Girls In Tech

Originally posted on the Geeks on a Plane blog

While traveling on a 4-hour journey from Berlin to Prague, we had a lot of down time to think, write, talk, read and listen to music. Inspired by my book, White Tiger and the Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D. album, I consistently found myself thinking about how grateful I am to be healthy, happy and part of the GOAP family. I am grateful for GOAP.

This trip has offered a lot of eye-opening experiences and learnings. The ones that stand out the most include:

1.)  Never underestimate the power of “adapting”: You’re traveling around Europe for over 2 weeks, it’s important to keep it cool, adapt to the diversity of personalities and characters on the trip and enjoy people. This will make it easier for people to connect, understand each other and develop flexibility throughout the journey.

2.)  Less is more. This is important however you interpret the statement. Less is more when it comes to luggage, conversing, being “that American traveler,” bringing boat-loads of money, spending that money on unnecessary souvenirs that your friends and family will throw away eventually.

3.)  Down time is important. It is crucial that everyone take time out of each day to have their own “quiet time”. This time will help you reflect on the day’s activities, learnings, experiences and also think about what you miss from back home, what you’re grateful for, your family/friends, etc.

4.)  Keep the curiosity going from the moment you land to the moment you leave. Be very curious. As much as I love GOAP for allowing me to learn about the tech industries throughout various cities in Europe, it has, more importantly, enabled me to learn about new cultures, see new places, meet new people – opening eyes to creating connections on a global level and providing a platform for us to serve as “ambassadors” for the tech community, abroad. The power to change the world through social influence, social good and social entrepreneurship is upon us. We can only create a massive impact if we continue to be curious, learn and grow with our brothers and sisters around the world.

5.)  The DMC Factor. I had to add this to my list because I’ve had some time to observe a certain character, Dave McClure, throughout the Geeks on a Plane Asia and Europe trips, and I’ve got to give some props. He’s a flip-flop sportin’, casual person, proud of his risk-taking abilities, his witty story-telling and geeky/x-rated jokes (not sure how those can mesh, but somehow he pulls it off). Nevertheless, Dave McClure continues to be our teacher, a stellar entrepreneur, investor, presenter and that “smart guy that everyone wants to know”. I truly appreciate the opportunity he has provided me by exposing me to the Geeks on a Plane excursion. The connections that I’ve made, information that I’ve collected and ideas that have been shared or generated make every second of this trip worthwhile. Thanks Dave.

Tags: Dave McClure, Geeks on a Plane, Grateful, Prague, Startonomics
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Originally posted on the Geeks on a Plane blog

After a brief stint in Berlin, the GeeksOnaPlane crew flew in for a day and a half to feast on a typical German dinner with the Atoms & Bits conference crew and Felix Fidelsberger, entrepreneur and former Seedcamp UK winner for his start-up, Toksta. Severalthought-provoking discussions led me to believe that Berlin is the hub for innovation in Germany – the fact that East Berlin is relatively cheap in terms of real estate, creative resources and developers – makes it the perfect place to cultivate a tech start-up. One theme that came up over and over again was the fact that Germany is about 18 months behind the US in development and adoption of social media and internet innovation; not 1 year or 2 years, just 18 months. I heard that from a few engineers and entrepreneurs, which made me curious to learn more about this unusual 18-month cycle.

According to several independent observers, there are some “copy cat” innovators in Europe. Basically, these guys wait until technologies are innovated and new products are launched in Silicon Valley, tested out, and begin gaining buzz and user traction. After a few months in beta-mode, these folks start investigating whether or not it would be a good technology to essentially “copy” and bring to Germany and eventually, greater Europe. While this may seem like cheating, a few entrepreneurs have made quite a bit  of money using this technique and have been acknowledged as very successful as what they do.

Enter “18 months” – It takes about half a year to see if a company is generating buzz and attention through social media and word of mouth, another half a year for that company to ‘really’ figure out its monetization strategy, business model and at least be heading in the right direction to profitability, and another six months to analyze the data and begin to build and brand the “copy cat” product in Europe, to eventually launch in alpha within that six-month period. One of the these products is called “Jamba.”

