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Monthly Archives: December 2011

Interview

R „RAY“ WANG: „STARTUPS NEED CONNECTIONS VIA THEIR VC’S TO INTRODUCE THEM TO PROSPECTS, MEDIA, PRESS.“

Oliver Gassner_December 28, 2011_7:25 AM_No Comment

R „Ray“ Wang in a digital conversation with Oliver Gassner about insurance apps, the importance of Venture Capitals for Startups and the opportunity to turn a spot at the CeBIT into a social media campaign.

Oliver Gassner: Hi, would you please introduce yourself and elaborate on the work you do?

Ray Wang: Hello, I’m R “Ray’ Wang, Principal Analyst and CEO of Constellation. We are a research analyst firm at the intersection of business strategy and disruptive technology.

OG: What was the most disruptive app or service you saw on mobiles or in the mobile web in the last 12 months?

RW: Groupama France’s insurance app. You got real-time status on how quickly an agent would respond to your request at the point of an accident. You could also begin the claims filing on your mobile device.

OG: If you were part of the jury of code_n what would you look for in a startup?

RW: Commercialization strategy, innovation culture, network of advisors, sales plan.

OG: What do startups need? Assuming they have a team and an alpha.
Connections? Money? Advice?

RW: Startups need connections via their VC’s to introduce them to prospects, media, press.

OG: The award for winning “code_n” is a spot at the CeBIT in a special code_n area with other winning code_n contestants. How could a startup best make use of this opportunity?

RW: Turn it into a social media campaign that shows how real-time and easy their product could be to use. For example, take live scenarios from the audience.

OG: Is it likely that we will soon see another “Facebook”?

RW: With Facebook slowly trying to convince users that their convenience is worth giving up privacy, at some point a backlash will occur. At that point, we’ll get to an open source version of Facebook where the users own their data and the companies have to request permission to use their data.

OG: Will any company on the web ever again gain this number of users inside a walled garden?

RW: Yes. Each new innovation generates this opportunity.

OG:  We saw Hotbot go, AltaVista, Yahoo, Myspace. Will we see Google and Facebook go? What will have to happen for this to happen?

RW: Google will continue to exist. The question is, are we ready to stand up to Facebook.

OG: Would you dare to make a prediction? What will be the next “hot thing” on the web?

RW: The next hot thing will be at the intersection of mobile devices and personal healthcare.

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Interview

OSSI URCHS: “IN THE CASE OF GOOGLE, IT ALSO TOOK A FEW YEARS BEFORE THE BUSINESS MODEL IT SHAPED WAS TRULY UNDERSTOOD.”

Oliver Gassner_December 20, 2011_10:06 AM_No Comment

The “Godfather of the Internet”, Ossi Urchs, spoke to us about the post-Facebook era, the end of Europe’s innovation-skeptic “citadel culture”, and why he believes that services like Foursquare are only just getting started.

Oliver Gassner: Hello Ossi, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?

Ossi Urchs: Ossi Urchs, Internet consultant since 1994, now with a focus on social media and mobile Internet.

OG: Recently you’ve blogged a few impressions of yourself as a young man, and it was apparent that your roots are in TV. How do you see the topic of TV these days?

OU: Fairly indifferently. When I discovered the web for myself in the early 90s, TV suddenly struck me as so old-school – a typical one-way medium – and I decided to focus my future work on the web, the new medium.

OG: Which web application, website or mobile app has influenced or changed your life the most in the past twelve months?

OU: That’s quite a question. Initially – before the web – it was e-mail. Then the web itself, then Google, Skype, Facebook, and the other “social” media on the web, especially YouTube. And that’s just the start. I’m convinced that the best is yet to come. If I take some time to think about it, I’m sure more examples will occur to me…

OG: And in the past twelve months? Was there a new Twitter? G+ is the Twitter/Facebook killer?

OU: I see G+ as one more step in the convergence of social media on the web with the social reality of everyday life. In a word: promising. But since it’s less a technological achievement than a change in communication culture, others can integrate such advances rapidly, and that goes a long way toward putting the advantage of G+ back into perspective.

OG: Don’t you think that Facebook’s changes tend to clutter the screen and irritate users? That’s how I see it, in any case.

