Business Administration · KLU Hamburg

Range, on purpose.

I'm a business student who prefers range over a single lane. Banking, consulting, sales, three countries of study, two native languages and English as my working language. I learn fastest where finance, people and context meet.

Portrait of Ilan Kotalakidis in a navy double-breasted suit
Based in
Hamburg, DE
Studying
BSc BA · KLU, 2027
Currently
HCOB · Trade Finance
Speaks
German · Greek · English
Work

Six stations, one thread.

Each role taught me a different side of how a business runs: the money, the customer, the numbers behind both.

Sep 2026 – today

Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB) Now

Working Student · Cash Management & Trade Finance

I support corporate clients in payment transactions and electronic banking and act as a Greek-speaking point of contact for the bank's Greek clients. Along the way I see the bank from several angles, from Capital Markets and Corporate Clients to Cash Management and Trade Finance.

  • Cash management
  • Trade finance
  • Corporate banking
  • Greek clients
Oct 2024 – today

Advisupply

Member · Student Consultancy

KLU's student-run consultancy. I work in small teams on real client questions, from scoping the problem to presenting recommendations.

  • Consulting
  • Client projects
Apr – Jul 2024

Gebr. Heinemann

Intern · International Sales

Four months in international sales at the global travel-retail distributor. I contributed to a tender we won, with information research and proposal preparation, and worked with the sales team on customer relationships across the Nordic market.

  • Travel retail
  • Tender
  • Nordic market
Jan – Feb 2024

Naust Hunecke

Intern · Management Consulting & Financial Audit

At an audit and advisory firm in Iserlohn, I reviewed financial statements and supporting documents for mid-sized clients during year-end audits.

  • Audit
  • Advisory
  • Mittelstand
Oct – Dec 2023

Albrecht Jung

Intern · Business Development, International Sales & Controlling

Three months at JUNG, a German family-owned manufacturer of smart home and electrical installation technology, rotating through business development, international sales and financial controlling.

  • Business development
  • Controlling
  • Industry
Nov 2019 – Jul 2021

Eimsbütteler TV

Youth Football Coach

Coached a squad of 20 young players through the regional U11 league. My first lesson in leading a team and keeping everyone motivated, including the ones on the bench.

  • Leadership
  • Coaching
Entrepreneurship

Building something of my own.

Internships showed me how established companies run. Founding is the other half: taking an idea from a sketch to a place people actually walk into, and owning every decision on the way.

KALÍ
A Greek summer in Hamburg.
In planning

KALÍ is a modern Greek café and social café-bar I'm founding in Hamburg. By day it's coffee and Greek pastries, by evening a place to sit together the way people do on the islands. It brings together three things that matter to me: building something hands-on, my Greek roots, and my love of bringing people together. The founding journey will be documented on Instagram and TikTok.

Role
Founder & owner-operator
Area
Hamburg-Winterhude
Stage
Planning since Oct 2026
Website
Coming soon
Academics

Hamburg, Madrid, Copenhagen.

A management degree at a logistics university, a semester at one of Europe's top business schools, and a summer of macroeconomics in Denmark.

Jan – Jun 2026

IE University · Madrid

Exchange Semester

A semester in Madrid with an international cohort, focused on the applied side of finance and strategy.

  • Financial Consulting
  • Advanced Financial Analysis
  • Project Management
  • Strategy Implementation
  • Internet of Things
Sep 2024 – 2027

Kühne Logistics University · Hamburg

BSc Business Administration · International Management track

A small, English-taught university with close ties to industry. My coursework spans finance, strategy and supply chain management, which is where Hamburg's port economy and global trade come together.

  • International Finance
  • Strategy
  • Supply chain
Jun – Jul 2025

Copenhagen Business School

Summer School · Macroeconomics

An intensive summer programme on macroeconomics: growth, monetary policy and the forces that move whole economies.

2015 – 2023

Wilhelm-Gymnasium · Hamburg

Abitur · Focus on Politics, Sociology & Economics

A humanist grammar school with Latin and Ancient Greek. My advanced courses in politics, sociology and economics are where my interest in how societies and markets work first took shape.

  • Latinum
  • Graecum
About

Off the clock, still competing.

Born in the US, raised in Hamburg, with Greek roots and German and Greek at the dinner table. Sport has been a constant since I was a kid, and it shaped how I work: train consistently, play for the team, show up again after a loss.

Since 2009Tennis

Played for the U18 team of Der Club an der Alster and won the regional Hamburg U18 competition.

Since 2012Football

Came up through the youth teams of Eimsbütteler TV and won the regional U17 championship in 2021.

2019 – 2021Coaching

Coached ETV's U11 squad: 20 kids, one season plan, a lot of patience.

Award 2023Photography

My black-and-white series “Hamburg aktiv”, a documentary look at sport in the city, won a special prize in Hamburg's 2023 student photo competition. Read my school's article ↗

Politics & history

I read a lot of history and follow politics closely, from ancient Athens to today's European debates. Latin and Ancient Greek at school gave me a habit of going back to the sources before forming an opinion.

I believe in open, liberal societies and free markets, and that both depend on institutions and shared values that grew over centuries. Understanding where those came from is, for me, part of understanding business.

A recent read that stayed with me is Gabor Steingart's Systemversagen. He argues that Germany's decline is the result of political choices, not fate, and that the same choices can be reversed: in education, the welfare state and public administration. I like books that pair an uncomfortable diagnosis with a concrete plan.

Languages

German native Greek native English fluent Latin Latinum Ancient Greek Graecum
CV

The one-pager.

Download CV (PDF) Open in browser ↗

One page · updated November 2026

Preview of Ilan Stavros Kotalakidis' one-page CV
Contact

Let's talk.

Internships, graduate roles or a good conversation about markets and history. I reply within a day or two.

Email [email protected]
LinkedIn in/ilan-stavros-kotalakidis Open profile ↗