Jamba! is a mobile phone content provider, based in Berlin, Germany. In China and the company’s English-speaking markets, currently Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, the company trades under the name Jamster. Jamba!’s main line of business is the creation and marketing of ringtones for mobile phones. It is perhaps best known for the Sweety the Chick and Crazy Frogcharacters. The company also sells insurance for mobile phones and home electronics and runs online gaming and online datingservices. In 2005 it started doing business in the United States and China.

(oh, and the “guy who hates Twitter” is a fellow that is creating a Web MD type product in Berlin who is 100%, absolutely convinced that Twitter will go away in 4 years. I really tried to convince him that he is wrong, Twitter is the best thing since sliced bread, however, he was very stubborn and held his ground. I told him that I was going to DM him on Twitter and RT his updates and include him in my Twitter feeds until he decides that it’s a worthwhile product. After all, you won’t be sold on a product if you don’t use it, right?)

Tags: Adriana Gascoigne, Berlin, Felix Fidelsberger, Geeks on a Plane, Jamba
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BT or as folks in the US would know it – British Telecom, invited the Geeks on a Plane crew for a very elegant dinner (even though the majority of us were in ‘very’ casual attire consisting of flip-flops, jeans, t-shirts and sundresses). The BT executive committee wanted to engage with us to discuss the “cutting-edge,” new-ish innovations that they are integrating to their SME packages. The most prominent technologies or at least, the most popular, included the use of Ribbit in their mobile suite of services as well as CRM capabilities offered to the SMB’s to help organize their sales transactions and profits.

The view from the top of the BT tower was spectacular. It was a real treat to not only be able to see this amazing building looking over the city center of London, but also to mingle with some of the most powerful and intellectual executives of BT. The fact is that they embrace and encourage innovation within a very traditional telecom ecosystem. They understand that they have a long way to go, but are optimistic in creating a bridge between Silicon Valley and the UK and integrating more ways for the telecom industry to utilize the technologies that will optimize infrastructure, function and accessibility for SMB’s around the UK.

We had a total blast and thank JP and the BT executives for such a wonderful evening.

Here’s a litte more information about BT:

BT is the world’s oldest communications company, with a direct line of descent from the first commercial telecommunications undertaking in the world.  The Electric Telegraph Company incorporated in 1846, was the first anywhere to exploit leading edge telegraphy technology and introduce electrical communications to an astonished world. Within ten years an international  network had been developed, making communications possible within minutes and hours instead of days and weeks. The consequences for every aspect of society were dramatic and profound.

Tags: Adriana Gascoigne, British Telecom, BT, Geeks on a Plane, girls in tech
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Originally posted on the Geeks on a Plane blog.

At Seedcamp in London, I was talking to a fellow who was interested in learning more about Geeks on a Plane and our itinerary of events. I explained that we were headed to Amsterdam for PICNIC, and he responded with, “Wow, you guys must be funded by some great sponsors if you are going to go to Amsterdam just for a picnic.” We had a good chuckle. I’ve only been to PICNIC for about two hours now, however, have been able to absorb the vibrant nature of the event – the booths, graphics on the walls, picnic tables everywhere and some really enthusiastic faces. Impressive.

PICNIC unites thousands of creative minds every year in Amsterdam. PICNIC will surprise you, inspire you and offer a breath of fresh air from your daily routine. PICNIC ‘09 takes place from 23 to 25 September at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Don’t miss the year’s most inspiring, fascinating and entertaining festival!

Tags: Amsterdam, conference, Geeks on a Plane, girls in tech, Picnic, technology
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Originally posted on the Geeks on a Plane blog.

The Geeks on a Plane team has been trying to get over jet-lag by staying out all day and all night. This was definitely the case during the festivities, parties and start-up activities at Seedcamp in London. There were some compelling presentations and new technologies presented, in which GOAP’ers served as mentors to teach and provide advice on how to optimize the launch and core value of a start-up.

TechCrunch UK provided a solid synopsis of all of the Seedcamp finalists. You can check out the article here.

