SPARK 20 - 109: Philipp Baaske, CEO of Nanotemper

What does it take to lead a global biotech company tackling diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s—and still treat every team member, from executives to production staff, as equals?

In this 20-minute highlight episode, we meet Philipp Baaske, the visionary CEO of NanoTemper. From his small Bavarian village roots to global biotech innovation, Philipp shares the leadership lessons and personal philosophies that shaped his journey.

Quotes:

• (00:01:05) “Leadership is all about emotions. It’s not about you—it’s about your people. A leader is defined by their followers, and they follow because they trust and believe in you.”
• (00:04:19) “Complaining is just an excuse not to work on what you can change. Focus on improving instead.”
• (00:15:54) “Every month counts when fighting cancer. If we release a drug even one month earlier, we save lives.”

Curious for more? Listen to the full episode here and dive deeper into Philipp’s remarkable journey. 

Timestamps:

• (00:00:00) Welcome to Spark20: Innovating Leadership
• (00:01:15) Top Leadership Lessons: Walk the Talk
• (00:02:33) From Bavaria to Biotech Visionary
• (00:06:01) Science Fiction & Physics: Philipp’s Inspiration
• (00:12:50) Launching to Space with NASA
• (00:16:00) Fighting Cancer: The Push for Better Tools
• (00:19:20) Leadership Challenges: Tough Decisions

If you’re ready to discover actionable leadership insights, hear how innovation fuels impact, and learn why values truly matter in leadership, this is your episode. Dive into Philipp’s story, and don’t miss the chance to see how he turns bold visions into real-world breakthroughs.

Listen now and be inspired.

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:12:24
Speaker 1
Imagine leading a company that doesn't just innovate, but truly changes lives while earning trust, respect, and loyalty across the board. Sounds powerful right?

00:00:12:24 - 00:00:28:04
Speaker 1
Welcome to this 20 minute highlight episode crafted for busy professionals like you. We have distilled the best moments from our full length conversations, so you can gain maximum insight in many more time.

00:00:28:04 - 00:00:44:16
Speaker 1
Today, we are spotlighting Philip Baskett, the CEO of Nano Tempo, a global biotech innovator, from his small village roots in Bavaria to breakthroughs in fighting diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's.

00:00:44:19 - 00:01:05:27
Speaker 1
Phillip's journey is both inspiring and practical. In the next 20 minutes, you will hear his biggest leadership lessons how he keeps innovation thriving and why treating every team member equally, whether on the production floor or in the C-suite, defines true leadership.

00:01:05:27 - 00:01:15:17
Speaker 1
Enjoy this quick dive, and if it sparks your curiosity, the full episode awaits. Let's jump in. Happy listening.

00:01:15:17 - 00:01:23:09
Unknown
What are the three most important leadership lessons that you learned in the last year when you started nano tempo?

00:01:23:09 - 00:01:32:29
Unknown
The most important thing is Walk the talk. You really have to list what you're speaking about. You have a culture, you have values, and you have to listen.

00:01:32:29 - 00:01:43:14
Unknown
You can't I mean, when you say you treat everyone equally and your CEO and founder is not about drinking champagne with your executive team and only with them.

00:01:43:16 - 00:01:44:17
Unknown
It's also having a

00:01:44:17 - 00:01:47:21
Unknown
beer, with everyone in your production. You have to treat everyone

00:01:47:21 - 00:01:53:08
Unknown
equally. And it's your personality I mean, you can play a role

00:01:53:08 - 00:02:03:20
Unknown
for a certain time, but over years it's your personality. You have to really have to to live it and you have to start with yourself. So it's about

00:02:03:20 - 00:02:04:05
Unknown
it's a beginning.

00:02:04:05 - 00:02:05:27
Unknown
It did a lot of times, really. I complain about

00:02:05:27 - 00:02:08:29
Unknown
how others behave and try to change them,

00:02:08:29 - 00:02:25:29
Unknown
but you can't change others who can only change your own attitude and your own behavior. So as soon I realized it, I got more coaches and also mentors and worked on myself and also got feedback to improve things. I did wrong.

