Well, in this issue we look at why business models can be important drivers of innovation and differentiation. First of all, we need a framework that helps us to describe different business models. I think most of you are familiar with Osterwalder's Business Model Canvas by now, as it is used in many courses.

“The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management and entrepreneurial tool. It allows you to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot your business model.” - Alexander Osterwalder (Source)

I’ll use the Business Model Canvas from time to time, but I won’t explain it separately in the course anymore. So you should be comfortable with it. If you are already familiar with the Business Model Canvas, you can skip the following block. This is the beauty of blended learning ❤️‍🔥

If you are not familiar with the Business Model Canvas, take a look at its 9 fields that can be used to describe a business model. The accompanying book is nicely designed, easy to read and probably available in every library (including ours); so if you want to dig a bit deeper, take a look at the book. “Nah, can't be bothered to leave the house and go to the library” → there are also some good resources online. By the way, you can check out the Business Model Canvas in high resolution on Wikipedia (in case my slide below doesn't do the job).

And if you don't like learning by reading, here is a video in which Osterwalder explains the Business Model Canvas in person.

“You expect me to watch a 42-minute video? How am I supposed to fit that into a tight schedule already packed with studying, family commitments, daily dog walks, bonsai tree whispering, competitive napping, and my rising career as Instagram influencer?”, you’re probably thinking... okay, I got you, and in case you really just thought that, here's the 3 minute short version video by Osterwalder explaining the Business Model Canvas 🫵🙌🫡

There are also a few variations of the business model canvas; in the start-up world, the Lean Canvas is often used (see below). But the Lean Startup Method (also see Eric Ries book “The Lean Startup”) is maybe more noteworthy than the Lean Canvas. Take a look at this book by Ash Maurya, which explains the Lean Startup method and its connection to the Business/ Lean Model Canvas very well and in a hands-on way. By the way: we also have a Lean Startup course as an elective subject in the Master's program, just saying… 👀

Okay, hopefully we are now all on a similar level of knowledge when it comes to the Business Model Canvas 😎🙌 So let's philosophize a bit. What characterizes an innovative company or a young, successful startup? When I discuss this question in class, most students think of new technologies: AI, Robots, Space Tech... But hardly anyone thinks of business models. But often it's simply a “new” business model that does the trick, not the technology 🧐

Let me explain this with an example. Do you know the brand Gymshark? Gymshark is a British fitness apparel and accessories brand, that has risen from being a side-hustle to a unicorn. The two 20-year-old school friends Ben Francis and Lewis Morgan founded Gymshark in 2012. Francis was still working as a Pizza Hut driver when the company was founded. This is the guy...

So how did two 20-year-old school friends manage to grow a global fitness clothing brand? I mean, the apparel market is not exactly easy to conquer with established rivals like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour or Puma. So did these two dudes develop new textiles that are 10x better than the others or was it smart textile technologies that gave Gymshark the competitive edge? Nope. It was probably the lack of budget that gave Gymshark its competitive advantage by forcing the founders to focus its efforts on a specific marketing channel: Social media. The big established brands didn't really take social media seriously back then, which is how Gymshark became one of the first brands to work with influencers… and those were the days when not every micro-influencer wanted to be paid $$$ for a post.

If you now look at the 9 fields of the Business Model Canvas, the decisive change in the business model of Gymshark mainly takes place in a new design of the "Channel" field. So a small change to a business model can have a big impact 🤯 That never ceases to fascinate me. Often people think that all 9 fields of the Business Model Canvas have to be structured different for business model innovation, but this is not the case. Sometimes it is simply changes in selected fields of the business model canvas that have a big impact.

Think of Dollar Shave Club. A super successful startup that made an exit to Unilever for 1 billion (yes, that is 1,000 million dollars). What did Dollar Shave Club do? Have they developed a new AI-powered razor that adapts perfectly to the shape of your face? Did they have blades so sharp that even Superman could cut himself with them? Nope. In fact, their razors were probably even worse than those of the competition because they were low-cost products. They simply had a different business model: Sale and shipment of razors as part of a low-cost subscription for cost-conscious (and convenience-oriented) customers (“for a dollar a month”)… and okay, they also had a really funny promotion video.

Many others have followed the subscription business model, and now a lot of things can be bought as a subscription, from socks to diapers. For these companies, the new business model was more of a differentiator than their product.

So if business models can offer differentiation and a competitive advantage, it makes sense to design them to your own advantage, or as Robert Kiyosaki says:

„Life isn’t fair. It never will be. Quit trying to make it fair. You don’t need it to be fair. Go make life unfair to your advantages“  - Robert Kiyosaki

This also applies to the business (model) world. Make it unfair to your advantage. When designing a business model, think about how you can achieve a competitive advantage through the business model. Because it is difficult for a challenger to attack an established player with the same business model, or as Reid Hoffmann puts it:

„If you’re a scrappy startup who wants to slay giants, you have a better chance than you think. But only if you know where your true strength lies. Try to fight the giant on his own terms, he’ll crush you where you stand“ - Reid Hoffmann

So what does it mean from a business model perspective to beat the giant on its own terms? For example, if you wanted to gain ground in the insurance industry with a digital business model, you would set up the business model in such a way that traditional insurance companies would find it difficult to follow. You could develop a business model in which the traditional sales team is completely eliminated and you rely on direct sales via the web (see slide below for more information). Going down this path would already be a challenge for many established insurance companies, because as you can imagine, their sales team wouldn't be happy if they now relied heavily on direct sales via the web. You therefore would create an Innovators Dilemma…

ChatGPT please explain to my students what an Innovators Dilemma is according to Clayton Christensen:

The Innovator's Dilemma is a concept introduced by Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen in his 1997 book of the same name. It describes the challenge that established companies face when they need to adopt new technologies or business models that disrupt their existing markets. These innovations often start as lower-quality or less expensive alternatives to existing products but gradually improve over time to meet the needs of a broader customer base.

The dilemma arises because focusing on current customers' needs and maximizing profits from existing products can prevent companies from adopting new technologies that do not initially meet the demands of their mainstream market. This can lead to a situation where companies are overtaken by more agile competitors who embrace these new technologies and eventually capture market share by offering superior or more cost-effective solutions.

The Innovator's Dilemma highlights the difficult balance companies must strike between exploiting current opportunities (incremental improvements to existing products for current customers) and exploring new ones (investing in potentially disruptive innovations that may not initially appeal to their current customer base).

Thanks ChatGPT, good having you. As you can see, business models are highly important for the creation of new value propositions and in terms of competitive differentiation. This is why (understanding) business models matters…

You will get more thoughts and perspectives on business models in the coming weeks, stay tuned and thanks for reading to the end... 🤗🫵🙌

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published on MadeMeThink are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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welcome to our journey through the world of business models. I've been granted the opportunity by the university to reimagine this course. As a result, you'll find that this course diverges from traditional structures, aiming to offer a unique learning experience that is relevant even in the age of artificial intelligence (at least that's my goal, you'll tell me at the end of the event whether it worked).

Due to the changed course structure you will explore content outside the course times (e.g. through this accompanying content series) and when we meet at the university, we will take advantage of other learning opportunities, such as exchanging ideas with interesting founders or watching a movie together followed by a discussion. I look forward to exchanging thoughts with you on digital business models!

To add a face to this faceless article, here's a short video message from me.

In case you're wondering, who is this guy doing this course anyway and what makes him qualified to do it? You can find out more about me and my background check out my CV on Linkedin. And if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me by mail.

But now let's get directly to the topic of digital business models. First of all: What is a business model anyway? Academics love definitions, so let's check out a few of them.

As a preliminary note, there is not ONE universally accepted definition of the term "business model". There are different approaches to describing business models and we will get to know some of them in this course. Personally, I find Peter Drucker's perspective particularly compelling. Although he didn't specifically use the term "business model" but rather "business theory" - which is not really surprising, as the term business model did not become popular until the late 1990s - his thoughts captivatingly encapsulate the essence of what a business model represents:

„… assumptions (…) about markets. They are about identifying customers and competitors, their values and behavior. They are about technology and its dynamics, about a company’s strengths and weaknesses. These assumptions are about what a company gets paid for (…) Every organization, whether a business or not, has a theory of the business.“ - Peter Drucker (1994, Harvard Business Review)

I really like the “assumptions about markets” part. What about you? If you’re now thinking, “Wait a minute, hasn’t anyone come up with a new definition since 1994? A lot has happened since then—like, hello, internet!” — then yes, of course, I can share a more up-to-date definition with you. Alexander Osterwalder, one of the creators of the Business Model Canvas (which you've probably heard about in other courses), defines business models as follows:

“A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers and captures value” - Alexander Osterwalder (2013)

So Business models are about understanding how an organization does business from an overarching perspective. Unfortunately, all my beautiful slides are no longer needed due to the new course format, but back in the days when I was still presenting slides, I always used a slide with an analogy to explain this overarching perspective (but maybe the trick works digitally too 🤷‍♂️). Let’s check: Look at this beautiful piece of art by Wenzel Hollar (1607-1677). What do you see?

Do you see the trees, the path, the workers in the fields? Or do you see a giant head in the landscape? What, a giant head? Half of the students always focused on the details and lost sight of the big picture, therefore did not recognize the giant head in the picture (once you see it, you cannot unsee it). The business model, like the big head, stands for the big picture. However, the big picture is made up of many detailed smaller components (e.g. trees, streets, workers) and it is easy to get lost in these details. Also within the business model, I can drill deeply into specific key components, such as channels, e.g. closely analyzing the algorithms of different social networks to identify which types of posts drive the most engagement. The details can be handled to such a professional degree that someone can spend a whole working life getting the details right. And not that the details are unimportant, you have several courses on these details for a reason... but this course is about the big picture, about the “the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers and captures value” (Alex Osterwalder).