Following is a little more information on Seedcamp:

At Seedcamp, we believe Europe has the talent, the role models, and the capital founders need to succeed. We want to provide a catalyst for the next generation of great entrepreneurs and help you take risks, think big, and succeed. Participating in Seedcamp will give you enormous validation and access to a world-class network of advisors to help you with every aspect of your business, plus a direct route to seed and venture capital.

Tags: Geeks on a Plane, London, Seedcamp, TechCrunch, UK
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In escaping from the geek-dom of the Geeks on a Plane journey for a bit, the group headed over to the “Newseum” in DC’smuseum district. Coming from a communications and journalism background, I was ecstatic to discover the cool archives and exhibits that this unique and recently remodeled museum had to offer (even though I originally thought that the “Newseum” was all things new, rather than the history of news, newspapers and the evolution to new media).

The thing that struck me the most, was the fact that most museums are very historical in nature – whether the museum is showcasing art, artifacts or historical treasures. A lot of the exhibits at the Newseum revolved around news and incidents (mostly negative, unfortunately) that happened during my 32 years of life. Living through some of these landmark moments made me feel in touch with the world and current events and OLD!

During our VIP tour, the group had the opportunity to check out the broadcast studio, the server room and the primary control and programming station (full disclosure: we all turned into kids again).

Here is a little more information around the museum. I highly recommend it next time you visit DC!

Newseum Blends High-Tech With Historical

The Newseum — a 250,000-square-foot museum of news — offers visitors an experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits.

The Newseum is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., on America’s Main Street between the White House and the U.S. Capitol and adjacent to the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall. The exterior’s unique architectural features include a 74-foot-high marble engraving of the First Amendment and an immense front wall of glass through which passers-by can watch the museum fulfill its mission of providing a forum where the media and the public can gain a better understanding of each other.

The Newseum features seven levels of galleries, theaters, retail spaces and visitor services. It offers a unique environment that takes museumgoers behind the scenes to experience how and why news is made.

“Visitors will come away with a better understanding of news and the important role it plays in all of our lives,” said Newseum Executive Director and Senior Vice President Joe Urschel. “The new Newseum is educational, inspirational and a whole lot of fun.”

Tags: DC, Geeks on a Plane, new media, Newseum
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A beautiful day in DC, the Geeks on a Plane crew hoofed it over to the Government MeetUp at the OEO with the White House Digital Media Group and the State Department Technology Innovation Team. The presenters included innovative technologists and policy makers discussing how government affects technology today and in the future.

The presenters included:

Evan Cooke, co-founder and CTO of Twilio talked about  building web applications that interact with phone callers. He provided a demo where he mashed up a service to ping him about local flu prevention centers in the DC area. The crowd was wow’ed. Twilio lets you use your existing web development skills, existing code, existing servers, existing databases and existing karma to solve real-time communications problems quickly and reliably.

Eric Ries, former co-founder of IMVU discussed “Lessons Learned” from building tech start-ups failing and succeeding. The focus of the presentation was that most start-ups fail – in order to realize how an entrepreneur can correct its mistakes, he/she needs to understand failure, its pivot point, that speed counts – lean startups go faster, and platforms enable leverage.

Kay Luo, representing LinkedIn discussed the power of social media within the Government 2.0 sector. She provided examples of LinkedIn profile pages of high level diplomats, including President Obama, and discussed how very closed societies can leverage this type of new media platform to communicate and promote the initiatives and projects that they’re working on and more importantly, as a digital rolodex to gather resources.

John Anderson, co-founder of Cash.IO discussed the platform providing mobile solutions for payment systems. An interactive gift corporation, Cash.IO helps businesses send money to consumers in a safe and secure manner. He mentioned that in less than three weeks, Cash.IO has live partners, customers and the only way they could’ve pulled this off is by relocating from Wisconsin to Silicon Valley.

