I’m very happy to let you all know that I’ve been honoured with being one of the advisors of SXSW Accelerator Program this year. With this program you get the chance to pitch in front of savvy tech industry, investors, press and influencers in the space. If you are looking at an opportunity to put your startup in the front of the main stream audience this is your chance.

This event takes place on March 11 and 12 as a part of the SXSW Interactive Festival, during which you can improve your product launch, attract venture capitalists, polish your elevator pitch, receive media exposure, build brand awareness, network, socialize and experience all that SXSW Interactive has to offer. The deadline to register is Friday, November 9.

Head over to the official website to hear all about that and seriously .. submit your startup. It’s such a good investment. I’m happy to forward any questions you might have and help your startup getting through the process of submitting.

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Well… I’m not exactly a fan of sharing much of my private life. I think the word “private” is there for a good reason. That’s perhaps the main explanation for the strange habit, criticized by some, that I have of accepting everyone on Facebook. (More on that later, but nothing there is suposed to be private). But today, I want to share my upmost appreciation for someone that recently joined me in life.

She’s Joana and she’s my girlfriend. But she’s much more than that. Over time, she’s proven to be also my companion in every single crazy journey I get into, she’s the listener, the talker and she’s a supporter (yup. now that you glimpsed the pic, you can also see she’s pretty.)

If you would tell me 2 years ago that you could be crushed in someone and be unable to think of your life without that person (even though from a far distance) I wouldn’t believe. Today I do. If you would tell me that there is a thing called “love”, I would make fun of you. Today I won’t!

Thanks for showing me something different, Joana. ♥

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I love them and I can’t deny it. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to meet a lot of smart people. For me smartness goes beyond intelligence, QI, ability to perform well in whatever task you do. For me smart is someone who has the talent, the vision and the resourcefulness to make things happen. For me smart is someone you can picture as your friend.

I’ve met people who are leaders, who are creating great companies or inspiring projects. However, I’ve find it hard to classify them as smart. Maybe smart is not even the right word. But for me it is the best one to describe that “Exactly!”, “Wow”, “I would do/say the same”, “Wish I was like that” feeling that you sometimes have when you’re around someone.

Smart people are usually good people too. I don’t mean over-generous or hyper-smiling. I mean people that understand and reward value, people that are nice to talk with, that are (usually) quite open and who share what they know. They are humble and yet they know exactly what they’re doing.

I think long-term sustainable, great to work companies can only be made of and by individuals that are smart. They’re the reason you believe and the motivation factor that keeps you going.

I know a lot of smart people (and I’m the luckiest guy on earth for that alone). I met a lot of smart people at Wooga (Jesus! that’s *the* reason Wooga is such a great place to work at) and I’ve just spent a few days with a lot of other great smart people running Evernote (thanks Cristina, Julia, Phil, Dmitry etc.).

I know those companies have future (and would bet much on them) not because of numbers or stats or predictions or (heck!) the product itself… but because I know the people running and working in those companies are smart.

It feels way too good when you’re around people like that. For that alone, thank you everyone I’ve met that made me feel like this.

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It’s no secret that I’m a long time fan of the team behind the .me domains (and that I’ve been using them even before we first met). They’ve sponsored the second edition of my conference SWITCH but now we’re taking it to a whole new level.

I’m happy to announce that from now until the end of 2013, .me domains will be my main personal sponsor – helping to push forward my activities and to release of the projects I’ve kept on hold.

With this I’ll be able to focus more on executing those ideas and in sharing my message with all of you.

A lot more will happen over the next few months as we work together to promote the brand and also help my projects, but for now I just want to thank the great people at .me for believing and trusting in me and my projects.

To celebrate I’m offering a 2-year registration of any .me domain for free for one person. Just like and comment on this post for a chance to win!

To a great partnership!