Okay, I hear you thinking, but why do I have to deal with these business models for a semester now? Well, especially digital business models have disrupted numerous industries in recent decades (hello booksellers! What was a video rental store again?). And we are nowhere near the end of the story. Managers in all sectors must therefore at least get their heads around business model innovation in order to understand how they will be affected. Even if it seems like the core offering does not change for some companies (e.g. selling razors), parts of the business model might change, such as the distribution channel, providing an attack vector for new competitors (e.g. selling razor online via subscriptions, hello Dollar Shave Club). And that can be quite dangerous, as we can see from some examples. I'm sure you know the Netflix story, I've heard it a dozen times too, but it's always mind-blowing to me when I hear it again. In 2000, Netflix wanted to sell itself to the video rental giant Blockbuster for $50 million (back then Blockbuster hat 9000+ stores). Blockbuster laughed at the founders, rejected their offer and sent them home. The rest is history… as of today, Netflix has a market capitalization of $450 billion (2026) and Blockbuster is out of business. Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph writes on Twitter (er, sorry, on X) about this incident with Blockbuster:

Digital business models have experienced positive development in recent decades. If you look at the list of the top 10 companies by market capitalization in April 2026, you will see that most of them pursue a digital business model at their core (e.g. Google) or enable digital business models with their products (e.g. Nvidia enables AI applications with their chips). Nvidia now has a market valuation of approximately $4.6 trillion (!) US dollars. To put this into perspective, the total market capitalization of the DAX, Germany’s premier stock market index comprising 40 of the country’s largest publicly listed companies, stands at approximately $2.4 trillion. This includes major players such as SAP, valued at approximately $196 billion, aerospace giant Airbus at $189 billion, automotive leaders like Mercedes-Benz Group with $70 billion and Volkswagen at $63 billion, chemical powerhouse BASF at $47 billion, sportswear icon Adidas at $35 billion, and financial institution Deutsche Bank with a market cap of $62 billion (April 2026).

Okay, I hear you thinking, Nvidia’s market capitalization just shot up because of the AI hype and that will come back down when the hype dies down. Fair point. Some market observers have their doubts too. Yet the scale of AI infrastructure build-out continues to grow: the global semiconductor market is expected to reach $975 billion in annual sales in 2026 — a historic peak fueled by an intensifying AI infrastructure boom (Deloitte, 2026). Nvidia dominates the AI chip market with an estimated ~86% share in the AI GPU segment (Business Research Insights, 2025).

And yes — you read that correctly: the entire global semiconductor industry, every single chip sold on the planet, from AI accelerators to the microcontroller in your washing machine, generates less than a quarter of what investors currently think Nvidia alone is worth. Nvidia’s market cap isn’t just bigger than the semiconductor market — it’s nearly five times bigger. The market is essentially betting that Nvidia will eat the whole pie, bake three more pies, and charge a monopoly rent for the oven.

But, even if there are hypes, bubbles or crashes, the development towards more digitalization and the advancement of digital business models is inevitable in my opinion. But after all, we are at a university here, so I am happy to have a critical discussion about this statement! And we will have enough time for an exchange of opinions. To make sure we have something to discuss when we meet at the university, please make sure you read this accompanying content series!

I look forward to an insightful exchange of thoughts on business models...

Disclaimer: The thoughts published on MadeMeThink are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

Haha, just kidding, of course there are better things in life than digital business models (am I really just joking?). Now it’s time to celebrate your achievements. You've made fantastic contributions to this course!

BUT as they say these days, we are in a time of lifelong learning. In this respect, I would like to initiate this process with regard to business models 👀 Especially when it comes to business models, it is important to stay ahead of the curve, because emerging technologies, changing customer behaviors, and “new” problems are constantly changing the landscape. Therefore, I would like to share a few sources with you that I really appreciate and whose content I enjoy absorbing:

Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn and a prominent investor, hosts the "Masters of Scale" podcast, where he leverages his extensive network of contacts among the world's most influential founders and thought leaders. In his podcast, Hoffman explores how some of the most successful startups were conceived and developed. Many episodes provide deep insights into the evolution of their business models, offering valuable lessons on scaling businesses effectively from those who have navigated this journey firsthand. This podcast is an excellent resource for understanding the dynamics and strategies behind starting and scaling different business models.

The MIT Technology Review offers a comprehensive suite of newsletters that are invaluable for staying informed about emerging technologies and relevant stakeholders in this field. Among these, "The Download" stands out as a particularly noteworthy resource. This newsletter delivers concise, expertly curated insights into the latest developments in technology, helping readers grasp the significance and implications of new innovations. For anyone interested in the cutting-edge of tech, "The Download" provides a reliable and informative snapshot of what's happening in the field.

Crunchbase (and Dealroom) are serving as an interesting resource for tracking investment trends, in line with the motto “follow the money”. These platforms document funding rounds, acquisitions and financial movements within the startup ecosystem. By analyzing where investors are placing their bets, Crunchbase and Dealroom provide insights into emerging business models and potential shifts in the market landscape. This information can be helpful in predicting future trends and provides clues about “new” types of business models, making Crunchbase and Dealroom a good tool for anyone who wants to know where the (business) world is heading next.

And then, saving the best for last, there's this fantastic newsletter called MadeMeThink 😅😅😅 All joking aside, take a look at the sources above... and if you still haven't had enough, feel free to contact me for more content!

Last but not least, in addition to these content sources, conferences also offer interesting opportunities for gaining a better insight into “new” business models. There are several notable conferences taking place in Europe that I can highly recommend, such as the WebSummit, Slush or the nearby Start Summit in St. Gallen. These events bring together thought leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators from various industries and offer attendees a front row seat to learn about the latest trends and emerging business models. They provide great networking opportunities and insights that can enhance one’s understanding of relevant developments.

Well, well, well… this is it… the course is over… I asked ChatGPT for some funny last sentences and here we go (my favorite is marked in bold 😅):

You survived digital business models, now go conquer the world (or at least your next Zoom meeting).

Time to apply what you’ve learned… or just impress people at parties with your knowledge.

If digital business models were a game, consider yourselves at the final boss level. Go win!

Thanks for sticking with me through this course. Now go out there and digitize everything!

You’ve earned your digital business model black belt. Wear it with pride!

This was our blended learning course on “Digital Business Models” at FHV. It was a pleasure. Thank you for your openness and commitment! Let's stay in touch and all the best for the rest of your studies 🫵🙌

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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My Visit at WebSummit Rio 2025

Regular readers of MadeMeThink.xyz know I rarely miss a good tech conference 😉. One of the events I’ve attended most consistently over the years is WebSummit (see 2023, 2024). This year, however, I decided to skip Lisbon and head to WebSummit Rio instead.

Brazil holds a special place in my heart: I appreciate the country, the people, the language (yes, I speak some Portuguese), the cuisine, of course the weather, and - importantly - the entrepreneurial opportunities. With around 212 million inhabitants, Brazil is the world’s seventh-largest country by population and one of the most interesting emerging markets globally.

And yes, Brazil is absolutely worth a visit on its own - but Web Summit Rio was excellent as well. The event welcomed 34,552 attendees from 102 countries. Impressively, women made up over 45% of all participants. A total of 1,397 startups from 43 countries took part (46% of those were founded or co-founded by women). WebSummit Rio is now the largest tech event in Latin America.

The format mirrors what we know from Lisbon: top-tier speakers across multiple stages, daily rotating startups on a huge expo floor, curated networking events, and nightly social gatherings. In short: the successful Lisbon playbook works just as well in Rio.

As you might expect, AI dominated the agenda. One topic noticeably absent compared to other recent conferences was defense tech - a welcome change, at least for me. An interesting thought in relation to AI was presented by Marcio Aguiar (Executive Director at Nvidia), who outlined the development of AI: Perception AI -> Generative AI -> Agentic AI -> Phsyical AI. This reminded me of a statement made by Jürgen Schmidhuber at the StartSummit 2024: “The future of AI is going to be about real robots.” I’m genuinely curious when robots will have their “ChatGPT moment.”

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On the expo floor, one trend was impossible to miss: AI-powered chatbots for business communication. That felt like the biggest start-up category. WhatsApp is the communication channel in Brazil - so dominant that nearly every local I met at WebSummit preferred to connect via WhatsApp rather than LinkedIn. So it’s no surprise that many startups now focus on AI-driven WhatsApp business solutions.

Maren Lau (Head of LATAM at Meta) highlighted the staggering scale of Meta’s messaging platforms: every day, over 600 million conversations take place between people and companies on their platforms. That number alone is mind-blowing, I hadn’t expected business chat activity on Meta’s platforms to be this high. It’s easy to imagine Meta launching its own AI business chatbot solution in the near future - potentially disrupting many of the startups currently filling that space.

The startup expo at WebSummit was a personal highlight. I love walking the halls, talking to founders, and discovering unexpected ideas. One such example: Rentbrella, an umbrella-rental platform. With over 1,300 stations in 100+ cities, they not only rent umbrellas but also use them as ad space for brand campaigns. Simple idea, solid execution, and a passionate team. I never thought I’d be impressed by an umbrella rental company, but here we are 😄.

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Another standout was Guild, a startup developing hardware and software for small autonomous grocery stores - think Amazon Go, but without the smoke and mirrors. In my view, their concept is particularly relevant for Brazil, where private residential complexes (condominiums) are common - an ideal setting for autonomous self-service markets. But I could also imagine the concept in Europe, for example in rural areas where the last supermarkets have already disappeared.

