On the 30th of November 2009 I was one of the lucky ones to attend the first-ever TED-related event in Germany. TEDx Berlin was organized by German communication agency red onion around Stephan Balzer and took place at the Grand Hyatt in Berlin. Stephan Balzer was also the moderator of the event and did a great job guiding through the day. The location was also a great choice as it (apparently) offered all its services for free to the event and the layout of the hotel and its facilities supported the collaborative character of the event. The event was organized meticulously and it was just a great pleasure to be guided through the day. The choice of speakers and their stories was phenomenal as the list was quite diverse, some talks were in a sense complementing, and the whole atmosphere was very stimulating. The balance between talks and opportunities to talk to the speakers and other participants was excellent. Frequent coffee breaks and a very nice lunch gave everyone the opportunity to network. My Favourite Talks Till Behnke - The Web of Trust Till Behnke's presentation about the web or trust was another great example of how web technologies (being very intangible) can solve a very pressing and devastating issue like poverty or lack of access to resources (being very tangible). His website is achieving this through matching supply and demand. Mr. Behnke told the audience about his younger years when he made the transformation from an up and coming rugby player to corporate player to internet entrepreneur. Having visited South Africa and having seen its beauty and foremost its devastating problems he decided to attempt to change something about it. He started off with organizing some volunteers for a housing project but was never quite satisfied since he could not find access to a larger lever that would really move things. When researching opportunities to raise money he was shocked by the amount on in-transparency in most charitable organizations. His project betterplace.org is giving people with lack of resources access to people with resources. They are "merely" matching people with projects to people with money and the desire to invest it in charitable projects. I enjoyed his presentation a lot since the level of energy was very high. Till Behnke was not really talking just about a problem but more a problem that he made his own. The level of pure passion to talk about this topic was very inspiring. Ralf Schmerberg - Who is Independent in the 21st Century? What I liked especially about Mr. Schmerberg's talk was that he showed some vulnerability and shared some very personal thoughts. He talked extensively about his "past" life in which he was part of a corporate machine that he started to hate more and more. Finally, he broke out of it and changed the direction of his life. Instead of using his energy to promote and sell products in large amounts he dedicated more and more of his time to "independent" (film) projects. An interesting approach that his projects take is to not pay anything. According to Mr. Schmerberg this works out perfectly. The idea is simple: They don't pay themselves, external service providers, and they also not sell their movies. He made the comparison of what would have happened if they tried to sell their latest documentary. Had they tried the traditional channels he claimed that they might have sold 50k copies of the film but instead they made it available online and had 4m views in a very short time. Overall, Mr. Schmerberg's message was to really think about how independent you are from people, money, ideologies, and preconceived opinions. Peter Eigen - Grand Corruption & Petty Corruption - Fighting them Through Civil Society Mr. Eigen was the most inspiring speaker of the day for me personally. Having worked for the World Bank Mr. Eigen told stories about facing grand corruption and his deep desire to stop it. In other words he said that corruption is in many developing places the root of all evil and rather culminates problems than to solve them. He named corruption as prime reason for poverty since corruption creates inefficient and economically unjustifiable situations. He founded Transparency International with this dilemma in mind and formed the hypothesis that corruption could only be fought through the formation of a civil society. Mr. Eigen went on to explain this: The backbone of the idea is that corruption is criminalized (in many developed nations this is apparently still not the case) and society itself is the driving force behind an enforcement. In other words corruption becomes socially unacceptable and is not tolerated at all by the citizens. This is especially important in developing nations as this would prevent waste of public money. One of the most remarkable things about Mr. Eigen's talk was that he spoke from decades of experience. His service in the World Bank gave him a great look and perspective from the inside that he generously shared with the audience. Also his level of passion for the topic and clarity with which he presented made is a pure pleasure to listen to him. My Favourite Video One rule a TEDx event has to apply is to show a certain amount of videos of the "real" TED conference in Monterrey. The team of TEDx Berlin presented a great choice of videos: David Logan's "Tribal Leadership", Pattie Maes' "The 6th Sense", and "Hans Rosling's "The Best Stats You've Ever Seen". I knew Hans Rosling's and  Pattie Maes' talk already and they are more than a must-watch. The talk given by David Logan is very inspiring and fascinating since he shows how our society (or better: all societies around the globe) actually work like tribes. His main point is that we all live and work in tribes and that we are part of many tribes. You can find the video here: David Logan on Tribal Leadership (At this moment TEDx Berlin has not yet published any pictures or videos - I will add them when they come online eventually.) So would you go again? It was the very first TEDx in Germany and I will try to attend all the upcoming TEDx events near me. The level of inspiration is overwhelming and I can only recommend it to anyone who is interested beyond whatever it is they are doing. Luckily, the organizers announced that in about 6 months they will try to realize TEDx Hamburg which I will try to be a part of as well. Thank you for the great event!