OU: Not really. I love the new lists and the differentiated streams in which I’ve organized my “friends”. The design of user interface isn’t going to appeal to everyone (as with most American offerings). But that’s actually how it always goes: at first, users don’t like the new features at all, but everyone gets used to them quickly and no one says anything.

OG: How does a good idea differ from a true innovation?

OU: Its practical implementation and broad use.

OG: Can there be innovation without someone making money off of it? Or does one go hand-in-hand with the other?

OU: Unfortunately, it’s often the case that the real innovators earn the least from their work – at least in this country. The situation is quite different in the United States.

OG: Why is it that most internationally successful web and mobile applications currently come from the U.S. – and very few from Europe?

OU: Lol. Precisely because the United States has a culture of innovation, which is not surprising in a  country with a history of pioneering. By contrast, innovation is mostly seen as a threat to the established order in the “Fortress Europe”.

OG: Schumpeter explained that innovation always destroys something – and Europe apparently has not gotten used to that. So Germany is hostile to innovation – that’s something I’ve been hearing frequently in the last few weeks. How can we overcome that?

OU: Schumpeter never really gained traction here with his idea of ​​”creative destruction”. And that has its reasons – those just mentioned, and some that go further. I think that the “citadel culture” in Europe and Germany in particular will, or must, change as globalization progresses. If not, globalization will descend upon us like a storm…

OG: How will the mobility of the future differ from ours today?

OU: Essentially, in the degree of virtualization. While our mobility today is still largely physical, we will be relying on digital communication to a much greater degree in future.

OG: Have you forecast any developments in the past that then occurred just the way you predicted them?

OU: I think so. Back in the 90s, I was already arguing that the Internet was going to change the entire way we live, work, learn, and entertain ourselves from the ground up. And I think that’s exactly what has happened.

OG: Would you care to predict what the net’s next big thing will be?

OU: The combination of social media and mobility. Not only is it going to once again fundamentally change the way we live and work, it will also lead to a kind of convergence of the physical and digital world that we can only begin to anticipate and understand.

OG: Are you thinking of a particular service? Foursquare hasn’t really taken off yet, nor has Latitude.

OU: That’s because like their customers, they themselves have not yet understood the actual underlying business model: the wealth of combinatorics that arise between information and sales, between online and offline business, if you like. But I’m quite confident: in the case of Google, it also took a few years before the business model it shaped was truly understood. And that was not only true for the customers, but above all to the makers themselves.

OG: The 50 startups that make it into the finals of the CODE_n Global Innovation Contest will have the opportunity to present their companies in the CODE_n hall at CeBIT 2012. What kind of idea or business model do you think will attract the greatest attention there?

OU: At the moment I see the best opportunities for concepts based on the three pillars of web communication, “SoMoLo” – in other words, mobilizing social communication and enriching it with local information.

OG: What advice would you give to startups to get noticed at CeBIT?

OU: Offer special food and beverages (as opposed to the horrible trade fair catering). Create a peaceful oasis. And if all else fails, throw a booth party. And to stay on-topic, have a hands-on version of your product at the booth that visitors can test.

OG: Can you even still remember what life was like without a phone and the Internet in our pockets? Has life become better? Simpler? Or more complicated?

OU: I can remember it very well, especially in situations in which I’m thrown back into that way of life – and I am capable of enjoying it. That’s assuming an end is in sight (when on vacation, for example). Overall, life has become more complex in this regard, and at the same time also more convenient.

OG: And finally, two personal questions: iOS or Android? Facebook or Google+? And why?

OU: IOS, because I’m a confirmed Mac user – but mainly because it just works effortlessly. Steve understood that. And as for FB and G+: I use both, generally for different purposes.

OG: Thanks for the interview ;)

OU: My pleasure ;)

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Interview

PEGGY REICHELT: “SUCCESS OFTEN MEANS HAVING THE RIGHT IDEA AT THE RIGHT TIME AND PLACE.”

Oliver Gassner_December 16, 2011_10:03 AM_No Comment

ECONA board member Peggy Reichelt spoke to us about success factors for startups, how to have a successful trade show presence, and her choices for the most important change makers on the web.

Oliver Gassner: Hello Ms. Reichelt, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?

