Archive of TheNextWeb.org
Written on December 21, 2008 – 5:01 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
The British tech scene is one of the most vibrant around. Although some companies, like Last.fm, have been facing difficulties - I keep seeing positive news coming from the United Kingdom. Here’s how I stay in touch with the geeky ladies and gents across the Canal.
1. Zee’s news flashes and updates
My co-editor Zee M. Kane reports from London daily about the ups and downs of his fellow Internet entrepreneurs. The concept of day and night seems irrelevant to him. Whenever something interesting happens - like a revolutionary new Twitter feature - he’s there to immortalize it on The Next Web.
// Read Zee’s articles
2. Mike Butcher’s in depth-analysis.
Ain’t no party like a party with Mike Butcher. Other than that, this former New Media Age magazine and The Industry Standard Europe editor never hesitates to provide some deep insights on the start-up activity of the Brits. If he must, Butcher even goes on Sky News. Whatever it takes to spread the tech word, Butcher will do it.
// Browse to TechCrunch UK
3. Watch Techfluff
It buzzed around in the Le Web venue. Supposedly, there was this cool British girl asking A-listers cheeky questions (She even dared to refer to Arrington’s buttocks - how brave is that?). Even my co-editor Boris was fascinated by this whirlwind blazing through one of Europe’s “hottest” conferences. Host Hermoine Way’s fame will probably go beyond Le Web, as her show is just plain fun to watch. Here’s episode three:
// Watch Techfluff
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Written on December 9, 2008 – 5:09 pm
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Serial Internet Entrepreneur
Mike Butcher, the UK editor of TechCrunch gave a nice update Europe’s Start-up Scene. The first thing he wants to get out of the way is that he ALSO writes about Europe and for the US version of Techcrunch. Duly noted!
Mike explains the audience that the last bubble was our summer of love and he has photos of naked girls with flowers in their hair to prove it. He also has less interesting graphic material (graphs) showing that 2007 was the peak of activity for European start-ups.
One of the big trends, according to Mike, was the growth of data services and companies. Another trend: immersive gaming. In an economic downturn people don’t stop shopping, they shop more, but differently. So that is another arena where money is to be made.
Mike went all over Europe on his Techrunch meetup tour and hundreds of entrepreneurs are everywhere. He expected 40 people to turn up in Turkey and 400 did. What he found out is that Europe has key strenghts in the following fields: Social Applications, Mobile 3G, Data creation, First class engineers, 2nd generation startups and he sees less and less clones and more original first generation startups.
And… that was it!
Mike ended his story with an invitation for all entrepreneurs to come to Techcrunch50. Who is planning on going? Let us know…
Written on November 7, 2008 – 4:06 pm
Guest blogger, sharing views on The Next Web
Written by Patrick Cushing (who included our blog as the first one up, thanks ;-) EJP)
A few weeks back, I wanted to realize the global interconnectivity of the web startup industry. As the global financial system crumbled for its lack of transparency, I wanted a better picture of the global web startup system and where it was going. So far, I’ve covered the Middle Eastern and Asian startup sites on Enter Venture. Now, let’s visit the top startup sites coming out of Europe.
1. The Next Web
First up is The Next Web — of course! The Next Web covers anything and everything related to the future of the web, no matter where it comes from. That said, the team is largely European (largely Dutch) so their coverage gives generous play to European startups. Posts run the gamut from startup reviews, reactions, and general industry news including a recent reaction to Jason Calacanis, a Romanian music site review, the Pope on Twitter, and some great advice for entrepreneurs in this economy.
2. Arctic Startups
Arctic Startup reviews internet and mobile startups from Nordic and Baltic countries, and they’re one of my favorites on this list. The site has a great, cool blue design that is unique but still evocative of TechCrunch. I appreciate the honest way they present new startups, with a description of both the strengths AND the weaknesses of the company / application.
3. alarm:clock euro
alarm:clock euro, like it’s American counterpart alarm:clock, reports on the comings and goings of VC money in Europe with a focus on funding rounds and buy outs. Each post comes with a description of the startup, the amount they’ve been funded for, and (the interesting part) a few thoughts about why they think the investment is a good or bad one.
4. TechCrunch UK
TechCrunch UK is TechCrunch for startups in the UK . (I’m assuming people know what TechCrunch is.) Amazingly, it appears as if its entirely written by one guy, Mike Butcher. Here’s hoping he gets that star intern he’s looking for.
5. TechCrunch France
TechCrunch France covers the French startups scene as well as translates and re-posts a portion of TechCrunch’s original posts.
6. Startup 2.0
Startup 2.0 is a pan-European startup contest that took place last May (and presumably, will be held again). Voting takes place online for a chance to win ad space in TechCrunch, a Microsoft software pack, and Sun hardware. Personally, I would have expected a better prize than with something closer to what VenCorps offers.
7. Altaide Valley
Altaide Valley is another blog focusing on the connections between France and Silicon Valley. The blog is owned and operated by Altaide, a French strategic technology firm.
And yeah, like their tagline “Birding France and Silicon Valley” suggests, all the articles are written in English.
8. Tigerprises
Toivo Tanavsuu’s TigerPrises covers Estonian startups and general technology trends in the Baltics, particularly mobile. Toivo also writes for Arctic Startup and the blog you’re looking at right now.
9. Startupbin
Startupbin covers web startups in Finland. Timo Paloheimo is another blogger from Arctic Startup, and he’s also created Google minus Google — a Google search site without Google sites in the results.
