Justus Hagel only has two hours, he has to go to his padel hall in Berlin to meet a partner. Justus, fresh from his first state exam and a research assistant at the renowned law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, is also the founder of PadelBros – a padel hall in the north of Berlin.
While he’s working towards becoming a full-fledged lawyer and politician in the long term, he’s just taking a short break, as he says himself: “I’m basically driving on the highway towards my second exam and becoming a full-fledged lawyer, but I’m currently taking an exit from studying.”
How frustration became an idea
Justus studied law at the Free University of Berlin with a focus on international law and at the same time founded PadelBros, driven by six years of passion for padel. Coming from Stuttgart, he wanted to play as much as possible: “But there were never any places available in Berlin and then I thought, okay, then I just have to do something of my own.”
The idea came about over beers with friends, he says. The kick-start followed in the summer of 2024 with his 21-year-old co-founder from the Netherlands, without much prior business knowledge or master plan. Money and reasons were not the original motivation, but rather the desire for sport and networking. “Being responsible for everything was never really the idea; I just fell into it.”
The difficult search for the right hall
Parallel to the founding of the GmbH, the search for a suitable padel hall ran, which wasn’t that easy; suitable locations are highly competitive. After half a year of searching, Justus’ motivation and business plan convinced the owner of an old clinker hall in Borsigwald: “Padel didn’t tell him anything and thought it was really cool that we were so young.”
If he had known padel, the hall would probably have gone to a large padel company. The most difficult task was now over, because “Padel never fails because of the calculation models, the demand is there. It always only fails because of the right hall.”
From setup to daily routine
After the hall was approved, the practical part began: construction, equipment, operation. The padel courts themselves come from Spain, from Jubo Padel – a complete solution that includes surfaces, nets and structure. However, Justus organized the flooring and electrics himself using local craftsmen.
A total of around 500,000 euros went into the hall and the seats – completely self-financed, supported by private investors who inspired the young team with their pitch deck. But they weren’t big business angels, says Justus, but rather committed supporters from their personal environment.
Today, everyday operational life determines his schedule: renting out clubs, making coffee, ensuring cleanliness and taking care of everything between the court and the toilet. At the same time, Justus is building partnerships, planning events and is already thinking about his own academy. Personnel planning is now also one of his tasks.
Above all, he is now trying to build a strong community. After the soft start in December, the grand opening is planned for March, despite the lack of approval for the terrace and minor construction sites. But it’s not that important, after all the focus should be on the community.
PadelBros is not intended to be purely a sports business, but rather a social meeting place with low barriers to entry. Membership shouldn’t be necessary: ”Actually, it’s about creating something similar to a club, but without membership.”
The focus is therefore deliberately on events and tournaments, but also normal matches and individual lessons. Collaborations with Urban Sports, Wellpass and other partners are already underway, with Justus primarily also supporting young and local startups such as In Your Face Foods want to give an opportunity. The aim is to maintain local and personal contact, which big padel competitors often lose sight of. His target group? In addition to young athletes, seniors are also targeted, who should ideally come weekly.
Against the big players in the industry
Justus also wants to set himself apart from the competition. They have already made him two takeover offers, as he says – but he rejected them because the offer was too low. He says he knows the value of his company. Padel is currently in hype (approx. 1,400 places in Germany) and its product is in demand. That’s precisely why he warns against the big players. “Now it’s a lake with really big fish that also like to eat small fish.” His strategy against it? Authenticity, events, and a local connection that goes beyond the quick padel hype. And of course: work a lot.
Between 80-hour weeks and future plans
How Justus manages all of this, alongside a law career, commitment, girlfriend and family? Without their support it wouldn’t work, he says. Some of them even worked for him in the hall, but only temporarily, as he says. He himself is currently in the office at Freshfields three days a week, then in the hall in the evenings and on the remaining days (his seven-day week).
He’s currently working an 80-hour week and has asked himself a few times why he’s doing all this to himself – despite his passion for padel. He wants to change that from August, then everything should run itself. His goal: to use employees and AI to remove himself from daily operations and only go to the events and his own games. What does he want to do after his “operational exit”? Sure, traineeship and second state exam, a law career awaits.