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Ex.mo Senhor Presidente da República, Aníbal Cavaco Silva;
Ex.mo Senhor Ministro-Adjunto e dos Assuntos Parlamentares, Miguel Relvas;
Ex.mo Senhor Ministro da Educação, Nuno Crato;
Ex.mo Senhor Primeiro Ministro, Pedro Passos Coelho;
Ex.ma Senhora Presidente da Assembleia da República, Maria Assunção Esteves;
Senhores(as) Deputados(as) da Assembleia da República Portuguesa;

O meu nome é Ricardo Sousa e sou um estudante e empreendedor português. Tenho vinte anos e ainda não fiz metade do que Vªs Exªs fizeram, mas escrevo-vos hoje esta carta aberta na qualidade de cidadão (orgulhosamente) Português.

Felizmente tenho tido a oportunidade de viajar por esta Europa e mundo, privando com pessoas de diferentes quadrantes e áreas. Todos eles sem excepção mostram um respeito pelo nosso país que eu desconhecia existir. E que me arrepia… e mais… que me surpreende. Porque numa altura em que estamos claramente a enfrentar um momento determinante a nível económico, há ainda um respeito pelo nosso passado e uma confiança no nosso futuro que me deixa cheio de esperança quanto ao que podemos ser.

Como qualquer outro cidadão português não directamente ligado ao poder político nacional, tenho acompanhado os desenvolvimentos recentes em torno da situação da licenciatura do Sr. Miguel Relvas através da comunicação social e da informação que vai sendo vinculada um pouco por toda a Internet. Ciente que estou que nenhuma destes vínculos de informação é apartidário ou desinteressado, não deixei de não sentir uma urgência de, nas formas que me são possíveis enquanto “simples cidadão”, me manifestar pelo que considero ser uma das maiores faltas de respeito pela inteligência, trabalho e esforço dos portugueses, em especial da sua classe estudantil na qual melhor me posso rever, nos últimos anos.

Como ponto prévio, salientar que nos últimos anos tenho tido uma relação próxima com a participação cívica activa enquanto estudante mas que nunca e em situação alguma, por manifestamente considerar que tal iria condicionar o meu julgamento, me associei a qualquer cor partidária – independentemente do número de convites das diversas “Jotas”. Também tenho um leque de experiências profissionais relevantes, mas não pedi qualquer equivalência.

Assim, a carta que vos escrevo hoje é mais como cidadão preocupado com a imagem do meu país e seus órgãos governativos (e chocado com o nível de apatia política a que podemos chegar) e menos como instigador de qualquer desequilíbrio partidário.

Serão poucas as pessoas que estarão a par de todos os factos que levaram a esta recente polémica. Serão ainda menos os que dispõem de toda a clareza para declarar seja o que for. Mas do que vejo, e porque apenas disso posso falar, não posso deixar de partilhar que este foi para mim o momento em que deixei de acreditar que o sistema democrático em Portugal funciona. E digo-o com a maior sinceridade. Quando vejo uma geração à minha volta que já há muito deixou de acreditar em Vªs Exªs e no sistema que representam, percebo que talvez fossem eles a estar certos.

Gostava de partilhar com Vªas Exªs os motivos pelos quais esta situação me causa um desconforto imenso. Espero que pelo menos alguns destes motivos encontrem correspondência em Vªs Exªs.

1) Vejo à minha volta imensos (e digo: imensos!) estudantes que se esforçam, colocando em causa a sua estabilidade económica e a dos seus pais, para cumprirem um curso de 3 anos que lhes possa abrir as portas ao mercado de trabalho. Vejo à minha volta pais a privarem-se de muitas coisas para poderem oferecer aos seus filhos aquilo que, em muitos casos, os seus pais não lhes puderam dar: a educação. Vejo esses esforços (financeiros, de estudo, de dedicação) a serem desrespeitados de forma brutal por um ministro que, independentemente da sua “experiência profissional” nunca teve de passar pelos mesmos dilemas que estes meus colegas tiveram e têm e que, mesmo assim, recebe o mesmo nível de acreditação. Não é aceitável.

