Interview of Dirk a lifelong entrepreneur and learner

Dirk is a lifelong entrepreneur and learner that has founded multiple companies in various countries and industry verticals with multiple exits. He is strong strategic thinking combined with a never-ending passion for creating something out of nothing. Dirk is an effective communicator and motivator who identifies and leverages assets in teammates to reach organizational goals.

How did the idea for your business come about?
It began with a discussion between some business friends: Emerging tech industries are fast growing and global. To be successful and stay ahead of the competition you need to reach out to new clients, partners and investors FAST.

But visiting live events are very time and money consuming. Especially when those live events are very crowded and your only option to stand out from the competition is to be a sponsor. The idea of Online Matchmaking was born.

What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur?
I build my 1st company while studying when I was 18 years old. The spirit to create something out of nothing is fascinating. To transform an idea into a concept and then turn it into a successful business is like a drug – especially if you can make some people happy with it.

How did you come up with the name for your company?
We want to create technology which helps to conduct business online. Therefore: BizzTech

How did you raise funding for your venture?
BizzTech is still a bootstrapping startup. But for the next step we need seed capital financing and we are at an early stage with it.

How do you build a successful customer base?
When we launched BizzTech in 2018, we already had one of the largest databases of C-level executives in the gaming industry with 75k contacts. On this basis we started to organize our own online matchmaking events. We expanded the event series to other areas in emerging tech. Participants become members on our matchmaking platform. This means that our customers and BizzTech can set up and build their own business communities themselves.

How do you advertise your business?
Our own event series and the talk show ‘BizzTalk’ are our strongest marketing tools.

How do you advertise your product/service?
Apart from event series and talk shows we built up an audience on LinkedIn with 50k+ contacts.

To what do you attribute your success?
During the last years we saw a change of mindset. The world is becoming much more digital and businesses are searching for opportunities to find the right partners online. The pandemic is just an accelerator of this main stream.

What do you look for in an employee?

The most important thing to us is that they fit into our corporate culture!

At BizzTech we focus on attitude and believe that skills can be developed.

What made you choose your current location?
To be completely honest, I went to Tenerife 10 years ago to retire on business. The plan didn’t work 🙂

Do you work locally or nationally?
Global

What’s your company’s goals?
BizzTech wants to bring the spirit of Amazon and Uber into the event industry.

What is unique about your business?
BizzTech is a pioneer in organizing online business matchmaking events for professionals in emerging tech. This gives us a head start and we know the future needs of participants, organizers and sponsors.

What are your responsibilities as the business owner?

Apart from strategic thinking and make the things happen, I want to be an effective communicator and motivator who identifies and leverages assets in teammates to reach organizational goals.
My competencies: General management, Strategy, Fund raising, Marketing, Strategic Partnerships, Product & Business Development and Building Outstanding Teams.

What made you choose this type of business?
I was tired of traveling to the big international trade fairs to accidentally bump into the right persons. I wanted to find a time and cost-efficient solution.
Does your company help the community where it is located?
As a global operating company we support several international non-profit organizations.

Have you ever turned down a client?
Yes. Especially when I was sure that I cannot help or the business culture of the client didn’t fit.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Be ready to suffer for your vision. Consistency is a key to success.

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