Niklas Zennstrom
Niklas Zennström
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Full Name and Common Aliases
Niklas Zennström is a Swedish entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He is also known as "Mr. Skype" due to his involvement in the development of the popular video conferencing service.
Birth and Death Dates
Born on June 16, 1966, in Stockholm, Sweden, Niklas Zennström is still alive.
Nationality and Profession(s)
Niklas Zennström holds Swedish nationality and has worked as an entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist throughout his career.
Early Life and Background
Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, Niklas Zennström was exposed to the world of business from a young age. His father, Hans Zennström, was a successful businessman who owned several companies. This exposure likely influenced Niklas's decision to pursue a career in entrepreneurship.
Zennström studied at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, where he graduated with a degree in engineering physics in 1991. After completing his studies, he moved to London to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational professional services firm.
Major Accomplishments
In the late 1990s, Zennström co-founded the file sharing service Kazaa, which became one of the most popular peer-to-peer file sharing platforms in the world. However, his most notable achievement came when he co-founded Skype with Janus Friis in 2003.
Skype revolutionized the way people communicate over long distances by providing a user-friendly and affordable video conferencing service. The company's success was rapid, and it quickly became one of the leading players in the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) market. In 2005, eBay acquired Skype for $2.6 billion, although Zennström and Friis sold their stakes in the company before the acquisition.
Notable Works or Actions
In addition to his work on Kazaa and Skype, Zennström has also been involved in various other ventures. He co-founded the venture capital firm Atomico in 2006, which focuses on investing in early-stage technology companies. Through Atomico, Zennström has backed several successful startups, including Spotify, Magic Pony Technology, and Graphcore.
Impact and Legacy
Niklas Zennström's impact on the world of technology is undeniable. His work on Kazaa and Skype helped to popularize file sharing and video conferencing, respectively, and paved the way for future innovations in these areas. As a venture capitalist through Atomico, he has also played a significant role in supporting the development of new technologies.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Niklas Zennström is widely quoted and remembered due to his innovative approach to technology and business. His ability to identify emerging trends and capitalize on them has led to numerous successes throughout his career. As a pioneer in the world of VoIP, file sharing, and venture capital, Zennström's insights and perspectives are highly valued by entrepreneurs, investors, and technologists around the world.
As a philanthropist, Zennström has also made significant contributions to various causes. He is a member of the Giving Pledge, a commitment by billionaires to donate at least half of their wealth to charitable causes during their lifetimes. Through his foundation, the Niklas Zennström Foundation, he supports initiatives focused on education, entrepreneurship, and technology for social impact.
In conclusion, Niklas Zennström is a highly influential entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist who has made significant contributions to the world of technology. His innovative approach to business and his commitment to supporting emerging technologies have earned him a reputation as one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time.
Quotes by Niklas Zennstrom
Skype is easy enough to use so that people don't need to be tech savvy - a lot of users just want to communicate with their friends and family, and they find this is the easiest, cheapest way. If you can use a Web browser, you can use Skype.
We have 2 million users in the U.S. and about 13 million worldwide in more than 200 countries.
As an investor, what we’re not looking for is ‘oh this is a cool app,’ it’s ‘is this something that can become a big business?’ You need to find those that can become real businesses.
When we look at investing, we always think about ‘how defensible is this, how likely is it that somebody is going to copy this.’ E-commerce tends to be something easy to copy because it’s execution.
Video is moving online in a big way. It’s proven to be a challenging market for some companies that start out as a pure Internet company such as Joost.
Look for when the environment is changing – the big shift now is mobile Internet. It’s really happening big-time. The way you interact with services on a smart phone compared to the Web is quite different, so there’s a huge opportunity.
Skype is easy enough to use so that people don’t need to be tech savvy – a lot of users just want to communicate with their friends and family, and they find this is the easiest, cheapest way.
It’s extremely hard to build a company with a product that everyone loves, is free and has no business model, and then to innovate a business model. I did that with Kazaa, had half a billion downloads but that wasn’t a sustainable business.
People need to access Skype wirelessly, no matter where they are, and what happens is that we’ll be taking advantage of the rollout of Internet everywhere – WiFi and WiMax in particular.