Patrick Lauber shapes the face of DARIA with his expertise, vision and genuine powers of persuasion. As a finance and contract expert, he not only gets figures rolling - he also makes people dream. A look at his career.

"This is my last entrepreneurial investment," says Patrick Lauber in our early morning Zoom meeting as he sits in his home in Cape Coral. The Florida sun is already shining through the window behind him. "But unlike my previous projects, this time the focus is not on building and then selling. With DARIA, it was clear from the start that we were creating something that would last for generations."

It is this statement that sums up the core of Patrick's motivation. The co-founder and CEO of DARIA is based in a place that he first visited professionally ten years ago - and which has now become his adopted home. Unlike many entrepreneurs who focus primarily on quick profits and exit strategies, Patrick Lauber, together with co-founder and CEO Frank Rahlf, pursues a long-term vision that goes beyond pure profit interests. But what experiences have led him down this path and what motive really drives his commitment?

From family offices to your own vision

Patrick Lauber's path to Florida began in the world of finance. His career really took off in 2008, when he was still a student. "I was headhunted out of my studies," Patrick recalls. "I suddenly got a call from a family office because they had read my thesis."

His bachelor's thesis on "Private equity for SMEs" had caught the attention of a Swiss family office. What followed was a three-hour job interview in Zurich - and two weeks later the start of a career that would take him deep into the world of asset management for wealthy business families.

At the age of just 22, Patrick moved to Switzerland and immersed himself in the demanding world of family offices. "I picked up this mindset straight away. What makes entrepreneurs tick, what do they do?" he explains about this formative time. Over the next eight years, he worked for three different family offices and developed a deep understanding of international investments, tax structuring and entrepreneurial thinking.

"I traveled a lot, especially in Asia, with a focus on China and India at the time," reports Patrick. His job was to analyze promising companies and examine investment opportunities. From battery plants to mechanical engineering companies - Patrick gained insights into a wide range of industries and learned how to quickly grasp the potential of a business model.

In his role as a private equity investment manager, Patrick developed a special gift: he could not only understand complex international structures, but also optimize them. Whether it was holding companies, foundations or international investments, Patrick learned to play the keyboard of global finance.

A new challenge arose in 2015: Patrick was asked if he could help with the restructuring of a software and services company. What began as a consulting request developed into a management buy-in. "We restructured the company and after three and a half years, in mid-2019, I sold my shares again."

The decisive turning point came in 2021, when he met Frank Rahlf. "We were brought together by a mutual acquaintance," Patrick recalls. The chemistry was right straight away. "We are incredibly similar in many areas and have the same way of thinking. That's what makes our collaboration so trusting."

From the beginning, Frank's business and sales expertise complemented Patrick's financial and structuring knowledge perfectly. What really sealed their partnership, however, was their shared vision: Frank brought his deep enthusiasm for Florida and the idea of a mutually supportive community - inspired by the code of the Seminole Indians, whose principle of community action for the benefit of all had inspired him for many years. This passion found fertile ground with Patrick and ignited a long-dormant fire in him - the desire to build something that goes far beyond short-term profit interests.

The first encounter with Florida: a key experience

"For me, Florida is the well-structured and organized Caribbean," says Patrick, describing his first impression when he landed at Miami Airport for the first time in 2013. This comparison aptly sums up what makes Florida so appealing: the Caribbean lifestyle combined with American efficiency.

It was a professional assignment that took Patrick to Florida for the first time. He was asked to examine a real estate project in South Beach, Miami, for a German entrepreneur in Zurich for whom he was working at the time. This entrepreneur lived half a year in Florida and half a year in Zurich - a lifestyle that appealed to Patrick even then.

On this first trip, Patrick not only got to know Miami, but also explored the west coast of Florida, including Naples, Fort Myers and Cape Coral. Even then, the dynamism of the region left a lasting impression on the native Swabian. "If you look at the development of Cape Coral, it's a truly impressive success story," he says. "You can't compare it to any other development in Europe."

What increasingly impressed Patrick on his first visit and on subsequent trips was the mentality of the people in Florida. The openness, friendliness and entrepreneurial spirit appealed to him and stood in contrast to the experiences he had had in Europe.

The liberal attitude of Floridians in particular also corresponded to his values. "I like Florida's political orientation. It is characterized by a liberal basic idea. This creates excellent framework conditions for companies."

Why Cape Coral?

Years later, Patrick Lauber sits down with Frank Rahlf and they develop concrete steps to realize their extensive vision for DARIA. The construction of houses plays a central role in giving future community members the opportunity to achieve financial independence. The decision for Cape Coral in southwest Florida was the result of a thorough analysis of various factors.