On 20th of April 2009 the Maastricht Week of Entrepreneurship 2009 started for the very first time and I was one of the lucky ones to attend the premiere. The overall intent was to promote the entrepreneurial spirit at Maastricht University since it is still a topic that plays a rather small role. There is a newly created Master program done by the Department of Organization and Strategy but the driving force behind the topic is the Maastricht Center for Entrepreneurship. The week started as a “joint venture” of the MC4E and a group of very motivated and eager students. The wealth of ideas by the students and the strong support by the center were amazing when I witnessed it the first time at a meeting about the week. Having this strong team definitely made the event the success that it was. The “week” was able to draw some top-notch speakers, entrepreneurs, and interested students to Maastricht, which enabled everybody to experience the topic of entrepreneurship first hand. "The Four Day Workweek" In contrast to other events the “week” really was almost a whole week. The event was kicked-off on Monday with an introduction to the topic and a rather diverse offering; workshops, interviews, lectures, and networking sessions just to name a few segments. In the morning a keynote speech was delivered by professor for entrepreneurship, Head of the MC4E, and CEO of Maastricht University Investment Fund (UM Holding), Prof. Dr. Jan Cobbenhagen. He talked about the importance to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities everywhere – not just in business – to make the world a better place. He immediately convey his enthusiasm for the topic onto everybody. This was especially valuable for all students that came to explore the topic for the very first time. My Favorite Speakers On of the most interesting speakers for me personally was Mark Korzilius the founder of German restaurant chain Vapiano. Vapiano combines freshly made authentic Italian cuisine with semi-fast-food approach of delivery. There is a video (only in German) that describes the concept very well. Mr. Korzilius’ speech was remarkable since he also added personal side notes, which allowed the audience to look behind the scenes concerning Mr. Korzilius’ approach to business. He told the audience not only about Vapiano’s great success but also how he decided to sell the long-standing family business (150 years!!!) and end the family tradition to the displeasure of many. Mr. Korzilius made it very clear that some decisions are very hard to make. Furthermore, he gave some real life, applicable business advice like not to conform too quickly to advice of other but always to ask for it. His main mantra for managing a firm is to believe in your ideas and be very attentive when people tell you that something is not possible – according to him if people bash your idea you are on to something. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxjPVQdwNEc] Dieter Stempel was another business person who definitely left an impression with everybody. His casual and light-hearted style of talking about his business certainly reminded or showed everybody that business is serious but it does not mean that you have to let it get to you. His main advice was to go out in the world and find something that you are convinced of and that you have a passion for before locking yourself up in a 9 to 5 job in which you cannot grow personally and professionally. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJeWnZw3ayM&feature=related] My Favorite Workshop I have never seen fellow students more moved by a workshop or presentation before in my time at Maastricht University and other universities. The workshop done by Boris M. Riek about life and entrepreneurship challenged the participants to re-think what they know, assume, and learned. This exercise was very intense in the way that a lot of people were confronted with their own assumptions and the finding that maybe often there is more to it than what things seem at first sight. Although this might sound very basic and straight forward it is for sure easier said than done. The highlight of the workshop was the ripping of a student’s 50 Euro bill by Mr. Riek just to show how much “value” we attach to a piece of paper. For me personally this went hand in hand what Mr. Korzilius said about finding new ways and doing things that everybody opposes. To explore new opportunities one has to go beyond what one knows and feels comfortable with. So, would you go next time? I can only answer this question with a crystal clear “YES”. Since the 2010 edition of the event is already in preparation I am very much looking forward to it. This time the students are actually organized in a newly created organization called Momentum Maastricht. The team now counts more members than ever before and I am certain that it is going to be a valuable event for everybody. For that matter Momentum Maastricht also has a cooperation with both, prestigious and longstanding “Idealab” from German WHU and RWTH & AC.E’s tech-oriented “Aachen Technology and Entrepreneurship Conference”. (Photos: courtesy of Maastricht Week of Entrepreneurship 2009)

A recent article titled "The Unlikely Mogul - Can Jason Kilar and his hit site Hulu save traditional TV from itself while remaking it for the future?" from American entrepreneur and tech magazine "Fast Company" has brought me to think about something that came to my mind years ago already. This time it is just about another, though related, industry: Television. The Music Industry, Still up to date? I remember that years ago when I read about the first lawsuits initiated by record companies against the people who created illegal copies of pieces of music I thought that since the evolution of P2P software and the continuous build-up of sharing networks it would be soon an unstoppable movement. In deed the outcome was something like this. Although right now the movement is back to hosted solutions like Rapidhare or Netload the idea of the (P2P) networks lives on. People want to share information - in this case - music for free. Apparently, nobody wants to pay for music, films, etc. anymore. On the one hand many people will claim that the work an artist put into the creation process needs to be rewarded. In addition to that there are of course production and logistical costs. Fair enough. On the other hand, to me it seems rather to be a matter of perspective. What if the main good is not the actual CD but more the artist itself? What if the CD actually does not matter but the presence and/or actions of