00:02:26:01 - 00:02:29:00
Unknown
And so this is a start with yourself

00:02:29:00 - 00:02:33:14
Unknown
as the founder CEO of Wherever You Are. You have to start with yourself.

00:02:33:14 - 00:02:43:06
Unknown
When you go a little bit back to your upbringing, what impact did your experience in your village have on your entrepreneurship spirit?

00:02:43:07 - 00:02:46:17
Unknown
So experience, So my my parents, my father and my mother.

00:02:46:17 - 00:02:52:21
Unknown
When my father works as a electrician, my mother in kindergarten and my grandpa is a farmer

00:02:52:22 - 00:02:56:14
Unknown
and my parents were complaining about the crops and the bosses

00:02:56:15 - 00:03:01:27
Unknown
and my grandfather was not in his own business.

00:03:01:28 - 00:03:05:09
Unknown
I mean, as a farmer, you very much influenced by by Visser.

00:03:05:10 - 00:03:06:21
Unknown
And if you think about it,

00:03:06:22 - 00:03:07:27
Unknown
you have

00:03:07:28 - 00:03:12:16
Unknown
in your whole lifetime you have only 50 or 40 opportunities.

00:03:12:16 - 00:03:14:07
Unknown
So it's a perfect,

00:03:14:08 - 00:03:29:19
Unknown
harvest and you have. So as it is, it can be bad or good, but it doesn't help you to complain about the visa because you can't influence a visa. And so this was my learning. What it was I said was a Silicon Valley.

00:03:29:20 - 00:03:32:19
Unknown
I can't influence what is happening here

00:03:32:20 - 00:03:36:02
Unknown
as I can't influence the visa.

00:03:36:04 - 00:03:37:26
Unknown
So it's a bit better.

00:03:37:27 - 00:03:56:08
Unknown
I still try to get to the best possible harvest. And so yes, it is a bit financial situation because of of a bank crisis. I can influence us, but I still try to get the best out of the situation. And so this is what I what I learned once said, if there is something

00:03:56:09 - 00:03:57:18
Unknown
I mean, I can't complain.

00:03:57:18 - 00:04:01:10
Unknown
I can't complain about people because I'm I'm center preneur.

00:04:01:11 - 00:04:19:18
Unknown
I can't blame anyone. I can't blame Silvester. I can blame the Silicon Valley Bank. I can only play me. So I have to focus on the things I can do. And it's not about complaining. We have to change the situation, so don't waste your time and complaining. Put your time in.

00:04:19:18 - 00:04:21:05
Unknown
Do improving

00:04:21:06 - 00:04:23:10
Unknown
How did you find your passion for physics?

00:04:23:10 - 00:04:29:10
Unknown
I had good teachers in physics, so as a as a child I remember I was most interested in biology,

00:04:29:10 - 00:04:34:13
Unknown
but in school I had better teachers in chemistry and biology, so somehow I hated it.

00:04:34:15 - 00:04:35:13
Unknown
But now I'm doing it.

00:04:35:13 - 00:04:57:24
Unknown
It's very good. And they're very good teachers in mathematics and physics and an attendant for it. And then when it comes to studies, it didn't start with physics. So I finish school in 1999 and it's a civil civil service. And since I was this I.T. boom wasn't Germany. MP three For me, it was discovered by Mr. Brandenburg

00:04:57:24 - 00:05:02:27
Unknown
and he he joined Imanol, a small town university as professor.

00:05:02:27 - 00:05:04:23
Unknown
So I went to immunology studies,

00:05:04:23 - 00:05:10:07
Unknown
engineering informatics because, you know, from a village with a six, what can you do to become a teacher?

00:05:10:07 - 00:05:19:09
Unknown
I had no idea of what to do with physics later on. Maybe astronaut, which is cool. Yeah, that's true. Or science, but serious. Maybe also

00:05:19:09 - 00:05:25:06
Unknown
find no top. At least in my regions. I was no top four in physics, so I started with informatics

00:05:25:06 - 00:05:27:12
Unknown
an instance engineering informatics course.

