Twitter Founders Move on to Their Next Big Thing

Kommentar verfassen

Twitter-founders

What do you work on after launching one of the largest social networks in the world? It took some time, but each of the three Twitter founders appear to have come up with their own answers to this question.

Ev Williams stepped down as Twitter’s CEO in late 2010 and scaled back his role at the company in the months that followed. He pursued new projects at The Obvious Corporation, a startup incubator that Twitter’s co-founders launched in the mid-2000s, and which served as the original home of Twitter. A few months later, Biz Stone announced that he too would be stepping away from day-to-day duties at Twitter and joining Williams at Obvious to focus on new projects.

Since then, the two Twitter founders and their team at Obvious have helped launch several startups including Medium and Branch, and have worked with or invested in a number of other promising startups like Neighborland and Findery. The underlying goal all along, according to Williams, was to use Obvious to figure out what he and Stone wanted to work on next.

„We rebooted Obvious in 2011 with a vague plan,“ Williams wrote in a blog post this week. „We started investing, incubating, and experimenting to figure out what worked and what we wanted to do at this stage in our careers; we just knew we wanted to work together do stuff that mattered.“ Now, nearly two years later, Williams says he and Stone have settled on their next projects. 

Williams says that he is now spending „about 98%“ of his time working on Medium, the publishing platform that Obvious announced a year ago.

Williams says that he is now spending „about 98%“ of his time working on Medium, the publishing platform that Obvious announced a year ago. Just like Twitter before it, Medium has been spun out from Obvious, and is now said to be operating as its own company, with a staff of about 30 people.

Stone, meanwhile, has committed himself to working on a new mobile startup called Jelly, which is also affiliated with Obvious. Details of the project are still vague, but Stone suggested in a blog post earlier in the week that it will be a free app that helps people „do good,“ and which will take up most of his time. „Personally, Jelly will command my full attention aside from some advisory roles elsewhere,“ he wrote.

Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s third co-founder, remains involved with the social network’s business operations, but most of his focus is outside the company. In October, Dorsey wrote on his personal Tumblr that he only works at Twitter on Tuesday afternoons. He spends the rest of his time running Square, the mobile payments company he co-founded in 2010 and which is now valued at more than $3 billion. As if Square isn’t enough of ambitious follow-up to Twitter, Dorsey has repeatedly expressed an interest in eventually running for mayor of New York City.

Whether these projects become the Next Big Thing like Twitter is unclear, but for each of Twitter’s founders, they represent the next big thing in their careers — and that may be just as important.

Quelle: http://mashable.com/2013/04/07/twitter-founders/

The 12 Most Influential Mobile Phones

Kommentar verfassen

Motorola engineer Martin Cooper made telecommunications history when he placed the first cellphone call 40 years ago. And who did he call, you ask? His rivals at Bell Labs, of course. Oh snap!

Still, it took another decade for the mobile phone to reach the masses, because Motorola didn’t make the DynaTAC available until March 1983. And in an example of just how quaint the tech business was back then, Motorola had a press event 10 years before the phone was on sale.

Which brings us to April 3, 1973, when the company that eventually brought us the Razr and Droid introduced the mobile phone. Forty years later, we’re still dropping calls like bad habits and struggling to get a signal inside a supermarket. Not that it matters, because we rarely use our phones to make phone calls. Instead, they’re a gateway to our digital lives, a means of doing everything from sending texts to updating our status to posting photos and listening to music.

Thousands of phones have come and gone, and most of them seem to run on Android. But the number of handsets that could be called truly groundbreaking is surprisingly small. Here they are.

Yeah, yeah, we’ve probably missed your favorite. And you’ll probably tell us about it in a comment typed on your phone.

Above: Motorola DynaTAC 8000X — 1983

The DynaTAC was the first commercially available cellphone and the culmination of all the research Cooper had done since joining Motorola in 1954.

The phone resembled those the military used in the field. The svelte handset weighed 28 ounces and was 10 inches tall, not including the antenna nearly as long as the phone. It wasn’t exactly something you could shove in a pocket or purse. Still, it wasn’t attached to a car and you could walk around with it, so there was that.

Such mobility wasn’t cheap. The DynaTAC would dig a $4,000 hole into your bank account. But that didn’t stop early adopters from diving into the swanky world of mobile calling. The phone had a cameo alongside Gordon Gekko in Wall Street and with über-preppy Zack Morris on the teen drama Saved By the Bell.

Photo: Motorola

Motorola MicroTAC — 1989

The MicroTAC introduced the flip-phone form factor that would eventually be adopted by the StarTAC. Beyond setting the standard for phones, it popularized the idea of being able to put a mobile phone in your pocket.

The phone, billed as the “MicroTAC Pocket Cellular Telephone,” was the smallest available when it was released. It was a lilliputian 9 inches long when open and weighed a mere 12.3 ounces. For the sake of comparison, the enormous Galaxy Note II is just shy of 6 inches long and weighs 6.4 ounces.

Still, the “little” phone packed a lot of amazing features, including security codes, currency calculator, hands-free operation and, perhaps most conveniently, a phone book to store names and numbers. It was the beginning of the end of having to actually remember anyone’s number.

Photo: Motorola

Nokia 3210 — 1999

The Nokia 3210 was, for many people, the gateway drug of phones. It also was among the first to tuck the antenna inside the handset. (The Toshiba TCP-6000 was the first, but that was the phone’s only claim to fame.) The little Finnish candybar phone was the first mobile communication device of the masses.

Its monochromatic screen did more than give you a heads up about incoming calls. It introduced a generation to the greatest mobile-phone game ever: Snake. The addictive game, based on computer game from the 1970s, featured a snake that grew as it consumed pixels. The object was to make the longest snake possible without having it eat itself.

And you thought Angry Birds was silly.

Nokia sold 160 million T9-enabled 3210s before replacing it with 3310 in late 2000.

Photo: Nokia

Sony Ericsson T68I — 2002

The T68i was the bridge between dumb phones and smartphones and, it could be argued, the most awesome cellphone ever. It included such groundbreaking features at Bluetooth, two-way MMS, simple WAP browsing and e-mail. And it had a cool color screen, a first for Ericsson.

