Category: Influential People

15
Jan

Samwer Brothers invest in Facebook

Oliver Samwer invested in Facebook.
The german samwer brothers (Picture right: Oliiver Samwer) invested in Facebook.
Rumors say that they bought 0,3% of the company for 60 Mio USD. Due to the big currency gab between Euro and Dollar they “just” invested 40 Mio Euros.
The Samwer brothers will also be strategic partners to build up facebook in europe and especially in Germany.

Reuters says: “German Internet entrepeneurs, the Samwer Brothers, have become the latest new shareholders in social networking site Facebook, Alexander Samwer told Reuters on Tuesday. Samwer said the brothers had taken an undisclosed stake in the company and would now become their strategic partners in Europe.”

Read more on Reuters or Techcrunch.

09
Jan

Goodbye Bill

Bill Gates is leaving Microsoft.
Here is a great Video they showed at CES with a little irony in it….

Have a look.

21
Dec

“Free” – Watching the speech by Chris Anderson

Chris Anderson, Free
CScout wrote about his latest book project by Chris Anderson, called “Free”.

I am just watching his speech hold at the “Nokia World 2007”:
Free – The Past and Future of a Radical Price.

I like the idea of thinking of expensive things becoming free. Chris is mentioning several areas which became “free”: computer processors, semiconductors, bandwidth, storage etc…

You can watch the speech here:
http://www.netvision.de/uk/dispatching/?event_id=5bb1b5e95afabb2e62d2b148ded47706&portal_id=369401748e8249f142a700d8098a3473

20
Dec

Two great ideas for Christmas Gift

Today I want to give you two great christmas present ideas.

The first is called ninemillion, managed by my friend Claudia Gonzalez-Gisiger from the UN Refugee Agency – UNHCR.
Ninemillion Logo
The goal of ninemillion is to provide an Education for nine million refugee children by 2010.
Ninemillion.org Goal until 2010

The second christmas gift idea is called Kiva.
Kiva is an organization that allows people to lend money via the Internet to small businesses in developing countries. It is a non-profit organization founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Francisco. Kiva is supported by donations from its users and through partnerships with businesses and other institutions.
I really like the idea of Kiva – because you can choose where your money is going and what is done with it. You get a total transparency of the project.
What is Kiva?

So I wish you a merry x-mas and a successful new year 2008.

19
Dec

Review leweb3

leweb3 is an inspiring event. It was great attending it.
Sifry Searls
One of the highlights this year was the diner with David Sifry, Doc Searls, Hans Peter Brondmo, JP Rangaswami, June Cohen, Claudia Gonzales-Gisiger and Kathy Brooks .
Thank you for the inspiring conversation.

Leweb3 Diner

23
Nov

Visiting Google in Munich

Google opened an office in Munich in october.
Google Munich Office
I visited my friend Philipp this week at his new office. To enter as a Visitor you have to sign a NDA – so I cannot tell you much.

Google’s Munich Office is their first engineering office in Germany following Aarhus, Dublin, Krakow, London, Lulea, Moskow, St. Petersburg, Trondheim and Zurich as 10th destination for research and development in Europe. Google already operates four offices for sales in Germany in Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Berlin.

“Munich is a hotspot for many highly talented computer scientists and software engineers and hence an ideal location for us to innovate”, says Nelson Mattos, Vice President of Engineering at Google.

The Google Office is in the new building which is not finished in this satellite picture.
Google Munich Office

25
Jul

Do you already know the chinese Second Life?

My collegue Daniel in Beijing did a great interview with Hui Xu, the founder of HiPiHi.
HiPiHi is a 3D Virtual World similar to Second Life with focus of chinese users.

Here is the interview – see also our China Blog.

hui-xu.jpgCScout recently China paid a visit to the office of HiPiHi in Beijing’s Haidian District, for an interview with Hui Xu. Hui, founder and CEO of HiPiHi, was the general manager of MyWeb China, and was nominated as one of the “Top Ten China Internet Heroes” in 1999. Hui was also the chairman and CEO of JingQi XiShu Co. Ltd, which became one of the most successful e-commerce sites in 2000. Together with Xinhua Liu, he co-founded HiPiHi in 2005.