Peggy Reichelt: Peggy Reichelt, board member of the online publisher ECONA Internet AG, the operator of the GIGA tech and entertainment portal. Our portfolio also includes platforms such as abacho.de, gewinnspiele.com, winload.de, and abnehmen.net.

OG: Which web or mobile app changed your day-to-day life or work the most?

PR: It may be “ancient”, but e-mail certainly has had the greatest influence. Its advantage is the independence it offers in terms of time and location. The downside is that it takes quite a bit of discipline to create space for “non-availability”.

OG: The CODE_n Global Innovation Contest is a competition for entrepreneurs in the mobile sector. How important are competitions and prizes for business founders?

PR: Contests are a great opportunity for business founders to build awareness at (virtually) no cost and get helpful support from experts.

OG: If you were on the jury of a startup contest, what would you look for in a company to put it at the top of your list?

PR: The potential of the business idea to achieve relevant sales and profits within a realistic time frame, and the experience, commitment and spirit of the founding team.

OG: What do startups really need – assuming they have developers and an alpha: connections, good advice, money?

PR: Besides a scalable business plan based on realistic assumptions, one thing above all: the right timing. Success (unfortunately) often means having the right idea at the right time and place.

OG: The CODE_n Global Innovation Contest offers 50 finalists exhibition space in a special CODE_n hall at CeBIT 2012. What’s your killer tip for startups on how to make the most of such an opportunity?

PR: It’s not a killer tip – just common sense: Your preparation for the show has to be perfect. Define clear goals that you intend to achieve, then put together suitable demos, presentation materials, etc. based on them. Make appointments with important partners in advance, and do a timely follow-up on the contacts you make at the show. Always remember that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

OG: Will we ever see another Facebook: a platform with over 800 million users?

PR: Absolutely. And there will also be an Amazon, an Apple, a Google, a Facebook and a Zynga in future. Innovation never stop. That’s what’s exciting about business, and the evolution and revolution of business models. GIGA.de is also evolving. In January 2012, we’re launching a new design with content from the games, Mac (macnews.de), iPhone and iPad (benm.at), Android (androidnews.de), music (freeload.de), movies, hardware, and software theme worlds. Interactive formats such as GIGA LIVE TV, GIGA Videos and podcasts are going to complement the text content on GIGA.

OG: If you could name a startup (in Germany, Austria or Switzerland) that we should interview, who would it be and why?

PR: Hard to say, because there are so many. Personally, I’d choose someone from the social projects/civic service sector like betterplace.org, even though they’re not necessarily a startup any more.

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News

And the Winner is… The Verdict of our Blog Contest Jury is In

Andrea Wlcek_December 14, 2011_1:53 PM_Comments (7)

We announced our “Shaping Mobile Life” blog contest a few weeks ago, and have since received many interesting posts from you. Thanks to everyone who took part! Our six-member jury of bloggers and social media experts were really spoiled for choice. They sorted, compared, discussed – and finally reached a verdict.

And here are the winners:

First place: “For you, Facebook will be like what Yahoo is for us. It sounds vaguely familiar, but it’s just a word that’s gathered a thick layer of dust.”
In her entry, Judith Böhm took her pregnancy as an opportunity to reflect on how mobile life might affect the desires of her child. “Das Abenteuer deines Lebens – ein Wunschzettel von 2012 bis 2031” is the posting that won our jury over completely – and not just the female members. Jury member Andreas Schreiber sums it up: “The clear winner is a post that beautifully renders a mother’s thoughts about the future influence of new technologies on her child.”. In her interview, Judith Böhm told us about her own expectations toward her post: “I want to make people laugh and think, or touch them with my writing.” We think she succeeded! The complete interview with Judith Böhm can be found here.

 

Second place: “Ubiquitous networking has made everything – people, cars, and machinery – into hotspots. The network is literally in the air.”
In her post “Mobile Zukunft – ein Blick in die Glaskugel”, Alexa Wackernagel turns the spotlight onto current trends and incisively projects them into the future. And what put her in the winners’ circle? “Incredibly strong statements that could be the seed for at least 20 follow-up posts,” is how jury member Martina Pickhardt characterized the post. That’s also how we got to know Alexa Wackernagel in her interview – to the point, perceptive, and exciting. A sample: “Networking is increasingly becoming a part of our lives, with the boundaries between online and offline, private and public, becoming more and more blurred.” For more Wackernagel, read the interview.