the artist is the actual new money-maker? Many things can easily be copied - such a CD - and are therefore very hard to protect. The artist itself is almost impossible to replace under the condition that people like him/her and his/her music. Thus, the prime objective for the artist should become to reach as many people as possible. Many companies use so-called "White papers" in order to spark the interest of their (potential) customers. A good white paper usually outlines how the company works, gives detailed insights in the technology or processes that they use, and gives relevant, to-the-point, applicable advice or solutions for different scenarios. To a certain extent the company is giving away valuable information that can be used immediately. It can be copied and distributed but one thing it cannot. It does not replace the actual service or product that the company can deliver. If the business is set up intelligently and a fair competitive advantage exists the company becomes irreplaceable. It is unique and could be compared to an artist. So what if the music is actually a white paper? In this sense I think the music industry missed out on changing their business model in a timely fashion and many of the involved firms have to pay the steep price for it now. The Business Model Idea This discussion obviously triggers the question of what the new business model is. To be frank I do not have a one-fits-all solution. If I did I might not put it on here but rather be meeting up with record company executives. One thing is for sure though. Concerts of all kinds, live-venues, interviews, meet-and-greets, private sessions are increasingly more important. I am certain that many artists could make similar amounts of money through innovative ways of delivering and distributing their music and performances. Radiohead is probably one of the most recent examples of how a step ahead can bring is huge success. The band not only got lots of free marketing through their spectacular move but also made it a financial success. To come back on the "Fast Company" article I see some strong parallels with the Television industry. When I lived in Texas for half a year I was able to enjoy the services of Hulu.com. Hulu streams TV series legally to US consumers via its website. It does not require but offers registrations for personalized service. All major US TV shows are on there and can be watched at any convenient point in time. The service is like YouTube but with feature shows that run on all major networks. So far, the service is unparalleled in the world. In Europe some internet providers have taken on the challenge to integrate TV into their internet delivery. The idea is to give the customer a box that can do it all. Since this is rather new and customer acceptance is rather slow, not many people have signed up for it so far. No doubt that the market is growing though. In the US a previous invention that sort of revolutionized the market was TiVo - a box that would record the requested show when it was on and that made it available later on even with the option to skip commercials. The hurdles to make a project like Hulu  go global are perhaps preexisting contractual obligations. So far it is not possible for people outside the US to access the Hulu offerings. Since the main revenue generated by Hulu comes from advertisements it is not really a technical issue to let it go global. Assuming Hulu was available globally, there would be  a lot of money to be made for everyone; the platform, the networks, etc. Offering a new business model next to the other one does not necessarily mean that the old one would die immediately. On the contrary.  If there were other things like paid subscriptions things would be different. I trust that in Europe many companies would be willing to pay top-dollar, because Hulu has something to offer that no TV station can give you: a perfect profile of nearly every individual viewer. It must be every marketing manager's dream to be able to custom tailor his message to the individual audiences with maximum effectiveness and efficiency. Hulu offers this for anyone involved with television. Also the chance of getting immediate customer feedback should erase any doubt that might be left. Since the technologies for real-time customer interaction are already there companies have to learn to use them properly, too. One other example of how a global implementation of a video streaming service was successfully carried out is the offerings of South Park (www.southparkstudios.com). Not only are they offering localized mini-sites for many countries but views from non-English speaking countries are also able to view the program in English. This is a very important feature to most young people who like to watch the show in its originality. Translated jokes are mostly not very funny. The show, however, is still running on TV and is probably not going away for some time. In this three-minute interview with Hulu CEO Jason Kilar he explains that Hulu also is a long-term business [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HO-4ZoNBEY] And now? A remaining question of course is what other, non-related businesses can take away from this example. To me the message is quite clear. To change the business model or to explore new ways to distribute a service or product should be one of the top priorities of business owners and entrepreneurs. Constantly working on the business concept is an absolute must since the dynamics of the market should not be underestimated. Especially in a connected world as the one we are living in, a market-changing innovation or innovative approach will most certainly be highly rewarded. Examples for this can be found in every industry, for every product, and in any organization. Making sure that every possible way to reach your target audience is explored is essential. Maybe this might not be the cheapest way since failures can happen but not daring to try it might be the last mistake of your organization. In my opinion if there is any decent or crazy idea to create new sales it should be tried. Giving away customers (and money) - maybe even to your main competitor - will never be acceptable. Even more shocking is that most of the tools that enable a business to explore new ways are freely available at no extra cost. Many businesses are not using them so far. Facebook and Twitter are just two out of hundreds of examples. Is it possible to sell a pizza, accountancy services or a haircut through Facebook? I claim that if you can sell taxi rides through twitter it must certainly be.