As the successful founder of Justaloud and RegioHelden, Feliks Eyser knows what is especially important for startups. In an interview with Oliver Gassner, he explains what really matters to him as the Managing Director of RegioHelden, outlines his experiences with startup contests, and reveals how his company is most successful at trade shows.
Oliver Gassner: Hi Feliks, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Feliks Eyser: Feliks Eyser, business IT specialist, founder and Managing Director of RegioHelden GmbH.
OG: What exactly does RegioHelden do?
FE: RegioHelden is a specialist service provider for local Internet advertising. In other words, we help lawyers, dentists and craftsmen gain new customers via the Internet.
OG: And you do that primarily with Adwords? Or what else do you use?
FE: That’s right, Adwords is the most important channel. We also offer Google Places management.
OG: If I understand correctly, things are going really well for you at the moment. How many employees are you adding per month, and at how many locations?
FE: We currently operate four locations with a staff of around 45. We’ll be adding about another 15 by March. New locations are slated for the summer.
OG: How do you manage that kind of growth? Huge enterprises like SAP are geared for it, but you?
FE: Learning by doing. 
The most important aspect from the organizational perspective is a strong middle management consisting of people that each supervise teams of three to ten.
OG: And how is the quality of the applicants? Are you satisfied with them, or do they need a huge amount of training? Startups with a strong development orientation have real bottlenecks to contend with.
FE: Well, the nice thing about us is that we’re not that strongly development-driven. We’re more about sales. The quantity of applications is no problem (several hundred per month). The bottleneck is in fact one of quality. As a rule, we seek out applicants who have the right spirit and who we can train for the specifics. Basically, we hire for attitude and train for skill.
OG: Sounds like a good tactic.
CODE_n is a contest for founders in the mobile sector. How important are contests and prizes for business founders?
FE: If the prize money is high enough, it’s an interesting way to finance your activities while in bootstrapping mode. That’s what we did at my previous project, Justaloud. The publicity and the contacts that are always touted as an incentive didn’t really help us that much back then, however. At RegioHelden, we don’t participate in contests for lack of time.
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?
FE: A strong team, a sustainable revenue model, and a clear marketing and sales strategy.
OG: Among business founders, there are the serial founder types and the execution types. Serial founders often go into VC or become active as a business angel. Execution types tend to become CEOs of something big. What will you be in five years? On your fourth startup, a business angel, CEO of XING, or on an extended vacation?
FE: To be honest, I’m not giving that much thought at the moment. But I don’t really see myself as the CEO of a big company that I didn’t found. 
OG: Well put. What do startups really need – assuming they have developers and an alpha: connections, good advice, money?
FE: Good advice certainly helped me the most. I can only recommend that founders actively seek contact to experienced mentors and constantly get input about their own business model and development. I see many founders who are bogged down in details or prioritize the wrong tasks and strategies. That’s where an experienced outside perspective can help keep things on track.
OG: The prize for the CODE_n contest is the opportunity to exhibit at CeBIT together with other winners in a special CODE_n exhibition space. What’s your killer tip for startups on how to make the most of such an opportunity?
FE: Be aggressive. When we started exhibiting at trade shows, we were very passive and took few leads home with us. These days, we really lay it on: magicians at the booth, contests, all kinds of goodies, lots of staff (up to six people at a stand of four square meters) and the mindset that we’re going to approach everyone. Using those tactics at your average SMB trade fair, we convert up to ten percent of visitors into leads who give us their contact information. When we started, that figure was less than one percent.
OG: What are you doing at CeBIT? Is that even your target audience? I can’t really imagine finding dentists or craftsmen there.
FE: Right, and that’s why we’re not exhibiting there. The trade fairs we take part in are relatively small and not very well-known, but focus tightly on our SMB target group.
OG: If you could name a startup (in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, but not Stuttgart ) that we should interview, who would it be and why?
FE: Have a word with the guys at sofatutor in Berlin: they’re a really nice team with a cool, useful product.
OG: Thanks for the interview and your time.
In a digital interview with Oliver Gassner, Adrian Thoma tells us about his personal experiences with Sellaround and Maria GmbH, and explains why social commerce is a further step in the evolution of e-commerce. He also describes what makes a startup successful in his eyes, and why contests are so important.