The phone was so far ahead that it appeared in the Bond film Die Another Day. If it was good enough for 007, it was good enough for you. And it proved that people wanted more from their phones than calls and texts. Although the phone never saw the sales numbers of the Nokie 3210, it enjoyed a cultlike following.

Photo: Sony Ericsson

Danger Hiptop/Sidekick — 2002

While the suits and salesmen went nuts for RIM’s BlackBerry, the rest of us typed texts on our own QWERTY keyboard six-shooter, the Danger Hiptop. The phone, aka the T-Mobile Sidekick, was just as connected as a BlackBerry sans BBM, but didn’t make you look like a dork.

The Hiptop had online connectivity and a huge (for the time) 2.6-inch screen that flipped out, making it the swtichblade of the truly connected nerd. It came with a monochrome screen to start, but that soon gave way to color.

Designed by Danger, the Hiptop’s OS supported apps and could communicate not only via SMS but also with instant messaging services like AOL’s AIM. Adored by nerds and teenage girls alike, the Hiptop was the first real smartphone to hit the market.

Photo: Danger

BlackBerry 6210 — 2003

While the T68i put e-mail in your pocket, and the Hiptop made nerds drool, it was the BlackBerry 6210 that made cellphones indispensable to the business world by giving us instant, always-on access to our e-mails.

Little did we know that blessing would become a curse.

Its QWERTY keyboard and solid ability to actually, you know, make phone calls introduced the world to the modern BlackBerry experience of web browsing, e-mails, BlackBerry Messenger and SMS. It jump-started the smartphone market and spawned a class of humans known as crackberry addicts.

The combination of leading-edge technology and an excellent keyboard allowed RIM to utterly dominate the smartphone sector until a small company in Cupertino, California, decided to join the party.

Photo: BlackBerry

Treo 600 — 2003

After filling the pockets of nerds with its PDA (personal digital assistants), Palm set its sights on the mobile phone market with the Treo brand. The phone set the standard for smartphone features that followed.

The Treo 600 came with a camera, an MP3 player and an OS that would influence the iOS dock and the Android homescreen. Apps? Mappable keys? Everything laid out in a neat grid? Yeah, the Treo had all that, with a QWERTY keyboard.

The Treo’s 2.5-inch screen held a world of possibilities. Unfortunately, Palm was slow to update its OS and couldn’t keep up with the competition, even after releasing the Palm Pre with WebOS.

Photo: PalmOne

Motorola RAZR — 2004

The Razr was the first must-have phone. The thin flip phone was stylish and, if the commercials were to believed, would stick like a knife if dropped onto the floor.

While throwing the phone at walls like a knife was a bad idea, the Razr had a great four-year run, selling 130 million units. Is there any wonder why?

The Razr looked like it was straight out of the future. The numerical keyboard was cut from a single piece of metal. Its clamshell aluminum body and colored glass screen were gorgeous. And the damn thing worked like a charm. It was the last dumb phone that truly mattered.

Never mind that it also was the last Motorola phone that truly mattered.

Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

Motorola Rokr — 2005

The Rokr was the first phone to play nicely with iTunes, and it was such a big deal that Steve Jobs himself introduced the phone to the public. Too bad it was a horrible, horrible phone.

Sure it worked with iTunes, but it held no more than 100 songs. And getting them onto the phone was as quick and comfortable as a root canal without anesthesia. And then there was the UI. Dear god, the UI. Sluggish doesn’t begin to describe it.

Still, the Rokr was a milestone because it opened the door to the phone as a media player. It could have been the iPhone. Instead, it inspired Apple to make the iPhone.

Photo: Motorola

Nokia N95 — 2007

The N95 expanded on ideas first seen in the T68i, with features usually found in smartphones and without the gigantic physical QWERTY keyboard form factor. It was stylish and functional, two things sorely missing in the smartphone world.

The N95 wasn’t the first to feature GPS with optional turn-by-turn navigation, a 5-megapixel camera that shot video, or a radio tuner. But it packaged those features in a gorgeous phone. It made design matter. The front of the phone slid up to reveal a numeric keyboard and slid down to reveal media buttons that controlled the onboard MP3 player.

It looked good, had a ton of functions and, thanks to the camera flash, those late-night photos at the club actually looked good.

Photo: Nokia

Apple iPhone — 2007

This is the phone that changed everything. It was the first smartphone with features people wanted, even if they didn’t know it yet. It was different in every way, from its stunning design to its ease of use to the things it would allow us to do.

Of course, we didn’t see that at first. All we could do was gripe about an app store with empty shelves, a single button on the bezel and the fact we couldn’t cut-and-paste anything. It seems so quaint now, when so much of what iOS pioneered has become the norm for smartphones.

No less important was how Apple changed how handset makers dealt with carriers. The balance of power shifted from the likes of AT&T and Verizon to Apple and Samsung.

Nearly six years and five iterations later, the iPhone still sets the standard.

Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

HTC Dream — 2008

The Dream, marketed as the T-Mobile G1 here in the United States, was the first Android phone when it hit the market in 2008. That made it the first phone to challenge the iPhone in the touchscreen smartphone wars.

At first, it was a QWERTY-only affair, but the update to Android 1.5 introduced an onscreen keyboard so you no longer had to slide the screen up to tap out messages. The 3.2-inch screen showcased the operating system that Google purchased from Android Inc.

While the HTC Dream and the first version of Android were a bit of a dud next to the iPhone, the operating system and phones that ran it became more and more impressive as the years passed. Now Android devices are on par, or better than, the phone from Cupertino.

But as we’ve seen before, all of this could change. Like Apple did before, a company with zero history in the phone market could emerge with a new and exciting way to call your friends and tell them, “Hey, guess what I’m doing,” and change the industry again.

Photo: HTC

Quelle: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/04/influential-cellphones

Innovationspreis-IT 2013

Kommentar verfassen

(Karlsruhe, 06.03.2013) Der erste Messetag der CeBIT. Aufmerksame Gesichter, konzentrierte Gesichter und dazwischen: strahlende Gesichter. Nämlich die der Gewinner des INNOVATIONSPREIS-IT 2013. Unter dem Motto „We Share Innovation“ überreichte das Team der Initiative Mittelstand den Siegern an ihren Messeständen ihren Preis mit Pokal, Logo und Signet. Mit dabei ein Fotografen- und Kamerateam, das das Ereignis in Bildern und Ton festhielt, um es nun öffentlichkeitswirksam weiterzuverbreiten.

