The Next Web

Live Supernova coverage to inspire you, Europeans

Written on June 16, 2008 – 10:26 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Sometimes it’s frustrating being an Internet entrepreneur in Europe. It has all kind of advantages - such as the localization, small and easily accessible communities, and more that I probably don’t have to tell you about. But there’s one thing missing, the magical vibe of San Francisco and the Valley - the “we’re changing the world” kind of thing. As the European industry is fragmented in a dozen cities or more, yet in the Valley everybody’s gathered in one creative focal point. So for us, Europeans, there’s a limited community experience going on.

Esther Dyson talking to Clay Shirky (photo by Geodog)

And now I’m in San Francisco at Supernova 2008, where “CEOs and bloggers, entrepreneurs and academics, practitioners and visionaries, policy experts and industry thought leaders share insights and build relationships.” See? That’s the “we’re changing the world”-mentality I was talking about. I’m surrounded by influentials and leaders like Esther Dyson, Hugh MacLeod, Clay Shirky, Bob Iannucci, Scott Beale and Jeff Clavier who are shaping and defining the future of our beloved industry.

I think we - meaning European web professionals - can learn a lot from conferences like these and I’m looking forward to the day we can welcome such a conference in Europe. For now, I’ll live blog the key notes I think are particularly interesting for you. Would you like me to cover a certain speaker? Go ahead and ask me in the comments or on my Twitter account.

By the way, you might also want to follow Hugh MacLeod’s Twitter feed.

I hope you like that post!

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Bob Iannucci, Clay Shirky, Esther Dyson, Hugh MacLeod, Inspiration, Jeff Clavier, Scott Beale, supernova2008

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Loic Le Meur’s Seesmic raises 6 million

Written on February 13, 2008 – 11:08 pm
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten,

Loic Le Meur at the Seesmic Offices

Seesmic, the video conversation start-up by Loic Le Meur has just raised a cool 6 million dollars from an impressive list of investors. There are a lot of things I don’t understand about Seesmic but I am afraid to write about them because obviously I must be stupid. I mean, if Michael Arrington, Steve Case and Ron Conway all DO seem to get it, there can’t be any other explanation.

Can you imagine we will be chatting to each other in pre-recorded video messages? Do YOU use iChat video on a regular basis? Can you imagine using it in a Walkie Talkie kinda way where you talk first, then upload your message, then wait for someone to record their message which you then have to watch after which you can record a new message? Or maybe this whole video chatting this is just a cover for another business that we haven’t heard from yet?

No, it must be me. Or maybe these people just REALLY liked Loic and that is the reason why they invested 6 million. Either way, here is the press release:

Seesmic Raises $6 Million to Power the World’s Video Conversations

A-List investors are led by Niklas Zennström’s Atomico and include Steve Case, Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, and Reid Hoffman

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - February 14, 2008 - Seesmic (www.seesmic.com), the highly anticipated new start-up from Loic Le Meur, today announced that it has raised $6 million from internationally renowned investors. The investment is lead by Atomico - an investment group founded by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. The complete list of investors is:

(more…)

Arrington, funding, Jeff Clavier, Loic Le Meur, seesmic, Steve Case

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