00:05:27:12 - 00:05:29:02
Unknown
You also listen to physics

00:05:29:02 - 00:05:36:15
Unknown
and then I had my first physics course and then I said, okay, no, it's not informatics, it's for sixth six. And I changed

00:05:36:15 - 00:05:47:06
Unknown
to physics. So I tried, I failed, I changed, and now I'm doing business and biochemistry and not physics.

00:05:47:06 - 00:05:56:19
Unknown
Basically the majority, I think, went down to save chop rot and you decided to go for a Ph.D. studies what what formed the decision? I

00:05:56:19 - 00:05:59:09
Unknown
think my father, my parents supported me.

00:05:59:09 - 00:06:01:08
Unknown
And also it was curiosity.

00:06:01:15 - 00:06:29:26
Unknown
I wanted to learn more, go also to go to university. And also also I realized that there was a lot of knowledge out there and big science fiction fan, as you mentioned. So Star Trek and this, we are now on TV, some pictures on the coffin. And there is one thing I want to do engage. Yeah. So I had my parents supporting this strongly.

00:06:29:26 - 00:06:40:02
Unknown
You mentioned a couple of times that you like science fiction books, and I'm curious, which was the most influential science fiction book on your book?

00:06:40:04 - 00:07:10:16
Unknown
I think it's a it's called Lucky Star Space Ranger from Isaac Asimov. There was a a guy that is hysterically stories with was a guy who studied physics in the Citizen Science Council. Having the government to to solve difficult problems and says was somehow a hero for me who solved this as a science fiction problems with the science.

00:07:10:19 - 00:07:36:06
Unknown
So he studied physics. He was a cool guy, a hero, and so somehow resonated with me In my teenage years and the likes of science fiction movies, they pulled up a new universe, they set up rules and not really rules, but rules and stick to the rules. And so they built a setting and stick to it and see a completely new world evolves.

00:07:36:08 - 00:07:45:15
Unknown
And so this helps me to get out of this operational mode and to open up my brain for new things and new all new ways of thinking.

00:07:45:15 - 00:08:12:19
Unknown
when we talk about treating people in a nice and kind way. So these days, when you read leadership books, they are often about being kind and being nice to everybody. Then look into the sports world and realize that athletes and top performing athletes very often seek people that push them forward and they demand from them that they don't be nice, so that they just shout at them and scream at them to just get the best out of them.

00:08:12:21 - 00:08:35:19
Unknown
Where do you see in leadership in your world, the balance between being kind and nice and also sometimes being unfriendly and pushy to move people forward for their own benefit? So there must be a balance? Or is it really it or in your opinion? I would say it's to be honest and transparent. If someone does something wrong, it's this person.

00:08:35:19 - 00:09:04:08
Unknown
It's wrong to tell you you're stupid or whatever. Just say it's wrong. It's honesty and transparency and it's all built on trust. See, other things are trust, some mentality, things trust like say how it is is also learned in my from my village times was craftsmen and farmers. You takes a things ACR and you think say really?

00:09:04:09 - 00:09:28:22
Unknown
I'm from Franconia. We are known to be very direct and so it is very efficient to tone talk around you, see what it is. You try to get an image of reality and describes the reality. And I think it's honesty. When you say someone you did this wrong, this person can can learn, you can you can say it in a nice way or in a not so nice way of pushing way.

00:09:28:27 - 00:09:55:25
Unknown
But this is a second layer. First, you have to identify reality and names of reality, and the rest is in communication. And communication is also it's bilateral. I mean, it's not a terrible thing. You have to understand. You have to know the other person and then you can communicate it in a way. But you're saying it's best for salesperson because it's information.

00:09:55:28 - 00:10:20:11
Unknown
How you receive information is not about how I talk is. It's about how you understand it. So we have to give it to you in a way. I think you you can understand it and this can a pushy some people like to push away something you like so very nicely. So it's up to me as a leader or a manager to understand the best way of communication for us in person.

00:10:20:10 - 00:10:23:18
Speaker 2
How important are emotions in leadership, in your opinion?