„Jede Preisübergabe wurde zum Event und von den Teams auf den Siegerständen ausgelassen gefeiert. Es waren viele, viele kleine Partys. Die Freude der Sieger und ihrer Teams war einfach ansteckend“, freut sich Rainer Kölmel, Begründer der Initiative Mittelstand. Feierlicher Abschluss war das abendliche große Get-together aller Gewinner am Matrix42-Stand.

Freude überall: Auch der Mittelstand in Deutschland kann sich freuen. In diesem Jahr haben sich so viele Unternehmen wie noch nie für den INNOVATIONSPREIS-IT beworben. 40 Unternehmen in ebenso vielen Kategorien haben die Fachjury schließlich überzeugt und bewiesen: Wir denken mit und bewegen etwas. Sie haben sich Gedanken über den Mittelstand und seine speziellen Anforderungen an IT-Produkte und -Lösungen gemacht und individuell passende, maßgeschneiderte Lösungen für kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen entwickelt.

Dazu kommen 16 Landessieger sowie jeweils ein Siegerunternehmen aus Österreich und der Schweiz und die Nominierten für den INNOVATIONSPREIS-IT, die mit ihren IT-Lösungen das vielfältige Angebot ausgezeichneter IT-Produkte und -Lösungen zusätzlich bereichern.

Status des Startup-Ecosystems in Österreich und CEE

Kommentar verfassen

Status des Startup-Ecosystems in Österreich und CEE

 

Das Startup-Ecosystem in Österreich boomt. Mit Superlativen wie „Boom“ sollte man zwar vorsichtig umgehen, aber zur Beschreibung des aktuellen Zustandes der Mobile- und Internetszene hierzulande scheint es angebracht. Die subjektive Wahrnehmung wird durch die Zahlen und Fakten gestützt, die – i5invest und SpeedInvest – in den letzten Monaten gesammelt und ausgewertet haben.
Hier kann man die Infografik hochaufgelöst herunterladen:
Download1 – Download2.

Hier die Zusammenfassung der Inhalte eines Pressegesprächs mit i5invest-Gründer Markus Wagner, SpeedInvest-CEO Oliver Holle, StartEurope Co-Founder Jürgen Furian und Niki Ernst, Initiator von Austrian Innovation Center Silicon Valley:

Speaker: Markus Wagner
i5invest 2007 gegründet als Inkubator (“Brutkasten”) für Online- und Mobile-Startups. Aktueller Track Record (“Exited”): 123people, adaffix, tupalo.com, integra performance, payolution.

Markus Wagner (i5invest) und dieIdee.eu

“Branche mit neuem Selbstbewusstsein – wenig Jammern, viel Tun”
“Noch nie gab es in Österreich eine so hohe Dichte an Online- und Mobile Startups”
“Österreichische Top-Startups halten im internationalen Vergleich mit, weitere Initiativen in diese Richtung sind aber gefragt”
“Wien hat große Chancen als Hub zwischen West- und Zentraleuropa. Damit wir das nicht ver¬schlafen starten wir die Initiative ‘Made in Austria goes Global’.”

Startup Eco-System 2007
– Initiative ging von einzelnen

Gründer-Persönlichkeiten aus
– Wenige Neugründungen
– „Gründen“ war keine Job-Option für Studienabgänger und Manager
– keine österreichische Startup-Szene
– kein internationales Netzwerk

Startup Eco-System 2013
– Die erste Nachwuchsgeneration gründet selbst (vom Trainee zum Gründer, Entrepreneur in Residence „EiR“-Programm bei i5invest etc.)
– Gründer coachen Gründer (i5/ SpeedInvest/Sektor5/austrianstartups.com/Startup Academy)
– Erste Serial Entrepreneurs investieren in Startups –> Business Angel Nachwuchs
– Zunehmend professionalisierte Gründerszene: Startup-Cluster Spengergasse, Events (Pioneers, StartupLIVE …)
– Strukturen besser etabliert, die Neugründungen begünstigen: Coworking-Spaces (Sektor5 …), Business Angels & Early Stage Fonds
– Eine sich organisierende Startup-Szene mit eigenen Medien (inventures.eu, austrianstartups.com, …)
– Internationale Sichtbarkeit für österreichische Startups, Unternehmen und „Innovation made in Austria“
– Die Startup-Szene entwickelt sich zu einem unkontrollierten chaotischen System – im besten Sinne!

Gründe
– Success-Stories einiger Unternehmen (3UnitedAG 2006, Qpass/ucp morgen 2007)
– Erfolgreiche Gründer bringen Kapital & Netzwerk in Neugründungen bzw.
– Professionalisierung der Startup-Strukturen ein
– Auf technischer Seite auch im internationalen Vergleich extreme hohes
– Ausbildungsniveau (TU Wien, WU, Hagenberg,…)
– Beginn des App-Booms, Boom im Performance Marketing
– i5invest: Seither rund 20 erfolgreiche Inkubationen mit einer Exit-Quote von aktuell bisher 30 Prozent, operative Erfolgsquote 75 Prozent, alle Unternehmen sind international tätig – das zeigt: Gründen muss nicht immer hochriskant sein, sondern ist auch eine Karriereoption!
– Startup-Boom in Deutschland strahlt aus
– Unser Binnenmarkt ist zu klein für klassische Copy-Cat Modelle – das zwingt uns zur Innovation und Internationalisierung
– SpeedInvest: Substanzielles Risikokapital für Early Stage Finanzierungen in der österreichischen Digital Industry
– Entwicklung der Shared Offices-Infrastruktur als Hubs für Startups der Creative Industry (aktuell über 20 relevante Coworking-Spaces)
– Zahlreiche Event- und Netzwerkserien für potentielle Unternehmer (u.a. Pioniers Festival mit internationaler Leuchtkraft)
– Staatliche Initiativen: AWS, „GmbH light“

Was wünsche ich mir für die nächsten 3 Jahre?
– Österreich/Wien wird #1 Startup-Location in der Region (Bratislava 40 Minuten entfernt und ungenutztes Kooperationspotential)
– Series A/B/C Investoren in Österreich
– Ausgebautes internationales Series A/B/C Finanzierungsnetzwerk (Investoren müssen sich kennen und gemeinsame Erfolgsbeispiele haben) – Return on Investment Fallbeispiele –> Exits
– Internationalisierungs-Unterstützung für Startups (Die beste Unternehmensfinanzierung ist Kundenumsatz)
– Breite Standortvermarktung von Österreich/Wien in CEE als Gründerzentrum
– Kein Jammern, tun!