 

Third place: “Siri could hear how Samsung’s smartphone alerted him and said: ‘Samsung, Siri is standing at 90°, and she’d like to meet you.’”
The SEO Trainees also cast their razor-sharp gaze into the future, convincing the jury with their humor and loving attention to detail. “Shaping Mobile Life – Die Fotolovestory” takes a light-hearted look at how we will fall in love, get engaged, married – and divorced – twenty years from now. “This is certainly one of the texts that entailed the most work (the images in particular), and it has a bit more of a humorous spin. It’s worth reading and thinking about whether this is really what we want ;) ” is how Nicole Simon summed up the jury’s decision to tap the SEO trainees. In their post, it was important to the SEO Trainees to communicate that their vision for the future is a mirror of the present: “An example for this is the idea that it no longer seems strange when people constantly stare at their phone displays when talking face to face – on the contrary,” explained Kerstin Timm on behalf of the SEO Trainees. For more about the SEO Trainees, we have an interview here.

And while they didn’t quite make it into the CODE_n Blog Contest winners’ circle, Martin Krauß and Pascal Tannich are certainly worth a special mention. Their contribution: the stop-motion video “L(i)eb’ die Zukunft”. Enjoy!

A word to those who didn’t quite make it to the top this time, or who maybe simply missed the deadline: Keep us in the loop about on your thoughts and web finds on shaping mobile life – on this blog (we’re always happy to publish guest posts), on Twitter @CODE_n, or on our Facebook wall!

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News

JUDITH BÖHM: “THE SMARTPHONE HAS CREATED NEW USAGE PATTERNS.”

Andrea Wlcek_December 14, 2011_1:50 PM_No Comment

The jury of our blog contest awarded first prize to blogger Judith Böhm for her posting “Das Abenteuer deines Lebens – ein Wunschzettel von 2012 bis 2031”. In the interview, she explains how mobile applications have changed her – and how women interact differently with technical innovations than men.

Judith Böhm SympatexterAndrea Wlcek: How and when did you get the idea to write your post for the CODE_n blog contest in the form of a letter to your unborn child? Why did you choose this form?

Judith Böhm: My partner and I have been talking to our baby since the beginning of our pregnancy. We regularly shoot short videos, and I’m writing a baby diary that I’m going to give my child as a present someday. Even though I never really know what’s going to come out in the end when I sit down to write, I immediately knew that it would be a letter to my child. The content took weeks to mature, though. It was a mixture of the idea that this would be an interesting and beautiful way to approach the topic of the competition, and an extension of my months-old habit of talking to my little one, sharing my everyday experiences, as well as my worries, fears and hopes for the future.

AW: How would you summarize the basic essence of your text? And in terms of content, what was most important for you while writing?

JB: I wonder whether I can keep pace with technological developments in order help my child make the right decisions in future. And whether I should presume to know what the right decisions will be. In terms of content, it was important to me to create a text that would draw people in so that they enjoy reading it – perhaps two or three times – despite its length. I want to make people laugh and think, or touch them with my writing.

AW: You predict that Facebook will seem as anachronistic in 14 years as Yahoo does today. The numerous web and mobile apps that were launched this year alone certainly suggest that development will continue at a brisk pace. What does a newcomer application need to offer so that you personally feel like trying it out?

JB: I have to recognize the benefit it offers me. I find most applications are either too inconvenient, or simply pointless. They should be simple to understand and use. If an application is not self-explanatory and intuitive, I quickly lose interest in it. And then it would also be good if I were not the only one for miles around who uses the new application.

AW: In your post, you describe a discussion with your husband about your little one’s first cellphone. To what extent do you think that men and women have different approaches to new developments in the web and mobile field?

