Julian Jost, 28, works in Berlin as CEO and co-founder at Spacebase. As a 2017 40 Under 40 honoree, Jost discusses his passion for the events industry.
*Connect with Jost on Twitter.
How I got here: I spent a few years as a business consultant and was attending dozens of meetings every week. Looking around the room, I realized the motivation and efficiency of the meeting suffered in monotonous meeting spaces. I tried to find original and beautiful venues to encourage innovation during meetings but there weren’t many options, and booking the few venues available was time consuming. In 2014, we started Spacebase as a way to make it simpler to have truly successful meetings.
My greatest career accomplishment: Spacebase is a worldwide online booking platform that hosts thousands of extraordinary spaces for meetings, workshops, training sessions and corporate events. My proudest moments at the company come from watching other professionals use our service and decide to change their meetings for good.
Impressive stats: This year we launched Spacebase in New York City. We now have more than 300 spaces available in Manhattan and Brooklyn. This is the 30th city added to the Spacebase portfolio and our first American city.
A specific improvement I’ve made: Spacebase aims to change the way people meet—and it isn’t just a slogan, it’s a business model. Our meetings are never boring or stuffy, and we try to be as creative as possible around the office, from our chalkboard walls to our spontaneous brainstorm breakouts
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What I do outside of work: My favorite hobby is kitesurfing. Cape Town, South Africa, is my favorite place to get out on the water, and I try to visit as often as I can. If a meeting on kitesurfboard was possible, I’d finally have time to do everything!
Five phrases that identify me: Possibility explorer; status quo challenger; kitesurfing addict; project juggler; risotto chef
