I just saw the third episode of SF Start up.
The clear message is:
Be more passionate, be more aggressive!
You have to be able to sell your project. You have to be able to seize chances. You have to be able to distinguish yourself.
Although the content itself of this episode was quite boring, the underlying message is VERY important.
More comments on the third episode:
# Nicolas Berg
# Leumund
About the third episode (in German):
Unternehmerbesuch 1. Teil – Stadler Rail
Viel zu brav sind die vier Jungunternehmer, mit denen die «Start up»-Jury den Tag verbringt. Für die Zukunft müssten sie „noch ein Brikett zulegen“, beschreibt Peter Spuhler, einer der erfolgreichsten Unternehmer der Schweiz, seinen Eindruck.
Während einem Besuch in seinem Unternehmen "Stadler Rail" sollen auch die Jungunternehmer ihren Erfolgshunger zeigen. Doch diese bleiben zurückhaltend und lassen Eifer und Ehrgeiz vermissen. Gefährlich, denn noch ist nicht sicher, wer seine Geschäftsidee definitiv vor finanzstarken Investoren präsentieren darf.
PS: Also have a look at the SF Start up Kyte-Channel (there is regularly fresh content)
Very interesting wrap up of the Web2.0 Expo by Ouriel Ohayon (Techcrunch France editor & investor). Podcast by Loic Le Meur:
http://vpod.tv/loiclemeur/183241/flash/nVideoPlayer
Here is a Web2.0 Expo video with Eric Schmidt interviewed by John Battelle (via Basicthinking):
[flash]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxzDU3tTzGA[/flash]
Official invitation to everyone:
The idea for Venture Cocktail was born, like many great ideas, out of an informal chat. We observed, as many of you probably have, as we sat in the lobby of the hotel hosting Red Herring’s Venture Market Europe – a conference celebrating top tech startups and financiers – that some of the most exciting business gets done over chats like these – over coffee or drinks. That day in Cannes, my friends Prodosh and Remo suggested that I, with a background in media and public relations, should launch an event which brings together international entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators on a regular basis, to exchange ideas – to create an informal environment where people with common interests could gather for inspiring conversation. Though this is not a new idea, the setting is.
And what better place than Zurich, where the appetite for innovation is clear. While global companies such as Google, IBM, eBay and others settle in to create a critical mass for technology, the Bahnhofstrasse provides the financial resources for innovation. My role is simply to offer the glue to put the pieces together.
My plan is to meet at least every last Thursday of the month at a designated place in Zurich. Red Herring Magazine’s Farley Duvall will be there as our first supporter, as will blogger Remo Uherek (http://www.remo.fm – Remo about Entrepreneurship), and Prodosh Banerjee, local technology entrepreneur. No fees, no sponsors, and people will buy their own drinks. This will be an organic event which will grow as we do!
So, whether you’re an Investor, an Entrepreneur, an Innovator or simply Interested, join us for cocktails and conversation this Thursday, May 3rd at:
AYA, Drinx & Talx
Heinrichstrasse 269 (Steinfelsplatz)
8004 ZürichTram Stop: Escherwyss
And please feel free to call me on my cell with any questions or directions:
Elizabeth Perry
+41 78 784 59 35
I am very excited about this event. There is definitively a lot of potential for such things, especially in Zurich.
Unfortunately I will not make it to this first event. Due to a time conflict I’ll be in Hamburg at the Next07. But next time, I’ll definitively come! Don’t forget to make pictures and movies of the first event and don’t forget to blog about it!
Update:
The event takes place from 7-9 pm
We just launched the beta-version of trigami tonight & started the campaign for BLACKSOCKS.
These things are new:
#1: Self-service system for customers
#2: Affiliate program update: We pay 50 EUR / 80 CHF for each new customer after he purchases his first five reviews
#3: We changed the review-process: All bloggers now have to apply themselves for offers
We are very happy that we could convince BLACKSOCKS to give our service a try. We’re looking forward to creative reviews about this interesting company.
As LiberoVision announced yesterday, Swisscom has acquired a 8% stake of the company.
More information:
# LiberoVision press release
# Swisscom press release
# News.ch News
# News.ch Startup News
(via 20min print)
If you always wanted to know what people were twittering about you, just ask Twitterment. Example search results:
# Switzerland
# Basel
# Zurich
# Pizza
# Scoble
(via Scobleizer)
The second episode is online: Webcast / Download
Yesterday I was at the Venture Apéro at the studios of SF Start up. The cool thing was that we saw the premiere of the second episode 9:30pm, i.e. 40 minutes before it went live on TV. Plus I met several cool people like the producers of the show or founders of business angel networks.
Unfortunately for me, the focus in the second episode was either on the projects that came in the Top 13, or on "sexy" projects like WhipFlipp. trigami didn’t get any coverage – but at least you saw me for a few seconds at the presentation ceremony :-). As you might guess, trigami is not part of the Top 13. But we’re still very happy to be among the Top 38. For such a young project its a good result. From my point of view we didn’t made it because of these causes:
#1: The project was too young. We had no prove of concept (remember: the pitches were done early January)
#2: My pitch was lousy. I should have been more courageous and show more emotions
#3: The Q&A was lousy. I had no satisfying answers for the very good questions.
#4: The topic we cover was not "sexy" enough. OR: I didn’t MAKE it sexy enough…
#5: The jury had problems understanding what we do and see the impact of it. OR: My pitch was lousy :-)
Anyway: Good luck to the remaining 13! You deserve it!
My favorites of the second episode:
Giveawine (they already have 750k funding and CEO of Fleurop International is on the board)
Exsila (they now have over 8000 members and 50.000 media items)
Bloggers that also covered the second episode:
# Nicolas Berg
# Leu
# Peter Stöckling
Update (its picture time):
(yes, I’m back!)
(more than 100 people came)
(cockpit view: thats what it looked like when we were pitching in front of the jury)
(yeah, we saw the second episode 40 minutes before it was aired on tv :-)
My friends over at PRIMECUT are organizing the next two of the famous spygame-events in Basel and Zurich. Spygame is a mixture of the famous game Scotland Yard and a classic chase. Check out this video to learn more:
[flash]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAGXT0aYfdA[/flash]
The spygames are going to take place on the following dates:
Basel: Saturday 12th of May 2007
Zurich: Saturday 2nd of June 2007
You can sign up here. Have fun :-)