JB: My partner is much faster when it comes to trying new technical things. I tend to be more of a late adopter (but heavy user ;-) . I’m always very skeptical as to whether we really need something (be it a bread baking machine, Amazon Lovefilm, mobile transaction numbers for online banking, or a new graphics card). He buys and installs things, shows me how they work, and then I’m always really enthusiastic about them. In addition, I find dealing with things like hardware, configurations and prices extremely tiresome. So it’s really great that there’s nothing he likes more than to pick the perfect smartphone and plan for me, and then set the phone up to suit my needs. I would never have given it any thought on my own, and without his help, I’d still be running around with my old Nokia. I don’t know whether that’s applicable to gender roles overall, though, because it was exactly the other way around with my parents: my mother always tried out the latest gadgets and blessed our household with the Internet in 1999. My dad always said that we don’t need anything like that… ;-)

AW: And finally: honestly, how many new web and mobile applications have you personally tried in the last 24 months – and which ones do you still use regularly?

JB: I tried Foursquare, but lost interest in it after a few weeks. Becoming the mayor of a location simply isn’t enough. For me, it still lacks a beneficial conceptual underpinning. I only rarely look at my RSS feed these days. I also have a bit of Facebook, Twitter and blog fatigue. I used Identi.ca for just a few days, only to return to Twitter. I’ve had a smartphone (Samsung Omnia 7, Windows Phone) for the past several months and I’m pretty excited about it. So far I’ve only installed free apps, such as WhatsApp the day before yesterday. I use the smartphone to pass time, listen to music (Zune), play games (all the free games I can find on Windows Marketplace), read, chat, navigate (Telmap), browse, shop (eBay), and compare prices (preferably on Amazon, since I can also read the reviews there). It’s just a shame when there’s no reception in stores, like a number of Saturn, Media Markt, Rewe, and Obi outlets. One side effect of the new smartphone is I hardly ever use my SLR camera, or upload pictures to Flickr these days. So the smartphone also has displaced other things. But more importantly, it has created entirely new usage patterns, and I consume much more media content than before.

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News

ALEXA WACKERNAGEL: “NETWORKING IS INCREASINGLY BECOMING A PART OF OUR LIVES”

Andrea Wlcek_December 14, 2011_1:48 PM_No Comment

With her post “Mobile Zukunft – ein Blick in die Glaskugel”, blogger Alexa Wackernagel took second place in our blog contest on “Shaping Mobile Life”. In this interview, she answers a number of questions about her inspiration and her views of the mobile future.

Andrea Wlcek: How and when did you get the idea for your post?

Alexa Wackernagel: I can’t nail it down to a particular time. As a science fiction fan, the future is a part of my daily life – even if it’s only wishing I could beam myself, and that occurs to me nearly every day. I simply gave my thoughts free rein and collected ideas. Putting them into words was much harder.

AnW: How would you summarize the basic essence of your text? And in terms of content, what was most important for you while writing?

AW: Networking is increasingly becoming a part of our lives, with the boundaries between online and offline, private and public, becoming more and more blurred. While I was writing, I realized how complex the subject is, so a differentiated view of the various contexts was important to me.

AnW: In your post, you describe a state in which people will be online continuously – connected by an earpiece and glasses or contact lenses. “People no longer choose to be online, but decide when they want to be offline” – and disconnect via thought control. Do you consider that to be a desirable state?

AW: I pay a great deal of attention to what I post and where. The idea of being “always on” doesn’t really strike me as desirable. But I think we can hardly avoid it, so I’d rather try to keep at least some control, rather than accepting it passively. On the other hand, I often forget to check into locations, and automating the check-in would be really handy in such cases. In principle, I like the idea of having a natural, barely noticeable connection to the net on me at all times that I can use without having to twiddle around with gadgets or deal with language barriers.

AnW: One final question: how many new web and mobile applications have you personally tried in the last 24 months – and which ones do you still use regularly?

AW: Oh, that’s hard to say. I try quite a few things, but I quickly lose interest or fail to see the point of an application. Travel helpers like booking apps, timetables, maps, and guides are indispensable – I’d often be lost without them. Tools like Evernote, Dropbox, Shazam, Facebook, and Twitter are faithful mobile companions, of course. And sometimes I just pass the time by drawing in SketchBookX :)

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News

SEO TRAINEES: “IT NO LONGER SEEMS STRANGE WHEN PEOPLE CONSTANTLY STARE AT THEIR PHONE DISPLAYS WHEN TALKING FACE TO FACE.”

