The top six men of Red Herring Europe, Berlin 2009

It’s ready. The Easy on the Eye Men of Red Herring Europe. As you know it takes more than just a pretty face to get on this list. It is about the whole man – the renaissance man, the man with style, charm, intelligence and wit. It’s that man that makes the list. And now with no further delay, the RH Europe Men.

Mans Adler, Bambuser. The original. He doesn’t dress like he fell out of 1980s alternative band video cause that look is back, he IS that guy. Intelligent, soft spoken with a passion for change in the way people connect to each other today, Mans will make you believe in the power of connecting with your fellow man. Plus, he’s a good dancer and he actually listens to you when you talk. Sexy.

Farley Duvall, Red Herring. The strong soft spoken type who represents the old school gentleman – opening doors, asking about your day and greeting everyone by name at every event you go to. Always the connector, Farley brings people together naturally.  He knows a little about everyone and makes you feel like his entire focus is just on you.  We like that in a man.

Frank Schuil, IRLConnect. You really have to look past the pretty face on this one. You have to ignore your instinct stare at him with a stupid school girl grin on your face or giggle a little while twirng your hair. If you can get past that, you will discover a sensitive, kind and genuine man who wants to change the way we connect with each other inside and outside of the Internet. Humble, soft spoken with boyish good looks, Frank has a lot on his mind  and he wants to tell you about it without the sell job you get from most young entrepreneurs today.

Davor Hebel, Fidelity Ventures. So, lately everywhere Tattletech shows up, there is Davor. And trust me when I say to you that this is NOT a complaint. Somehow, I forget to breathe when he is around and everything that comes out of my mouth sounds less than intelligent. Davor is shall we say, the poster boy for good looks, charm, intelligence and down right sweep you off your feet good manners. The last of a dying breed and you don’t get that anymore. We are glad that there is someone still carrying the torch and are thinking of hacking his travel calendar jus so we can show up where he is next.

Michael Stephanbloom, CEO and Cofounder, AdJug.
Michael is what you get when you combine a journalism major with a marketing guru, (ran Gumtree UK, my favorite eBay company maybe because my dear friend Martin Tschopp was on this list before and is one of the smartest and nicest men I know on the planet), entrepreneur and numbers guy. Writer, number cruncher, trail blazer and all around generally nice guy. Oh not to mention that his eyes and that smile of his can stop you dead in your tracks all the way across a crowded room.

Wesley Chan, Google. Some describe him as fun loving entrepreneur which is very true, but we also like the fact that Wesley has a quest for adventure and can spin a yarn that is entertaining and genuinely fun to listen to. He doesn’t talk shop 24/7 and wants to engage with you as a person and share experiences. He’s a true gentleman, attentive and always has something interesting to say. And the ladies love him, what’s not to love? (pictured at RH with Marie Kluth, Go4Venture, Collete Ballou, BallouPR and Jennifer Hicks, bGrand.)

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A little freelance editing for a big politician

On return to the hotel after an evening with MobyPicture, Google, Xihalife, IRLConnect, SEB Ventures, Thomson and Go4Ventures, we encountered the same group of three Dutch citizens sitting in the same table we had left them four hours earlier struggling to convert a five page speech from Dutch to English.

As it turns out – this was the political and speech writing team for the Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutalebs preparing an important speech he was giving tomorrow about integration. He is the first mayor of a large city in the Netherlands who is of Moroccan, Muslim, and immigrant descent.

Since Tattletech was one of the only native English speakers back in the hotel, we volnteered to clean up the speech for them. Part of history in the making. We felt honored.

The political team writing the speech for Ahmed Aboutaleb with Tattletech, Berlin

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Red Herring Venture Europe Regenerates

Here in Berlin at Red Herring Venture Europe, its a whole new day. More VCs, new VCs and better than that – true innovation. Maybe it was Tim Draper who said out of recessions or bad markets come companies with innovation, but here at RH it is true.

Already the vibe is different, more positive and more down to earth. Housed at the Radisson Berlin (not some overpriced over fancy hotel) with the worlds Largest freestanding fish tank, people are mingling and talking and generally in good moods. Yes I did say good moods.