Oliver Gassner: Hello Adrian, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Adrian Thoma: Sure! My name is Adrian Thoma, and I’m the Managing Director of Sellaround GmbH in Stuttgart, Germany. I founded my first company in 2008, Maria GmbH – a creative agency that has since grown to over 20 employees. It originated the Simpleshow video presentation format, which we’re using with great success for our customers to explain all kinds of topics and products in only three minutes. Sellaround, which was initially created as an agency project and spun off as an independent company in April 2011, was also developed by Maria.
OG: What exactly is Sellaround?
AT: Sellaround lets brands monetize their social reach using selling widgets. The widgets are actually mini-shops that can be embedded anywhere – on blogs, as a Twitter link, on Google+ or a Facebook news stream – much like a YouTube video. They allow the direct sale of products in places where today’s customers are spending more and more time.
OG: So these are new goods being sold by the manufacturer or a distributor, not by anyone like on eBay?
AT: That depends. We have a self-service platform for private vendors and small traders at www.sellaround.net. There, anyone can set up an account and create a widget they can share in two minutes. We offer professional brands the option of managing the creation and distribution of widgets completely for them, or developing interfaces to their ERP and shop systems. The interfaces ensure that the order data lands directly in their systems, without creating an island solution.
OG: If I understand you correctly, I can make purchases in the widget without leaving the website. How do I pay?
AT: PayPal is our trusted payment services provider. That has three advantages: Firstly, it makes receiving money extremely easy for sellers. All they have to do is give us their PayPal address, and with that we know where to send the buyer. It also makes the checkout process really simple for buyers, because PayPal lets them manage their delivery address. That way, the widget only needs to manage the shopping cart information. And finally, PayPal is always at the cutting edge in mobile payment, which is becoming increasingly important.
OG: It does sound a bit like eBay. As a startup, how do you position yourself relative to such a market force?
AT: eBay is a closed marketplace with enormous reach. We can’t compete with it, and we don’t intend to. We believe that reach is increasingly being distributed across numerous channels these days. And if you look back one year, Google+ is one of today’s major channels that didn’t even exist at that time. In other words, the online world and its channels are changing – above all, they’re diversifying rapidly. And we’re helping brands monetize channels that were previously undeveloped. Social Commerce is the natural evolution of traditional e-commerce in our eyes. So we don’t compete with existing market forces – we leverage behavior learned from them.
OG: The CODE_n contest is designed to give startups greater visibility. Do you think such contests are useful, or more of a distraction?
AT: The registration process in any competition naturally requires quite a bit of effort. But if there’s one thing a startup needs (in addition to a fascinating product), it’s visibility and attention. Events with a high public impact and prizes can only be helpful in that respect.
OG: What do startups really need – assuming they have developers and an alpha: connections, good advice, money?
AT: That’s almost the correct order. I believe that a good idea will also attract the right people to realize it. In my opinion, the network is surely the most time-critical aspect. The people behind (Internet) startups are frequently young founders who depend on advocates and coaches who give them access to their networks. If you tap the right people in those networks, good advice and money come almost by themselves.
OG: Is it true that staffing is a bit easier when basing a startup on an existing agency?
AT: In some cases. From the first sketches to the prototype and seed financing, we needed about a year. We financed that period entirely through the agency. However, you can imagine that when in doubt, you’d rather put your resources into an urgent job for a customer than your own side project. Prioritization is always difficult for in-house projects. Originally, we hadn’t even planned to found a startup – we just did it. The advantage to founding one without an agency is definitely the tighter focus and planning that arises from the much greater pressure and need to deliver.
OG: Fifty CODE_n finalists will get a space at the CeBIT exhibition in a special CODE_n hall. What’s your killer tip for a startup that wants to make the most of that opportunity?
AT: You mean what a startup can do at CeBIT?
OG: That’s right.
AT: What I really liked as an attention-grabber for a presentation was last year’s “Gotta Share” musical at the 2011 GEL Conference – kudos to any startup that pulls something like that off in German!
OG: Which (new) web or mobile tool had the greatest impact on your use of the Net in the past twelve months?
AT: Mobile: Instagram! I’ve rarely come across an app that’s so compelling. It’s also a prime example of the megatrend to focus on users and empower them. Suddenly, anyone can take great photos – it’s brilliant! Web: Soundcloud. It redefined the visualization of sound on the web, and it looks beautiful when operating and playing.