Andrea Wlcek_December 14, 2011_1:45 PM_No Comment

The jury of our blog contest awarded third place to the SEO Trainees for their post “Shaping Mobile Life ─ Die Fotolovestory”. In this interview, they explain how they got the idea for their post and whether they wouldn’t mind having a “singles near you” app themselves from time to time.

Andrea Wlcek: How and when did you get the idea for your post? Why did you decide to write your post in the form of a photo love story?

SEO Trainees: The idea to present the mobile future in that form was fairly spur of the moment. But the longer we thought about it, the better we liked it. The fact remains that no one can make an accurate prediction of the future. Take the Internet, for example. At the end of the 20th century, nobody could have imagined how deeply it would affect our lives already in 2011. Who knows, maybe the future will be completely different from the way we picture it? And then why not incorporate old-fashioned elements that everyone knows from their childhood? Bravo was the leading magazine for young people in Germany back in the day, and we all read its photo love stories. So illustrating the future using the photo love story format was not only entertaining, the historical element also provides a nice contrast to the technological revolution.

AW: How would you summarize the basic essence of your text? And in terms of content, what was most important for you while you were writing?

ST: Besides having fun, which was of course our main motivator, we wanted to approach the topic from a satirical angle. Many of the points we mentioned already play a big role today, so we intentionally put a humorous spin on them. An example for this is the idea that it no longer seems strange when people constantly stare at their phone displays when talking face to face – on the contrary. And the fact that mobile applications limit personal interactions is something that should be seen with a critical eye.

AW: In the photo love story, you develop the idea that mobile technology could gain ever more influence in the most private aspects of our lives. Do you personally like the idea of “singles near you” and “ex” apps, or can you do without that kind of technological support in future?

ST: Personally, we have mixed feelings about such developments. On one hand, a “singles near you” app strikes us as absurd. Yet I’m sure that one or the other of us would give it a try out of curiosity or just for fun. Such an app would be the future of personal ads, and even though none of us have ever used such an ad, we do know people who have found happiness that way. So why not a “singles near you” app? In any case, it’s important that individuals always have the option of deciding just how much information they want to reveal. Such apps could be a useful tool in that case.

AW: And one final question: how many new web and mobile applications have you personally tried in the last 24 months – and which ones do you still use regularly?

ST: Comparing our experiences, we realized that we all have our own preferences and ways of using mobile applications. There are the “classics”, who rely on firmly established apps like Facebook, Barcoo, traffic apps, etc., and “switchers”, like our trainee colleague Nico – interesting apps never stay on his smartphone longer than a few days. And then there’s Olaf, who has to put up with a lot of ribbing because still uses a dumbphone and only knows the mobile world from hearsay.

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Interview

NICOLAS BERG: “WE WANT TO TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN.”

Oliver Gassner_December 12, 2011_1:03 PM_No Comment

Nicolas Berg, RedalpineWe spoke to founder and venture capitalist Nicolas Berg about unpurchased Facebook shares, the enriching effect of gamification apps such as Quest.li, the DNA of successful startups, and why true venture capitalists also invest during times of crisis.

Oliver Gassner: Hello Nicolas, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?

Nicolas Berg: I’m Swiss, a company founder since 1984, a business angel active in enterprises such as XING  since 2000, and I’ve been with Redalpine VC Venture Partners since 2007.

OG: Is the present a good time to invest in startups?

NB: It’s always a good time to invest in startups – except perhaps during extreme hype phases, because insanity is contagious.

OG: So you’re saying we’re not in a hype phase (yet)?

NB: No, definitely not. If anything, the mood in soft-currency countries like the U.S. and the euro zone is somewhat reserved. But true startup founders and venture investors don’t care very much about that. We want to innovate and turn the world upside down.

OG: What are the signs of a hype setting in? Or do they creep in gradually, like the proverbial frog being brought to a boil?

NB: You can see it on the stock market when even the pros toss proven formulas such as price-earnings ratios overboard and start waffling about user multiples or Internet fantasy. It happened in the tech sector in 2000 and in Japan in the 80s.

OG: What’s the web or mobile app that changed your life or work the most?