Interview

Can you briefly introduce HiPiHi?
“We founded HiPiHi nearly two years ago, and the site is currently in beta testing mode with about 10,000 users – about 15 percent are from overseas. Our public test will happen in August, and the full commercial launch will hopefully be sometime in the autumn. HiPiHi is currently the only Chinese virtual world, and probably only the second company worldwide after Second Life (SL) to offer a totally interactive, immersive and open-ended experience for users to create, inhabit and govern a new world of their own design.”

Why did you start HiPiHi? Is the Chinese market ready and who are your target audience?
Continue Reading..

23
Jul

Behind the Scene of the RedBull AirRace

A behind the scene look at the Red Bull AirRace in Interlaken, Switzerland in July 2007. See the professional HD TV production crew with the latest mobile communication equipment provided by Thomas’ Team at Riedel Communication.

14
Jul

Red Bull Air Race – Interlaken

This weekend Katarina and I are visiting the Red Bull Air Race in Interlaken. Today we watched the qualification of the pilots.

Thomas showed us around behind the scene of the TV production. The professional team are producing everything on HD-Quality. All plains, screens and cameras are connected wireless. Amazing.

Red Bull Air Race

28
Jun

The Power of “weak ties”

Today I want to recommend an interesting book.
It is just released and I might order it soon.

The Book is called Smart World by Richard Ogle.

Book Cover
Since ancient times, people have believed that breakthrough ideas come from the brains of geniuses with awesome rational powers. In recent years, however, the paradigm has begun to shift toward the notion that the source of creativity lies “out there,” in the network of connections between people and ideas. In this provocative book, Richard Ogle crystallizes the nature of this shift, and boldly outlines “a new science of ideas.” The key resides in what he calls “idea-spaces,” a set of nodes in a network of people (and their ideas) that cohere and take on a distinctive set of characteristics leading to the generation of breakthrough ideas. These spaces are governed by nine laws–illuminated in individual chapters with fascinating stories of dramatic breakthroughs in science, business, and art. “Smart World” will change forever the way we think about creativity and innovation.

29
May

Villa Astra, Croatia

Last weekend we stayed at the Villa Astra in Lovran near Opatija in Croatia.
The Family owned Villa was renovated a couple of years ago and is managed by the Family Martinko.

It is the perfect hide-away for a relaxing stay with delicious food and perfect service. The small fice star hotel offers 6 well-designed rooms, a pool and a nice restaurant. “Boris” is cooking for you (12,5 Gault Millau Points).
Villa Astra - Istria Croatia

Villa Astra, built in 1905, by the architect Atilio Maguolo, is typical of the seafront villas and summer residences commissioned by rich industrialists and merchants in Lovran at the turn of the 20th century.

Set in a garden of palms, oaks and laurel, this lovely Venetian Gothic villa, with its terraces and balustraded balconies, was renovated and restored by its present owners in 2002. Perhaps the villa’s most striking features are the exquisite ornamental details of the facade and windows, and the italiante loggia on the upper floor overlooking the pool and gardens. Spacious interiors, polished hardwood floors, rich fabrics and harmonious colours make for an eclectic blend of old world elegance and contemporary design.

Inspired by portraits of the Emperor Franz Joseph, the Austrian Room, Croatian Room and Hungarian Room combine graceful dining and innovative gourmet cuisine. This exquisite boutique hotel features a wellness area and outdoor heated pool.

Links:
Villa Astra – Main Site
My Croatia – Villa Astra

Adriatica.net – Villa Astra

14
May

Cashflow Club Munich gegründet

Cashflow Club  Munich Logo

Inspiriert von Robert Kiyosaki haben Michael Franz und ich den Munich Cashflowclub gegründet. Wir laden sie ein mit uns Cashflow 101 und 202 zu spielen. Die Spiele trainieren auf unterhaltsame Weise, wie man seine finanzielle Intelligenz erhöht, indem man kleinere und größere Deals abschließt. Wie man aus dem Rattenrennen aussteigt und finanziell frei wird.

