Born in the Rhineland in 1968, Ralph Chromik discovered his passion for entrepreneurship soon after completing his studies in economics and business administration at the universities of Bonn and Trier. After brief stints at several management consulting firms including KPMG and Ernst & Young, he therefore embarked on the adventure of self-employment in the late 1990s.

Early on, Ralph had developed a deep interest in exploring the potential of IT (specifically, ERP software) for controlling and supporting processes and managing companies (business intelligence). He was also fascinated by how things like organizational development and a management team’s mindset can make or break projects.

After lengthy stays in other countries including Greece and Venezuela, he realized that successful collaboration in a team crucially depends on practicing contextual thinking, paying attention to cultural and social conditioning, and using precise, appropriate language.

Since 2007, Ralph has been very active in the 13,000-strong global Entrepreneurs’ Organization, holding a variety of national and international leadership roles over the last decade.

After spending a year and a half training as a systemic organization developer in Vienna, Ralph quickly discovered how seamlessly these tools can be integrated into the Scaling Up framework while ideally supplementing it. He teamed up with Nikolai Ladanyi to launch the Scaling Up movement in Germany, and has set himself the goal of making it available to as many entrepreneurs as possible.

Ralph has loved being near water since earliest childhood and goes sailing and windsurfing at every opportunity. His connection with nature and enjoyment of sports have always been strong personal drivers, and he fully lives both as a marathon runner. He is also fascinated by the extent to which mental processes shape phenomena like leadership and peak performance.