Paul Niel is an Adventurer, Mountaineer, Explorer and Technology entrepreneur.

For more than two decades, he has undertaken expeditions to all corners of the globe, from Antarctica to the deserts of Mongolia, from the jungles of Central Africa to the Himalayas. He has used drones to search for dinosaur fossils, employed virtual reality to solve a World War II mystery, and solved a Rubik’s cube on the summit of Mount Everest.

On his expeditions, he pursued a variety of goals-scientific, physical, extreme endurance and toughness-one goal was always the same: to keep the team together and get home safely-whether he faced mutiny on a tiny sailboat in the middle of the Atlantic, suffered life-threatening injuries in Indian waters, or was stranded for weeks in the polar regions.

He was one of only a handful of climbers to summit two eight-thousanders within 24 hours: in 2013, he conquered the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, and just one day later, Lhotse, the fourth highest. He has also successfully conquered the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each continent.

His background as a technology entrepreneur and his adventure experiences make him an expert in decision-making in uncertain and difficult situations, as well as in using cutting-edge technology to unravel scientific mysteries. Together with his wife and daughter, he is on a quest for “impactful adventure.”

Paul Niel Lecture Topics

Follow your Passion

Paul Niel illustrates the parallels between business life and extreme adventures with examples and stories from his life. He tells how extreme experiences (hitchhiking in Siberia, climbing out of deep canyons, being stuck at 8000 m in a snowstorm or running out of drinking water in the middle of the ocean) influenced his decisions in daily business life, but also made him never deviate from his basic principle: Do it with passion!

Mount Everest - Twice on the roof of the world

The thrilling story of triumph and tragedy surrounding Paul Niel’s 2013 ascent of Mount Everest and Lhotse. Conquering the two peaks, during which he had to spend over 70 hours in the death zone above 8000 m, made him only the ninth person to climb the two mountains within 24 hours. His story reflects the latest developments in adventure sports and alpinism and shows that determination, rational decision-making and teamwork lead to success.

Insight into uniqueness

Thanks to his unique profile as an extreme adventurer seeking to build sustainable businesses, Paul Niel is one of a select few participants in the 2014 Singularity University program, a think tank established by Google and NASA in Silicon Valley to train future leaders in groundbreaking technologies to address humanity’s most critical challenges.

In his talks, Paul Niel is all about showing how to keep setting and focusing high goals for yourself. It’s important to build a strong network, create and maintain relationships, keep learning, don’t be complacent and be open to change.

Born in Austria and now living in Lisbon, Paul supports and sponsors socially engaged companies. Paul Niel also works for aid organizations in Nepal (dZi Foundation), Hong Kong (Enlighten HK) and Kenya (Flying Kites) to promote social inclusion and rural development.

After graduating from the University of Vienna with a degree in statistics, Paul Niel worked for over a decade in the financial world, including New York, London and finally Hong Kong. His insatiable curiosity led him on adventures around the world and to more than 80 countries: from the deserts of Mongolia to the snow-covered volcanoes of Kamchatka, from the perpetual ice of Antarctica to the Atlantic Ocean, which he crossed in a sailboat with strangers. Paul Niels’ home is the mountains, of which he has climbed a multitude in the largest mountain ranges in the world.

His adventures were also the catalyst for his later career change from employee to entrepreneur. Paul Niel has given numerous presentations in German and English, whether at public institutions or at conferences in Asia and Europe, sharing his inspiring life story with his audiences.

Paul Niel shares his visions of the challenges in energy, food and water and how easy it is to have a stronger impact.