At night, WebSummit becomes NightSummit. In Rio, that meant the organizers selected a lively street filled with bars and restaurants for attendees to gather. Back in the day, there used to be separate WebSummit events, which I personally found better, especially in Lisbon. But in Rio, the NightSummit worked really well and the proposed Night Summit areas were lively and attended by lots of WebSummit people.

At the WebSummit venue, there was always a get-together after the content part was over, with drinks and food trucks, which was always really nice and the Brazilians are relaxed and the atmosphere was laid-back.

A few impressions beyond the conference: Rio is a huge city. The WebSummit took place in Barra da Tijuca, an upscale and (for Rio) relatively safe area. The famous Copacabana is about an hour away, but absolutely worth a visit to soak in the city’s vibrant culture.

Fun fact: two days after I left, Lady Gaga held a free concert on Copacabana beach - attended by 2.1 million people. Honestly, I’m glad I missed that crowd 😄.

Also proud to say I put my Portuguese skills to the test! After 50K XP on Duolingo over the past year (mostly reading and writing), I was kind of surprised that I actually was able to do some basic conversations. That said, I’m doubling down now on my Portuguese skills: just booked a lesson with a native speaker on Preply. And hey — if you’re Brazilian and living in my region Vorarlberg, reach out! I’d love to practice more Portuguese in real life.

And finally - no trip to Rio is complete without a visit to Sugarloaf Mountain. I took the cable car up, but the best picture you get is from the rooftop bar of the Yoo2 Hilton Hotel. That was it, hope you like my WebSummit Rio review... and Rio, I'll be back :)

Book me as your keynote speaker: If you found this article insightful and you’re looking for an engaging keynote speaker to elevate your next event, I invite you to discover more about my keynote topics and speaking engagements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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This MadeMeThink…

Start Summit St. Gallen

These days, I've been attending the Start Summit in St. Gallen (as I do every year). It's an excellent conference that I highly recommend to anyone interested in startups, innovation, and entrepreneurship. With around 7,000 attendees, StartSummit offers an ideal conference size—large enough to attract notable innovators, investors, and thought leaders, yet intimate enough to facilitate genuine conversations and meaningful connections.

There was a lot to explore at this year's summit, but I’d like to focus particularly on three key themes:

A Wave of Optimism for Startups and Innovation in Europe

I've been involved in startups and innovation for 15 years. For a long time, the dominant narrative was that Europe is lagging behind the U.S. and that serious entrepreneurs needed to relocate across the Atlantic to succeed. However, the conversation has notably shifted. Over the past year, I've noticed increased confidence in Europe’s unique strengths and potential to compete globally.

This optimistic atmosphere was tangible at StartSummit, where speakers passionately discussed Europe’s resilience and potential. Here are a few insightful quotes that capture this renewed spirit:

• Jeannette zu Fürstenberg (La Famiglia): “We are much stronger than we think we are... Founders come back from the US and want to build for European resilience... Progress is not good enough — we need to want to win... Europe has embraced a ‘we are defeated’ mindset, we need to counter that narrative, otherwise it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

• Hector Gonzalez (SpiNNcloud): “Europe is well-positioned in energy-efficient AI. The technology is already here—we just need a more aggressive mindset to compete with global superpowers.”

• Michiel Kotting (Northzone): “Forced by geopolitical circumstances, we’re seeing a lot of proud founders and investors who want to build strength and independence in Europe.”

• Noemi Kmoth (Start Global): “Europe was always at the forefront of innovation."

• Peter Specht (Creandum): “Europe has a strong setup at the early stage, but scaling is still challenging... Venture returns in Europe are on par with the U.S."

• Alexander Schmitt (Lightspeed Venture): “European tech over the last ten years is a massive success story—we’ve increased funding volumes tenfold. Great founders emerge everywhere. Europeans are at the core of innovation, competing head-to-head with U.S. counterparts.”

• Luke Pappas (NEA): “As a founder, Europe provides everything you need. Simply moving to San Francisco won’t help if you don’t already have a network there.”

• Rainer Märkle (HV Capital): “Europe still lacks large exit markets and deep public markets, but we're on the right track. There is considerable international positivity about Europe, and we shouldn’t be misled by negative press.”

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Artificial Intelligence

I attended an interesting discussion with Steve Furber, who was instrumental in designing the ARM Microprocessors. He highlighted one of AI’s biggest challenges: the energy problem. He talked about how understanding the human brain better could help to solve it. After all, our brains run on the energy equivalent of a light bulb, while AI requires massive amounts of power. I particularly liked this quote from Steve:

„Google’s first AI system had to be shown 10 million cats before it could recognize a cat. My grandson saw just one cat and could consistently recognize cats from then on. Humans can learn from very little data—we need to better understand how this works by studying the brain and applying those insights to AI.“

Here are additional thought-provoking quotes on AI from the conference:

• Peter Specht (Creandum): “AI is probably nearing the peak of its hype cycle.”

• Yaron Valler (Target Global): “The first wave of AI startups focused on cost savings. The second wave will leverage data to create entirely new value propositions.”

• Alexander Schmitt (Lightspeed Ventures): “The quality of revenue in AI can be like a leaky bucket.”

• Luke Pappas (NEA): “AI models are smart due to the data they're trained on. Companies owning industry-specific data will have substantial value. Data provides a unique edge (...) AI & Defense tech have the highest multiples now in terms of valuations.

Even if not so obvious and not known to everyone, Europe has a few interesting AI startups: Black Forest Lab headquartered in Freiburg and Lovable based in Stockholm, are increasingly becoming the talk of the town, even in the Bay Area:

• Sri Chandrasekar (Point72 Ventures): “There isn't a single person in the Bay Area who hasn't heard of Lovable or played around with it.”

• Robin Rombach (Black Forest Labs): “The main ingredients for building AI are compute power (= capital) and talent. Especially on the talent side, Europe has that...“

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Emerging Topic: Defense Tech

Another notable trend at StartSummit was the rise of "defense tech." It feels like a topic poised to gain considerable attention in the coming years, bringing new audiences to tech conferences. It feels kind of strange to see conference attendees in military camouflage — and I found myself missing the artists and creatives who used to flood these events during the Metaverse and NFT hype.

I attended a session with military representatives, who highlighted how rigid their systems currently are and emphasized the need for greater adaptability and openness to innovation.

Book me as your keynote speaker: If you found this article insightful and you’re looking for an engaging keynote speaker to elevate your next event, I invite you to discover more about my keynote topics and speaking engagements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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This MadeMeThink…

Startups at WebSummit 2024

In my last MadeMeThink issue, I shared impressions and content from WebSummit 2024 in Lisbon. In this issue, I would like to share a few interesting startups that caught my attention.

I have by no means seen all the startups at WebSummit (there are about 3000 companies exhibiting, 3/4 of which are startups in my estimation). The startups on the expo floor occupy small booths, which rotate daily. So each day of the three-day WebSummit brings a fresh batch of startups to discover - a real delight for attendees like me…

This is what the startup booths look like (I was one of the first in the hall, so that is why there are only a few founders at the booths in the pic).

The top ten startups have the opportunity to pitch on the Main Stage. Last year, the Brazilian AI legal tech startup Inspira took home the win.

As regular readers of MadeMeThink know, I never miss a good pitch contest (also check out Oslo Innovation Week pitches), so naturally, I attended the WebSummit pitches again this year.

The top 3 startups in this year's WebSummit Pitch Contest were Scoutz (“a Platform for College & Pro Sports Scouting & Recruiting”), GovGPT (“an AI Powered Vest for public safety”) and Intuitivo (“a digital assessment platform for teachers, focused on improving the assessment process in schools.”), which won the pitch contest.

In addition to the pitch contest, I also saw a few interesting startups at the expo. The startup Tyrp, for example, which aggregates various travel providers on its platform and uses AI to create interesting travel offers. For example, you enter that you want to travel from your home airport on a weekend in January to somewhere in Europe and Tryp makes suggestions at really very attractive prices. Have a look at it, I like it and I'll give it a try.

What I appreciate about Tryp and other startups at the WebSummit is how they leverage new technologies to compete in established industries.

AI, in particular, presents a wealth of opportunities. Five years ago, it seemed unlikely to me that Google would face a serious challenger, yet with the rise of GPT and similar AI players, the landscape is shifting, and Google is feeling the heat.

It makes me wonder: how will AI force other established players to adapt, and how will it transform consumer behavior and purchasing processes?

Who will contest Amazon's market share? AI agents certainly have potential here. Alibaba launched Accio, a “personal sourcing agent”, at the WebSummit. The presentation video was a little better than my personal experience with Accio, but if you take this approach further, it is already conceivable how new AI solutions can be used to put pressure on the established players.

You can watch the Accio spot (starts at min 9:10) - or the full talk by Kuo Zhang, President of Alibaba.com—here:

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Well, well... as I glance at the clock, it’s just shy of midnight on this Friday as I write these lines and I therefore have to wrap things up. But before I finish, I would like to highlight a few more startups that particularly caught my eye…

Comudel was among the top 10 startups at the pitching event. They position themselves as the “Operating System for your Business,” handling administrative tasks like taxes, accounting, invoices, and payments. That sounds quite intriguing to me. For years, I’ve wondered when someone would take on the challenge of replacing accountants in the SME space. With AI, this now seems to be possible...

“Nuke from Orbit” caught my attention simply because of its name, which aligns perfectly with its solution - very well chosen 😅

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At RentYourMac, the name says it all, and the description (“A Mac for everyone”) is clear and concise. I appreciate it when I can immediately grasp what a service is all about. As a longtime Apple enthusiast, that tagline immediately resonated with me, so if you want to rent your own Mac in the Cloud, check it out…

I also had a nice conversation with the founder of RentYourMac, and during our talk, I found out that he spent his childhood vacations just around the corner from me, in Bregenz - and once again I was surprised how small this world is!

