On this day 15 years ago, Apple announced the iPhone. It’s worth watching the entire video of the event. It’s a masterclass in how to announce a product and how to do a brilliant demo. There was much hype around Read more…
The best way to understand Web3 in its current form is to simply see it as what it is: A branch of the entertainment industry. There’s nothing wrong with entertainment. Some of the most valuable companies in the world, such Read more…
I find the current heated discussion around Web3 quite fascinating. What I think is an overlooked factor is how Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 started out and how they developed over time. That could give some perspective on where we Read more…
Here’s why I’m skeptical about NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and don’t believe they will be relevant in the long run — at least not in today’s form: They are a pure form of artificial scarcity. The only purpose of artificial scarcity Read more…
When I was a kid, maybe 9 or 10 years old, I was fascinated by media. I decided to try my hand at it and started producing a family newspaper — with investigative reporting on what the house cats were Read more…
Humans are a tribal species. We evolved in small bands of hunters and gatherers. Close collaboration within your group and scepticism towards any outsiders was a precondition for survival. Later, humans organized in larger groups called tribes, which had more Read more…
Being an entrepreneur, particularly a founder of a fast growing tech startup, is obviously a hard job. Anybody who chooses this career is probably aware that it comes with long hours, many ups and downs and plenty of challenging situations. Read more…
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” — Peter Drucker’s famous quote summarizes well how important a strong culture is for any company’s success. Particularly tech startups have gone to great lengths in consciously shaping their culture and even exposing their cultural Read more…
I often get a bit annoyed at my computer’s user interface. Why, after all these years, are we still interacting with our computers with a primitive keyboard, a simplistic pointing device and a flat glowing rectangle of a 2D screen Read more…
A year ago I became a venture capitalist after 23 years as a startup founder and early-stage startup executive. At the beginning of 2019 I joined btov Partners, one of Europe’s most established VC firms, as a full-time investing partner, Read more…