Rea Stark
Rea Stark | |
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| Born | 06/11/1983 St. Gallen, Switzerland |
| Nationality | Switzerland, Croatia |
| Board member of | Piëch Automotive AG Quantum Group SA Stark & Cie. Holding SA Stark & Cie. SA Supra7 Holding AG Deep Atomic AG |
| Parents |
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Rea Stark (born June 11, 1983, in St. Gallen, Switzerland) is a Swiss-Croatian industrial designer, entrepreneur, and investor.
Life and Career
[change | change source]Stark studied design at the GBS School of Design in St. Gallen, Switzerland. He opened his own design studio and worked as an industrial designer for large companies like Sony, LG, Canon, and Nespresso.[1] He has won awards, including the German Design Award and the Swiss Design Award in "Energy Efficiency."
In 2016, Stark co-founded Piëch Automotive in Zurich with Anton Piëch, the son of former Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piëch.[2]
In 2020, Stark founded the Quantum Group. This group made an $11.5 billion offer to Volkswagen to buy the Lamborghini brand, but Volkswagen did not accept the offer.[3] Stark stepped down as co-CEO of Piëch Automotive later that year, but he stayed on as chief design officer.[4]
In 2024, Stark, with nuclear engineer William G. J. Theron and former Google employees, started Deep Atomic AG. This company, based in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States, develops small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). These reactors make energy for large data centers that need constant power. These data centers are run by "hyperscalers," or very large tech companies.[5][6][7][8]
Design Thinking
[change | change source]Rea Stark is a strong advocate of Design Thinking, a way of solving problems that focuses on understanding what people need. Design Thinking is used by companies to make better products by focusing on the user experience. Stark has said that Design Thinking can help businesses succeed by creating products that people find useful and enjoyable.[9]
Like Apple designer Jony Ive, Stark believes that design is central to a company’s success. Both designers focus on making products that are simple, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. Stark’s approach highlights the importance of having a Chief Design Officer (CDO) in tech companies, a role he thinks is as important as a Chief Financial Officer (CFO).[10][11]
Stark’s work in design has influenced the way some startups think about design’s role in business. He believes good design can make technology easier to use and more valuable to people, a philosophy similar to that of Apple.[12]
Awards
[change | change source]2020: German Design Award[13]
2019: Design Preis Schweiz[14]
Sources
[change | change source]- ↑ "Swiss Design Association – Rea Stark". Swiss Design Association. Archived from the original on 2021-10-09. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
- ↑ "Offerte bestätigt: Konsortium will VW-Tochter Lamborghini kaufen". Manager Magazin. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
- ↑ "Lamborghini bidder Quantum makes innovation pitch to Volkswagen". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
- ↑ "Elektromobilität: Piëch Automotive schaltet Gang höher". Autohaus. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
- ↑ "Nuclear is cool again for tech: Deep Atomic is making it possible". Fast Company. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
- ↑ "Deep Atomic launches SMR for data centres". World Nuclear News. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
- ↑ "Deep Atomic launches small modular reactor to power the future of data centers". Environment + Energy Leader. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
- ↑ "Nuclear startup reveals 60MW SMRs designed to power data centres". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
- ↑ "Rea Stark on embracing the power of design". DesignWanted. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
- ↑ "Why Design Thinking matters for business success". International Business Times. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
- ↑ "Forget hiring a CFO: Your startup needs a CDO more". Sifted. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
- ↑ "Five reasons why startups should consider prioritising design". AllTopStartups. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
- ↑ "Piëch Mark Zero - Winner - Passenger Vehicles - German Design Award". German Design Award. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
- ↑ "Design Preis Schweiz: "Winner Energy Efficiency Prize ist Piëch Mark Zero"". Umwelt Perspektiven. Retrieved 2021-09-30.