Brothers Oliver, Marc, and Alexander Samwer started a clone company called Rocket Internet with their winnings from selling several other clone companies. The idea came after one of the brothers visited the Silicon Valley startup scene and the company grew to be valued at billions of dollars.
The speaker shares a story about a CEO who gathered 20 other CEOs and encouraged them to work harder and be more aggressive, and suggests that this may have been done in an unethical way.
Blackstone, the largest private equity firm in the world, recently purchased trade shows, including one in the digital marketing industry for nearly $50 million, indicating the continued value of trade shows. A potential trade show on remote work is discussed, as conferences and trade shows are big money-making businesses.