Bits & Pretzels has begun. Oscar winner Kevin Spacey opened the three-day startup festival at the Munich Trade Fair Center today with an enthusiastically received keynote speech.
Unusual sights at a business event: Even before the opening speech begins, attendees are jostling for the closed doors. Then the rush for the good seats begins. The attention is focused on actor and, most recently, startup investor Kevin Spacey, who will deliver the keynote speech at Bits & Pretzels.
The countdown on the oversized screen begins, slightly delayed. Host Daniel Ramamoorthy welcomes the audience and brings Bits & Pretzels organizer Bernd Storm onto the stage. His colleague Andreas Bruckschlögl then runs through the numbers: Entrepreneurs from more than 80 countries are attending Bits & Pretzels 2016, Crazy Bird tickets sold out in 16 minutes, and the event only broke even two days before the start. Visitors devour 10,000 chickens and pretzels, and participants consume every 500th Oktoberfest beer in the Schottenhamel festival tent. 1,000 meetings were scheduled in advance via the app. Bruckschlögl's pulse is also displayed: 150. Even "Lion" Frank Thelen would be impressed by this flood of numbers.
The third organizer, Felix Haas, then provides an outlook on the next two days. Finally, Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs, Ilse Aigner, an early and loyal supporter of Bits & Pretzels, welcomes the visitors. Thanks Verbavoice-Technology, the minister spoke in German and was subtitled in English.
Then the moment arrives, and Spacey takes the stage. He thanks Aigner for the introductions and begins by recounting his previous evening in the Käfer tent and his impressions—including the "puke hill." The audience enjoys it, and Spacey flatters:
“Munich is definitely my kind of town.”
Spacey's performance receives a standing ovation
Spacey describes his rocky path to becoming a professional actor as a successful battle against adversity, talks about the risks he took, and the role of his mentor John Lemmon. All typical startup themes.
And through his own story, Spacey demonstrates that it's good stories that fascinate people. VR technology opens up new narrative styles, non-linear narratives, and shifting perspectives for him—a revolutionary step that will challenge viewers, just as the first screenings of the Lumières brothers' film of an approaching train did in 1895.
Spacey's performance was well received by the audience: the audience acknowledged the keynote speech with a standing ovation.
A successful start to two days of lectures, discussions, workshops, and pitches. The next startup heavyweight, Virgin founder Richard Branson, has already announced his presence on Monday.