NB: In the 90s it was e-mail, the AltaVista search engine, and financial platforms. In the past decade, Facebook, Skype, Google, YouTube, and a number of iPhone apps such as maps, phone books and messaging. At the moment my favorite is Quest.li, an app that offers web and location-based treasure hunts. And Connex.io, an app that intelligently synchronizes and merges all my address books, telephone directories and social networking contacts.

OG: Can such treasure hunts also serve marketing purposes, or are they pure entertainment?

NB: Either is possible. Anyone who plays Quest.li can also build their own quests. Quest creators can choose whether to run them locally or globally, and whether to make them free or require a stake. The company already has inquiries from major brands such as food chains and tour operators for quests to be built by the crowd, in which dedicated, informed brand consumers can win coupons.

OG: Can a web project that does not have a gaming, dating, or (ultimately) selling character ever be financially viable?

NB: A U.S. investor once said that social networks are always about finding more love or better business opportunities. That’s a bit of an oversimplification, though. Dating, “social” shopping and gamification are certainly important trends. I like the trend toward gaming best, because I feel that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to attract attention. Gaming is a state of mind in which not only children learn more effectively or are open to selling. I think people who are only into bargain-hunting don’t make sustainable new customers for brand partners, while smart gamers or Quest solvers are more committed, tightly networked, and probably more loyal.

OG: connex.io is “free for 60 days” (that always puts me off a bit). Others offer free accounts without time limitations but restricted functionality for their web apps. What’s better?

NB: For the first 60 days, connex.io lets you sync, merge and clean (dedupe) your data free of charge. If a clean contacts list isn’t worth $50 a year to you and you can do without the service, there’s no need to sign up as a premium customer. But many users with valuable networks of contacts, on LinkedIn or XING for example, will.

OG: The CODE_n Global Innovation Contest is a competition for entrepreneurs in the mobile sector. How important are competitions and prizes for business founders?

NB: They’re certainly a good thing. We’ve had good experiences with them in Switzerland. Awards such as venture kick, Heuberger, De Vigier, Venture, and Technopark let the best new or aspiring startups collect seed money to the tune of CHF 100,000. They also facilitate contacts to the investors on the jury. But once they’ve won two awards at the most, founders really should focus on building their businesses rather than entering competitions.

OG: How many startups does Redalpine support? And how many do you add every year?

NB: Redalpine looks at about 1,500 business ideas annually, or around five per day. We have invested in 16 European startups since 2007 and support them very actively. Previously, we invested privately in a similar number of startups from 2000 to 2006. Starting in 2012, Redalpine 2 is going to invest in another 20 to 25 startups.

OG: To get going, startups need a prototype and a good team – what do they need most urgently from the outside? PR? Connections? Money? Advice?

NB: Three things are important: an innovative, disruptive idea, a suitable business model, and a team of at least two highly talented entrepreneurs who are truly capable of realizing the vision on the market. We help as coaches and of course with our network, which includes co-investors, customers, partners, media, telcos and other potential team members.

OG: The CODE_n Global Innovation Contest offers 50 finalists exhibition space in a special CODE_n hall at CeBIT 2012. What’s your killer tip for startups on how to make the most of such an opportunity?

NB: I recommend that the winners put plenty of time, creativity, and diligence into how they are going to attract their target audience (customers, employees, journalists) to their booth before CeBIT. They should remember that trade show visitors are like moths: they’re drawn to light. They should also allow enough time and manpower to follow up the contacts after the show.

OG: In which startup (other than Facebook and Google) you would have liked to have invested and why?

NB: We were in fact offered Facebook shares back when the company was still valued at only $4 billion. But normally, we focus on ambitious start-ups based in German-speaking Europe. We haven’t really missed any deals in Switzerland that we regret, and in Germany it’s only been a few. We’re pleased with our portfolio: 100 insiders recently ranked the top 100 Swiss startups, and five of our portfolio companies were in the top 13 places. In the Life Sciences category, we even held the first through fourth places.

OG: Care to give us a name? It doesn’t have to be a deal that was offered to you.

NB: I would like to have invested in Apple in the 70s, because the company is now truly innovative and disruptive in three industries. I’ve loved Apple’s products since 1983.

OG: Thanks for taking the time to speak to us. ;)

NB: You’re welcome, talk to you again soon.

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