We were both born in Aachen, a small city in the far west of Germany, near the Dutch and Belgian borders. Our parents gave us a wonderful childhood in a small village south of the town, which (surprisingly, but true) was just a stone’s throw from the NETRONIC headquarters. Martin pursued his passion for football (some might call it: soccer) from an early age, while Elmar discovered his passion for freestyle wrestling.
During those uninhibited times, a shared professional future was indeed still a long way off, but there has certainly been a strong “Karlowitsch bond” on a familial level ever since. So, after our respective successful studies and subsequent Ph. D.s, our career paths diverged for a while.
This changed in a magical night when Martin convinced his little brother to join NETRONIC.
That same night, the first business plan for “a new NETRONIC” was jointly developed. This laid the foundation for transforming the established – but almost loss-making – company from zero to EUR 600k+ EBIT within 10 years, while achieving a 180° shift in the product portfolio and key value proposition into a subscription-focused portfolio of a modern software company.
It is therefore unmistakable that although we are brothers, we are different. We are different to the extent that we are complementary. As such, we kiddingly tend to say we combine wisdom with curiosity, number-crunching with creativity, and structure with vision.
We have the curiosity to explore what’s possible, and the wisdom to decide what truly matters. One of us constantly pushes into new ideas, the other ensures we turn them into meaningful action.
The wise guy.
The analytical guy.
The structured guy.
Elmar holds a PhD in Business Management. Already as a student at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, he discovered his passion for manufacturing and production processes.
Consequently, his first role after university already brought him into a German MES software company with a focus on the divergent industry. His employer was acquired, and he rose to become the Head of Finance & Controlling at that company, always working closely and hands-on with their project teams and customers.
In 2015, he left that company to help Martin transform and develop NETRONIC Software. At NETRONIC, Elmar owned Finance & Controlling.
But more importantly, he had 360° responsibility for the cloud-based standard scheduling software called “just plan it”. Over time, Elmar managed to develop the software from MVP status to market leader in the field of HMLV scheduling software worldwide – with customers on all five continents.
Elmar loves fishing, traveling the world, and has been a passionate freestyle wrestler.
The curious guy.
The creative guy.
The visionary guy.
Martin also holds a PhD in Business Management with an emphasis on Controlling. However, he quickly realized that after his university career, he wanted to focus on his strengths in creativity and content creation.
Consequently, being away from university and working for a small German company, followed by a large American software company, revealed his true passion: understanding software-based value propositions and communicating them in a way that everyone can understand and embrace.
In 2021, Martin took over NETRONIC Software in a management buy-out. At NETRONIC, he owned Strategy & Marketing.
But more importantly, he had the 360° responsibility for the Business Central go-to-market and all visual scheduling software solutions. Martin built this partner business totally from scratch. Over the years, he not only succeeded in developing various software add-ons & integrations fully integrated into Business Central, but also in acquiring a large and loyal partner base. This laid the foundation for transforming both NETRONIC in general and Martin as a person from an insignificant player to a well-known status in the global Business Central community.
Martin loves football – to the extent that he has been a youth football coach for 14+ years. Now, he is getting back into tennis: not elegant, but passionate.
Now, that you made it to the very end of this page, we suggest that you click the buttons below and connect with both of us on LinkedIn. Would make our days.
