Jörn-Axel Meyer is considered one of Europe's leading SME experts. He is founder and director of the German Institute for Small and Medium-Sized Entrepreneurs. From 1995 to 1996 he held the Chair of Business Administration - International Marketing at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder). He held the first university chair for the business administration of SMEs in Germany at the University of Flensburg until 2002. Professor Meyer has worked in various companies, including at board level of a globally operating German corporation, and has been a consultant for about 25 years. In addition, he was managing director of several self-founded companies and board member of a consulting joint-stock company. He has taught at TU Berlin and in the USA, and also at the Humboldt University of Berlin, the University of Magdeburg, the University of Potsdam, the ESC Toulouse and the Academy of the Government of the Russian Federation in Moscow. His research focus is on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), marketing, start-ups and innovation. The SME expert has published 50 books and well over 50 scientific papers to date and he is the editor of two book series. Professor Meyer is a science laureate of the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany and sits on various advisory boards and expert committees. As a referee and reviewer, also of international journals, he is a member of several editorial advisory boards. He regularly gives comprehensive keynotes on the situation of German SMEs, picking up on trends, opportunities and risks of SMEs, evaluating and placing them in an overall entrepreneurial and social context. His well-founded lectures, sometimes with provocative positions, stimulate discussion and further thinking.