This blog moved to kuszpa.com

I have moved my blog to a new place at www.kuszpa.com !

See you there…

IdeaLab! 2008 WHU (3rd day)

Target Partners Workshop, Michael Brehm, Felix Haas and the VC Panel.

IdeaLab! workshops, lectures and discussions

The last day of the IdeaLab! at the WHU started for me with a workshop hosted by Target Partners GmbH. Olaf Jacobi – not only venture partner, but also an experienced entrepreneur – run this very interesting workshop about the question ‘Venture Capital or Business Angel?’. He gave us some deep insights into the world of venture capital, also from the perspective as an entrepreneur in a very open and authentic way.

The Venture Capital panel with Olaf Jacobi (Target Partners), Maximilian Niederhofer (Atlas Venture) and Lukasz Gadowski (Team Europe Ventures) was also very interesting. Some statements and thoughts:

How good is Germany in terms of venture capital?

We have a great German community of business angels, but even though venture capital doesn’t have an old tradition in Germany, we can observe a huge progress in venture capital activities in the last years. We also have the most business start-ups in Europe, but the total volume of investments is still less than e.g. in Great Britain or France. The challenge is to establish an optimal symbiosis between young engineers and young business professionals, for example through a more intensive exchange between top universities.

What is changing because of the worldwide financial crisis?

IdeaLab! 2008 WHU (2nd day)

Stars of the German Internet Industry: Lukas, Ehssan, Kolja, Oliver an me )

IdeaLab with lectures of internet entrepreneurs

After the opening speech of Prof. Dr. Martin Fassnacht, prorector of the Otto Beisheim School of Management (WHU), Oliver Samwer (European Founders Fund GmbH) spoke about the effects of the financial crisis on start-ups. The climate will be tough, but he believes that the internet industry still is the best for young people, but you have to have a great staying power and today work more cost-conscious… and not only target for growth, growth and growth. His European Founders Fund already started to analyse costs together with their portfolio companies, with the goal to reduce the burn rate. However the internet industry is still exciting (‘die Branche ist geil’), because in no other industry the half of the top 10 players changed in the last 2 years.
More about the lecture of Oliver on the IdeaLab site (in German language).

Sardinia, Cave Su Marmuri in Ulássai

Traditional painting, Ulássai, cave entry and inside the cave.

La Grotta di Su Marmuri in Ulássai

“Even if this grotto is not the longest and the deepest of the area, anyway it is the most famous and the most important for its grandeur and its suggestive environment that fascinates tourists from all over the world.” The cave in Ulássai is considered to be one of the most famous caves in Europe for its richness in concreations. The temperature inside remains constant at approximately 10 degrees celcius.

Sardinia, fun on the beach

Jump in the air…

Having fun on the beach

Not much to say today, just having fun on the beach and relaxing )

Sardinia, City trip to Cagliari

City Hall, Bastion of Saint Remy, city view and Caffè Degli Spiriti.

Expedition in the capital of Sarinia

Today I had a city trip to Cagliari, the capital of the island of Sardinia. There was a lot to see; Porto di Scalo, City Hall, Piazza Yenne, Bastion of Saint Remy, Cathedral in the historic district “Castello”, Roman Amphitheatre. Later on I had a break at the Caffè Degli Spiriti at Bastione Saint Remy with a terrific view over the city.

Sardinia, Costa Rei, Holiday

Me at the Costa Rei in Sardinia

Enjoying sunshine at the Costa Rei

This year I went to Sardinia (Italy) for holidays and I stay in Hotel Garden Beach at the Strada Panoramica Villasimius in Costa Rei. The Hotel was placed directly on a beautiful white and fine grain sandy beach of the Costa Rei that is located on Sardinia’s southern coast, approximately 50 kilometres from the capital city of Cagliari. This stretch of coast is renowned for its exceptionally clear water, golden sands and all in all a 12 km long beach which makes it an ideal place for a relaxing beach holiday )

Peperoni shortlisted for Best Community Company

The Mobile Entertainment Awards

Peperoni shortlisted for Best Communities Company in the Mobile Entertainment Awards

We have been shortlisted for the Mobile Entertainment Awards in the Best Communities Copmany category with our community peperonity.com. It’s great to be shortlisted for this awards that celebrate industry excellence in mobile content and services. In this category we are competing with some old friends; GoFresh, Flirtomatic, BuzzCity and Shozu. May the best win ;o)

Here Comes Another Bubble v1.1 – The Richter Scales

Secret of success in the silicon valley

This one poped up during surfing the web. I found it on the blog of Vero Pepperrell alias ‘That Canadian Girl’. It is just perfect in moments of ‘uninspiration’ or defeat in the (mobile) web 2.0 battle, because somehow it makes you smile :)

An here is the master plan for success in our business (an executive summary of the video above):

1. first you need a buzzword, then a second and a third
2. pick at least two industries, you’ll revolutionize
3. find yourself an engineer, feed him pizza, buy him beer
4. give him just a fraction of a fraction of the pie
5. need a good domain name, must be cheap, can’t be lame
6. make your elevator pitch, code it up and flip the switch

peperonity.com goes Spanish, Romanian and Greek

peperonity.com in Greek and Spanish

Today we launched three new languages, so now we have peperonity.com in 10 languages; German (Deutsch) [2000.01.12], English [2000.01.12], French (Français) [2007.04.19], Italian (Italiano) [2007.06.29] Portuguese (Português) [2007.06.29], Polish (Polski) [2007.12.18], Russian (Русский) [2008.05.13], Spanish (Español) [2008.07.15], Romanian (Română) [2008.07.15] and Greek (Ελληνικά) [2008.07.15]. This time our team mates Ines, Panos and Codruta were making the various translations.