Über Markus Wagner
Born in Vienna, Markus Wagner has worked in mobile & internet communication from the outset of his career. In 2000 he founded Xidris and acted as the company’s managing director until 2004. Xidris soon became one of Europe’s lead¬ing providers of mobile communication services. It was subsequently merged into the 3united AG which was sold to the US company VeriSign Inc. in early 2006. As Vice-President for Product Innovations & Business Development of VeriSign Markus divided his time between Vienna and New York and worked with US media companies such as NBC, CBS, FOX and ClearChannel to launch new interactive and content services. In 2007 Markus founded the business incubator i5in¬vest (CEE). He hold several supervisory board positions in European venture capital funds as well as startups. Markus was awarded as the Austrian Business Angel 2010 and won the Austrian Private Equity & Venture Capital Award 2010. Markus is co-founder of the Austrian web/mobile/high-tech cluster InitialFactor located in Vienna and co-organizer of the STARTUP WEEK.

Speaker: Oliver Holle
SpeedInvest 2011 gegründet als Super-Angel Fonds (aktuell rund 11 Millionen Euro). Bündelt Kapital privater Business Angels. Investiert in Online- und Mobile-Startups (Fokus bisher Österreich, zunehmend Fokus auf CEE). Aktuelle Investments (Auszug): kochabo.at, Shpock, Sip:Wise, Joblocal.

– „Es mangelt nach wie vor an österreichischem Risikokapital, es gibt aber positive Entwicklungen“
– „2012 konnten österreichische Online-Startups ein Exit-Volumen von über einer halben Milliarde Euro realisieren“
– „Österreichische Startups reüssieren in SV: INdoo.rs, runtastic, Sip:Wise, Everbill, BUFFER”
– „Die aktuell heißesten Startups Österreichs kommen aus den Bereichen Mobile Apps, Mobile Fitness Tracking und E-Commerce“
– Speedinvest verdoppelt US-Ressourcen: 2. Senior Partner im Valley, Office in San Francisco, strategische Partnerschaft mit Blackbox Ventures und Rainmaker Capital

Austrian Startup Report 2011/2012
(Initator Speedinvest, Partner StartEurope, WU-Wien / Institut Franke)
– 1500 Startups, 250 Investoren, 200 Stakeholders befragt
– Ökosystem hat sich in letzten 2-3 Jahren massiv verbessert
– 40 Prozent der Gründer haben schon vorher Startup-Erfahrung gesammelt
– 70 Prozent der Startups sind mit Produkt oder zumindest Prototyp live
– geringe Kapitalanforderungen: 50% suchen 100.000-300.000 Euro
– Größere Finanzierungsrunden sehr selten und schwierig
– Steuern, Regulierungen als problematisch gesehen
– Förderlandschaft: positiv, aber noch zu intransparent
– Viele Gründer reden über die “Option Ausland”, kaum jemand tut es!

Nach wie vor ist in Österreich weniger privates Risikokapital vorhanden, als der Markt benötigen würde. Vor allem im Bereich der Anschlussfinanzierung, also der Finanzierung der Wachstumsphase der Startups, ist ein schwieriger Bereich. Bessere Strukturen und eine verbesserte Organisation des vorhandenen Business Angel Capitals hat nicht zuletzt SpeedInvest geschaffen.

Bei den Gründungsfinanzierungen wird der Mangel an Venture Capital durch das umfangreiche öster¬reichische Förderungssystem zumindest zum Teil ausgeglichen. Vor allem die Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft (FFG) und die Fonds der Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (AWS) haben in den letzten vielen Tech-Startups finanzielle Starthilfe gegeben.
Das AWS legt in Kürze einen neuen Fonds auf und erweitert damit das Förderangebot weiter:
– AWS Business Angel Fonds
– AWS Gründerfonds

2012 ist auch „Media for Equity“ in Österreich angekommen. In Deutschland schon lange von den großen Verlagen getrieben, haben hierzulande mittlerweile SevenOneMedia und das Verlagshaus Styria dedizierte Media for Equity-Angebote.
Im Bereich der Finanzierung scheint mit 1000×1000.at nun auch das Thema Crowdfunding in Österre¬ich Einzug zu finden.

Ein weiterer Trend ist die Professionalisierung des Business Angel Netzwerkes, das nicht zuletzt in der Gründung der AAIA (austrian angels investors association) seine Ausprägung findet.

Einer der wichtigsten Motoren der Wachstumsdynamik des Startup-Ecosystems sind erfolgreiche Exits. Anhand dieser Kennziffer ist die aktuelle Entwicklung in Österreich schön zu verfolgen. 2012 verzeichneten wir die Exits von insgesamt acht österreichischen Online- und Mobile-Startups. Dabei wurde ein geschätztes Volumen von rund 500 Millionen Euro realisiert (Details siehe Infografik).

Exits/Transaktionen österreichischer Online- und Mobile-Startups:
2012: acht Exits, 2011: neun Exits, 2010: sechs Exits, 2009: kein Exit, 2009: ein Exit, 2007: 2 Exits

Auszug aus den aktuell heißesten österreichischen Startup-Eisen
runtastic.com
Mobile Fitness Tracking. Über 15 Millionen App Downloads, Sportcommunity mit drei Millionen Usern. 45 Mitarbeiter.
shpock.com
Mobiler Flohmarkt, bereits mehr als 150k Downloads und #1 in Deutschland und Österreich.
wikifolio.com
Social Investment und Social Trading. 12 Millionen Euro „Assets under Management“ in wikifo¬lios nach nur fünf Monaten. Live in Deutschland, in Kürze Marktstart in Österreich.
kochabo.at
Lieferservice für Lebensmittel & Rezepte. Start in Österreich, bereits Akquisitation in der Schweiz, Start in Deutschland.
buusuu.com
Mobile Learning. Sitz in London.
SipWise.com
Open Source VOIP Provider mit Kunden in ganz Europa. 2010 gestartet, bereits Umsätze im sie¬benstelligen Bereich, am Sprung in USA.
Everbill.com
In Ö bekannt als EPUNet, jetzt finanziert durch Dave Mac Lure’s 500 Startups und zuhause im Silicon Valley.

