This article was taken from the April 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
The former journalist runs europe's most influential tech conference, DLD, attracting speakers such as Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Diamandis and Marissa Mayer.
Wired: What were you doing before running DLD?
Steffi Czerny: I was living in the country with two dogs, three cats and four children. In 1995 I met Hubert Burda
[the publisher, whose company owns DLD] on a skiing trip. And we talked and we talked and at the end of the day he asked me whether I wanted to work for him. And I said, "Are you crazy? I can't work, I have four kids!" And he said, "You have to work for me because you are so curious: there's a new thing out there, it's called digital and you have to help me to explore it."
So you had no real experience of working in technology. How did you start to learn?
It was really, really difficult because I had no idea. In Germany, "nett" means nice. When I heard the word "internet" for the first time, I thought: "internationally nice". I was curious and this took me to Silicon Valley where I met a lot of people very early on. And then I went to a conference that really blew my mind. It was TED in 1996, [curated] by Richard Saul Wurman. So if you ask me if I have a role model for DLD, I would say TED, 20 years ago.
Because then TED stood for technology, entertainment and design. It wasn't the "doing good" conference - "oh, we're saving the world!"; it was a conference where Wurman brought together these very weird guys, crazy guys who had big egos, little money and a big idea.
You launched DLD in 2005. What were you hoping to achieve?
To give the people I invited a really good time. For me the audience, the participants, are as important as the speakers. And I didn't want to do a tech conference, or an internet conference or a finance conference or a money conference or an art conference. I wanted to invite the drivers of the immense change we're undergoing. Who are the crazy ones? Who are the nice ones? Who are the weird ones? I want to throw a good party where people can meet each other, can do business together, can fight together.
So what's happening offstage is as important as what's happening onstage?
One of the recipes of DLD is that I not only organise the content of the conference -- yes, the speakers are very nice, it is beautiful to have them -- but my biggest love is to take the audience and match them with speakers. I literally take them by the hand and say, "You have to connect". They say, "Who is this?" Then they find out. This is my trick.
Can you give an example of something tangible that has come out of DLD?
Marissa Mayer met [Summly's] Nick D'Aloisio at DLD.
What's the DLD special sauce?
People are not afraid of me and I try to create a real advantage for them to come. Not in terms of "Here is the VC you have to meet." I do this, but also I show them where there's a nice bookshop they must discover in Munich. Or "You have to meet this guy because he's a big football fan too." I always try to find the human element in speakers. DLD is physically exhausting for me. I lose -- hopefully -- kilos, but it is also very stimulating because the real matchmaking is with people, not with patents or with money.
Is there is a conference bubble at the moment?
Absolutely. And the strongest will survive. It's conference Darwinism.
Pretty much everyone influential from the world of technology has spoken at DLD. Is there one person who you'd still love to have onstage?
Of course: Jeff Bezos. I invited him and he is always very friendly, but he is not going to conferences right now. One day we will get him.
Europe is still lagging behind the US in terms of investment in startups. How can we catch up?
It's a question of lifestyle. The working attitudes of the startup kids in the US - they work 24 hours. Do you see this in Europe?
They want to have their free weekends, they want to have their party time. There is a different lifestyle. And we should get better paid. If you [have a successful] startup in the US, the chance that you earn a lot of money is much better.
What advice would you have for a young European entrepreneur starting out?
If you're a very focused, young and gifted entrepreneur, you don't need my advice.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