OG: Which startup in Germany, Austria or Switzerland (with the exception of your own and your clients) should we also interview?
AT: It would be easy to feature Berlin, of course, but I’m too parochial to do that . I believe that the Stuttgart-based startup Conceptboard has truly succeeded in simplifying collaboration. And that’s really the kind of startup that the world needs: one that streamlines our increasingly complicated day-to-day life.
OG: Then your tastes are similar to those of the CODE_n contest jury, which selected Conceptboard as one of its 50 finalists for CeBIT. Thank you for your time and the interview.
AT: My pleasure!
And that’s how the Simpleshow explains Sellaround:
As a member of the CODE_n12 contest jury, Lars Hinrichs helped to select the startups that will make it into the finals, and thus to CeBIT 2012. We caught him at his desk at HackFwd, a provider of venture capital, where he acts as the “executive geek”. Hinrichs took the time to answer some of our burning questions.
Oliver Gassner: Hello Lars, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Lars Hinrichs: http://hackfwd.com/people#lars-hinrichs
OG: You’re on the jury of the CODE_n12 contest. What would prompt you to send a startup’s concept straight to the “circular file”?
LH: Anything that’s not new and not innovative.
OG: Does every innovation make money, or does it take something more?
LH: Business models take shape if you have happy customers, not vice versa.
OG: How many startups do you look at every year, and how many of them do you invest in?
LH: I don’t count them. This year we’ve invested in about eight.
OG: What’s the web or mobile app that changed your life or work the most over the past twelve months?
LH: I don’t know – change is a daily occurrence for me.
OG: What do startups really need from the outside – connections, good advice, money?
LH: Three things characterize a successful startup: 1. it adds sustainable value to the market; 2. it has an unique competitive advantage within its niche; 3. it is an economies-of-scale business. In short, startups need a business model. That’s all it really takes – everything else is just icing on the cake.
OG: That’s from within. What can/must investors/angels contribute?
LH: “Angel” is an unfortunate term. Investors provide money and value (experience, motivation, commitment to growth).
OG: The CODE_n12 finalists will be winning exhibition space at CeBIT. What’s your tip for a startup that wants to make the most of that opportunity?
LH: Be outgoing and don’t wait for someone to show up.
OG: Of the questions that people ask you about XING, which one are you tired of? And which question should I ask you instead?
LH: I’m tired of them all. As a rule, I no longer answer questions about XING since leaving the company.
OG: OK, then I won’t ask you whether you had an office in the Valley, and whether that would have benefited your international reach.
If you could nominate one (mobile) startup in Germany, Austria or Switzerland (one that you do NOT hold a stake in or serve as a consultant) for us to interview, who would it be and why?
LH: I would only recommend those that I hold a stake in. *laugh*
OG: Not counting Google and Facebook, which startup would you have liked to have invested in?
LH: I do in fact have a financial stake in Facebook. Unfortunately, I turned down the chance to invest in Wonga.
OG: What does Wonga do?
LH: Wonga offers loans online – almost in real time, of a limited volume (up to GBP 400), and for a short time (55 days maximum).
OG: Thank you for your precious time, Lars!
In a digital conversation with Oliver Gassner, Dirk Baranek tells us how he feels about data collection on the web, what he likes about Google+, why he would even pay for Twitter, and what many startups do better in terms of PR than established companies.
Oliver Gassner: Hello Dirk, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Dirk Baranek: I’ve been working on the web since 1997 as an online editor for publishing houses, as a concept developer for web agencies, a PR guy, and as a traditional local reporter for the Stuttgarter Zeitung. I’ve been a freelance online journalist (DJV) since 2005. Currently, I mainly help companies realize their communication on the web operationally – for example, as an editor of the LG blog, promoter for restaurant reviews, and online communicator for the Baden-Württemberg Social Democratic Party and EnBW AG.
OG: You write a lot about new apps on iPads and other innovative things. In your opinion, what is the biggest mistake that startups make in their PR?
DB: I think startups do a lot of things right that established companies get wrong. For example, they usually have blogs that report on the development of their products. I don’t know of any established company that really does that. Startups certainly can learn from traditional PR, though – especially with regard to form, and the understanding of what qualifies as a “news item”.