"We explicitly chose a region where we could implement the construction of our villas on a large scale," explains Patrick. The goal of building 1,000 homes over the next 10 years required a location with sufficient development potential.

Cape Coral offers special conditions here. "The city is self-contained. All plots for residential development are privately owned," explains Patrick. This creates a natural limitation of supply - an important factor for long-term value stability and appreciation.

In addition to the economic factors, Patrick believes that Cape Coral offers an ideal balance between urbanity and tranquillity. "Cape Coral particularly fascinates me with its unique combination of enormous development potential on the one hand and its cozy, rural ambience on the other, which conveys an extraordinary feeling of safety and security."

The strong German-speaking community in Cape Coral was another positive factor that Patrick and Frank felt would make it easier for German investors to get involved.

What freedom means to Patrick Lauber

"Freedom means not being tied to external factors," explains Patrick. After years of experience in the world of family offices and private equity investments, he knows the game all too well: investments have to pay off quickly, generate high returns and satisfy investors.

DARIA was supposed to be different right from the start. "This is exactly the opposite of what I learned before," says Patrick. "This freedom, not having to serve any investors, not having to constantly pay attention to short-term profits and high dividends - that was incredibly important to me."

This independence enables the DARIA team to think long-term and make decisions that may not be immediately profitable, but which serve the community and the project as a whole.

Patrick's understanding of freedom is closely linked to a value system that is paramount at DARIA: "For us, the most important thing is serving the community, serving people," he says. "This will always lead to an economic livelihood, but the order is crucial."

"For me, financial freedom is not about having 10 million in a bank account and living off four percent interest, but about doing business within the community, building something together with others that serves us all and brings joy to everyone involved."

To secure this vision, Frank and Patrick have planned the next step: They will transfer their stake in DARIA Holding to a trust under US law. "With the trust agreement, we are ensuring that the DARIA shares will never be sold publicly," explains Patrick. "We never aim to monetize our investment through an IPO or sale."

Living in Florida

A year and a half ago, Patrick moved to Florida with his wife Anna and their sons. The permanent presence on site is important: "You get to grips with the subject matter more thoroughly when you're here permanently," Patrick reports from his day-to-day work.

The move was a big change not only for Patrick, but for his whole family. "My wife and I have now built up a great circle of friends. It's wonderful for us to see how comfortable our children feel in Florida too." The climate and way of life in Florida allow for an everyday life that would not be possible in Germany. "It fills me with great joy to see how our children don't sit in front of video games in cool indoor rooms, but instead constantly experience nature and are active outdoors."

For him and his family, Cape Coral offers the right balance: "Here you can still feel this deep certainty that all is well with the world - characterized by mutual support and a real sense of community. Although we live in a big city, Cape Coral retains a familiar, personal atmosphere - almost like a village."

Where the journey with DARIA leads

A central component of the DARIA founders' vision for the future is the establishment of many other companies around the DARIA community. "We have already founded various community companies. And that was just the beginning," says Patrick. The special thing is that these companies should not only serve the community with their services, but also give people who want to realize their entrepreneurial ambitions a chance.

The model is designed in such a way that the community always remains a co-decision-maker: "In all our projects, we always structure the participation according to the same principle: the community holds 50 percent of the company shares, while the remaining 50 percent is held directly by the respective entrepreneur.

The range of planned businesses is broad: from property management services and car rental to boat rental and event management. "If someone is a baker, for example, and would like to open a German bakery here, we will support them," says Patrick.

From Patrick's point of view, the DARIA project is never finished. This is a generational project. Patrick does not want to measure the success of DARIA over the next 10 years solely by the number of houses built. "I measure true success by the fact that our members become entrepreneurially active in the project themselves and at the same time the community spirit becomes so strong that people really grow together."

The DARIA Social Club is also intended to contribute to this. An initial initiative of the Social Club is to create affordable housing for employees - similar to the concept of company apartments. "We want our employees to commit to our project in the long term and identify with it," explains Patrick.

An invitation to rethink

Patrick Lauber's journey from the Swiss financial world to Cape Coral is the story of a vision that goes far beyond the usual real estate business and has a deeper meaning.

Patrick's professional background in family offices and private investments has given him the know-how to structure a legally and financially complex project like DARIA. This expertise gives DARIA members the certainty that the project is built on a solid foundation.

For potential DARIA members, Patrick's story is also an invitation to rethink. In a world that is often dominated by short-term profit expectations, DARIA stands for a different approach: long-term thinking, community values and an understanding of success that goes beyond financial returns.

Whether as a regular visitor who enjoys the amenities of the villas, as an investor who profits from the increase in value, or as an active participant who becomes an entrepreneur in the community: DARIA offers different ways to participate in this extraordinary and unique project in southwest Florida.