Last but not least, there was even a startup that developed a smart anchor at WebSummit, for all the captains among my readers... and if you still haven’t had enough, there’s a database of Web Summit startups where you can search for all the startups e.g. from your country that exhibited at the Web Summit (see below for Austria). But that's it for now, need to catch some sleep... over and out.

Book me as your keynote speaker: If you found this article insightful and you’re looking for an engaging keynote speaker to elevate your next event, I invite you to discover more about my keynote topics and speaking engagements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research. I registered at the WebSummit as a media representative, was accepted and received a free entry ticket without any strings attached.

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This MadeMeThink…

WebSummit 2024

Year in, year out... the WebSummit in Lisbon is one of the few events I attend every year. In my opinion, it is one of the best tech conferences in the world. With 3000 exhibiting companies, 1000 investors, 70000 visitors and about 1000 speakers on site, you never get bored. Below is a picture of the Center Stage at the Opening Night.

Many countries are investing heavily in their WebSummit presence. Austria is doing a great job again, Germany is also strongly represented, Robert Habeck (German Vice-Chancellor) is here with an all-female delegation of female founders (to draw attention to the topic of female entrepreneurship and existing inequalities).

The different countries sometimes also have their own small startup expo and often they have their own small stage with a content program over the days. There are usually also many network meetings or events organized by the countries. I usually stop by the Austrian Night, which is always quite funny and you meet a few familiar faces… and this year they also had quite an Austrian attraction (see below) 😅🤷‍♂️

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A little about the content. Next week I will write a post about startups or solutions that have I found interesting. But here are a few thoughts from the Keynotes that MadeMeThink. The presentation by Cristiano Amon (CEO & President of Qualcomm) definitely got me thinking. He talked about how AI is turning existing user experiences upside down. His thesis is that we are moving from vertical solutions (e.g. apps that can do one thing well, e.g. book a table in a restaurant) to horizontal solutions (the AI now books the table, makes a calendar entry, books an Uber, etc.). User experiences must therefore be completely rethought. And as AI models become smaller and smaller, Thomas Wolf from Hugging Face believes they will also run on all devices in the future, from smartphones to watches to refrigerators. This opens up a whole new world for innovative solutions 🤯👀

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Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President at Microsoft, also gave a thought-provoking talk. You can see the IMHO most interesting slides below. He talked about single purpose tools (such as the Telegraph) and general purpose tools (such as the Steam Engine) and their impact on humanity. General purpose tools have initiated major industrial revolutions. He showed in his talk how electricity has changed everything and drew an analogy to artificial intelligence, very well done Brad...

Well, that's it for this week, and by the way, many of the talks from the WebSummit are available online, so best to check out the WebSummit YouTube Channel... and below are a few more impressions.

Book me as your keynote speaker: If you found this article insightful and you’re looking for an engaging keynote speaker to elevate your next event, I invite you to discover more about my keynote topics and speaking engagements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research. I registered at the WebSummit as a media representative, was accepted and received a free entry ticket without any strings attached.

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Oslo Innovation Week

Last week, I shared my experience exploring Norway's innovation and startup ecosystem. One of the highlights of my trip was attending selected events at Oslo Innovation Week. Similar to Vienna Up, Oslo Innovation Week is a decentrally organised week on innovation and startups. Over 200+ organisations host more than 80 events. This year was the twentieth edition.

I attend a lot of innovation and start-up conferences. The startup pitches are always a highlight for me. I find it super exciting to see what problems teams are working on and how things are going for them. The bank DNB organised a pitch event and I attended the final. I would like to share the four finalists with you. If you are interested, check out their websites for more information.

The winner of the pitch contest was Rab Diagnostics. They are developing a predictive tool for cancer treatment, specifically focusing on improving patient selection for Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs). Their platform uses biomarkers, such as the protein Rab5, to help determine which patients are most likely to respond to ADCs, enhancing treatment effectiveness and reducing side effects. This technology aims to optimize cancer therapy by identifying the right treatments for the right patients.

Evaluating life sciences pitches is always super difficult for me (because I literally have no idea on the subject). And often for the jury too. That's why I actually thought that SportAI would win the pitch contest, which also has its finger on the pulse of the times with an AI solution. SportAI uses artificial intelligence to deliver advanced sports technique analysis by combining computer vision, biometric analysis, and machine learning. Their platform provides instant, precise feedback to improve athletes' performance, analyzing movements such as a golf swing or tennis serve and comparing them with professional-level data. I also was happy to see HEAD, a company from my region, on the slide with potential partners 🔥 👀

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Also in the final was the startup Bú Composite. Bú Composite produces sustainable building materials, focusing on composite products made from recycled materials. Their offerings include lightweight roof tiles, modular landscape products, and home improvement items like decking and fences, all designed to be both durable and eco-friendly. They aim to push the boundaries of recycled materials in construction, emphasizing sustainability and innovation. For more details, check out their website.

Last but not least: Qubit Energy. The startup is transforming traditional energy systems by creating a decentralized network of virtual power plants, they call it the “Internet of Energy.” Their platform allows users to manage, optimize, and predict energy consumption in real-time, enhancing efficiency and lowering costs. Through intelligent demand-response models and integration with renewable sources, Qubit Energy helps reduce carbon footprints while offering financial benefits by selling excess energy back to the grid.

Well, those were the four finalists of the DNB Pitch Contest. Hope you enjoyed reading this week’s article. In the next article, I will write about Japan and its startup and innovation ecosystem. If you have any insights on this, please let me know and drop me a line on Linkedin.

Book me as your keynote speaker: If you found this article insightful and you’re looking for an engaging keynote speaker to elevate your next event, I invite you to discover more about my keynote topics and speaking engagements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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This MadeMeThink…

I'm back... After a long summer holiday and a break from writing, I'm back at it again. I've been travelling a lot over the last few weeks. The (new) north has caught my interest. After writing about the innovation and startup ecosystem of Sweden (Stockholm), Finland (Helsinki) and Estonia (Tallinn), I finally had the opportunity to explore Norway (Olso). Norway had been on my travel list for some time, I'd already booked flights in 2020, but then Covid hit... but well, better late than never.

The Norwegian Startup Landscape

Norway - with a population of around 5.3 million - is home to approximately 3,000 startups, with Oslo standing out as the country's hub of entrepreneurial activity. In fact, Oslo has become Europe’s 4th fastest-growing capital city over the past decade. According to Os!o Business Region, the city hosts nearly 2,000 startups and 200 scaleups. Norway has produced seven unicorns, including notable companies like Gelato (on-demand print platform), ReMarkable (next-generation paper tablet) and Kahoot (edtech startup; for more see article “meet the Norwegian tech stars”). In the European Startup Ecosystem ranking, Norway climbed from 22nd place in 2020 to 14th in 2024, securing 25th place globally (Sweden: 6th place; Estonia: 12th place; Finland: 14th place, Austria: 26th place).

Focus on Impact and Sustainability

The Nordics are recognized as the most impact-focused region globally, with 38% of all startup funding going toward impact-driven businesses. This figure surpasses Europe’s average of 22% and is significantly higher than the less than 10% seen in the US and Asia, according to data from Dealroom.

It seems like no surprise that Norway is pursuing a green transition, given its current reliance on the petroleum industry (accounts for 24% of Norway's GDP; other big industries are shipping and aquaculture = a lot of salmon farming). The state is actively steering the country towards greener practices (e.g. around 80% of all new cars registered for Norwegian roads were electric cars due to government benefits).

A unique feature of Norway’s wealth is the Government Pension Fund Global, commonly known as the “Oil Fund”:

“As of August 2024, it had over US$1.71 trillion in assets, and held on average 1.5% of all of the world's listed companies, making it the world's largest single sovereign wealth fund in terms of total assets under management. This translates to over US$307,000 per Norwegian citizen.” - Wikpedia

That really is an incredible store of value 👀🤯 In the Crytpo space they would say generational wealth 😅🤷‍♂️

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Challenges for Founders

The Exit Tax

While Norway benefits greatly from its natural resources, many founders I spoke to expressed concern about the country's high taxes. Recently, the introduction of an "exit tax" has raised further worries within the startup community. This exit tax, which amounts to 37.84%, applies when founders or shareholders move their tax residency outside of Norway, forcing them to pay taxes on unrealized capital gains, even if the shares are not sold. This can be particularly burdensome for startup founders, as it creates financial pressure before any actual liquidity event occurs. The startup community fears that such measures could discourage entrepreneurs from establishing and growing their businesses in Norway, as the tax can be seen as a disincentive for international expansion.

There is even a popular song called “Don't come to Norway” that addresses the exit tax. Below you find an excerpt from the lyrics. The song is really well done and worth listening to 😅😅

“Don’t come to Norway if your skills are really great.
They will seize your private property if they want it for the state.
If you’re good at technology or business, please stay out.
A booming public sector is what this country is about.

Don’t come to Norway. 

Sing a song to Norway, we’re a ship about to sink.
Keep the brain drain going long enough, there’ll be no one left to think.

One day our oil fund will run out all talent will be gone.
At least we’ll still have taxes and this sad, depressing song.
This country had such promise, think of what we could have been.
But it took just one election to fuck up our startup scene.”
- Lyrics from the Song “Don’t come to Norway”

Listen to the song here on X or here on Linkedin (sorry, could not find a YouTube Version to embed).

