Meet the Team: Daniel Dessauges, CEO and co-founder

We started the year with a leadership team announcement and a message from Daniel Dessauges, our CEO and co-founder, outlining his vision for zkipster.

We’re wrapping up the year with him too; taking a look back at the career path that helped to inspire zkipster and the journey he’s been on with the company.

Daniel Dessauges was born and raised in Zürich, Switzerland, and speaks French, Swiss German and English. He co-founded zkipster in 2009 and ​​headed sales and built up global distribution and operations for the first few years, before stepping into the role of CEO in the summer of 2021.

Daniel, tell us about your career before you founded zkipster.

"I was driven and entrepreneurial from quite a young age, and began laying the groundwork for zkipster in my teens - without realizing it! I started an IT apprenticeship at Reuters at the age of 16, which gave me a useful grounding in tech and the power of data, whilst simultaneously studying for my International Baccalaureate. I also got into photographing parties and events in my teens, quickly progressing from taking photographs to managing the relationships with venue owners. 

"I’ve managed to build a global network of friends, connections and collaborators over the years, many of whom I met via the event industry."

"In the early days of photographing parties in Zürich I met David Becker, who became my business partner and co-founder at zkipster, as well as an ambitious group of guys who were running lucrative student parties. They passed on the baton to David and I, and we learnt from their example and ended up organizing the parties ourselves for another decade. Back then event planning involved printing endless guest lists and color-coded Excel spreadsheets and this helped sow the seeds for zkipster, which was designed to tackle these inefficiencies.

"After completing my IB and apprenticeship I studied for an undergraduate degree in Business Administration at the University of Applied Sciences outside Zürich. I also had a student job at Credit Suisse, where I helped co-ordinate events. From 2008-9 I was in Barcelona studying for my Master’s at ESADE.

"One of the reasons I chose to study there was because the course prized both social and entrepreneurial skills: it also gave me a taste for travel and living abroad, and connected me with lots of smart, interesting people from different backgrounds. The prototype for zkipster was born here, as part of my final project, and the company was officially established in 2009 - before start-ups were cool! 

"My co-founder David and I continued working on zkipster as a ‘side hustle’, developing a simple app for guest list management, while I worked at my first job post-Master’s, as a financial analyst for HSBC in Geneva. I chose HSBC for its global footprint and worked in private banking on a variety of different projects, but I gradually realized that I needed to choose between being a banker and an entrepreneur."

Tell us about your role at zkipster.

"In 2011 David and I took the leap and quit our jobs - and organizing the student parties in Zürich - and moved to New York to focus solely on zkipster. The next few years were a blur of constant travel, networking, meetings and events as we expanded our client base and workforce around the world, and evolved and expanded zkipster itself.

"Word of mouth has always been instrumental to zkipster’s success and once we gained traction in a particular event vertical - fashion, art, entertainment, non-profit, diplomatic, etc. - it would soon snowball. From the very beginning the product was designed to be reliable, efficient, elegant and easy-to-use, and zkipster soon built a reputation for quality, discretion and trustworthiness.

"I oversaw sales and supported clients at first, but as the team expanded my focus moved to operations, finance and client relations; I’ve always maintained an interest in the tech side of the business too. I became CEO in summer 2021, so the role of CEO has shifted and evolved during my tenure. The tireless efforts of the entire zkipster team, the subscription model of the business and our loyal clients helped keep us going during what was obviously a very difficult time for the event industry. 

"Now, I see a lot of my role as problem solving, facilitating and effective planning to promote rapid growth."

"I clearly communicate the zkipster vision and mission to the team and ensure they are motivated and empowered to do the best job possible. CTO Décio and CRO Olivia are heavily involved in the execution too: we have a great dynamic and this trickles down to everyone. I’m incredibly proud of the team and their efforts: everyone takes ownership at zkipster."

What’s the best thing about working at zkipster?

"That it doesn’t feel like work! It continues to be an extraordinary journey - I imagine it’s pretty rare to be in your early 30s and have the Swiss Ambassador pay a visit to your office. I’ve been able to build an amazing team, with colleagues located everywhere from LA and New York to London and Lisbon.

"The pandemic has obviously accelerated the move towards virtual meetings and calls, but when zkipster was starting out face-to-face meetings were crucial for making connections and winning trust. As a result I’ve visited offices housed in trophy buildings and well-known landmarks all over the world whilst meeting high-profile businesses and brands, many of whom became clients."

"zkipster is at the very rare cross section of tech and culture, and to have created a meaningful product that solves problems effectively and makes life easier for event planners, a large group who have so much to deal with, makes me very proud."

What are the most memorable events you’ve been part of, whether for work or in your personal life?

"I’ve attended many memorable events over the years, several of which made their way into the two books we produced under the The World’s Best Events brand. The books showcase the quality and attention to detail the industry puts into creating spectacular special events, and credits some of the key players, personalities and vendors in our world.

"From a production perspective, a ‘London in Los Angeles’ celebration event that Burberry hosted back in 2015 at the Griffith Observatory has stayed with me, and recently Moët & Chandon’s holiday party in New York caught my eye. It was also great to visit Art Basel Miami Beach in early December and see that the majority of the most sought-after events there were powered by zkipster! "

And finally, how do you celebrate the holidays Daniel?

"Year end is one of the few occasions in the calendar when events truly slow down, the industry takes a break…and so do I! After low-key celebrations with my family in Switzerland I often take the opportunity to escape the cold and start the new year by recharging my batteries somewhere warm."

Read a message from Daniel Dessauges to announce his taking on the role of CEO.