FWIW the German "Institute for Mittelstand Research" defines Mittelstand companies as being fully owned by a family who is able to operate economically independently. This by definition excludes most forms of VC funding (having a board with seats held by people outside the family would defy that definition).
Even without this restriction the common definition in Germany is the equivalent of SME, i.e. less than 500 employees and less than €50M annual revenue. This includes some 95% of companies in Germany.
So unless he's asking VCs to invest without demanding equity or any amount of control that would interfere with the will of the family owners of the business and for the goal to be capped at €50M annual revenue, I don't see how "Mittelstand" is the right concept to use.
FWIW the resilience of (traditional, i.e. older) Mittelstand companies is likely more related to the same factors as the resilience of worker co-ops (which likewise tend to be growth-limited but stable across economical crises): the owners have a personal (often generational) stake in the company and the workers are assumed to be in it for the long run rather than being laid off at the next opportunity. Plus of course the owners' fortunes being so tightly coupled to the well-being of the company means that they're able and willing to inject their own capital as necessary to weather crises.
Even without this restriction the common definition in Germany is the equivalent of SME, i.e. less than 500 employees and less than €50M annual revenue. This includes some 95% of companies in Germany.
So unless he's asking VCs to invest without demanding equity or any amount of control that would interfere with the will of the family owners of the business and for the goal to be capped at €50M annual revenue, I don't see how "Mittelstand" is the right concept to use.
FWIW the resilience of (traditional, i.e. older) Mittelstand companies is likely more related to the same factors as the resilience of worker co-ops (which likewise tend to be growth-limited but stable across economical crises): the owners have a personal (often generational) stake in the company and the workers are assumed to be in it for the long run rather than being laid off at the next opportunity. Plus of course the owners' fortunes being so tightly coupled to the well-being of the company means that they're able and willing to inject their own capital as necessary to weather crises.