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Work-Life Balance and Decision-Making in Norway

Norway is known for its strong work-life balance culture. The standard workweek is 40 hours, including lunch breaks, which translates into 37.5 hours of actual work. Overtime is rare, with most employees adhering to strict work hours. I wondered what it is like in startup teams and whether founders there also call it a day at 4 pm. But I have received rather mixed answers on that, so no final conclusion yet. However, it is clear to me that when hiring in Norway, entrepreneurs must pay attention to this.

I also found it interesting how consensus-orientated the Norwegian workplace culture is. Decisions are typically made after consulting with all team members, regardless of hierarchy. This inclusive approach can lead to slower decision-making but fosters a strong sense of team cohesion and respect across all levels of the organization.

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Some Observations

Norway was fascinating. A few things that really struck me. For example, it's common to see people walking around without umbrellas, even in the rain - which shows how weatherproof Norwegians are. People also sit outside in cafés, even when it's cold and rainy - something I haven't seen anywhere else in the world to this extent. This resilience seems to have been instilled in Norwegians from an early age, as Norwegian children play outside in all weathers, even in kindergarten.

Purchasing alcohol in Norway is quite regulated. Alcohol stronger than 4.7% can only be bought at "Vinmonopolet," a state-controlled monopoly. This has led to interesting adaptations by breweries, with brands like Heineken adjusting their alcohol content to fit within the 4.7% limit for general store sales. I was also surprised to discover that wine is often sold in 3-liter boxed packages, which seems shocking to many from Central Europe. However, this method is practical for them, Norwegians have assured me, as the wine stays fresh for months and offers better value for money. Differences such as these in consumer behaviour highlight how important it can be to adapt business strategies to local markets in Europe.

If you ever have the chance to go to Norway, definitely do it. Oslo is an incredibly beautiful city. I've spent a lot of time walking around and enjoying the scenery (see pics below). Architecturally, Oslo really has a lot to offer 👀

The food in Oslo is also delicious... I ate my way through a wide variety of fish dishes. Definitely worth a try.

However, I have not only developed my culinary skills, but also my knowledge. I visited the Oslo Innovation Week on site, but more about that in my next issue of MadeMeThink... 👀🔥

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Shoutout to Advantage Austria

Last but not least: My trip to Oslo could not have taken place without the excellent support of Advantage Austria. A big thank you to Martin Glatz, Peter Mangel and Eike Simons from the Advantage Austria Oslo team for the excellent care and support before and during this trip.

For those who don't know Advantage Austria, it is the trade promotion organization of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. With over 100 offices in 70 countries, Advantage Austria supports businesses from Austria in their global ventures. After the United States, Austria has the second largest trade promotion organization in the world 👀🔥

So Austrian companies can rely on the experts at Advantage Austria to support their export efforts. Each organization can take advantage of eight hours of advice per country free of charge. I have already taken advantage of this support for my own startup projects, because it is super helpful to have an expert in the respective country you are aiming for and to get their opinion on your plans. So take a look at Advantage Austria's services if you have a company in Austria and operate internationally.

Book me as your keynote speaker: If you found this article insightful and you’re looking for an engaging keynote speaker to elevate your next event, I invite you to discover more about my keynote topics and speaking engagements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

Over the past few years, I've often thought about what modern learning experiences might look like, especially with the widespread availability of AI chatbots. What role will universities play in the future? What should a modern course look like that offers added value compared to specialized AI chatbots, which provide 24/7 personalized learning assistance and have absorbed the wisdom of the world?

When my university (FHV - Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences) launched a pilot project for new blended learning experiences, I volunteered to take part with my course on digital business models; a short course with 15 teaching units in the Master's program in Business Administration. The university gave me complete freedom to redesign the course, with the aim that it should be more than just transferring a traditional on-site lecture to a virtual video call (or recorded) lecture. This appealed to me because, in my opinion, virtual lectures are not the solution...

I have been in education for quite a long time and every year or so, a disruption of the university landscape is predicted. I still remember when everyone thought Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and purely digital learning experiences were the future. Back then, MOOCs didn't achieve massive success, and years later, after several purely digital university semesters during the COVID lockdowns, it became clear that fully digital study programs are not the ideal solution either1. At a conference I attended last year, Matthew Sanders (Education and VR Director at Meta) had a slide with the phases of an Ed Tech Hype (Hope → Hype → Disapointment). But why does tech innovation in the education sector usually end in disappointment?

In my opinion, one of the reasons why universities are hard to disrupt is that a university offers more to students than just the mere transfer of knowledge. For many students, university is the first time they move to a new place as part of their degree programme or for a semester abroad. The university is a meeting place where a wide variety of people from different backgrounds come together and critically discuss content, do research, challenge the status quo and think up new solutions. Many well-known start-up teams have met at the university.

• Founders of Google/ Alphabet: Larry Page and Sergey Brin met at Stanford University.

• Founders of Facebook/ Meta: Marc Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes met while they were students at Harvard University, starting Facebook from their dorm room.

• Founders of Dropbox: Drew Houston & Arash Ferdowsi met at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-founded Dropbox while still studying.

• Founders of Reddit: Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian were roommates while studying at the University of Virginia.

A modern learning experience must therefore provide more than just content transfer through traditional lectures. Therefore I thought about what modern learning experiences could look like today. I asked myself how I can offer added value in my course that goes beyond teaching classic domain knowledge, especially when a specialized AI with access to extensive field knowledge could likely outperform most of us. So I threw all my old school content course slides in the bin (a painful process because they were really good) and opted for a blended learning approach. A blended learning approach combines face-to-face on-site sessions with digital learning experiences.

In the run-up to the course, I thought about how I could create a learning experience that students would enjoy attending, that would be fun, that would spark curiosity, but would also teach the essential content. I have come up with the following guiding principles on which I have built my new (modern) learning experience:

Guiding Principle 1: Learning experiences should encourage exchange between students and beyond.

As briefly described above, actual encounters and the exchange of ideas play an important role in the value proposition of a university. Students engage in dialogue with each other and with lecturers, guest speakers, etc. It was important to me to encourage this exchange as much as possible. I chose several approaches to do this. For example, students should think out of the box, come up with new business models and post them on our online learning forum in order to receive peer feedback from their fellow students. I was amazed at how good the quality of the contributions and the peer feedback was (read more here).

However, it was also important to me that students come into contact with startup founders who are currently working on digital business models. To this end, I initiated an on-site exchange of ideas with the founders of Workenda, Vlow and Gleap, in which the students were able to pick the founders' brains with their questions in rotating small groups. In addition to the valuable personal learnings the founders shared, the students now have contacts in the startup scene on which they can draw on in the future when they realise their own idea.

Two students actually even approached me after a class session and pitched me an interesting business idea that they came up with and now want to pursue. Maybe these two will soon be an entry in my list of founders who met at university 👀🔥

Guiding Principle 2: Learning experiences should be fun.

Learning should be fun. The content should be pleasant and easy to absorb. That's why I often created memes for my content pieces, such as the one above in this article.

We had three on-site sessions in this course in which I no longer wanted to give traditional lectures. So I had to experiment with other approaches. In one of these on-site sessions, my aim was to get students curious about new technologies, as these often form the basis for new business models. Therefore we ordered some pizza and watched the movie "Ready Player One". I assigned different groups specific tasks to focus on while watching the movie. For example, some groups analyzed the new business models depicted in the movie, while others identified the challenges and ethical concerns associated with these models. After the movie, we discussed the students' observations. The evening was certainly fun.

Guiding Principle 3: Content learnt should also be applied.

I am a professor at an University of Applied Sciences. In this respect, I wanted the students to have some creative, hands-on experiences on Business Model Innovation. Theory is important, but the learning experience is richer when a combination of theory and practice takes place (see also my article on Think-Act-Feel or Thinking vs. Doing).

Therefore, in one of the on-site course session, I aimed to engage the students more creatively by having them actually build something. They were tasked with identifying a problem and developing a digital business model to solve it. Usually when we do something like that, we work digitally by creating landing pages and virtual mock-ups, but for this session, I wanted the students to build a representation of their business models using materials such as Lego and modeling clay. This led to funny models (see below) and a very productive discussion when the physical representations of the business models were presented (I also teach courses at our university in which students actually turn business models into reality, but with 15 teaching units that would probably be asking a bit too much, hence the playful, creative approach).

Guiding Principle 4: Learning content should take into account different levels of knowledge and different learning preferences

Especially at Master's level, it is often difficult to equalise different levels of knowledge. Students have different prerequisites; someone who attended a specialisation in Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Bachelor's level knows the theory of digital business models much better than someone who specialised in Human Resources. This heterogeneity of prior knowledge is a challenge for lecturers. With traditional courses, it is difficult to avoid repetition for some students. With the asynchronous blended learning approach that this course follows, it is possible. Asynchronous here means that parts of the course content are studied at home. I have incorporated the content that I otherwise had on the slides into the articles below:

• Digital Business Models: An Introduction

• Why Business Models Matter

• Tech-Driven Business Model Innovation

• “New” Business Models

• Lifelong Learning (on Business Models)

• Digital Business Models: Coruse-Outro

After taking a course on digital business models, every student should at least have heard of such classics as Osterwalder's Business Model Canvas. However, many are already familiar with the model. With the chosen asynchronous approach, those who are already familiar with the model can simply skip the content while others read through it. The course evaluation revealed an interesting result in this regard, suggesting that this approach may have worked, as there was a significant difference in the average workload required to complete this course. It seems that there were two camps: Those who got through with quite little effort (possibly those with prior knowledge in this field) and those who had to put quite a lot of effort into the course (possibly those who were new to the topic). Or maybe I'm just being too optimistic and the figure only shows the distribution of lazy and motivated students 😅🤷‍♂️

The chosen self-learning approach also offers opportunities to cater for different learning preferences. In my articles, I've offered books, podcasts or videos to explore the topics in more depth, so everyone can choose their favourite learning medium. Students can of course also learn via ChatGPT & Co, it doesn't matter. The only important thing is that they can absorb, understand and apply the content.