We have been hanging with IRL Connect, MobyPicture, Vikrant from Veddis Ventures, Ari Wegter formerly of LoveFilm and now GlibHippo, Intera, Sevenload, Wesley Chan of the cool GoogleVoice, Collette Ballou of Ballou PR, Moondus (virtual reality) and TellmeTwin.

This morning there was an actually fruitful Meet the Money where no one got completely torn to shreds (constructive!)  and a round of amazing keynote roundtables the best being Wesley Chan, Google about turning start ups into successes. Yes that was the topic and yes people were listening!

This afternoon there is panel on M & Trends in this market featuring JP Morgan, Jefferies & Co., GP Bullhound and SVB Global. See our feed on Twitter @jennalee for updates there.

More company presentations to come. Plus tomorrow they announce the 100 finalist for the RH 100 award stay tuned! – JLH

Tags: Ari Wegter, Frank Schuil, IRL Connect, MobyPicture, Red Herring, Twitter, Wesley Chan

The buzz on Nimbuzz

Now that we have a few spare minutes but before Plugg fades too much in our memory, here’s the juicy news on Nimbuzz, courtesy of the awesome Tobias Kemper.  They have just announced a new VoIP app for the iPhone!  The new app enables you to make free Wi-Fi calls to your IM buddies with a full dial-pad, AND you can make VoIP calls to landlines and mobiles wih Skype Out, as well as with their other partners Gizmo5, Vyke, sipgate and A1.  The new app lets you see how much Skype Out credit you have remaining right on the dial pad, and if you don’t have access to WiFi, you can make VoIP calls to your Nimbuzz buddies using their dial-up VoIP in over 50 countries!

How does that work you may ask?  Nimbuzz dials a local access number using their VoIP servers that will connect you anywhere in the world, for the same cost as a domestic call.  Genius!  On top of that, you can magically turn youriPod touch into an iPhone and make calls via Skype Out or usering a Nimbuzz VoIP provider.

Sounds pretty cool to us.  We’re going to give you more with the upcoming Tattletech Hot Seat interview with Tobias Kemper, don’t miss it!

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Old school PR folks – read and believe

We recently attended Red Herring‘s ETRE in Stockholm as both a blogger and panelist, and while we were there we encountered some truly old school PR and marketing folks – it’s okay to be old school, those traditional forms of communications are still very valid when shaken (not stirred) in the current landscape of communicating a message, but deep down, when you look into their eyes, you see a bit of fear and disbelief belief because its a lot to process and easier to just stay put. But then you look at big brands like IBM, SAP and even Ford, who are using the new forms of media, social media, to reach their audience, or rather the audience that fits that method of communication.

Tattletech found the perfect case in point by Convince and Convert headed up by someone we have a crush on — okay so that is so school girl, but we told you – we like people who are intelligent, savvy, full of wit and easy on the eye – maybe we should do a Hot Social Media Guy list… who’s for it?

The interview is with Scott Monty, who heads up social media at Ford. yes we said F-O-R-D, the car manufacturer. And as we head into the last 4 days before Somesso.com the social corporate media event to be held in Zurich this week, it’s clear that this form of communication in the PR and Marketing 2.0 world is here to stay. Thanks Jason for this great interview. London 2009 is calling for the next Somesso event so let’s have a big Social Media guru fest!

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Top 9 Hot Men of ETRE 2008

Maybe it was the fact that we were in Stockholm or that there were more entrepreneurs and VCs from the region, but this year, as with the Top Ten Hot Men of IBC 2008  there are a lot of Swedes on this list. We could call this the year of Scandinavians, but why don’t we just stick with the fact that these men are more than a pretty face.  In fact, two men didn’t even notice right away until we ended up spending time talking, dining and drinking with them and then it was quite obvious that they had to be on the list.

There were some that seemed like sure things from the photo alone or from the submissions we got from other women attending (thanks Yvonne!), but it takes more than that pretty face to make this list. We are looking for the well rounded man – the gentleman, the humorist, endearing charmer, the conversationalist, the genius, the innovator. (okay Andrej Nabergoj, Noovo.com and Phillip Boutellier, smeet.com were not here and it’s hard to even come close to their brains and their natural appeal as well rounded man  Esquire would write about)

So without any more delay, here is the Top 9 Hot Men of ETRE 2008 – and remember gentlemen, these are in NO particular order.

