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Credit Crunch Customer Care from TechCrunch UK & Ireland

Written on October 6, 2008 – 10:15 am
David Petherick, Contributing Editor, United Kingdom

TechCrunch UK & Ireland has responded to the current economic gloom and doom by announcing that, for this week only, adverts on its Crunchboard Network will be provided free of charge.

Editor Mike Butcher announced this on Friday, and the free ads offer runs for all of this week.

“In recognition of the tough economic times we’re facing, and the fact that lots of startups are looking for people right now, I’m - perhaps naively? - going to have a go at kick-starting the market. But the “market” we are in is not just about jobs. It’s about office space. It’s about trying to find a mentor for your startup idea. It’s actually a bit like putting a band together - “drummer wanted, must also know Rails”! It’s about a lot of things that just don’t fit in to a box that most adverts try to shoe-horn you into.”

We think this is a really classy move. Of course, it helps TechCrunch to alert people to the existence of, low pice of, and (we’re sure) effectiveness of their ad platform. But it’s the timing, and the sentiment, that makes the difference - they’re recognising times are tough, and doing something simple to help. Good for them - they deserve a pat on the back, and your support - pass the word to anyone who might benefit from placing an ad at Techcrunch UK & Ireland, and take a look at what’s being advertised there.

The only thing we’d suggest is that Mike take a look at automating the process of getting ads live - the current system appears to be that you email him your ad, and he slaps the ad up when he has a moment. It’s nice personal touch, but perhaps it’s worth thinking about ’scaling’ that process - Craigslist and Ebay are sort of useful models to work from…

UPDATE: Help ignite the startup community by grabbing the widget for the Crunchboard and adding it to your site or blog.

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advertising, Business and Economy, crunchboard, mike butcher, TechCrunch, Techcrunch Ireland, Techcrunch UK

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Will a Nokia research center suck up all the Swiss talent?

Written on April 8, 2008 – 5:56 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

In a discussion on TechCrunch about where Europe’s own Silicon Valley would emerge, some interesting suggestions were made (warning: many links to specific comments follow). From Moscow to Lisbon and from Estonia to London.
The latter was the most mentioned location, followed by Finland and Switzerland. Finland has an USP that is their biggest pro and con at the same time: Nokia. On the one hand, it’s THE European tech company, on the other: it sucks up all the talent.

Switzerland would be a fair option, since it’s an innovative country and home of some important venture capitalists like Index Ventures. Yet a new development makes the question even more complicated: Nokia has just announced that it would establish a research center in Lausanne. It will be a joint lab with two Swiss federal institutes of technology. It will open its doors in June.

According to All About Symbian, the research agenda will focus on persuasive communications:

Exploring new interaction experiences and technologies utilizing all the human senses;

Services and applications based on the user’s context, such as location, and personal preferences, e.g.,
information provided by sensors within a mobile device or in the surrounding world;

Internet services and technologies - enriching the Internet experience on mobile devices.

Nokia’s Chief Technology Officer Bob Iannucci said to Reuters that Nokia ’sees the fusing of the digital and physical worlds as a key objective in mobility.’

So, will this cause some sort of local brain drain? Kai Lemmetty from Floobs told me during The Next Conference that this is the case in Finland. Nokia just picks out the talent and makes them an offer they can’t refuse. As you can imagine, this is deadly for local start-up action. And a good start-up atmosphere is one of the most important conditions for a Silicon Valley-like area. So all you European start-up experts, please lend me your thought on this matter.