2) Sinto que o sistema educativo português, especialmente o universitário, não merece tal descredibilização. Os nossos excelentes cientistas, premiados lá fora diariamente, os nossos engenheiros a trabalhar para fazer o amanhã muito melhor que o hoje, todos os outros profissionais que passaram por um processo académico exigente como em muitos casos é o português, não merecem esse desrespeito. As pessoas que estão a assegurar que o Sr. Ministro, eu e tantos outros portugueses possamos ter melhor qualidade de vida não merecem ver os seus passados académicos menosprezados por aquilo que foi uma situação específica – trazida para a agenda pela comunicação social mas, não se enganem Ex.mos Senhores, mantida na agenda precisamente por Vªa Exªs, em especial o Sr. Ministro ao recusar-se a deixar a cadeira que ocupa.

3) Não posso deixar de lamentar enquanto cidadão português, que exista uma descredibilização total e interrupta do sistema político Português por essa Europa e mundo fora. Nos últimos dias recebi cerca de 10 e-mails de diferentes pessoas a perguntar “afinal o que se passava com o tal ministro que não tinha a licenciatura” – ou, melhor, a perguntarem se “tal é mesmo possível?”. Infelizmente, cá, é.

4) Há muita coisa errada com o sistema político português e com os seus representantes. Prefiro não entrar nesse caminho, dizendo apenas que, na minha óptica, o principal dos problemas é a falta de valores. Não sei, nem tampouco consigo imaginar, como é que existe um degradar tal do nível de valores da classe política, mas a verdade é que os portugueses o sentem todos os dias. Desculpem Ex.mos(as) Senhores(as) mas enquanto cidadão português não posso acreditar no exemplo que estão a passar à minha geração e a todas as que se seguem. E qual é esse exemplo? Um total, e incrivelmente acentuado, incentivo à falta de esforço, trabalho e dedicação. Um total desrespeito pelos esforços de outros e o vincular desta ideia de que as coisas podem ser fáceis, de que todas as regras são maleáveis, que os políticos não obedecem às mesmas regras ou – pior – que os políticos ditam as suas próprias regras. Não é nesse mundo que querem que os vossos filhos vivam.

5) Numa altura em que os altos responsáveis do nosso país pedem aos portugueses um enorme esforço para conter a despesa (que – sejamos claros – vocês e os vossos colegas de Jota criaram) é justo que haja tamanha falta de respeito pelos Portugueses? É compreensível que não haja os mesmos esforços e humildade? Para com um povo que acatou e não saiu à rua a queimar o que lhe vinha à frente? Consideram que a minha geração tem de pagar um preço tão alto? Acham lógico que eu deixe de ter meio passe de transporte pago mas se coloque em causa a qualidade de uma licenciatura de um alto membro do meu governo e NINGUÉM ache isto preocupante nessa esfera quase que divina em que vivem? Eu não. Eu e milhares de portugueses.

6) Outra coisa que me causa um nível de incompreensão descomunal é a apatia partidária a esta situação. Como é possível que não haja uma reacção firme a esta situação por parte dos restantes membros da AR? Querem, também eles, fazer parte deste lote classificado nas ruas pela total falta de valores, respeito e vergonha?

7) Mas mais do que tudo, o que talvez me custa mesmo mais a perceber é a completa e anedótica falta de valores a que o nosso país e a sua classe política chegaram. Todos falhamos, todos temos os nossos calcanhares de Aquiles, mas é a forma como lidamos com essas situações que define o nosso carácter. Custa-me a acreditar que perante a descredibilização de uma instituição de ensino e seus alunos, o nível de chacota das altas figuras do estado, a total falta de crença dos portugueses, o desânimo dos actuais e futuros estudantes, as manifestações em vários quadrantes de perplexidade para com esta situação, os mais proeminentes membros das instituições do país não se pronunciem! Sr. Primeiro-ministro – quer queira quer não, quer hajam razões ou não um “não assunto” não faz manchetes e é abertura de telejornais por dias seguidos. Está o Sr. Primeiro-ministro a brincar com a minha inteligência e com a inteligência dos portugueses, inclusive daqueles que votaram em si, ou o Sr. Primeiro-ministro não consegue mesmo ver esta realidade?

Entenda, Sr. Ministro e restantes destinatários, que não é o facto de ter licenciatura ou não que me incomoda. Sou, aliás, como qualquer pesquisa comprovará, um grande crítico do modelo educativo e um defensor de que a experiência profissional pode valer muito. Mas, Sr. Ministro, o mais importante nesta como em outras coisas é a transparência. O problema aqui, Sr. Ministro, é haver coisas que não batem certo, processos que não são claros, muita promiscuidade de poderes. As regras têm que ser iguais para todos. Esse sim, é o problema e a causa do tumulto em que se encontra.