Über Oliver Holle
Oliver is a serial entrepreneur with deep experience in the mobile and internet industry. While still a student in 1992, Oliver founded his first company SYSIS, one of the first European internet startups. A few years and much learnings later, Together with Werner and Daniel, Oliver turned SYSIS’s focus towards mobile, which resulted in 2004 in the formation of 3united AG, a local 3-way merger that created a top European player in the mobile content industry. Early 2006, 3united was acquired by VeriSign Inc. at a valuation of USD 67m. Oliver spent two years in Santa Cruz, working for VeriSign, building a US network and learning to surf. As a CEO of Speedinvest, Oliver is responsible for all things related to corporate development and strategy, from fundraising to strategic partnerships, all the way to M&A. Oliver has an MPhil in Economics from Columbia University.

Speaker: Jürgen Furian
STARTeurope wurde Ende 2009 als Organisation zur Aktivierung und Förderung von Unternehmertum in Österreich und Europa gegründet. Track Record: 35+ Startup Live – Veranstaltungen in ganz Europa, Organisation der Startup Week und des Pioneers Festivals in Wien, welches erstmals die Aufmerksamkeit der internationalen Startup Szene auf den Wirtschaftsstandort Österreich brachte. Verantwortlich für die Organisation von monatlichen Networkingveranstaltungen für die österreichische Startup Szene unter dem Namen “Startup Lounge”. Initiator des interdisziplinären Universitätskurses “Garage” (Wirtschaftsstudenten arbeiten an konkreten und realen Geschäftsideen mit Studenten anderer Universitäten).

– “Noch nie gab es innerhalb Österreichs so viel Aufmerksamkeit für das Thema Tech Startups – das hat Vor- und Nachteile”
– “Neben dem Bereich Finanzierung hat vor allem der Bereich ‘Ausbildung’/ ‘Aufklärung’(Gründen, Finanzierung, Trends, Know How …) einen großen Verbesserungsbedarf im österreichischen Ecosystem”
– “Internationale Vernetzung ist für österreichische Startups eine Pflichtaufgabe. Veranstaltungen wie das Pioneers Festival treiben diese voran”
– “Wien befindet sich in einem internationalen Standortwettbewerb und muss seine Rolle darin finden.”

Zahlen, Daten, Fakten zum Gründerevent Startup Live:
2009: 145 Teilnehmer 2 Veranstaltungen
2010: 293 Teilnehmer 4 Veranstaltungen
2011: 475 Teilnehmer 8 Veranstaltungen
2012: 1134 Teilnehmer 21 Veranstaltungen

Alter der Teilnehmer:
37% 25-29
33% 18-24
15% 30-34
6% 40-49

50% Studenten
22% weiblich, 78 % männlich

Erkenntnisse
– Interesse an dem Thema “Tech Startups” gestiegen
– Unterstützung innerhalb der Szene deutlich gestiegen
– Frauenquote immer noch zu gering
– Hauptsächlich dominiert von jungen Personen

Über Jürgen Furian
Jürgen is Co-Founder and Head of Business Development at STARTeurope.at.
STARTeurope, provides early stage start-up intelligence and support to entrepreneurs across Europe. STARTeurope are specialists in networking and connecting the start-up community with the right synergistic blend of technical and business expertise, including investment direction to private and public resources and mentoring help. The start-up event brands, Pioneers’ Festival, Startup Live and Startup Lounge, create positive environments that nurture, educate and promote entrepreneurship both nationally and internationally. Additionally, STARTeurope is uniquely positioned to provide corporations and start-ups a pathway to mutually benefit from each other — both in terms of new innovative products and from an intellectual, talent resource perspective.

Speaker: Niki Ernst
Austrian Innovation Center Silicon Valley ist eine Non-Profit-Organsiation. Sie wurde 2013 in Wien unter dem Claim “Connecting the Danube with Silicon Valley” gegründet.

– „Im Silicon Valley gibt es das vitalste und kompetitivste Online- und Mobile-Startupecosystem der Welt. Österreichische Unternehmen müssen dort Anschluss finden.“
– „Der österreichische Online- und Mobile-Markt hinkt Jahre hinter der Entwicklung im Silicon Valley. Diesen Gap müssen wir schließen.“

The aicsv connects Austrian companies, startups, researchers with the Silicon Valley by helping them find business & investment opportunities and scout technologies. We are facilitating connections among investors, business partners, influencers, thought leaders. Our goal is to support Austrians opening labs and regional subsidiaries. We are evangelizing and educating on values of innovation, entrepreneurship, diversity, open-mindedness, creativity etc. The aicsv is highlighting newest trends in the Silicon Valley and shows innovative potential of Austrian (and CEE) companies.

Über Niki Ernst
Niki has been working in the advertising industry since he was 8 years old. For some annoying, for some fun, for some kult, the tv commercial he acted in as a child in 1980 in was aired over 13 years without interruption. However his career continued after school in international advertising agencies like BBDO or McCann Erickson where he focussed on client service and network coordination for international clients like DaimlerChrysler or Siemens mobile. 2005 he graduated executive MBA at the Danube University in Krems. In 2008 he started with his own Agency, planetsisa and raised offices in Vienna and Salzburg. Since 2009 he is attached to the TEDx network and was assigned TEDxAmbassador in 2011. With his personal motivation both to connect and combine his passions and to reinvent the business model “advertising agency” he initiated the Innovationagency, a worldwide network of companies in the creative business in 2012. The innovationagency is a network of 12 companies in Berlin, Vienna, Zagreb, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco – where he met other Austrian veterans to launch the AICsv.

Source: http://i5invest.com/2013/01/status-des-startup-ecosystems-in-osterreich-und-cee/#respond

Young people value access over ownership

Kommentar verfassen

The smartphone generation will be perfectly happy not dealing with the expense and hassle of car ownership — why would they when they can order up an autonomous Zipcar with a tap on their iPhone X?