OG: Well, I got an email today from a startup, asking me whether I wouldn’t be interested in writing about their innovative platform on my “webblog” (sic) – only you can’t test it yet.
DB: Yeah, that’s stupid, of course. It sounds more like they’re fishing for links.
OG: Yeah.
Aside from your customers, which major company or startup has the best PR in the social web in your opinion?
DB: If I ask myself who I know – from a private perspective – I think Daimler does a lot of things really well. They are actually always present. Startups – well, Amen is not bad. The hype was huge, even though they didn’t really do anything.
OG: Personally, I don’t use Amen or get invitations to it, and I otherwise hardly ever read anything about it in blogs. With regard to Daimler: I thought the Zetzsche video for the launch of the Daimler G+ page was really cool. It may have been somewhat scripted had a lot of pitching, but it looked like it was shot from the hip, with background noise. But that’s totally wrong for such a quality-oriented company, isn’t it?
DB: On the topic of quality, for videos to work on the web, they need to be authentic. Nobody wants to watch polished agency stuff, unless it’s a really good gag, or elaborate or innovative. Users want to see real people on the web. They sometimes trip over their own tongues or hesitate, or the camera is a bit shaky, etc.
OG: The Daimler thing couldn’t have been realized that quickly through an agency. So, it’s quick and dirty or not at all. I think it’s probably the same for both of us: we come across new things on the web every day and ask ourselves, is that the new Twitter, or even the new Facebook? How can you tell that there’s more to a startup?
DB: In my opinion, you can’t. It has to work and be usable. Ultimately, the users decide whether it’s going to be a big thing. In the end, it’s a matter of mass: if nobody goes there, it fails. That’s why it’s extremely important at the beginning to address the right people personally.
OG: I also think it’s important that founders get to know their audiences. So, you can’t tell that something is going to be a success until it’s a success?
DB: I can’t think of any criteria otherwise. It’s all very random, arbitrary, and unpredictable. Maybe it should be shareable, but then which platform isn’t?
OG: Which new “thing” changed your mobile or web habits the most over the past 12 months?
DB: Well, I’ve added G+. I’m fairly active there, using it as a private blog for lack of another. Otherwise, there wasn’t really anything. Everything else is already older.
OG: And Twitter is what you use most, isn’t it?
DB: Yes, Twitter is still fantastic. I’m also on FB a lot, admittedly mostly for customers.
OG: What’s your take on what Twitter has been doing recently? I have the impression that now that Facebook has stolen all of Twitter’s good ideas, Twitter is “Facebookizing” itself.
DB: What exactly do you mean?
OG: The notifications tab, the fact that retweets are in my stream, the fact that anyone with a credit card can now book sponsored tweets.
DB: I always run the Twitter client and don’t see much of what they’re doing in the web application. Sure, they need to make money too, and I don’t have a problem with that. When such services are free, you can’t expect them to also be free of advertising. I would pay for Twitter, though. €5.00 per month – that would be ok. I also pay for Flickr, after all.
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?
DB: Is it clear what the company is about? Do they avoid collecting data? Are the graphics a thing of beauty? Do they have a clever idea? Does the idea have the potential to earn money? (Anyone can burn through money…)
OG: Can web apps work at all without collecting data?
DB: That’s just what I mean: if a service works only when data is collected and sold – I assume anonymously, of course, but nevertheless – then I consider it flawed. The service should be designed so that users would pay for a perceived added value.
OG: I don’t know about you, but if I chose the paid option for every service I subscribe to, I’d probably be broke. Not everyone can last five years without cash flow, like Twitter. Is there such a thing as the ideal financing model for startups?
DB: I don’t see an ideal model. In my opinion, there are only two feasible ones: advertising and premium services.
OG: And people only click on ads if they’re targeted, and to target them, you have to collect data – it’s a vicious circle.
The prize for winning the CODE_n Global Innovation Contest is the opportunity to exhibit at CeBIT in a special CODE_n hall. If one of the winners were to book you as a PR expert, what would you do to generate buzz and ensure that journalists storm their booth?
DB: Depends on the topic, to be honest. At any rate, it’s essential to get things out of the digital space and into reality. In this era of electronic communication, real paper mail has taken on a completely different impact. Something could be done with that, I think. And the trick would be in getting it to refer back to the digital domain.