00:10:23:20 - 00:10:47:23
Speaker 1
Leadership. It's all about emotions. People you I mean leadership. It's not about you. It's about your people. You're only a leader. Someone follows you and they follow you because they believe in you and the trust in you. It's only emotions. It's personality. It's emotions. They have to talk with them in a very emotional way because it's not about you, it's about them.

00:10:47:25 - 00:11:05:11
Speaker 1
A leader is defined by the followers, only by the followers. Only if you know the followers who can define a leader. The leader alone is nothing, just a person. It's always a follower. Well, it's important. And so it's important.

00:11:05:11 - 00:11:11:27
Unknown
Yeah, I think especially in the the knowledge world that we have these days, it's important to keep people motivated.

00:11:11:29 - 00:11:38:19
Unknown
And if leaders fail in that, I think they block a lot of energy and innovation cannot move forward when people feel blocked. what the hell do you see? You know, when people have fear, it can block innovation? Some say it can also be a drivers only and it also depends on the person. But fear you should be.

00:11:38:19 - 00:12:05:15
Unknown
You shouldn't be afraid of something. You feel safe. And I think it's is also about feeling trusted. If you see someone believes in you, you feel very confident to try. It's a risky things and there's also very good control. That's easy gossip. Sometimes people are afraid because in the past something happened and then someone was fired. And so people are afraid to do the same thing.

00:12:05:18 - 00:12:28:02
Unknown
But there's also a lot of assumptions. So that's why it's important to actively communicate how you think and how you would react in such a situation. Also, when a new employee starts to tell some well, I tell them I'm getting angry very quickly and you will you will see it. But the next day, I've it's over. I'm fine again.

00:12:28:03 - 00:12:30:22
Unknown
Do you get angry very quickly? I do. Really? Yeah.

00:12:30:23 - 00:12:50:19
Unknown
Do you have still a passion for space? I mean, I think the eighties, it was Star Trek. It was Star Wars. I think many people in our generation started dreaming about space, space exploration. Elon Musk went down this road. So he still, I think with Space X has the vision to build a colony on Mars. What's with your company?

00:12:50:19 - 00:13:04:21
Unknown
Is there any visionary space project going on? And I also like SpaceX very much and we indeed have a broad track with International Space Station. Yeah, So I think it's now the launch is planned now for 2025. We

00:13:04:22 - 00:13:07:27
Unknown
will send experiments to the International Space Station.

00:13:07:27 - 00:13:15:04
Unknown
Yeah, it's a formulation topic, formulation of proteins, how to stabilize them. So I'm very excited about this project.

00:13:15:04 - 00:13:46:14
Unknown
We started order in 2014, so long time project and so launch has been postponed for several times now, but it's now planned I think May 2025. And then we will send an experimental the space station. So rocket science, why space? Why, why do you need space for your work in space? You have nearly no gravity and you have a lot of this temperature and in all our symbols are in liquid.

00:13:46:16 - 00:14:13:28
Unknown
So an antibody, a truck like had something in or trusted some up has to be stable in liquid. And so no, if a lot of temperature influences in temperature mean to have some convection and some convection means if we eat something up, it becomes lighter and instead it moves upwards and into it induces flows, which makes something, boosts antibodies and white would move upwards.

00:14:13:28 - 00:14:47:02
Unknown
It's one thing it's lighter, but it only is lighter because there is gravity and to really understand what what temperature load does to it without floors, you have to switch off gravity. What you can't do on earth as a space station is microgravity. So really no influence of gravity. So we can study accessibility. So serviceability of antibodies without the influence of gravity without some convective flows.

00:14:47:04 - 00:14:51:27
Unknown
And since this whole problem becomes simpler and we hope to learn something from this,

00:14:51:27 - 00:14:58:23
Unknown
When other medicines are available for every person that every disease is treated or what's your what's your guess?

00:14:58:23 - 00:15:27:14
Unknown
And that hopefully before it's too late for me. So my mother had cancer and well, saved by breast, so someone had to team. So my afraid of getting cancer. So my family has a certain history of cancer cases. And so I'm also afraid of getting cancer. And so this is also one reason why I founded nano timber, because the so called what can I, what can I do to improve that relation with cancer?