Zitat aus: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/10/self-driving-cars/

„Self-Driving Cars

Google Self-Driving Car (photo by Flickr user MarkDoliner, CC Licensed)

Google Self-Driving Car (photo by Flickr user MarkDoliner, CC Licensed)

 

Over the past few years, there has been steady progress in the development of self-driving automobiles, and it’s pretty clear that we’re finally on the cusp of this technology going mainstream. As far as I’m concerned, driving is a waste of time, energy, and human life, so I, for one, welcome our autonomous vehicular overlords.

Signs of Change

The assertion that self-driving cars are on the verge of becoming a practical reality may seem a little bold, but the signs are clearly there. For example, California recently legalized autonomous vehicles, making them now legal in three states (Nevada and Florida are the other two). In fact, in relation to this, Bernard Lu, an attorney for the California Department of Motor Vehicles even went so far as to state that “The technology is ahead of the law in many areas” — and that was back in 2010.

And it’s not just some random GeekDad blogger that considers self-driving vehicles to be a near-term probability. GM predicts partially autonomous vehicles by 2015 and fully autonomous vehicles by 2020. Looking even further ahead, the IEEE predicts that 75% of vehices will be fully autonomous by 2040.

Simply put, the technology required to make self-driving cars a reality already exists right now. It’s currently expensive, but the cost will drop as economies of scale kick in.

The Tech Behind It

So what is the tech that makes autonomous vehicles possible? Well, the poster child for self-driving cars is definitely Google’s ongoing Driverless Car project. At last tally, the Google fleet has driven accident-free for over 300,000 miles (480,000 km), making it clear that the concept is completely viable. Each Google Driverless car is equipped with GPS, radar, video cameras, lidar (laser radar), and a lot of real-time computing power. Basic navigation relies on maps and GPS, with live sensor input to react to real-time changes. The entire setup costs about $150,000, which is obviously well beyond the reach of 99% of drivers, but, as mentioned above, this cost will scale down readily.

Another emerging technology that figures prominently in the future of autonomous vehicles is the concept of vehicular communication systems. Obviously vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication will make it possible to dynamically route traffic in such a way as to maximize flow and minimize travel times. Say good-bye to traffic jams and road rage, kids.

Why it Will Be Great

In addition to no more traffic jams, self-driving cars promise many other benefits:

  • Fewer traffic collisions (computers are better than humans at focused, repetitive tasks such as driving)
  • Increased roadway capacity and reduced traffic congestion (V2V and V2I make dynamic traffic routing possible)
  • Relief of vehicle occupants from driving chores (you can sleep, watch a movie, read a book, knit a pair of socks, etc. instead of wasting time behind the wheel)
  • Everyone can enjoy the benefits of travel regardless of their physical abilities, age, or other current restrictions (and, yes, that means no more drunk drivers and innocent victims)
  • You’ll never need to worry about finding a parking spot close to your destination (the car will drop you off, then go park itself until you signal it back again)
  • Improved energy efficiency due to minimization of start/stop driving, and elimination of the weight of the unnecessary driver in some circumstances
  • Car-sharing services like Zipcar will be much more practical
  • Reduced need for traffic police, red light cameras, and other safety enforcement measures
  • Cargo transport and delivery vehicles will not need a driver at all

All of the above and more will make the society of the future a very different place than what we’re used to now. That kind of change is likely going to take some adjustment for us older folks, but what about the upcoming generations that will grow up with this? Well, we’re already seeing some signs of a change in attitude there.

The Millennials

Interestingly, the Millennials (people born between 1980 and 2000, approximately) have very different attitudes toward driving than us older folks. In particular, the Millennials are far less interested in drivingthan their parents and grand-parents. There are, of course, plenty of reasons for this attitude, including rising gas costs, an anemic economy, depressed wages, and increasing re-urbanization – none of which is likely to change much in the near future. All of these factors lead to a demographic that is open to the reinvention of vehicular transportation. As Sheryl Connelly, head of global consumer trends at Ford, said, “Young people value access over ownership.”

The smartphone generation will be perfectly happy not dealing with the expense and hassle of car ownership — why would they when they can order up an autonomous Zipcar with a tap on their iPhone X?

Obstacles

Of course, there are going to be some bumps in the road on the way to our self-driving future. First up is the usual human resistance to change, though 50% of people surveyed today said they would be comfortable riding in a driverless car. That degree of acceptance suggests a rapid uptake once the technology becomes reasonable in price.

Another guaranteed problem is concern about safety. As mentioned before, autonomous vehicles will be far more reliable than human drivers; however, there will inevitably be an accident involving a self-driving car, and the event will be sensationalized by the media. In the end though, the desire to decrease the number of traffic-related fatalities in the world will drive adoption (just for reference, over 30,000 people die each year in vehicle-related deaths in the US alone).

From the GeekDad perspective, the most worrisome thing about autonomous vehicles that I can think of is the possibility of vulnerabilities in the software. We have serious issues with exploits in current operating systems and applications — how much riskier will it be when the compromised computer is rolling along at 60mph? Clearly these systems are going to require a level of security that will embarrass today’s military-grade gear.

Future Consequences

So what are the implications of large-scale adoption of self-driving vehicles? An obvious thought is the corresponding redesign of the road system. Just as we now have commuter lanes, there will undoubtedly be dedicated lanes for driverless vehicles. In fact, eventually the majority of lanes will be reserved for autonomous vehicles, with a few “slow” lanes left over for manually-operated cars and horse-drawn buggies. And if we look even further ahead, eventually it will be illegal to drive a car on public roads.

Another anticipated change relates to the fact that driverless cars need not even be “cars.” Vehicles of the future won’t necessarily just transport humans, so there will likely be a wide spectrum of designs, from large cargo transports to small pizza delivery mini-mobiles. Of course, the technology behind self-driving cars will transfer easily to trains, streetcars, subways, ships, and possibly even aircraft (though that last one makes me a little nervous).

As with any other labor-saving advance in technology, an inevitable consequence of autonomous vehicles will be the elimination of a lot of jobs. Yes, there will be new jobs created to build and service these vehicles, but I’m pretty sure that far more jobs will be eliminated than created. In theory, this should mean that the overall efficiency of the system is increased, and humans will have increased time available to do more valuable work; in practice though, the transition involves a lot of disruption.