OG: How about dressing everyone up as Men in Black, Jedi, or storm troopers? Just a couple of ideas off the top of my head
DB: Depends on how it fits to the product. It would be OK for games, but probably not for business networking
OG: Oh, so like “Use the Force, Luke. Business Network ABC.” Actually, I have the impression that postal marketing would only work on handmade paper. Anything else goes straight into my bin. Do you open advertising mail?
DB: It depends. Personal letters, yes. And wooden crates, definitely! (I recently received one from a major manufacturer of alcoholic beverages.)
OG: And finally, a question about your personal preferences: iOS or Android, Google+ or Facebook? (In other words, not what you need to use because of your customers, but what feels cooler or objectively has a brighter future.)
DB: iOS and G+ for me personally. For customers: both systems and FB. Android is too frayed for my tastes and doesn’t fit to my hardware.
OG: When will G+ match or overtake FB in marketing?
DB: Hm, could be that it will never happen. G+ has an influence on Google Search, however. That will make it interesting for many companies. In doing so, Google has to be careful not to give up its neutrality.
OG: Thanks for the interview
DB: OK, you’re welcome.
Mobilista, blogger and business angel Heike Scholz talked to us about the future of BlackBerry and Windows Mobile, about Jason Calacanis, what the new toughness in patent battles means for startups, and in which kind of startup she would invest.
Oliver Gassner: Hello Heike, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Heike Scholz: I’m a consultant, blogger, speaker, and business angel, and I’m sure I have a couple of other roles that don’t have such clear labels. At any rate, I’ve been in the mobile business for the past six years.
OG: Was the degree of “mobilization” that we have today imaginable 6 years ago?
HS: Yes, absolutely. I had actually expected it much sooner.
OG: Are we lagging behind Japan and the United States? Or who is leading the way in “SoLoMo” (social, local, mobile)? South Korea?
HS: Asia is certainly ahead of us with its passion for innovation and speed. Specifically, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and in some areas, Indonesia and Thailand, to name a few countries. The U.S. was far behind us for a long time, but they’ve caught up so dramatically in the past five years that they’ve overtaken us with ease. European countries like Britain, Spain and some Scandinavian countries are also ahead of us.
OG: We’re currently witnessing a battle between Android and iOS. Do we still have to give any thought to Windows Mobile and Blackberry? And will Android eventually crush iOS?
HS: Windows Mobile, definitely. The behemoths Nokia and Microsoft have enough resources to keep up the pace. And the Lumia 800 shows that Nokia should not be underestimated.
BB is a different story, however. Things are looking bad – the decline, especially in the States, has been massive. BB is still holding its own in Asia, but it’s uncertain what’s going to become of them. Android is already the leading OS and will remain so in future, no doubt about that. Apple has always been a premium niche provider, and it remains to be seen whether Apple will return to focusing on that role, or whether they also want to be present in the mid-price segment. In the overall perspective, in terms of sales figures, iOS and other operating systems will not have a chance against Android for a while.
OG: Is it conceivable that a new player could show up and reshuffle the market? PalmOS blew it – but why? On the face of it, the Pre was a cool little machine.
HS: Almost anything is conceivable in this highly dynamic market, including the appearance of a new player who could play a relevant role. Palm failed because of two things: It did not sell enough devices to achieve critical mass, and it did not succeed in establishing an ecosystem of apps and services associated with them. Developers were looking forward to PalmOS, but they need to be given a reason to develop for a platform. And that reason is always associated with good monetization. Palm didn’t create that opportunity.
OG: Let me toss the word “patents” in the ring. Aren’t they a massive risk in the mobile market? Currently, things still revolve primarily around hardware, but at some point software will also be affected. Things will then get hard for startups, won’t they?
HS: Patent disputes per se are not new in the mobile market – we’ve always had them. The conflicts have become tougher as the amount of money to be distributed has grown. The mobile sector is receiving greater attention, also in the media that are now reporting on it, something they haven’t done in recent years. And there’s another aspect: manufacturers, currently above all Apple, are trying to prevent the sale of certain devices to protect their market position. This is new in this form in the mobile market, and it now extends to design parameters – see Samsung vs. Apple. I’m sure this will also happen with software, but in my opinion it won’t hinder the market significantly. Things never become easier for startups as the market develops, and as things stand today, every startup should program “cleanly”. Lawyers definitely will not be out of work in the mobile market in future.