And here are two more
Other European startup sites worth noting are SwissStartups.com and SomBiz (a Finnish, invitation-only Web 2.0 entrepreneur network). If you know of any other startup sites that I’m missing (especially non-English sites), please let me know in the comments!
Written on October 28, 2008 – 2:51 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Hey you know what? I’m just gonna link all today’s tech news to Calacanis latest news letter. He wants, needs, and breathes the attention, and he does a great job in getting it. I mean, his emails are really good reads.
As I’ve mentioned before, Calacanis predicted a great time for experience companies. People don’t have a penny, but they do want good experiences to make up for the tough times. Digg and StumbleUpon will flourish, as well as the online gaming industry.
This industry is doing great anyhow, with games spreading over almost any platform (from iPhone to Facebook). So VC’s won’t be afraid to supply online games service with a financial injection.
In that light, it makes perfect sense that London-based Playfish has raised a $17 million series B round led by Accel Partners and Index Ventures.
The newly acquired capital will be used for extra manpower in their four international offices. One of the new employees most important tasks will be including more platforms in PlayFish’s portfolio.
Its current claim to fame is the strong position in the Facebook app market. Playfish games regularly make it to the top ten gaming apps - which often comes down to 1 million daily active users. Mike Butcher even speculates that Playfish is the already legendary Facebook developer that makes more than a million dollars per month.
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.
Written on September 23, 2008 – 11:41 am
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Isreali-based MyHeritage knows what to do with its recently financial injection. It has acquired London-based Kindo, a more visually appealing family tree service with less social networking.
Kindo team
OR.., Saul Klein knows how to bring good companies together. The Index Ventures partner found Accel Partners willing to co-invest 15 million dollars in MyHeritage last week and convinced the Israeli company to acquire Kindo - in which he also invested with TAG. Just my two cents, but who knows.
According to Mike Butcher, MyHeritage liked the fact that Kindo is all about the next generation, instead of just ancestors. By merging their services, MyHeritage leaves their competitors behind on that field.
So that makes four cents by two European bloggers, let’s focus on the facts now. What is already known about the merging of the two services? Venturebeat notes that new family trees cannot be created on Kindo anymore. There’s also an easy export function for Kindo members, so that they can extend their family tree on MyHeritage.
The amount of money it took MyHeritage to add the European family tree service is undisclosed. Read the story behind the acquisition on the Kindo blog.
Written on July 17, 2008 – 12:12 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
My vigorous competitor Mike Butcher from TechCrunch UK, that other European tech blog, is coming to town. He organizes a meet-up on July 22nd, with the help of eBuddy and E.Factor.
This photo (taken at next08) represents the whole idea of the geeky gathering: drinks, networking, and press coverage (see his right hand).
Anyway, the whole idea of my blogging nemeses coming to my safe haven is a little bit hard too take, so I’ll be staying in Italy for two weeks. Say hi to Mike if you see him though, he actually is a nice guy.
The event is almost sold out, so if you haven’t got one of the free tickets - you’ll have to crash this party. Feel free to approach us for advice, we have a great party-crashing track record.
Written on March 19, 2008 – 2:43 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Mike Butcher from TechCrunch UK started the second panel as a depressed man. The credit crisis not just affects the world’s economy, but also the mood of one of Europe’s best bloggers. Luckily there were four investors at Plugg to cheer him up a bit.
Paul Fisher from Advent Venture Partners noted that lots of the start-ups have an advertised-based business model. And online advertising is still growing. Moreover, there’s a continued roll-out of broadband, specifically in Eastern Europe. He also said it’s a challenging time for VC’s: “Talent is a lot more expensive now”. So an important issue, according to Fisher, is that start-up expect more than VC’s.
Julie Meyer (Ariadne Capital) sees the crisis as a way to seperate the women from the girls and the men from the boys. The one’s that really want a start-up will pursue. So she sees it as some kind of filer. “It forces entrepreneurs to be a Fiat Punto instead of a Mercedes S class. Discipline is important now”. Reshma Sohoni from SeedCamp agreed with her: “Companies are now more careful with cash burn and costs”.
So in a few years, people will ask successful entrepreneurs: “What’s your secret?!” Those guys will then probably say: “Wel, we started in Q1 of 2008 and learned to start a company in an efficient way.”
The investors convinced Butcher. I even heard him saying a remarkable thing, something you would expect from a optimist instead of a guy who just lost his faith in world economy: “Yes, it’s a fantastic time to build a start-up.”
Written on March 19, 2008 – 9:09 am
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Boris, Robert and me just arrived at the fancy Hotel Plaza in Brussels for ‘a European perspective on Web 2.0′. If the Wifi connection survives - it looks pretty good right now - we’ll cover this event for you. It’s up to TechCrunch UK’s Mike Butcher to now open the event - which is called Plugg by the way, while everybody is still having their regular conference breakfast: croissants and coffee.
After that, Rebecca Jennings from Forrester Research will address Social Computing in Europe in her keynote. To know what happens then, have a look at the schedule. If you have any requests about covering, or you want us to ask a certain question, give us a shout on Twitter.
Updates:
Butcher opening the conference by walking into the public, asking who people are
More photos by Robert or Ernst-Jan
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The Next Web Blog is closely associated with The Next Web Conference which is held annually in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At this event speakers from all over the world come together to talk about, and show of, the future of the Web. (