Guiding Principle 5: Student assessment should not be an end in itself, but should offer added value.

Since my article is already getting quite lengthy, I'll address this point briefly. I aim to eliminate traditional exams from my courses as much as possible, as they are only marginally beneficial to the learning experience and do not reflect the natural application of acquired knowledge. Students rightly question why they should memorize tons of content when all the information they need is accessible via their smartphones.

Assignments in a modern learning experience, especially in business studies, should bridge the gap between theory and practice, encourage critical thinking, trigger discussion, spark imagination and so on. It should be fun or at least interesting to work on them. The student should finish the assessment with the conclusion that it has been useful.

Guiding Principle 6: Learning experiences should be tailored to individual interests & spark curiosity.

The most important goal of ALL my courses is to arouse curiosity for a topic, to spark the flame. This is one of the best methods for establishing lasting learning experiences and is therefore very important to me. Curiosity and interest is the starting point for many paths in life.

„Motivation begins with interest. Neuroscientists now regard interest as a fundamental human emotion and, perhaps, a child’s first emotion – an emotion that guides our engagement in the world. Interest leads to exploration and to the development of projects. Projects then become ambitions and goals.“ - Barish (2014)2

However, interests are highly heterogeneous. Which industries, technologies or business models are of interest to someone varies greatly. Therefore, in this course (and in many of my other courses), I leave it largely open which topics the students deal with in regard to digital business models. And the asynchronous approach in particular leaves a lot of room for manoeuvre here. In one of my articles, for example, I write about how new technologies influence business models. The students should then dedicate themselves to this topic. However, which technologies they explore and which resources they use is up to them. They can follow their interests.

Furthermore, I always provide students with numerous podcasts, vlogs, newsletters, etc. in the subject area so that they can continue their learning experience after the course and to stay up to date.

Conclusion

Blended learning combines on-site meetups with self-directed learning and, for me, represents a promising approach to modern learning experiences. It allows the flexibility and accessibility of digital learning while maintaining the interactive and collaborative aspects of a university education. Students can get the best of both worlds: the convenience of online learning at their own pace while having on-site meetups to critically discuss and co-create solutions, strengthening their relationships with peers.

My goal for this course was to create a compelling modern learning experience that students would attend even if it wasn't mandatory. And that seems to have worked. At least that's what the anonymous online evaluation of the course indicates, in which all students responded that they would also attend the course if they did not have to (see below) 👀🥳

Last but not least: A shoutout to our FHV TELL Center for supporting me on my blended learning journey. Your guidance and resources have been very helpful in creating this blended learning experience. Thank you!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as advice or a recommendation for any type of action. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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This MadeMeThink…

In this week's article, I reflect on a new blended learning course on Digital Business Models that I developed at our university. If you are also interested in new learning experiences or want to introduce new learning experiences in your organisation, feel free to get in touch with me on LinkedIn.

Digital Business Models: A Blended Learning Experience

Over the past few years, I've often thought about what modern learning experiences might look like, especially with the widespread availability of AI chatbots. What role will universities play in the future? What should a modern course look like that offers added value compared to specialized AI chatbots, which provide 24/7 personalized learning assistance and have absorbed the wisdom of the world?

When my university (FHV - Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences) launched a pilot project for new blended learning experiences, I volunteered to take part with my course on digital business models; a short course with 15 teaching units in the Master's program in Business Administration. The university gave me complete freedom to redesign the course, with the aim that it should be more than just transferring a traditional on-site lecture to a virtual video call (or recorded) lecture. This appealed to me because, in my opinion, virtual lectures are not the solution...

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I have been in education for quite a long time and every year or so, a disruption of the university landscape is predicted. I still remember when everyone thought Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and purely digital learning experiences were the future. Back then, MOOCs didn't achieve massive success, and years later, after several purely digital university semesters during the COVID lockdowns, it became clear that fully digital study programs are not the ideal solution either1. At a conference I attended last year, Matthew Sanders (Education and VR Director at Meta) had a slide with the phases of an Ed Tech Hype (Hope → Hype → Disapointment). But why does tech innovation in the education sector usually end in disappointment?

In my opinion, one of the reasons why universities are hard to disrupt is that a university offers more to students than just the mere transfer of knowledge. For many students, university is the first time they move to a new place as part of their degree programme or for a semester abroad. The university is a meeting place where a wide variety of people from different backgrounds come together and critically discuss content, do research, challenge the status quo and think up new solutions. Many well-known start-up teams have met at the university.

• Founders of Google/ Alphabet: Larry Page and Sergey Brin met at Stanford University.

• Founders of Facebook/ Meta: Marc Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes met while they were students at Harvard University, starting Facebook from their dorm room.

• Founders of Dropbox: Drew Houston & Arash Ferdowsi met at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-founded Dropbox while still studying.

• Founders of Reddit: Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian were roommates while studying at the University of Virginia.

A modern learning experience must therefore provide more than just content transfer through traditional lectures. Therefore I thought about what modern learning experiences could look like today. I asked myself how I can offer added value in my course that goes beyond teaching classic domain knowledge, especially when a specialized AI with access to extensive field knowledge could likely outperform most of us. So I threw all my old school content course slides in the bin (a painful process because they were really good) and opted for a blended learning approach. A blended learning approach combines face-to-face on-site sessions with digital learning experiences.

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In the run-up to the course, I thought about how I could create a learning experience that students would enjoy attending, that would be fun, that would spark curiosity, but would also teach the essential content. I have come up with the following guiding principles on which I have built my new (modern) learning experience:

Guiding Principle 1: Learning experiences should encourage exchange between students and beyond.

As briefly described above, actual encounters and the exchange of ideas play an important role in the value proposition of a university. Students engage in dialogue with each other and with lecturers, guest speakers, etc. It was important to me to encourage this exchange as much as possible. I chose several approaches to do this. For example, students should think out of the box, come up with new business models and post them on our online learning forum in order to receive peer feedback from their fellow students. I was amazed at how good the quality of the contributions and the peer feedback was (read more here).

However, it was also important to me that students come into contact with startup founders who are currently working on digital business models. To this end, I initiated an on-site exchange of ideas with the founders of Workenda, Vlow and Gleap, in which the students were able to pick the founders' brains with their questions in rotating small groups. In addition to the valuable personal learnings the founders shared, the students now have contacts in the startup scene on which they can draw on in the future when they realise their own idea.

Two students actually even approached me after a class session and pitched me an interesting business idea that they came up with and now want to pursue. Maybe these two will soon be an entry in my list of founders who met at university 👀🔥

Guiding Principle 2: Learning experiences should be fun.

Learning should be fun. The content should be pleasant and easy to absorb. That's why I often created memes for my content pieces, such as the one above in this article.

We had three on-site sessions in this course in which I no longer wanted to give traditional lectures. So I had to experiment with other approaches. In one of these on-site sessions, my aim was to get students curious about new technologies, as these often form the basis for new business models. Therefore we ordered some pizza and watched the movie "Ready Player One". I assigned different groups specific tasks to focus on while watching the movie. For example, some groups analyzed the new business models depicted in the movie, while others identified the challenges and ethical concerns associated with these models. After the movie, we discussed the students' observations. The evening was certainly fun.

Guiding Principle 3: Content learnt should also be applied.

I am a professor at an University of Applied Sciences. In this respect, I wanted the students to have some creative, hands-on experiences on Business Model Innovation. Theory is important, but the learning experience is richer when a combination of theory and practice takes place (see also my article on Think-Act-Feel or Thinking vs. Doing).

Therefore, in one of the on-site course session, I aimed to engage the students more creatively by having them actually build something. They were tasked with identifying a problem and developing a digital business model to solve it. Usually when we do something like that, we work digitally by creating landing pages and virtual mock-ups, but for this session, I wanted the students to build a representation of their business models using materials such as Lego and modeling clay. This led to funny models (see below) and a very productive discussion when the physical representations of the business models were presented (I also teach courses at our university in which students actually turn business models into reality, but with 15 teaching units that would probably be asking a bit too much, hence the playful, creative approach).

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Guiding Principle 4: Learning content should take into account different levels of knowledge and different learning preferences

Especially at Master's level, it is often difficult to equalise different levels of knowledge. Students have different prerequisites; someone who attended a specialisation in Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Bachelor's level knows the theory of digital business models much better than someone who specialised in Human Resources. This heterogeneity of prior knowledge is a challenge for lecturers. With traditional courses, it is difficult to avoid repetition for some students. With the asynchronous blended learning approach that this course follows, it is possible. Asynchronous here means that parts of the course content are studied at home. I have incorporated the content that I otherwise had on the slides into the articles below:

• Digital Business Models: An Introduction

• Why Business Models Matter

• Tech-Driven Business Model Innovation

• “New” Business Models

• Lifelong Learning (on Business Models)

• Digital Business Models: Coruse-Outro

After taking a course on digital business models, every student should at least have heard of such classics as Osterwalder's Business Model Canvas. However, many are already familiar with the model. With the chosen asynchronous approach, those who are already familiar with the model can simply skip the content while others read through it. The course evaluation revealed an interesting result in this regard, suggesting that this approach may have worked, as there was a significant difference in the average workload required to complete this course. It seems that there were two camps: Those who got through with quite little effort (possibly those with prior knowledge in this field) and those who had to put quite a lot of effort into the course (possibly those who were new to the topic). Or maybe I'm just being too optimistic and the figure only shows the distribution of lazy and motivated students 😅🤷‍♂️

The chosen self-learning approach also offers opportunities to cater for different learning preferences. In my articles, I've offered books, podcasts or videos to explore the topics in more depth, so everyone can choose their favourite learning medium. Students can of course also learn via ChatGPT & Co, it doesn't matter. The only important thing is that they can absorb, understand and apply the content.