Shervin Pishevar, CEO and co-founder of SGN, provided a product demo of F.A.S.T., SGN’s recently launched dogfighting accelerometer game. He discussed how global development starts with innovation and technology and noted that SGN has built offices in Argentina, Beijing and now Vietnam for that very reason. Development around the globe will provide an opportunity for people to join forces on a technological and entrepreneurial level, creating peace, incubation support, funding resources and overall opportunities. This will also be an opportunity to help the global economies as well as promote localization around the world.

Leonard Speiser, serial entrepreneur and innovator, discussed how he built 12 Twitter-related products in 90 days. Some of the products he created revolved around self expression, games, connecting on Facebook to find people on Twitter. Public Stream Optimization or PSO is not replacing SEO, but is very important because it will continue to grow and become an extremely valuable metric.

A Facebook representative noted that the issue with working with the government is that it is a closed environment. Getting the government comfortable with the idea of 1.0 and 2.0 – legal, security process, agencies getting on Facebook groups and fan pages – is not easy. The first step to fixing this issue can be addressed by using the ladder of engagement – This will allow new media specialists to continue innovating and moving forward in the White House.

Greg Cypes, technical lead for Open AIM, AOL Messaging explained the difference between asynchronous and synchronous communication. AIM is still utilized quite frequently within the government 2.0 space, not just for one to one communications, but also one to many – it’s a way to broadcast, real-time.

Dave McClure rounded out the event by providing an overview of the current start-up ecosystem and examples of how start-ups fail and succeed, efficient uses of capital to high fail rates. Over 30% of start-ups that are involved in the Facebook Fund – Incubator REV program will secure a second round of funding. Other notable incubator programs that he mentioned are, YCombinator, TechStars, SeedCamp, LaunchBox, and Betaworks.

Tags: DC, Geeks on a Plane, Government 2.0, innovation, Politics
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As if the excitement around TC50 wasn’t enough, a group of Silicon Valley geeks took off today for a 2-week journey to DC and throughout Europe. After participating in the last Geeks on a Plane trip to Asia in June, I just had to do it again. The excursion was awesome on many different levels – we really bonded with the geeky travelers, met a lot of innovative entrepreneurs in Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai and learned about trends, market structure and cultural nuances in the internet space. A valuable experience any way you look at it.

The GeeksOnaPlane Europe 2009 is hosted by Dave McClure, Founders Fund and Brady Forrest, O’Reilly Media. The organizers inviting Silicon Valley & US entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, and bloggers on a 14-day tour of Europe’s top technology cities, events, and people featuring stops in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Paris, plus a kickoff event in Washington, DC.

Tour objectives include:

* Meet startups, geeks, VCs in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Paris.
* Learn about trends in European web, mobile, gaming platforms.
* Gain insight into local markets, demographics, business models.
* Meet cool people, new ventures, have fun on planes, trains, buses.

Tags: Dave McClure, Geeks on a Plane, girls in tech
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What do Nerds, Dorks, and Geeks have in common? They will be representin’ on the Geeks on a Plane Europe 2009 tour! As one of the main organizers of the excursion, I’m really excited that Girls in Tech is an official sponsor of the trip, which means that a few seats will be reserved for Girls in Tech members!  If you’re interested in attending, please email info@girlsintech.net

I participated in the inaugural Geeks on a Plane Asia in June. We visited Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai and hob-nobbed with some of the most influential innovators and tech start-ups in Asia. We learned about trends, gadgets, internet, VC, and what “ticks” on that side of the world, while bonding with our home-town friends and colleagues – 30 start-up entrepreneurs and influencers from Silicon Valley, New York and LA.

This is what you should expect:

GeeksOnaPlane Europe 2009 is hosted by Dave McClure, Founders Fund and Brady Forrest, O’Reilly Media. We are inviting Silicon Valley and US entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, and bloggers on a 14-day tour of Europe’s top technology cities, events, and people featuring stops in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Paris, plus a kickoff event in Washington, DC.

