Ben Steiner is CEO of Steinway & Sons
“Off the Cuff” is a Q&A series from Luxury Daily exploring the career paths, current projects and next steps of those shaping the world’s best luxury brands.
The interviews feature a Proust-style twist, allowing readers to get to know industry leaders on a personal level. The 17th edition features Ben Steiner, CEO of piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons.
In this Q&A, Mr. Steiner discusses the importance of sticking with it, spending time with family, and learning from the best.
Here is the dialogue:
What was your first job ever? What did it teach you?
My first job ever was as a golf caddy. I guess the most important thing there was actually showing up and being dependable.
A lot of life is showing up. My father used to say 50 percent of it is showing up. You’ve got to be there – on time.
Which skills have been critical to your success? Did you gain these skills within or outside of the workplace?
I think the skills that you need to be successful in business are similar to the skills that are helpful to day-to-day life: diligence, hard work and, most importantly, being able to work with people. Being able to surround yourself with people that have different talents than yourself and who are more capable than you in areas where you’re deficient and finding ways to work with them and motivate them and create a team.
I think that’s important in business, but that’s also important in many other areas of life.
And I think you develop those skills throughout your life, starting at a young age with school, athletics, and friendships, and continuing with your relationship with your partner, business, and other things.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Never give up. I think people who are successful almost always say that.
It often seems, from the outside, that success was foreordained for so many people. But it almost never was, and they likely went through very challenging periods where others would have quit. I think you just have to be very committed and never give up in looking to attain your goals.
That’s one of the main things I’ve learned from John Paulson, the man who owns Steinway. I got that advice from him.
How has your field changed since you started out in luxury, and what do you think your industry will look like in a decade?
I think Steinway has always been committed to excellence, to producing the very best instrument, and to serving artists – those are the pillars of our company. So those things remain constant.
But as technology changes and the way people consume media changes, the way we produce the very best piano, what’s possible, what is required of the very best instrument, and what artists need changes. We now have machinery that is far superior to what we used to have, historically. And it’s ever improving as technology changes so, of course, we invest in that.
About 50 percent of our business is now the Spirio piano, which is the world’s foremost high resolution player piano; the piano plays itself in addition to having a lot of other functionality, including the ability to record and edit performances in the Spirio app. So that’s technology that we didn’t used to have, historically.
And then, likewise, artists are interfacing with fans in different ways than they used to in the past. Yes, they still play at Carnegie Hall, but they also have large followings on YouTube and other social media platforms, so our being cognizant of that and serving them across these different mediums is important to us.
So, our core mission of producing the very best piano and serving the artists remains the same, but exactly how that is done changes as technology and society changes.
The Spirio high-resolution player piano mimics a live performance. Image courtesy of Steinway & Sons
What recent projects have ignited your passion for working in luxury?
We just unveiled “Spiriocast” in Asia. Spiriocast is this incredible new technology that enables the live transmission of a performance from one piano to other Spiro pianos – one other piano, tens of other pianos or thousands of other Spirio pianos all over the world.
We did this great event in Beijing a few weeks ago with the Beijing Performing Arts Center and the Beijing City Library (so it would be similar to doing it in Washington, D.C., with the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress). We broadcast from one location to the other and then back again, and then also broadcast to pianos all over Asia.
It was just a tremendous event and a great way to showcase this new technology and to bring the very best of Lang Lang – he was the artist that evening – into people’s homes so they could enjoy him “live” from their own living rooms and music rooms.
That was really a wonderful event. That’s been our biggest recent accomplishment, and it definitely reinvigorated me and, I think, everybody else that was involved with it.
Who, in any industry or sphere, would you most like to share a long lunch with and where would you take them?
Steve Jobs is no longer with us, but if I could pick him, I would.
Steve Jobs did so many things so well, but one thing was identifying all of these disparate pieces of technology that are out there but maybe were not optimized for the consumer’s needs, and thinking about them from the consumer’s perspective. This allowed him to then package them all together with a single interface that was most relevant for the customer.
We are attempting to emulate that approach with Spirio and everything else that we do. I would love to brainstorm with him about how we can do these things even better than we’re already doing them – because “Continuous Improvement” has, and always will be, a Steinway mantra.
So, I’d ask him to come to our factory, either in New York or Hamburg, tour the facility and have lunch here.
How do you get into the right mindset before a big meeting or presentation?
I think a lot of being an executive is being able to control your emotions, so it’s basic stuff: Standing up and walking around your office, breathing exercises – I have a five-year-old, and he has all these breathing exercises, so I’ve watched him and learned something from that – getting a coffee or glass of water – just manage yourself.
But the main thing is, if you surround yourself with great people, there’s not so much need to be stressed or high strung. The most important thing is to find the right people.
On your days off, what can you be found doing to relax or have some fun?
I’ve got a young family – I have an eight-year-old and a five-year-old. There are endless activities with our two boys. They play a lot of piano, they play a lot of soccer – just a lot of family activities.
We love to travel as a family as well, so we spend a lot of time traveling. Mostly it’s family time.
What does luxury mean to you?
I heard Bernard Arnault say once, “Luxury is producing something at the very highest level,” and, at least for Steinway, that’s what it means.
The main thing for Steinway has always been to be 100 percent committed to excellence; to build the very best piano not to a price point, but to a standard. So that’s who we are.
Whether a product or service/experience, what is your favorite luxury indulgence?
I have to go with Spirio, which I’ve really enjoyed recently.
But in addition, I like experiences more than goods. I enjoy travel and unique hotels and restaurants in different parts of the world. I get joy out of experiencing these things – particularly with loved ones. So, traveling with my family to these types of places is something that’s an important part of my life.