Guiding Principle 5: Student assessment should not be an end in itself, but should offer added value.

Since my article is already getting quite lengthy, I'll address this point briefly. I aim to eliminate traditional exams from my courses as much as possible, as they are only marginally beneficial to the learning experience and do not reflect the natural application of acquired knowledge. Students rightly question why they should memorize tons of content when all the information they need is accessible via their smartphones.

Assignments in a modern learning experience, especially in business studies, should bridge the gap between theory and practice, encourage critical thinking, trigger discussion, spark imagination and so on. It should be fun or at least interesting to work on them. The student should finish the assessment with the conclusion that it has been useful.

Guiding Principle 6: Learning experiences should be tailored to individual interests & spark curiosity.

The most important goal of ALL my courses is to arouse curiosity for a topic, to spark the flame. This is one of the best methods for establishing lasting learning experiences and is therefore very important to me. Curiosity and interest is the starting point for many paths in life.

„Motivation begins with interest. Neuroscientists now regard interest as a fundamental human emotion and, perhaps, a child’s first emotion – an emotion that guides our engagement in the world. Interest leads to exploration and to the development of projects. Projects then become ambitions and goals.“ - Barish (2014)2

However, interests are highly heterogeneous. Which industries, technologies or business models are of interest to someone varies greatly. Therefore, in this course (and in many of my other courses), I leave it largely open which topics the students deal with in regard to digital business models. And the asynchronous approach in particular leaves a lot of room for manoeuvre here. In one of my articles, for example, I write about how new technologies influence business models. The students should then dedicate themselves to this topic. However, which technologies they explore and which resources they use is up to them. They can follow their interests.

Furthermore, I always provide students with numerous podcasts, vlogs, newsletters, etc. in the subject area so that they can continue their learning experience after the course and to stay up to date.

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Conclusion

Blended learning combines on-site meetups with self-directed learning and, for me, represents a promising approach to modern learning experiences. It allows the flexibility and accessibility of digital learning while maintaining the interactive and collaborative aspects of a university education. Students can get the best of both worlds: the convenience of online learning at their own pace while having on-site meetups to critically discuss and co-create solutions, strengthening their relationships with peers.

My goal for this course was to create a compelling modern learning experience that students would attend even if it wasn't mandatory. And that seems to have worked. At least that's what the anonymous online evaluation of the course indicates, in which all students responded that they would also attend the course if they did not have to (see below) 👀🥳

If you are also interested in new learning experiences or want to introduce new learning experiences in your organisation, feel free to get in touch with me on LinkedIn.

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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This MadeMeThink…

Geoffrey Hinton on the dangers of AI

If you've been reading MadeMeThink for a while, you know that I find the thoughts of Geoffrey Hinton (often called "The Godfather of AI") on the subject of artificial intelligence interesting (read more here).

So when I saw the following tweet from Elon Musk in reference to a recent Geoffrey Hinton interview, my attention was immediately caught:

“Wise words from a recent interview with Geoffrey Hinton, one of the smartest people in the world regarding AI” - Elon Musk

And for goodness sake, the interview with Geoffrey really made me think. For those who prefer reading to watching a video, below are the most important passages with a few comments and thoughts from me (but it's worth watching the 14 minute video; if the YouTube video link does not work at a later date, here is the original Twitter video link.)

Geoffrey Hinton on AI being smarter then us:

Right now, many people still think they're just statistical tricks and they don't really understand what they're saying. I think that's quite wrong. So I came out and focused on the existential threat, that is, the idea that they'll take over from people, because many people were saying it was science fiction. I no longer believe it's science fiction.

It's moving very fast. The best way to understand how fast it's moving is to look at what it was like 10 years ago. Ten years ago, if you told people that today we would have a language understanding system where you could ask it anything at all and it would give you an answer about as good as a not very good expert, people would have said, "No, we're not going to get that in 10 years. That's crazy."

So what we're going to get in 10 years' time is plausibly that difference again, and that's going to be super intelligent. My guess is there's a 50/50 chance that we'll get it within the next 20 years. Almost every decent researcher I know believes that, in the long run, it'll get more intelligent than us. It's not going to stop at our intelligence.

A few people believe that, because it's training on data from us at present. Most of the researchers I know are fairly confident it will get more intelligent than us. So the real question is how long will that take, and when it does, will we still be able to get control?

Geoffrey Hinton on what will happen when AI is smarter than us:

Okay, so how many examples can you tell me about where a more intelligent thing is controlled by a less intelligent thing? (Interviewer: Not a long list). Right, not since Biden got elected, anyway. So basically, a mother and baby is the only example I can think of, and evolution put huge amounts of work into allowing the baby to control the mother. Evolution made the sound of a baby crying just intolerable for the mother, things like that. But basically, less intelligent things do not control more intelligent things.

The gateway through which AI will cause us problems:

Well, we're going to make agents of them. People are already doing that, things that can act. If you want to make an effective agent, it has to be able to create sub-goals. For example, if you want to get to Europe, you have a sub-goal of getting to the airport. You created that sub-goal because that's the obvious way to get to Europe. Once you give something the ability to create sub-goals, there are some fairly obvious sub-goals it will create, like if it wants to get anything done, the things you ask it to do, it'll be easier for it to do it if it gets more control. So it will create the sub-goal of getting more control. It could still be benevolent, but that's already a bit worrying.

It's also the case that when you have intelligent agents, you want to build in self-preservation. You want them to not destroy themselves, and you want them to watch out for things that could make them not work, like data centers going down. So already you've got self-preservation that's probably going to be wired in via various programs. It's just not clear to me that this won't lead to things having self-interest. As soon as they've got self-interest, you'll get evolution kicking in.

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And then…?

They won't need us anymore. They'll start running everything because they can just do it much better than us. Initially, it may be benevolent in the sense that, "Oh, just stay out of the way and we'll make things work for you," a bit like a parent and a small child. The parent lets the small child do some things, but when it's sort of dangerous or tricky, the parent just takes over and does it in the small child's interests. But there's a slippery path from there to not acting in the small child's interests.

So what to do?

I think the government, for example, should insist that the big companies do lots of safety experiments and spend considerable resources, like a third of their computer resources, on doing safety experiments while these things are still not as intelligent as us to see how they might evade control and what we could do about it. I think that's a lot of the debate at OpenAI. The people interested in safety, like Ilya Sutskever, wanted significant resources to be spent on safety. People interested in profits, like Sam Altman, didn't want to spend too many resources on that (…) these are profit-driven companies (…) the big companies want to go full speed ahead (…) If any one of those pulled out, the others would keep going. So you've got the standard competitive dynamics of capitalism where people are trying to make profits in the fairly short term, and they're going full speed ahead. I think the only thing that can slow that down is strict government regulation. I think governments are the only things powerful enough to slow that down.

For those not following the OpenAI drama closely, the technical co-founder and brain behind ChatGPT, Ilya Sutskever, has left the company, likely due to concerns that too little attention is being paid to security during development. And this does not appear to be an individual opinion. In one of my last issues, I shared an open letter from former and current OpenAI employees pointing out safety concerns. In any case, Ilya has founded a new AI company and the company name is supposed to be the program: “Safe Superintelligence Inc.” Here is a screenshot of the landing page of his new startup.

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But how dangerous should we perceive AI to be? Is the scale of the danger comparable to that of a nuclear threat?

Yes, I think that's a good way to think about it. There is, however, one big difference. Nuclear weapons are only good for destruction. They tried using them for things like fracking, but it didn't work out too well. They did that in the 60s – peaceful uses of atom bombs – but that didn't work out so good. They're basically for destruction, whereas AI has a huge upside. It's wonderful for lots of things, not just answering questions and making fancy images. It's going to be extremely useful in medicine, and that's why it's not going to be stopped. The idea we should just pause was never realistic (…) We have to figure out how we can make a superintelligence not want to take over, and that's what governments should be focused on right now (…) governments should mandate that the big companies spend a lot of their resources on safety. That's the best I can think of. It's not very good, but it's the best I can think of.

Wow, what an interview. MadeMeThink 🤯🤯🤯

In the context of this interview, the discussion I read on LinkedIn this week about whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) should be renamed to Systems Automated Learning and Machine Interference (SALAMI) to make it seem less dangerous, appears not only nebulous, but also dangerous to me. Relabelling a technology to make the technology be perceived less threatening is the wrong approach.

Potentially dangerous technologies should be perceived as such, because only then can we discuss the danger associated to them and negotiate what we as a society consider to be an acceptable risk. Otherwise we would also have to rename other sources of danger, like:

Data Breach -> Information Sharing Event

Autonomous Weapon Systems -> Self-Operating Security Solutions

Facial Recognition Tracking -> Personalized Customer Experience Enhancement

Nuclear Meltdown -> Unexpected Core Temperature Adventure

Pandemic -> Global Immunity Challenge

Tornado -> Nature's Whirlwind Dance Party

Bioweapons -> Advanced Biological Exploration Tools

Climate Warming -> Extended Summer Enjoy

Feel free to add some creative relabelling of potential risks in the comments ;)

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A Personal update…

Joy Beyond Growth - A Posthumanist Feast

Normally, I only attend conferences in the fields of tech, startups, or innovation. But this week, I made an exception for the conference "Joy Beyond Growth - A Posthumanist Feast."

