Soheil Dastyari, CEO of Bastei Lübbe AG, on the driving force behind the company, the importance of innovation and the excitement of looking ahead to what tomorrow will bring. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT SETS BASTEI LÜBBE APART FROM OTHER COMPANIES?
Yes, I think so. The company has its own unique driving force – we call it ‘the power of passion’. This is the momentum that drives everyone at Bastei Lübbe every day – from authors, editors, translators and all the staff in our publishing teams right through to our e-commerce expert and our social media specialist. We all love good stories, and we want to share this passion with as many people as possible. At the end of the day, only someone who feels passionate themselves can inspire passion in others.
SO MEMBERS OF STAFF HAVE A VITAL ROLE TO PLAY.
Absolutely. The company as a whole only works because every single one of our employees not only feels passionate about what we do but is also open to thinking about familiar things in new ways. Because that’s the task we’ve set ourselves. We don’t want to rest on our laurels and coast along on the basis of what we’ve already achieved – we want to keep thinking about how we can develop new ideas and formats and move the industry forward.
IN TERMS OF SHAREHOLDERS, ALSO: IS IT MORE IMPORTANT FOR A COMPANY TO HAVE A CLEAR PROFILE OR TO KEEP SURPRISING THE MARKET?
These things are not mutually exclusive – quite the opposite, in fact. Bastei Lübbe sees itself as a well-established, traditional publishing group which, with its innovative book and media products, has repeatedly set major trends in recent years. And looking back on the opportunities for the book market that have arisen from digitalisation, and the potential that lies in future technological development, all I can say is: I think we’re on the right track, and I’m looking forward to what’s to come.
SO YOU THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP REINVENTING BASTEI LÜBBE AS A COMPANY TOO?
No, I don’t want to keep changing the company just for the sake of it, but I do want Bastei Lübbe’s impact, and the way people see us, to move with the times and remain current. That’s much more complicated than it sounds, however. The name Bastei Lübbe has many different resonances: we want it to be one which our staff identify with, which our partners in the book trade associate with reliability, which our authors experience as a strong partnership, and which our shareholders ideally see as synonymous with success. In all the trends we set, we need to remain authentic and trustworthy and stay true to ourselves. It’s a fine balance.
Soheil Dastyari, born in 1972, began his career as a brand strategist at the communications agency Lintas following his studies in Applied Cultural Studies—with a focus on Business Administration as well as Media and Communication Studies—at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Subsequently, from 1999 to 2006, he held various positions in Hamburg, Berlin, and New York City at the agency FCB Global, ultimately serving as Managing Director Germany. In 2007, Soheil Dastyari joined the media company Gruner + Jahr GmbH & Co KG in Hamburg; there, he initially led Brand and Innovation Development, later the Corporate Media division, and finally served as Publishing Director Germany—a role in which he acted as Managing Director for titles including *Capital* and the *Stern* Group. From 2016 to 2021, Soheil Dastyari served as the founding CEO of the communications service provider Territory, under whose umbrella the Bertelsmann Group consolidated and relaunched all of its companies in the field of content communications. After leaving Bertelsmann, he worked as a management consultant before assuming the position of Chairman of the Executive Board of the Issuer in March 2022.
