is roadside assistance..

KOPPLR GMBH
Co-Founder of Kopplr.com, 06.2020 until 01.2023
Berlin, Germany
Kopplr.com is the onboarding platform for the digital economy. Merchants can enroll to payment services and merchant related services like insurance and webshop development from one place. kopplr‘s unique pricing engine allows solution partners to price their products based on complex merchant details rules. All that the merchant sees is what they are interested in: the bottom line. For kopplr‘s partners this means a flexible sales channel with a convergent onboarding flow. All digital. All transparent.

WIRECARD AG
Executive Vice President 01.2006 until 08.2020
Aschheim, Germany
Wirecard operates one of the world’s fastest-growing digital platforms in the realm of financial commerce. Wirecard offers both business clients and consumers a full range of innovative added-value services for digital payments: online, mobile, and at the point of sale. Wirecard has become one of the biggest fraud cases in post-war German history due to an obviously criminally acting top management!

PAGO eTRANSACTION SERVICES GMBH
Senior Partner Manager, since 2003
Cologne, Germany
Pago was one of the leading international acquiring & payment service providers.Pago provided integrated Payment Services for e-commerce businesses around the world. Pago was daughter company of Deutsche Bank and Beisheim Holding BHS Switzerland. Pago was. renamed to DEUTSCHE CARD SERVICES and then sold to Evo payments, a psp from the united states

BBDO
Account Director, 06.2000 until 10.2002
Düsseldorf, Germany
BBDO Group Germany has traditionally been the country’s biggest marketing group, almost twice as big by revenues as its nearest competitor, and the network’s biggest international outpost. It has dominated the local marketing industry for well over two decades. The main BBDO advertising agency has offices in Duesseldorf and Berlin and is supported by a circle of specialist satellites like BBDO Interactive.
KPMG
Junior Consultant (FAS), since1999
Essen, Germany
KPMG’s Finance Transformation practice supports the growing agenda and increased responsibilities of the CFO. We can help strengthen your finance operations by focusing on key priorities including strategic decision support, efficient operations, strategic growth, and governance. Our services can help improve transparency and information integrity, as well as help you prepare for impending change
MERRILL LYNCH
Summer Associate, Internship 1998
San Diego, USA
I was the first, lucky intern to work with small, brilliant and international team. During these couple of months, I queried SQL data to create user analytics reports, implemented initiatives to guide product launches using A/B test results, designed Google Analytics dashboards, aided with community support, and participated in the product design process. This startup crash-course of a summer flooded me with opportunities to osmose bits of wisdom from founders, engineers, investors, and other leaders of the San Diego Valley.

ALLIANT UNIVERSITY
MIBA, earned 1999
San Diego, USA
Alliant presented unprecedented scale and diversity of opportunity. My three years of great professors across the disciplines pushed me to expand, challenge, and adjust my worldview. My experiences with other cultures showed me the power of empathetic and strategic leadership.My junior fall semester at UC West Virginia WVU L humbled me to explore my place in the world. Alliant showed me what I love to do, gifted me with a love for learning, and surrounded me with a wealth of inspiring peers.

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
Summer Session I +II
Morgantown, West Virginia
WVU was a gerat experience during my undergraduate studies at International Business School. My short business session at WVU including the first short insights in business related studies and strategic business leadership inspired me to obtain my masters degree in the United States
WESTDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG
Certified Publisher (IHK) 09.1991 until 02.1994
Düsseldorf, Germany
Publishing house trainees carry out all work involved in the organisation, production, sale and distribution of newspapers, magazines, books and electronic media, taking into account the law on publishing and the press. In 1973 they were united under the title Westdeutsche Zeitung in the publishing house W. Girardet Düsseldorf.
HOW I WORK
UP TO DATE
UPDATES
Growth Through Smart Strategic Alliances
Creating additional value for companies has always been my passion. Throughout my career, I’ve consistently looked for ways to turn 1+1 into 3—identifying opportunities where partnerships don’t just add value but multiply it exponentially. This mindset led me to…
Horizontale vs vertikale künstliche Intelligenz
Horizontale versus Vertikale künstliche Intelligenz und deren Einfluss auf Unternehmen der Zukunft Die KI-Revolution ist keine ferne Vision mehr, sondern prägt bereits heute unser Leben und Arbeiten. Zwei zentrale Konzepte stehen dabei im Fokus: die vertikale und die…