There's only one person behind whs-consult - and when we work together, you'll work directly with me. 

Wiebke Hagendorf-Schroeter, MSc., PhD - Founder | Executive Advisor | Fractional Chief Operating Officer & Chief of Staff

Throughout my career, I enjoyed solving technical problems. 

But I found that the most difficult challenges were rarely technical - they were organizational. 

The companies that succeeded were the ones that built teams and ways of working that kept pace with innovation. That's what led me to found whs-consult and focus on helping deep-tech founders build organizations that can keep pace with their technology. 

I grew up professionally in Germany, earned my PhD in chemistry, and spent nearly two decades in Denmark leading research and engineering teams. Those years taught me how to solve difficult technical problems - but they also showed me that technical excellence alone rarely determines whether a company succeeds.

Accepting increasingly challenging R&D leadership positions eventually brought me to Michigan, where I learned firsthand that returning an underperforming North American business unit to success requires a different kind of leadership than developing a technology. 

When I moved to Michigan 13 years ago, I didn’t just move to a new country and a new culture. I moved from applied chemistry to environmental technology. And I took on a new executive role.

I learned that people and organizations - not technology - determine whether businesses are successful.

Working across three countries taught me that while cultures differ, the fundamentals of good leadership don't. 

People do their best work when expectations are clear, trust is built deliberately, and everyone understands how their work contributes to a shared goal. 

Today I help founders navigate the transition from expert, problem solver and chief engineer to leader, coach, and builder of strong teams.

I advise founders of technical startups, hardware including medical device. I've also served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Michigan State University and Ann Arbor SPARK, and I currently lead New Enterprise Forum, where we help founders refine their investor pitch. Those roles have given me the opportunity to work with many founders across a wide range of technologies and stages of growth. 

Outside of work you'll usually find me with a thriller, tending my flower garden (tomatoes and basil are my only edible exceptions), cycling the backroads around Ann Arbor, or walking our cute-looking but not accordingly behaving dog. I am known to love shoes.