• Sascha Frank, Executive Director, Espiridon - This first time attendee caught our eye from the very beginning. Maybe because he bears an uncanny resemblance to a past Men of Venture winner, Johan Van Vulpen (CEO of Greetz) or maybe we are just into men with glasses this year. He’s a quiet one from Germany but those eyes and that smile made us lapse into a silly school girl and chatter away about nothing in the hope that he would stay a bit longer (he didn’t). The one thing about Sascha that kept him on the list was the way he truly listens when you talk, it’s like every one else on the planet is gone and you are the only one he wants to talk to – that is a talent. Did we mention the eyes?

• Per Holmlund, Stockholm Business Region – We had a relationship with Per long before we met him and liked his aggressive and decisive style, but then we met him he took our breathe a way. He channeled an 80s alternative band style and looked like he could be Beck’s brother which we like an awful lot. And, he could carry on a conversation in earnest, not waiting for someone better to come along, but when he was talking to you, he was talking to YOU. See a theme here?

• Magnus Wiberg, CFO, Test Freaks - First, he is a CFO – which means numbers and number   crunching, second, have you ever seen a CFO look this good? I mean the hair, the eyes, the clothes, that smile. Please, had we known that studying finance and math would lead to working with a man like this, we would have paid better attention in school instead of making dreamy eyes at the English lit majors. Magnus, another Swede, is not only good with numbers but has propelled TestFreaks into the spotlight because of its unique approach to market. Check them out before you buy your next device.

• Richard  Muirhead, CEO, Tideway - Men with glasses. Tall men with glasses. Smart, tall men with glasses. Smart, tall, debonaire men with glasses. If they are looking for the next Bond when they get sick to death of the blond Daniel Craig, then they should run to Richard. Even the tagline for his company is Bond-like; “XRay Vision for IT” We listened to him on a panel and could not decide what was hotter, the companies technology or him. Either way, he makes us happy that a super tech guy can look this good. (candid photo of Richard in a long trench coat coming next week)

• Jakob Berg, CEO, PopCatcher - Imagine this: Prada decides it needs a new model that can channel a classic, yet modern smoldering look that evokes the feeling of  walking hand-in-hand along a recently dampened, dimly lit cobblestone side street in Prague with his trench coat draped around your shoulders and the scent of almonds  in the air after lingering on the Charles bridge gazing at the sunset over the Vlatava River – this is the face they are looking for. We digress, but we think you get the picture. Plus, he’s all about the music – PopCatcher records your favorite songs on the radio and then puts them on your MP3 player -sans those annoying commercials. See what we mean?

• Tomas Wenstrom, Editor, What’s Next - The first time a journalist has ever made the list in this space and you will know why if you ever get to talk to Tomas. A quiet  yet aggressive journalist, Tomas brings together the basic elements of being a modern man in today’s larger than life tech egos – he is a charmer, even on via SMS he makes you smile and want to run all over the conference to track down Tim Draper for him and his smile will make you even want to fetch him a cup of coffee. Yes we admit it, we wouldn’t mind fetching him a cup of coffee.

Jonas (L) and Daniel (R)

• Daniel Arthursson, CEO and Jonas Thornholm, CFO  — both of Xcerion and icloud -These are the two spectacular Swedish men that snuck up on us. First, we can’t get enough of the Cloud and icloud. As brand new users, we are blown away even more than getting a pair of Jimmy Choos on sale. This service is the future of computing and we haven’t been this excited about something since Noovo. Now, back to the reasons why these men are on the list – both for two separate reasons – for Daniel (on the R in the photo) it is because he is the quiet storm, the innovator and passion behind icloud- you can feel it and see it when he talks to you, he is a believer. Daniel is also effortlessly stylish and his boyish good looks remind us that charm goes a long way in our books.  For Jonas – it’s the fact that again, we have a hot CFO that can do more than just talk numbers. Jonas is engaging and versed in the power of the message which appeals to us – he draws you in instantly and the conversation is fluid, compelling and oddly makes you not want to stop talking to him. Did we mention the eyes? Don’t forget your map, cause you might not get out without it.