A todos vós: podem haver interesses próprios e de terceiros a pautar as vossas condutas. É… Humano. Mas o vosso maior dever não é para com terceiros, mas sim para com o povo português que indirectamente ou directamente vos colocou nas posições que ocupam. E se essas são janelas abertas para poderem fazer muita coisa, também são posições que exigem respeito pelos Portugueses e pelos valores que deviam pautar este país.

Seria muito incorrecto da minha parte duvidar da boa fé do Sr. Ministro – ou inclusive tirar conclusões quanto a este caso que não as factuais. Tenho qualquer membro representante do meu sistema político na mais altíssima consideração.

Aliás, estou certíssimo que o Sr. Miguel Relvas conseguirá arranjar qualquer emprego com as imensas relações profissionais que tem (afinal, terão sido essas relações – ou a experiência delas tiradas – a dar-lhe o canudo) e não precisa do cargo que ocupa neste momento. Porque Vª Exª não precisa do cargo e nós, Sr. Ministro, não precisamos de si – tem uma clara “solução” para esta face do problema.

Com esta situação percebi que não é neste país que quero que os meus filhos cresçam, e percebi que a causa são Vªas Exªs. Vªas Exªs que desiludiram, desrespeitaram, enganaram e, perdoem-me, em muitos casos roubaram a minha e outras gerações de riqueza, oportunidades e visão.

Assim, a maioria dos portugueses pode, por sufrágio, ter dado ao Sr. Pedro Passos Coelho o lugar que ele ocupa neste momento, mas, desculpar-me-á Sr. Ministro, nem eu nem nenhum outro português o elegeu para as funções que está a desempenhar. Por isso faça-nos um favor: honre os portugueses. Demita-se. E se essa não for a sua decisão então que os outros titulares de órgãos públicos o façam, acima de tudo a bem do respeito pelas instituições que vocês próprios dirigem.

Com os Mais Respeitosos Cumprimentos,

Ricardo Sousa
Cidadão Português
www.ricardosousa.me

Para um full-disclosure de toda a minha vida cívica – pf consultar aqui.

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For those you are unaware, this is an addendum to the post here: Carta Aberta Sobre Miguel Relvas and is written in Portuguese.

Este texto é um adendo ao texto disponível aqui: Carta Aberta Sobre Miguel Relvas

Lista de envolvimento político:

• Organizei 3 encontros que juntaram políticos na escola onde estudei: um com Miguel Portas, outro com 4 políticos, outro com 3 políticos.
• Participei por dois anos no Parlamento dos Jovens. No primeiro ano não passámos a fase regional, mas no segundo ano fomos até à fase nacional, onde fui porta-voz do distrito de Viseu e, assim, conheci vários deputados portugueses ainda no activo.
• Participei no Governo Sub-18 durante dois anos nas fases regionais.
• Fiz comentário político a convite do “Parlamento Global” a um dos debates do Estado da Nação.
• Viajei duas vezes ao Parlamento Europeu. Uma a convite do eurodeputado Miguel Portas (BE), outra da eurodeputada Ilda Figueiredo (PCP) na sequência do bom trabalho feito a nível regional e nacional da promoção da ligação entre escolas e política.

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2011 was a truly awesome year for me. I traveled dozens of countries, met hundreds of people (including a really special one), the themes I care about got to the eyes of dozens of thousands, I moved countries and, most importantly, I learnt very important lessons. The most important was probably to “shut up and ship”. So for the last half-year I’ve tried to be 200% more silent than what I’ve been during 2011 and focus more on shipping, both for the amazing companies I’ve worked with and in my own projects. The results will be visible over the next months.

By the end of last month I decided not to try and renew my contract with Wooga, but rather move back to Portugal. There are plenty of reasons for that. I could use the cliché arguments that I care too much about Portugal and decided to help and come back. Well, truth be told, neither I think I can be an huge help nor I care that much about a country that got itself into this terrible financial mess.