Conclusion…

The signs are clear: autonomous vehicles are coming. The technology is already real, and it’s just a matter of scaling down the cost. Once that happens, there will be rapid adoption of driverless automobiles that will result in a complete redefinition of travel. Yes, there are some negatives to this impending transition, but overall, the shift to self-driving vehicles will be a net-positive for society.

And If you’re interested in autonomous vehicles, be sure to check out Brad Templeton’s Robocar page.

“

The Future of Automobiles (Autonomous Driving)

Kommentar verfassen

Clifford Nass talks about why the automobile is so central to modern life. He discusses the future of autonomous vehicles and describes the human element of auto-mobility.

There is the Google Car Approach and there is the Car Manufacturers Approach.

Originally presented in the Stanford Continuing Studies Program.

 

Stanfords Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak

Kommentar verfassen

Audi präsentierte auf der CES International 2013 die weltweit erste Lizenz für den Betrieb von Computergesteuerten Fahrzeugen.

Die Kooperation zwischen der US-Universität Stanford und Audi mündete bereits vor einigen Monaten in einem Rennwagen, der selbstständig eine vorgegebene Route befährt und darin sicherer als ein menschlicher Rennfahrer rascher auf Bodengegebenheiten und Verkehrssituationen reagieren kann.

Nevada grants Audi the first automaker permit to operate autonomous vehicles on public roads

• Audi gets second-ever license from the state to test Audi piloted driving
• Audi piloted driving and parking technology will be a focus at 2013 CES
• Audi has been an autonomous driving pioneer through work by its Electronics Research Lab in Silicon Valley and Stanford University

Die Zukunft des Individualverkehrs – Automatisiertes Fahren 2020

Kommentar verfassen

Was geschieht mit dem Individualverkehr, wenn Fahrzeuge uns autonom überall hintransportieren, wohin wir wollen?

Die Antwort darauf, beantwortet ein Zitat aus der Kommentarsektion von Spiegel Online:

„Ich lese mit großer Begeisterung diesen Beitrag. Es ist ja schon verschiedentlich über die Versuche, den Staßenverkehr zu automatisieren, berichtet worden, was mich dazu veranlasst hat, ein wenig weiterzudenken.

Was geschieht denn, wenn Autos sich selbsttätig bewegen können?
Gibt es dann noch einen Grund, ein eigenes Fahrzeug zu besitzen?

Der Individualverkehr ist ein System, das so vielfach redundant Kapazitäten bereithält, dass dem Systemtheoretiker der Irrsinn dieses Zustandes beispielhaft ist.

Die Abschaffung dieses Systems [Anm. des Individualverkehrs] zugunsten eines Fahrzeugparkes, der von geeigneten Unternehmen vorrätig gehalten wird und auf die jeder gegen Vergütung zugreifen kann (Führerschein? worzu!) birgt wirtschaftliche Vorteile einer solchen Dimension, dass der Privat- PKW verschwinden wird.
Die städtebaulichen Folgen werden ebenso enorm sein.
Das ist eine der aufregendsten Zukunftsvisionen, die ich kenne.“

Weiters – Funktionsweise des Radars:

„Wissen Sie, wie die modernen Radar-Säulen arbeiten? Ein solch modernes Auto hätte natürlich (Radar-)Sensoren. Mit diesen Sensoren könnte es gleichzeitig den Vordermann, alle Autos um das Fahrzeug herum und auch eventuelle Fußgänger und sonstige Objekte um das Fahrzeug einzeln(!!!) beobachten. Das schaffen wir Menschen nicht annähernd. Sobald ein Objekt sich dem zu erwartenden Fahrweg des Fahrzeugs gefährlich nähert, leitet der Computer (Ausweich-)Maßnahmen ein. Der Computer weiß allerdings dann bereits, dass links neben uns ein weiteres Fahrzeug fährt, während der menschliche Autofahrer das erst beim instinktiven Ausweichen feststellt. Außerdem könnte dieses Fahrzeug dann alle nachfahrenden Fahrzeuge über die bevorstehende Notbremsung warnen und so Auffahrunfälle beinahe gänzlich ausschließen.
Automatisches Fahren auf der Autobahn wäre für mich ein Traum. Es würden Tonnen an Kraftstoff und Nerven gespart. Wie oft erlebe ich, dass ich ein Fahrzeug überhole, anschließend von diesem Fahrzeug wiederrum überholt werde um es dann einige Zeit später wieder zu überholen.
Ich fahre jedoch mit Tempomat immer gleichschnell (sofern es der Verkehr erlaubt) und möglichst weit rechts! Dass dann alle gleich langsam fahren müssen, halte ich nicht für notwendig.
Bei wenig Verkehr sollte man seine Wunschgeschwindigkeit wählen können und bei viel Verkehr werden 2 oder 3 Geschwindigkeiten vorgegeben und dann vom Fahrzeug im Verkehrsfluss selbständig gehalten.“

Diskutieren Sie mit uns: innovativer@dieidee.eu

Artikel: http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/automatisiertes-fahren-2025-fahren-autos-selbststaendig-a-873582.html

Quelle: http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/automatisiertes-fahren-2025-fahren-autos-selbststaendig-a-873582.html#spCommentsBoxPager

the reversed Osborne Effect

Kommentar verfassen

 

I’ve spent the last few days checking out the fourth-generation iPad, looking — no, hunting — for ways Apple‘s new flagship tablet differentiates itself from the previous model. While it’s hardly coal mining, it been an extremely challenging task.

iPad 4 looks almost exactly the same as what I’ll refer to from now on as the iPad 3, the tiny Lightningconnector port being the only sign this is a different product. While Apple has found a new love for progress in debuting the fourth-gen iPad a mere six months after iPad 3 (its mobile products used to iterate on tight annual schedule), it’s clearly not messing with success.

It’s also not going to do anything to upstage the pretty young ingenue in its product lineup, the iPad mini. Whereas the mini was the star of Apple’s most recent product circus, the company’s chief gadget wrangler, Phil Schiller, said everything he had to say about iPad 4 in less than three minutes. If you blinked, you missed a whole new iPad.

The result: Most people don’t even know there’s a new 10-inch iPad, which is probably just what Apple wants. While the iPad mini provides curious onlookers and anyone considering a smaller tablet something to look at, the same big-screen iPad is still there, still starting at $499, still setting the standard for the whole tablet market. The message: Sleep easy, world, because nothing’s changed.