• Tim Draper, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson – Very little introduction is necessary for this winner, except for this. We never really spent a lot of time with Tim before – just passing, brief chats over coffee, etc. But this conference, we got to spend some real one-on-one time with him and found that we actually should have had him on the list before because of four things: Boyish good looks, long on charm with a deceptively charming smile, Jon Stewart sense of humor, channeling Howard Rourke-like qualities in his approach to everything and the fact that he can sit in a chair like the one in this photo and do an interview with Telecom Finance. Come on – a man that doesn’t take him self too seriously and sits on top of the Venture world and is completely acessable. Pay attention to this recipe, it’s appealing, alluring and makes him who he is today, oh and on this list. (new photo coming next week)

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Pics from ETRE at the Nordic Musuem

Here are some nice shots from the Nordic Museum on the second night of ETRE. But this first one – TattleTech is not really going on with this woman on this bench – we refer to her as the Puma from this fantastic pose.

The Puma - who sits like this?

Per Holmlund, Swedish Regional Development Board

Alex, Jessica (sevenload) and Sascha Frank, MD of Espiridon

The words of ETRE

Image via Wikipedia

Everywhere we went we kept hearing the same words over and over. From a technology point of view, it’s all about the Cloud.  From the Wireless panel to the Open Social Networks panel to the conversations at lunch, dinner and cocktails it was clearly the darling of the conference and the future of computing. The other words that showed up everywhere but were a bit annoying were ‘ubiquitous‘ and ‘magic’. The CTO of Semantic, Mark Bregman used the word seven times in his intro to his company and reason for sitting on the Wireless panel.

So start thinking of new words, because these days we go through buzz words so quickly that in about 30 days they will already be passe.

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The perfect marriage – friends, files, digital life on one device – icloud

icloud promises a marriage of remote and local computer. They are creating a new operating system that runs on the Internet based on Cloud technology — it’s social and runs on all devices. It’s the true promise of sharing. They just received the Frost & Sullivan award for the best cloud computing in Europe and they are challenging the software industry in terms of operating systems and doing it via the Internet in the Cloud.

Essentially it’s your friends, files and digital life on any device. And the ability to share that with anyone.

icloud is focused on consumers between 15 and 35 years   – people that are social, want to share experiences and do things with other people. The difference between traditional OS and icloud is that it can be done in real time and you can share with others at the same time – just drag your application, music, or digital contant and drop.

It has a grand vision  – to be the online social alternative to Windows – we think they can do it because that is where things are moving to a converged system that enables people to do things together, share experiences and manage their digital experiences – to essentially redefine how people think about the computer. This is a clear agenda but more importantly it is one that is happening subtly happening each day we begin to connect all of our lives via the internet.

Convergence is the main issue that icloud brings to the market, to allow you the user to work seamlessly between users or even clients. If you see a Youtube video you can drag that link over and it will show up on your friends’ screen – true real-time sharing.

The icloud control panel

icloud device convergence

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Videoplaza says they want to make an ad server for Video

Image by Alexandre Van de Sande via Flickr

Videoplaza who presented at ETRE claims that TV is not dead – but it’s still king. People are spending more time watching online video from 7 minutes a day to 15 minutes a day – moving from TV to online video. In three years 10% of ad spending will be on video. The problem he claims, is that video is not profitable – so there is no revenue to share. Their solution is to optimize the ecosystem and bring balance between the publishers, advetisors and users (a Star Wars reference would have been appropriate here)

So the solution is an ad server  built right into the customers video player (open source or Brightcove) but other than that, this presentation was just way too casual, vague and took too long to get to the point. The CEO sounds very green, clever, but green. So here is the deal — they have lots of fancy ways of laying in ads – roll ins, windows pop downs, etc. Busy, busy, busy. It’s right in step with the overload of visual content we get currently online and on TV. They also claim to have “kick ass” reports. And eventually, apparently, they will do mobile and IPTV, eventually.  Good for them!