That said, I do care about the people living here. More importantly, I care about the people who are fighting for sh*t. And those, together, are the main reason I’m back (that, and of course the sun… which is not showing up much though ;)). Back in 2009 I looked around and saw a tech/entrepreneurial scene with lack of flagship events that could connect the community to an outside world screaming for the innovation and solutions that we, Portugal, are in a position to provide! I created SWITCH. Today, as I come back to this country, there’s a huge hype over entrepreneurship. Everyone is talking entrepreneurship, everyone is creating something and there are a couple of organizations (such as Beta i or Startup Lisboa) doing an good job on organizing and promoting the scene. However, I still 100% believe we need to get down to action and we need to do so with a global perspective on sight. That’s why SWITCH is back this year.

And SWITCH is the first project I’ll be focusing on. Besides preparing the grounds for future endeavors, this and next month will be spent almost solely on preparing SWITCH to rock on.

But what’s next?

I’ll be back to some stages across Europe (news on that later), I’ll be officially jumpstarting the Movement for Change in Education – because I still believe the same ideals I believed a few months ago – with a very interesting project (backed by some well known worldwide companies) that you’ll soon hear about. I’ll be doing more consulting and more paid speaking engagements, some of which are already closed, I’ll be starting a new event to be held in 2013 far away from home and, finally, I’ll be creating my first company. Oh… did I mention I’ll get back to school? :-)

And Portugal is the perfect country to serve as the “headquarters” of this global-targeted new phase of my life. We’ve sun, affordable prices, a good infrastructure, a huge community (my community, most importantly), we’re happy and we’ve good connections to the outside world. Clichés aside the crisis is also a good opportunity to contribute back to the country and to the scene with my work, experience, expertise and hopefully future companies.

The remaining months of this year will be about hard work to prepare a nothing but exciting 2013.

But what about SWITCH? And Portugal? And the scene? 

SWITCH is likely to transform itself, reinvent itself as a platform for serious, global discussion on portuguese entrepreneurship and technology. We want to surround ourselves of a community of true changemakers, we want to promote more frequent discussions and we want to keep the same global-vision that we’ve brought it since day 1. If I’ll be leading this change – I’m not sure. Future will tell.

I’ve a very defined opinion about the Portuguese entrepreneurial scene. Some people know it. What I’ll do with SWITCH or by myself is try and help portuguese startups reach the international momentum and impact they *can* reach. For this they’ll need to change their target markets, strategy and motto. I hope I can help them. As a true believer in the global market, I’ll also be helping connect the tech talent in Portugal with a startup world eager to hire.

Lots on my plate. A lot about experimenting and seeing what works. A lot about raising awareness but keeping the “ship ship ship” mentality. A lot about promoting truly great people and ideas internationally. A lot about education and kids. A lot about the stuff I’m passionate about. Exciting times ahead! Fired up. Ready to Go.

Photos credits to “my” awesome Joana. 

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I was going through my twitter feed, just before heading to bed when I stumbled across this tweet from Amy Stephen (a long time Joomla! friend).

This made me remember of a few remarks I heard once SWITCH 2011 was over. At the time we had only one (brave) women speaker on stage. I remember people almost yelling at me saying that I had to find more women speakers. At the time I guess I was more tired than willing to explain my point of view. But since this tweet actually made me go back to that moment I just want to share a few lines on this subject.

As a curator my main goal isn’t to get the same number of women and men speakers on stage. Nor black or white people. Nor Muslim or Catholic. My goal, and my only single goal, is to find a lineup of speakers that is the best fit for my conference’s theme. If I was organizing an event on fashion that would probably be that I had more women than man on stage. Either we liking that or not, the tech world is still dominated by man. That said, although I do an effort to get as many diversity of genders on stage as possible I would never choose one woman over a man just because she was, well… a woman!

That said, I’m all in for equity of genders, and I would love to have as many women at my events as possible (this year we already have 2 and counting) but this effort has to be more on the women’s than on the organizer’s side. Yes, women are slowly getting to the top, showing off and proving their huge value, but for a variety of reasons they still don’t show how relevant they are.

