Honestly Impactful #4 | Serial entrepreneur in Rhein-Main
What makes someone keep choosing to build from zero — again and again?
Markus Riester has spent more than 25 years moving between science, MedTech, diagnostics, startups, and leadership roles — as founder, CTO, investor, advisor, and now CEO of Nephrolyx, a company developing new approaches to kidney diagnostics.
Across multiple ventures, one challenge keeps returning: how do you turn promising science into something that works in the real world — as a product, a company, or part of clinical practice?
Join us for an honest fireside chat with serial entrepreneur in life science — and what it means to keep building over time.
🔥 Fireside chat with Dr. Markus Riester, serial founder & CEO of Nephrolyx
🍕 Pizza + peer-level guided networking
🧬 All people interested in creating impact in life science
Agenda
17:30 – 18:00 | Arrival & Informal Gathering
18:00 – 18:15 | Introduction by Nucleate
18:15 – 18:30 | Speaker Keynote Speech
18:30 – 19:30 | Moderated Fireside Chat
Block 1: Personal Journey & Spark
From student life to the first spark of startup curiosity.
Block 2: From First Startup to Serial Entrepreneurship
How the journey changes after the first company: spotting patterns, choosing problems, building teams, and deciding which ideas are worth turning into ventures.
Block 3: Building Companies in Practice
What company-building actually looks like: identifying real customer needs, testing ideas, finding product-market fit, and turning science or technology into something people use.
Block 4: Honest Reality
The hard parts of building again and again
Block 5: Lessons & Advice
What students should know earlier if they are curious about entrepreneurship — how to think about risk, ambition, resilience, timing.
19:30 – 20:10 | Small Group Q&A with Speakers + Pizza
20:10 – 20:30 | Peer-Level Guided Networking
This event is part of Honestly Impactful: Role Models in Bio-entrepreneurship — an event series in Rhein-Main region featuring founders, startup scientists, and intrapreneurs who are translating life science research into real-world ventures. Our speakers share what that journey really looked like: the doubts, failures, trade-offs, and hard choices behind building something beyond the lab — and why it’s still worth it.
About the Event Host
Nucleate is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of biotech leaders. With chapters spanning 41 geographic regions and participation from over 280 academic institutions, Nucleate sparks new intellectual communities and embeds emerging talent within a global biotech community. Through open-access educational programming, Nucleate helps democratize biotech innovation — removing barriers and helping founders concentrate on building transformational technologies. Visit www.nucleate.xyz for more information, and visit https://nucleate.xyz/privacy-policy/ to read our privacy policy.
About the Event Series Sponsors
Honestly Impactful: Role Models in Bio-entrepreneurship is sponsored by biomindz.
biomindz – a hub designed for growth!
Mainz is one of Germany’s most dynamic cities, home to a vibrant biotech hub that unites cutting-edge research, global connectivity, and a fast-growing ecosystem. The 12-hectare Life Science Campus - under development next to the university - will empower startups, companies, researchers, and investors to shape the future of biotech in the heart of Europe. As a municipally owned nonprofit, biomindz drives this growth - through site development, networking, and positioning Mainz as a globally visible biotech hub.