Meet our Crew: Christian Hillebrand

Welcome to "Meet our Crew", an interview series where we take a closer look at the talented individuals who work with Orbit. We are proud to provide premium fund advisory services to our clients, and through this series you will get to know our team of experts on a personal level. After all, we believe that the people behind our success are just as important as the services we offer. So, buckle your seat belt, prepare for liftoff, and get ready to get to know the people who make it all happen!

In today’s interview, we are talking to Christian Hillebrand one of our founding partners.

Hi Christian, great that you could join us.

Hi, good to see you!

Let′s start with the basics: What is your role at Orbit?

I am one of the founding partners, focusing in particular on secondary transactions, regulatory and fund structuring. It is a very vibrant area we are working in, and teaming up with bright minds (such as our clients and colleagues at Orbit) is always an enriching task. Put simply, I could not be happier with my role.

That is great to hear! Where are you from? What was it like to grow up there?

I was born in the 1980s in Berlin. I had a lovely childhood, being surrounded by family and friends and using the afternoons to play the violin (unfortunately without any talent whatsoever, eventually my teacher asked me to look for another hobby) or go skateboarding. I very much hope that each of my three wonderful daughters will have the same good experiences and memories when they look back at their childhood once they are older.

That sounds great! What was your childhood dream job or career?

I remember very well that at some point I wanted to become a waiter, and at some other point I wanted to become a priest. Nowadays, I sometimes feel that being a lawyer is something in between - serving our clients with dedication and high standards of professionalism, but at the same time looking for our clients’ needs and guiding them in their decisions. Although I eventually started studying law by coincidence, I could not imagine a better job for me.

Becoming a founder starts with a certain vision, I guess. What was your vision when starting Orbit? What is your strategy to reach that goal?

We wanted to build a different law firm, focusing exclusively on what we do best (advising fund managers and investors) and above all, we wanted to be entrepreneurs. Setting up your own firm, discussing names, hires, office space and simple things such as “what paper should we use for the printer (recycled or not) - or should we use no printer at all?” may sometimes of course be very burdensome, but eventually it is a great feeling to build your own from scratch. One of my founding partners once said that it is like building your own house: you know exactly what stones have been used where and for what reason, you know exactly where tubes and tiles are located - nobody knows your house better than you if you build it up with your own hands. By putting lots of efforts and persistency in building Orbit, we are very proud of what we have achieved thus far and look forward to a very bright future.

In your opinion, what is one thing that creates a successful team?

I believe that a clear focus and a clear vision are crucial for a successful team. Everyone needs to know what we are doing and why, and dedication of all team members will most likely be the outcome. At Orbit we are working in a very fast environment, our clients often need (and definitely deserve) quick, reliable, and understandable answers. Only if everyone in the team is giving his/her best, we are able to deliver exactly such outstanding results for our clients. Lastly, I firmly believe that diversity is vital for a successful team. It simply gives you so much more perspectives if you have a group of diverse people, and eventually considering various perspectives will deliver the best results.

Who is someone you admire professionally and why?

That’s a tough question. Someone I very much like professionally is German football player Thomas Müller - in my view he is a great example for excellent work ethics, taking the helm for his team and going forward before anyone else does. At the same time, he seems to be very down to earth, being married to his wife with whom he has been together since he was a teenager. If Thomas Müller would apply for a role at Orbit, no doubt we would find a suitable position for him ;-)

Would be great to have him on board! What is one thing that you’re excited about in your industry?

The private equity and venture capital industry really helps to foster innovation. We often see VC and PE funds helping their portfolio companies to blossom, creating new ideas, jobs, technologies etc. It is simply great to see how this can strengthen the economy as a whole.?

Finally, please give a tip to a young person who is just starting their career.

Try different things and look what is best for you. Once you have found “your” career path, work hard, and give your best to achieve outstanding results. At the same time, do not forget about family and friends - they are (and will always be) so important and will help you to take the right decisions in life.

Thank you so much for this, Christian!

Thanks for having me here.

You can find more information about Christian and how to contact him here, on our website.