I truly think its time for women to stop complaining about their lack of rights, to stop complaining that they don’t get as many slots as men speakers and actually rise up to their potential, prove their value, show off and earn* the slot. Think you’re a good fit for my or any other conference? APPLY! Send me an email, become a speaker!

My truly big point here is that I think this discussion is somehow pointless unless women actually take a stand. We, the organizers, don’t choose speakers based on gender – or equity of gender for that matter (or at least I refuse to) – we choose speakers based on the value they can bring to our lineup and how much of a fit they are to the theme. Our task is never easy, and men usually are more visible or more open about their accomplishments and qualities (they promote themselves better I guess). But if you, as a women, feel you have the potential and what it takes – RISE UP! Show it, fearlessly. Because at the least in the world I live on, you do have the same opportunities, you just need to not only be good, but show us you’re good.

* earn: is not that they don’t earn it already. Is more that they have to actually be visible and relevant on the scene for us – the organizers – to find them.

Do you agree? If you don’t why? What do you think conference organizers lack understanding? And women? Looking for your opinion.

+Note: Obviously this are my own opinion and other organizers might share different opinions on the subject.

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As some of you are aware, last September I decided to stop studying for a year and take an internship that would allow me to first get a better sense of how it is like to work at a startup, and second get real world experience that sure would help me both with my studies and with whatever my future is.

When searching for internships I decided to move to Berlin. While recusing other offers (one of which from a big company in the space), I settled with going to work for 6Wunderkinder (6Wk), a young startup behind Wunderkit and Wunderlist. The reasoning behind this decision was simple at the time: the startup was cool, had huge hype, was working on a space that interested me (productivity) and I loved the products and focus on design.

Bags packed, I moved to Berlin and started my internship at 6Wunderkinder as Brand Evangelist. As strange as the name might sound it was some sort of community management position plus focus on how to increase brand awareness. It sounded great!

Around 3 months later I was handing my resignation. I got asked way too many times why I left. This will come down the line eventually in this blog but no, 6Wk is not a evil company of some sort. It is great, I just needed a different experience in a different mindset. I’d rather take you in a little trip with the 5 biggest takeaways from my experience at 6Wunderkinder. Think on those as the things I would definitely do (or don’t) at a future startup of mine.

1) Focus on Design, Always!

Design and usability/user experience have two different meanings. And both are important when building your startup. One of the clear things you can learn from 6Wunderkinder is that their focus on great design and experience for their users is paying off. Sure, some things will need adjustments, but the stunning graphics on the website do help on getting 2M users (props to masters Jan and Andrey for design). When you open their webpage you instantly feel in love, and that’s because we, as humans, are wired to love beautiful things. We do. And when we see beautifulness around us it resonates (that being part of Apple’s success). But having beautiful graphics and beautiful interfaces is not everything, far from it. A great focus on products that are easy and pleasant to use is another important aspect. That’s part of 6Wk strategy. Sure you can use a txt file to write down your to-do’s but is it pleasant, sexy? Nah! Then use Wunderlist. So focusing on a well designed product and in selling through design should be at the core of your next startup strategy.

2) Attention to Details Matters.

You would be truly impressed by how many times a tiny fraction of text is written and re-written, adapted and slightly modified. I know I was. Every post you see at 6Wunderkinder is a work of days. From the image on the post to the text it is a whole-company effort (lead brilliantly by Matthew). So both in design and in the way the products and information is presented, 6Wunderkinder taught me that paying attention to the way you put information together can be critical to any business. Write good catchy (but not cheesy) texts. Avoid copying others, rather see their flaws and do better. Combine great graphics with effective texts and you’re on your way to success. Some stuff that they do at Wunderkit page is just brilliant, so is the way they present the products: productivity can be fun, not boring, colorful, easy, pleasant. Make *whatever your product is* feel fun, sexy.  Pay attention to the details, they matter.

3) Never loose your vision. Ever.