Except it has. The iPad 4 performs noticeably better than the iPad 3. This isn’t just a matter of benchmarks or “theoretical” numbers, but those are certainly superior. Web sites load faster, apps launch quicker and the most processor-taxing iPad games run perfectly on the new iPad. Whether you’re a casual surfer or a power user, the new iPad improves your experience.

More Guts, a Bit More Glory

Apple A6X

The iPad 4′s powers are due largely to the new A6X processor. Apple launched the A6 chip with the iPhone 5 in September, and the iPad takes it up a notch with quad-core graphics. Just like the iPad 3, the beefier graphics processing is needed to render images for the 2,048 x 1,536 retina display. The screen is the same, but Apple says it now performs up to twice as fast.

It’s not a lie. In benchmark tests, we found the iPad 4 performs at least twice as fast, looking at raw processing power. RunningGeekbench’s app, the iPad 4 got an overall score of 1,769 while its predecessor was ranked at just 768 — a massive difference. In repeated runs of SpeedTest.net, which tests connection speed, the iPad 4 was on average about 20% faster than iPad 3 on the same Wi-Fi network.

In real-world tasks, that translates into media-rich websites such as CNN.com (and Mashable, come to think of it) loading almost instantaneously and graphics-intensive apps launching lickety-split. In launching Solar Walk, for instance, a retina-optimized app loaded with high-res renderings of the solar system, the iPad 4 called it up a lot faster than iPad 3, saving several seconds. (Check out the video below for the full demo.)

Games launch faster, too. However, for actual gameplay, I couldn’t detect any difference at all. Slices, parries and stabs against the monstrous rivals in Infinity Blade II was fast and responsive on both iPads. Blasting pirates in Galaxy on Fire HD 2 was a pixel-perfect exercise on the two tablets, even at maximum resolution. And zombie brains from The Walking Dead spattered just as well on the iPad 3 as the iPad 4.

Playing games continuously on both tablets, the iPad 3 appeared to lose battery life considerably faster than the iPad 4. Apple does say the new processor runs more efficiently than the iPad 3′s, but the extra juice could be attributable to the device simply being brand new.

In any case, game developers have clearly built their games for the iPad 3, which was the best possible iPad experience for the last six months, so no game is going to choke the tablet the way Crysis used to be the gaming stress test for PCs. It’s going to take time for devs to create apps that really challenge the iPad 4, but when they do, the A6X processor will be waiting.

Eyes Front

The other upgrade to the iPad 4 is the front-facing camera, which is now an improved model able to capture 1.2-megapixel photos and 720p video. The upgrade puts it in line with pretty much all of Apple’s other products with front-facing cameras — from the MacBook Air to the iPad mini to the iPod touch.

The improvement is welcome. The iPad is an excellent device for video chatting because of its portability and Apple’s FaceTime service, which is generally superior in quality to rivals like Skype. With a good connection, the clarity is markedly better than on the iPad 3.

Any self-portraits you take with the front camera are improved as well. Shots are more detailed, with better color. Of course, if you really need to snap some pics of something, you may as well use the 5-megapixel camera in back, which is the same design as iPad 3.

Apple says the A6X chip improves both image stabilization and facial recognition, but in my short time with the iPad 4, I couldn’t detect any improvement over the iPad 3 on either of those features.

Lightning Strikes

lightning-thin

Then of course there’s the Lightning connector, the big physical change from the previous model. In the iPad, though, Lightning’s small size doesn’t provide much benefit, Whereas Apple was able to shrink the iPhone considerably by replacing the dock connector with the smaller port, the iPad retains the same weight and dimensions.

To the user, Lightning doesn’t provide a lot of benefit over the old dock connector other than ensuring your iPad won’t go obsolete overnight. It’s great for Apple, though. Adding Lightning to the iPad proper brings the new port to all of Apple’s portable devices in time for the holiday — an impressive feat considering the connector didn’t exist officially until a month and a half ago.

Apart from the connector, there’s really no physical difference from the iPad 3. On our iPad, the label that indicates the storage capacity is missing, although that might simply be because it’s a review unit.

Why the iPad 4 Exists Now

When Apple unveiled the fourth-generation iPad, many owners of the iPad 3 were angry. After all, they had shelled out serious cash for the new iPad with retina display with a confidence that it wouldn’t be obsolete six months later. It was the Osborne Effect, but in reverse.

Yet here we are. Now there’s a shinier, newer iPad with a much faster processor, a better camera and that oh-so-cute Lightning connector. Dammit.

But there’s really nothing to be angry about, because iPad 3 owners aren’t missing out on anything significant. The iPad 2′s screen to a retina display — that was a major upgrade, but the spec bumps in iPad 4, while significant, don’t have much practical benefit yet.

It will take awhile for A6X-optimized apps to arrive, and the iPad 3 is already plenty fast. The front camera is improved, but it’s not like I was unrecognizable on FaceTime before. About the only thing with serious, tangible benefits is upgraded Wi-Fi, but in that case we’re talking only a few seconds difference, typically.

Forget the iPad 3 for a second, though, and it’s hard not to marvel at what Apple’s created here. Not only is the iPad 4 a turbocharged tablet with an impressive display, but it’s got a large selection of apps (275,000, at Apple’s last count) made especially for it.

That’s something no Android or Windows tablet can claim. As impressive as the Microsoft Surface and Nexus 10 are as devices, good luck finding Infinity Blade in either one of their app stores.

So while the iPad 4 isn’t worth the upgrade for iPad 3 owners, for anyone else thinking about a new full-size tablet this holiday, the choice is clear. The iPad, already the standard-bearer in the category, is now twice as powerful, has even faster connectivity and — oh yeah — is supported by the most consistent and easy-to-use mobile ecosystem in existence and the deepest tablet app selection by far.

Rival tablets may be able to beat Apple on price, and perhaps even a spec or two, but no one else comes close in terms of experience. Come to your senses and get an iPad already. There’s a reason it’s the most popular tablet in the world, and it’s never been clearer than in the iPad 4.

At least until the iPad 5 comes out.

Source: http://mashable.com/2012/11/09/ipad-4-review/#view_as_one_page-gallery_box8643