About Philipp
Philipp Dettmer is the founder, CEO and head writer of Kurzgesagt and the author of the book Immune.
Kurzgesagt – in a nutshell is one of the largest science channels on YouTube with over 15 million subscribers and almost 1.5 billion views. After dropping out of high school at age fifteen, Philipp met a remarkable teacher who inspired in him a passion for learning and understanding the world. He went on to study history and information design with a focus on infographics.
Philipp started Kurzgesagt in 2013 as a passion project to explain complicated ideas from a holistic perspective. When the channel took off, Philipp dedicated himself full-time to making difficult ideas engaging and accessible. Today, Kurzgesagt is a thriving company with over 40 employees. Besides being an animation studio, Kurzgesagt is also an agency and a production house for science-related products.
Philipp’s first non-fiction book Immune – A Journey Into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive was released on November 2nd, 2021. It has already been translated into many languages and is sold all across the world.
Philipp lives in Munich with his partner and his dog Mochi.
A Few Key Life Events
21.01.1986
Born in Munich.
2002
Dropped out of high school.
2006
Got a high school degree with a lot of help from a very supportive teacher.
2007
Completed his German Civilian Service.
2013
Graduated Munich University of Applied Sciences where he studied Communications Design.
2013
Started creating science animation videos and founded Kurzgesagt.