I had the pleasure and honor of getting some time with 6Wk’ CEO Christian Reber. Many seem to think of him as an unexperienced, over-the-hype, young CEO. But he’s far from that. He has a clear vision of where he wants to see his products and his company going. His hunches are usually right and, although leading a team of “juniors”, he is leading it right. Sure, I disagreed with him multiple times over the ambitions and the actual chances of accomplishing what he was setting himself to, but what impressed me the most, and the lesson I want to take if i ever end up being a CEO is: don’t loose your vision, ever. A lot of people told him he was wrong, multiple times. But he kept focus on his goals, on his vision. Yes, it is important to keep your feet on the ground but NEVER loose your ambitions. Focus on those, instead. Better dream higher and accomplish slightly less than not dreaming big enough. I lost count to the number of times I smiled inside with something he said. Things that just made sense. I’m sure that whatever 6Wunderkinder ends up being, Christian will have developed a super smart team under a risk-taking and intelligent leadership. Thanks for the lesson and multiple other insights Christian. I’m thankful.

4) GET HYPE. IT MATTERS.

Said to have the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (words of VentureVillage) in the Berlin scene, Jessica leads the Communication efforts of 6Wunderkinder. She’s doing a brilliant job. And she (and the rest of the company) taught me another important lesson.

A lot of people seem to criticize (even directly to me) the over-hype that some of 6Wunderkinder efforts got. Be it the copycat story, the release of Wunderkit, or anything else. And they are (partially) right. 6Wunderkinder is indeed an hyped company. But… that is GOOD THING. Any company should do it. As long as you can follow the hype with results (which is usually the hardest part) having hype, being talked about, making buzz, making news is a GOOD THING for your company. Don’t make people key in other areas (such as the CEO) focus on that, but given that you have someone with the time to focus on spreading the word, go for it! I’m sure part of the million of users 6Wunderkinder has are part of this strategy, but so is hiring (you get the best people if people, well… ever heard of you!) or the value that the company gets. I’m 100% sure that without the hype 6Wunderkinder wouldn’t be able to get Niklas on board with 4.2M$.

So Jessica (and Sebastian) efforts, together with the design-oriented mindset of the whole company, are actually part of the reason that when I searched for a job in Berlin 6Wk was the company that seemed more of a good choice. They’re known, they seem big, reliable – even though the company is still young and proving itself.

5) Talented is different than passionate. Find a combination.

I’d say this is what 6Wk doesn’t do perfectly. What I came to realize is that when hiring you’ve to find a combination of super talented and super passionate people. Don’t fall for one or the other. You’ll need the passion to give the extra mile, to do the needed overtime and you’ll sure need the talent to move the company forward.Having one or the other is a complete mistake.
Also, and this sounds somehow silly, avoid hyper-passionate people. They’ll probably be too obsessed with the company to live, get inspired and do good work. They’ll also be so passionate that they’ll ignore more or less negative feedback from others/outsiders because they truly believe the company is doing it right – even it isn’t! (I’ll write a complete piece on that someday, but that’s the core idea).
Super-talented people without the passion will also lead more rapidly to failure. Why? Because they’ll lack the “vision-thing” that drives any young startup forward.
6Wunderkinder has a lot of balanced (super talented, passionate) people, but also has some of the extremes – which is bad for any company.

I clearly had a blast working at 6Wk. From the excitement of being part of an early stage company, eager to conquer the world, to attending events, working with super-talented people (some of which I’m happy to call friends), feeling part of the team being included in decision-making processes or working on strategies to make it even bigger, 6Wunderkinder was an excellent experience. I don’t agree with everything they’re doing, and they know it, but I sure as hell learned a lot, hoping my contribute was meaningful enough. I’ll cross path with some of the Wunderkids in the future, I’m sure. Although I’m supper happy at Wooga (more on that later), I want to thank all my friends for the the good moments that I miss, the excitement, the laughs, the pressure, the hard work and hard partying, the whole knowledge I gained – the experience.

Working at a startup is much about building things and doing so with people that matter. 6Wunderkinder was, in that regard, a perfect example of this. I’m gonna keep being a 6Wunderkinder fan, but now I’m also a 6Wunderkinder friend. It ended soon, but was a truly startup ride. Good luck my friends! Go make the world more productive! :)

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"Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." ~ Roald Dahl

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