00:15:27:14 - 00:15:38:10
Unknown
I don't want to be a victim of the fate and once you can do it, can develop a truck, but then it's one truck against one cancer thing,

00:15:38:10 - 00:15:41:05
Unknown
but they have to have the biggest leverage.

00:15:41:06 - 00:15:54:17
Unknown
And so I was about to force a scientist, so say a lot of clever scientists, tens, thousands of them. If they have better tools, they can develop better drugs faster.

00:15:54:19 - 00:16:24:07
Unknown
So this was we have around 20,000 users now. And it's interesting about if we improve the usability of our device in ways that we save the scientist one hour per week, we have 50 hours, a 50 weeks, one hour per week times 20,000 scientists, 1000000 hours. And this is a huge level. It's 1000000 hours more time to in to discover new cancer drugs.

00:16:24:09 - 00:16:58:22
Unknown
So as I said, prediction about the future especially tough. But I strongly believe that every disease is treatable and. I hope so. We will get there and said everyone has access to it. It's very important that people have to access those drugs. And so we catch those drugs quicker. So every month council I mean, every year you have 18 million new cancer cases every every year is like a population of sadness alone, 80, 18 million victims.

00:16:58:22 - 00:17:01:19
Unknown
It's more than 1 million new cases every month. Yeah.

00:17:01:20 - 00:17:11:24
Unknown
So every month when we have a common need to release a cancer drug one month earlier, you can save a lot of lives. And if you are in

00:17:11:24 - 00:17:16:11
Unknown
and you really have the cancer every every month, every day is very important for you.

00:17:16:10 - 00:17:22:14
Unknown
This is also why we push so hard to be quick with our solutions on the market because it makes a difference.

00:17:22:16 - 00:17:29:16
Unknown
So I, I don't know Venter's will be, but I push really hard. So it will be sooner.

00:17:29:16 - 00:17:35:11
Unknown
situations in a company change, companies evolve and not everybody is a good fit at any stage in the company.

00:17:35:11 - 00:17:46:00
Unknown
So sometimes it's necessary, especially when it comes to negativity, to keep the team moving forward and not stopping in the development tools. A fire paper What's your approach as a business agent?

00:17:46:01 - 00:17:48:01
Unknown
up to now and into three investments.

00:17:48:02 - 00:18:15:14
Unknown
If I didn't have the situation, but I would connect you. And so this is, I think, one very important thing which also discriminates good company for, let's say normal companies, everyone can hire, everyone likes to hire because it's a nice thing. It's a tough thing. Is firing. Talking with someone, looking at the person's desire and said we have to separate.

00:18:15:16 - 00:18:47:01
Unknown
And seriously, a lot of people fail. So you're afraid to fire someone because of the knowledge of this person so long. It's a company will happen to it. And tendencies are similar things. We can't fire this person because it's so important. So if it will immediately, because the next day will be even worse. And in my experience, whenever we have to let go, someone it has never become bet it just changed.

00:18:47:04 - 00:19:11:07
Unknown
But it was never a big problem. We started doing this too late because it's really, really tough. I know the tendency as a person, you know, this person will have a tough time afterwards, but believe me, I have since time before a lot of my gray hair. So from this says things, But this is what we have to do.

00:19:11:09 - 00:19:20:27
Unknown
This is this is leadership. The tough decisions are about you and this is not hiring. It's firing in one toxic person can kill your whole team.

00:19:20:28 - 00:19:37:01
Unknown
If you could get a time machine and try it back to your younger self, let's say around 2000, what did place with all the experience your gains in the last 23 years? What advice would you give your younger self?

00:19:37:01 - 00:20:03:16
Unknown
So my advice would be not only to my younger self because afterwards you always know you better do your thing and think it's really about to get all the information available. Talk with a lot of people, gets advisors, but do and know people share experience with you. Experience experience are from the past, experience are limited.

00:20:03:19 - 00:20:28:05
Unknown
When something was impossible in the past, reconsider it because situations of the past was different and now and into future new technologies. Things who have been which have been impossible in the past may not be possible. So take services takes experience particularly new or novel, and there is a future. So to do your thing,