Tour Objectives:

• Meet startups, geeks, VCs in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Paris.
• Learn about trends in European web, mobile, gaming platforms.
• Gain insight into local markets, demographics, business models.
• Meet cool people, new ventures, have fun on planes, trains, buses.
• Cost: $500-$1250 + travel/lodging (est. $1000-4000, based on # cities)]

Tags: 2009, Adriana Gascoigne, Brady Forrest, Dave McClure, entrepreneurs, Europe, Geeks on a Plane, start-ups
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Photos by: Adriana Gascoigne, Dave McClure, Christine Lu, Michael Su and Tina Tran

Now that the jetlag has worn off, I’m left in awe of how spectacularly successful and rewarding the Geeks on a Plane tour was. Not only did we gain in depth knowledge of the tech environment in China and Japan, we connected with leading experts from the top startups across the hottest industries (i.e. games, social media, and search). We met some amazing women entrepreneurs and will be launching a Girls in Tech China chapter with Jenny Bai, CEO of The Red Connect, at the helm.

The sheer number and caliber of local contacts we made was almost overwhelming. Had we traveled as individuals to Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo, it would have taken at least six months to a year to form the bonds and connections that we did in ten days.

As if meeting the most talented locals wasn’t enough, the tour itself was packed with an impressive group of passionate, whip-smart entrepreneurial geeks who also happened to be loads of fun. Or as one of the speakers put it, “You guys don’t look like a bunch of geeks to me!” He may have been referring to the resident male Blue Steel models in our group, Dan Martell and Marcus Nelson. Or perhaps he caught an eyeful of the two most fashionable geeks on the tour, Dan “hiked the Great Wall in pointy leather boots” Gould and Josh “Travolta” Williams.

I can’t emphasize enough what an amazing job the Geeks on a Plane organizers did in selecting participants for the tour, and in thinking of every detail while planning a trip that allowed us to meet the leading startups in China and Japan through a mix of events that were insightful, inspiring, and super fun. Dave McClure of the Founders Fund, Georg Godula of Web2Asia, and Christine Lu of Cilantro Media are superstar organizers and people connectors!

In the list below, I’ve broken down my top ten favorite experiences from the Geeks on a Plane tour into two Top 5 lists — one for the sessions and one for the local outings.

Top 5 Sessions

5. BarCamp Shanghai — James Gwertzman gave a great overview of PopCap’s strategic entry into China
4. Tokyo Startonomics — Two words: Eric Ries. Plus Joyce Kim and Dan Gould.
3. Brunch interview with Mixi CEO, Kenji Kasahara
2. TEDxShanghai – Inspiration through music and ideas worth sharing
1. Beijing Startonomics – From Dr. Kai Fu Lee, Google China’s president, to Kaiser Kuo, Frank Yu, and Steve Mushero, this session was chockfull of valuable insights about doing business in China and what it takes to succeed in this rapidly growing market for startups.

Top 5 Fun Outings

5. Geeks in a Bus — All over Shanghai & Beijing
4. Geeks on an Observation Deck — Shanghai World Financial Center
3. Geeks in a Photo Booth — Fitting 8 geeks into one photo booth atop Tokyo
2. Geeks on the Dance Floor — Dance off at M1NT on the last night of the GoaP tour
1. Geeks on a Wall — Hiking the Great Wall of China

Finally, this roundup wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention the one geek on the tour who made the biggest splash of all: Michael Su of Break Media. Michael (pictured above on the bottom right) joined the tour on the China portion of our trip, flying directly from LAX to Beijing. Unfortunately, he had the misfortune of sitting two rows in front of a person who had the Swine Flu on the plane. The good news is that we got to spend two days with him before the Chinese authorities found him and took him away. Good luck and bad luck I suppose, the two days he was with us, in my opinion, were the best days on the tour — both earning #1 spots above. Coincidence? I think not. Check out his HILARIOUS blogpost on”Life in the Big House” here. For the record, he did not have the Swine Flu!

Tags: Christine Lu, Dave McClure, Dr. Kai Fu Lee, Founders Fund, Frank Yu, Geeks on a Plane, George Godula, Girls in Tech China, Google, James Gwertzman, Jenny Bai, Kaiser Kuo, Michael Su, PopCap, Steve Mushero, Tina Tran, Top 10, Web2Asia
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