Wenn sie das wollen, und eine Runde mitspielen möchten, dann melden sie sich bei mir oder besuchen zu unsere Clubseite auf: http://cashflowclub.ning.com
oder
www.cashflowclub.de

14
May

Author: Rolf Dobelli

I met Rolf Dobelli a while ago. But at my last visit in Luzern last year he gave me two of his current books.
Himmelreich
The first book is called:
“Himmelreich”

This book starts with a realistic scenario of a Business Man in Zürich. But soon the Story starts playing with all kind of possibilities. It is fascinating to dive into a World of emotions and realities.

and the second is
“Und was machen Sie beruflich?”.

Rolf’s Books are inspiring and creative.
Thanks Rolf for the nice gift. 🙂

Rolf Dobbeli

11
Apr

Would love to go to Valencia

I would love to visit the opening of the America’s Cup this year. But I am going to an also very interesting Conference next weekend – so I wont have time.


Here are some infos about the Event in Valencia:

Spectacular boat parade on April 14th to open the 32nd America’s Cup

On Saturday 14th April, Port America’s Cup will celebrate one of its most long-awaited moments, the official opening Boat Parade for the 32nd America’s Cup. The final stages of the event will begin two days later with the first racing of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The winner will face Alinghi in the 32nd America’s Cup Match starting on 23rd June.

The Boat Parade represents the true countdown to the America’s Cup Match, a contest for the oldest sporting trophy in the world, held in Europe for the very first time since 1851.

The boats will sail along the Port America’s Cup canal in a unique display of color, light, music and fireworks. Open to the general public, the presentation will last around 45 minutes.

The Boat Parade is scheduled to start at 21.30. The twelve 32nd America’s Cup teams will individually make their way along the canal, one by one sailing in front of four enormous 50-metre monuments.

Each of these monuments symbolises one of the four elements: water (the event’s stage), air (the wind powering the boats), earth (the universal character of the 32nd America’s Cup – the most international event ever held) and fire (the heat of the battle and the fight for the Cup).

The 11 challengers will be the first to make their way down the canal. One of these teams will reach the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup and win the right to face Alinghi. The Defender will be last boat in the parade and will display the America’s Cup on their bow.

Each boat will be accompanied by a spectacular firework display that has been specially designed with an individual light and sound choreography for the individual competing countries.

01
Apr

Justin wears a live webcam 24 hours a day…

Justin TV
“Justin wears the camera 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even in the bathroom. Even on a date. Justin will wear the camera until the day he dies. By which we mean if he takes it off, we’ll kill him”. Justin.tv, via Loic.

01
Apr

Joost Commercial

I like how the team of Joost is explaining their technology and idea via a very simple commercial.

Have a Look:

25
Mar

Testing the PlayStation 3

This weekend was dedicated to the new Playstation 3. I already tested the new online function and tried to drive a car with the new motion-controller.
PS3

There have been big Launch Event in Germany. The biggest was in Berlin in the “Sony Center”. Here is a short Video of the Party:

But If you check out this Video – a viral-video for the Nintendo Wii:

22
Mar

Design your Life

“In the name of provocation, let me start by saying that DESIGNERS SUCK. I’m sorry. It’s true. DESIGNERS SUCK. There’s a big backlash against design going on today and it’s because designers suck.

So let me tell you why…..”

Read this article by Bruce Nussbaum at Business Week.

21
Mar

Testing “Future of TV” – Joost

Joost Logo
Today I started to test a new TV Service – “Future of TV” – called “Joost“.
The initial project was known as “The Venice Project” and was now formed into a new company. The StartUp is founded by the Skype and Kazaa Founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström.

Thank you Martin, for inviting me as a “Beta Tester”.
Joost™

For more information about “Joost” I recommend the current Wired Article: “Why Joost is good for TV”.

19
Mar

Travel-Overview

After an inspiring travel to China and Thailand we arrived back in Munich yesterday evening.
Here you can see an overview of my journey of the last weeks.

The main time we spent in Beijing to work at the CScout office. At Shanghai I met many interesting people including Birgitte Wolff of China.de. On the way back we spent a few days in Bangkok and Koh Samui to reflect the strategy for CScout’s China Expansion.

Travel Overview 03-2007

Locations:
– Beijing, China
– Shanghai, China
– Bangkok, Thailand
– Koh Samui, Thailand