OG: What’s the web or mobile app that changed your life or work the most over the past twelve months?
HS: Google+ has had by far the most influence on my work as a blogger. The Android app was very good from the outset, and I immediately used it a lot.
OG: And what’s the secret, what’s going to take off? Path is experiencing a mini-buzz at the moment. Can it take on Facebook, G+ and Twitter?
HS: I have to admit that I haven’t had a look at Path yet, so I can’t really say anything about it. What’s going to take off? I think that’s a question that we geeks always ask ourselves. I’m pleased that mobile is becoming a mass market, and I currently don’t see any new killer apps on the horizon. But as I said above, I don’t know everything
OG: When you invest in a startup as an angel, what are you looking for? What you have to see to make you get up and go – or do it right away if you could?
HS: I’m no different than other business angels in that respect: I look for a well-considered concept with a clear market focus, a motivated and qualified team, and a business model. If I’m convinced that a market exists that can be successfully developed in the given constellation, then the startup has my attention.
OG: And what makes you shake your head? Are there no-goes, even if everything you just mentioned is in place?
HS: Not really, but my demands regarding the concept and market orientation are high. I see too many things being implemented simply because they are technically feasible. They often solve problems that don’t exist for users.
OK, there is a no-go. And that’s the occasional VC with whom I haven’t had good experiences. There is often a great deal of ignorance that tends to hurt more than the VC’s money can help.
OG: Do you have any anecdotes of the “surprises” you can encounter as an angel?
HS: There’s a recurring situation that probably every startup seeking an investor has experienced. You give a presentation. You talk for a very long time, countering potential objections, and trying to do everything right. After several hours, you’re happy that the end of the meeting is in sight and that everything went well. Then someone on the other side of the table asks one final question that sends you straight back to square one without collecting 4,000 euros – a question that shows that they didn’t understand a single thing you said. It’s a classic situation, and we’ve all been there.
OG: What do you think of Jason Calacanis? Is he just a loudmouthed egomaniac with good luck, or a “somewhat extroverted character” who really knows what he’s doing?
HS: A would say a bit of everything. In any case, we can’t say he hasn’t been successful. And success is always right.
OG: Well, he really turned Mahalo around in a big way – we’ll see what becomes of it. What do startups really need from the outside – connections, good advice, money?
HS: Depending on how they are positioned and equipped, it can vary. But contacts, tips, money, and above all, internationalization expertise are invaluable for startups.
OG: The CODE_n finalists will be winning exhibition space at CeBIT. What’s your tip for a startup that wants to make the most of that opportunity?
HS: You should look at CeBIT as a fair for establishing contacts. Having a great booth or a mega-colorful presentation is secondary. The most important thing at CeBIT has always been to make appointments in advance and work through them at the fair. Hardly any IT trade fair offers better opportunities for this. But without a detailed plan before the fair starts, you’re pretty much alone at CeBIT as a startup.
OG: If you could nominate one (mobile) startup in Germany, Austria or Switzerland (one that you do NOT hold a stake in or serve as a consultant) for us to interview, who would it be and why?
HS: I would interview myTaxi. They have already attracted quite a bit of attention and have good investors, enabling them to expand. But what makes myTaxi exciting in my eyes is the fact that their mobile service is shaking up an entire industry. You could see it recently when they launched in Austria, and taxi dispatchers put massive pressure on drivers to keep them from working with myTaxi. I find the disruptive potential of mobile solutions fascinating, time and again.
OG: And now a bit of vision. In the CODE_n blog contest, someone had the idea of nanobots controlled by our brain waves that live on our skin and can even send messages. When will this be a reality? 2022, 2042, 2142 or never?
HS: A tough question. When I look at the speed of development in the high-tech sector, I’m tempted to say 2022. Ten years is a long time in these incredibly innovative industries. But it will probably be more like 2042.
OG: We’ll talk again then, maybe via brain wave Skype. Thanks for the interview and your time.
HS: We won’t need Skype then You’re welcome, I enjoyed it.
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.
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
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.