And wow, it was truly worth the time. On one hand, the location at the CampusVäre Vorarlberg was fantastic. On the other hand, my colleagues from the Design Department at FHV Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences have curated excellent content. This conference definitely MadeMeThink. Below are a few impressions, followed by two topics that made me think:

1. A student presented his study project on the resource consumption for a Mars bar. What absolutely fascinated me was that it takes 283 liters of water to produce a single Mars bar 🤯🤯🤯 That's truly incredible! One can only imagine how nature and people along the supply chain are exploited in order to offer a Mars bar for 1.50 euros in the local supermarket. Interestingly, the largest water consumption for a Mars bar comes from the cocoa it contains, which requires 25,000 liters of water per kilogram to produce.

2. I'm an advocate of a social market economy, but in light of my recent MadeMeThink issue on the dangers of artificial intelligence, the following quote from one of the keynotes made me think: "It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism."

Well my dear reader, that's MadeMeThink for this week. I invested a lovely Saturday morning to write down these thoughts for you (and beautiful, rain-free days are rare in my region at the moment 🥶🙈). In return, maybe you could help me make MadeMeThink a bit bigger in its reach. Forward this issue to a friend or share it on social media and we'll call it even ;)

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

Haha, just kidding, of course there are better things in life than digital business models (am I really just joking?). Now it’s time to celebrate your achievements. You've made fantastic contributions to this course!

Therefore, in this final article of our blended learning course on digital business models, I want to take a moment to shine a spotlight on some of your incredible contributions in the forum. Your thoughts and reflections have not only made me think but have also been a great source of inspiration.

Below, I would like to showcase selected contributions and comment on what inspired me about them. These screenshots are only a small representation of the many great contributions. Each of your insights brought unique perspectives and valuable discussions to our course.

In one of the course tasks, you should reflect on technological developments and their impact. The following two contributions caught my attention.

What I liked about this post is that it recognized how different technologies do NOT exist in isolation. The combination of technologies, such as the metaverse and blockchain in this example, opens up exciting new opportunities and business models. Additionally, the historical and movie references added an interesting dimension to the discussion 🫵🔥 Specially liked the Orson Welles example from the last paragraph… for interested readers, below you find the Original 1938 radio broadcast. People who thought it was real must have been really terrified 🥶🙈

What impressed me most about the post above is the recognition of the multi-layered impact of streaming services, for example on culture. The discussion about the social and cultural impact of global streaming services highlights an important (and so far less acknowledged) aspect: the potential of streaming services to either dilute cultural differences or foster a more unifying global community. This reflection on how media shapes society and culture is a discussion I would like to continue and I like the way the student has dared to think outside the box of digital business models here.

In another task as part of the course, you were asked to brainstorm new business models. This also resulted in very interesting contributions and discussions.

As I travel the world quite a lot myself, I know the problem of finding a good workplace in a new location. Working in the hotel is boring, Starbucks has good cookies and expensive coffee, but the workplaces aren't ideal and there isn't a WeWork everywhere. So the idea of a platform for temporary workplaces immediately appealed to me: For travellers, such a temporary workplace could provide access to new networks and potentially interesting (local) conversation partners (like Airbnb did in its early days). For companies, that maybe nowadays have a lot of empty workspaces because of the home office trend, it could be an additional income source and also a way to connect to people outside of their company. A win-win? Possibly. In any case, I think this idea would be worth pursuing further 🚀🌝

I have read about applications and research in this area and find it extremely exciting. For bedridden individuals whose physical world has shrunk to a few square meters, their realm of possibilities could be massively expanded. If I ever end up in an elderly home, I definitely want the option of VR travel 👴🤝

As part of my contribution to lifelong learning, you should listen to podcasts or other content on the topic of digital business models (and beyond) and reflect on them. Here you have produced some worthwhile reflection reports on interesting content.

The reflections from the interview with Tobi Lütke on the importance of niche markets really made me think. I've addressed this topic in another article, and it's crucial for founders to consider it.

When I suggested content sources, I wondered if anyone would watch a 2-3 hour interview with Lex Fridman. I was very pleased to see that this actually happened 😎🙌

Well, well, well… this is it… the course is over… I asked ChatGPT for some funny last sentences and here we go (my favorite is marked in bold 😅):

You survived digital business models, now go conquer the world (or at least your next Zoom meeting).

Time to apply what you’ve learned… or just impress people at parties with your knowledge.

If digital business models were a game, consider yourselves at the final boss level. Go win!

Thanks for sticking with me through this course. Now go out there and digitize everything!

You’ve earned your digital business model black belt. Wear it with pride!

This was my first run of the blended learning course on “Digital Business Models” at FHV. It was a pleasure. Thank you for your openness and commitment! Let's stay in touch and all the best for the rest of your studies 🫵🙌

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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This MadeMeThink…

Ireland’s Innovation- and Startup-Ecosystem

Last week I reported on the Dublin Tech Summit. When I was in Dublin, I took a closer look at the Irish startup and innovation ecosystem…

Ireland, including the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, is (according to DealRoom) home to around 4,500 tech startups and scaleups 👀🔥 Irish startups have consistently raised an average of €1.3 billion in annual funding. The centre of the Irish startup and innovation ecosystem is clearly Dublin. In the recently published ‘Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2024’ by Eli and his team at StartupBlink, Dublin ranks 54th globally and 12th in Europe (the next city in the global ranking is Cork at position 314).

During the Dublin Tech Summit, TechIreland announced a collaboration with Dealroom to create a dedicated Irish startup ecosystem space. It's interesting and inspiring to surf through this space and see the different Irish startups (check it out yourself). Dealroom has interesting data in general. However, much of the data and searches are behind a paywall. Unfortunately, the prices for the subscriptions are extremely expensive. I once asked whether there was free access for students, startups or educators, but unfortunately not.

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According to Dealroom Ireland hosts over 350 specialized research centers, innovation/ startup hubs, and startup coworking spaces that contribute to cluster development and the creation of innovative startups. I had two innovation hubs on my list that I wanted to visit in Dublin: The ‘Guiness Enterprise Centre’ and ‘Dogpatch Labs’, but only made it to Dogpatch Labs.

Dogpatch Labs, located in the historic CHQ Building in Dublin, is home to over 250 startups. The space has expanded to almost 40,000 square feet (about 3700 square meters) across three levels, enhancing its ability to serve the tech community. The CHQ building was built in 1820 as a wine and tobacco warehouse and has vaults where wine was stored. These historic vaults in the basement are now a great venue, equipped with its own bar and ideal for networking and events. By the way, the startup inspeq.ai, which won the startup pitch at the Dublin Tech Summit (read more here), is also located in the Dogpatch Lab. Thanks for the opportunity to visit Dogpatch Labs Conor Burke & Heather Morris 🫵🙌😎

Many global tech giants, such as Google, Microsoft, Meta (formerly Facebook), Amazon, and Apple, have established their European Headquarters in Ireland, reinforcing its status as a tech hub. In conversations with people in the startup scene, I've heard that this is also a challenge, as a lot of tech talent is being absorbed by these large corporations. On the other hand, the local tech community is connected to the world's leading tech players. This can also be fruitful, as the case of Fonoa shows. Fonoa was founded by former Uber employees who encountered challenges with global tax compliance. With Fonoa they are solving this problems… heck, when I think about it, this is a really good problem to work on… even I experienced it myself at one of my startups and with a small team and limited budget it is very hard to solve. Global taxes are a tough nut to crack, and it is a “problem” that is here to stay, or as the one of the Fonoa founders puts it:

“Death and taxes: they never go away” - Founder Davor Tremac from Fonoa.

Fonoa, founded in 2019 in Dublin, now has a valuation between $240 million and $360 million according to Dealroom. In 2022, they raised $60 million to support their global expansion.

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A Personal update…

Exploring Dublin

While being in Dublin I had the chance to visit the “Kilmainham” Prison and I learned about the Great Famine. Not so much a fun fact, but rather an unbelievable one: The youngest prisoner at Kilmainham Gaol was a five-year-old boy who was imprisoned for stealing food during the famine. The Great Famine, also known as the Potato Famine (1845-1852), led to a massive food shortage and a drastic population decline in Ireland. Before the famine, Ireland's population was about 8.5 million. Due to the potato crop failure, around one million people died from hunger and disease, and another two million emigrated, mainly to North America and Britain, to escape the hardship. These events caused a significant demographic shift and permanently reduced Ireland's population. Today, Ireland's population is about 5 million 👀🤯 Without the Great Famine, it is estimated that Ireland would have around 30-40 million inhabitants (according to my tour guide and it seems plausible to me, as England had about 16 million inhabitants in 1845 and has grown to 56 million today). The impact of the great famine is therefore not to be underestimated and can still be clearly observed today, #MadeMeThink 🤔

Below you will find a few more pictures from my exploration tour through Dublin.

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Startup Vorarlberg

Last week was significant for the startup ecosystem in my region Vorarlberg. Embracing the idea that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts", various support organisations in the regional startup ecosystem joined forces to form "Startup Vorarlberg" 👀 🔥

Our universities startup-centre, the "startupstube", which I co-founded with Dr. Magdalena Meusburger 7 years ago, is now part of Startup Vorarlberg. We are convinced that we can achieve more together and look forward to working more closely as a team 🤝 🚀 (see picture below with Marco Tittler, Bernhard Ölz, Wilfried Hopfner, Thomas Gabriel, Lara Bechter and me; if you are from the region, subscribe to the Startup Vorarlberg Newsletter to stay up to date).

Book me as your keynote speaker: If you found this article insightful and you’re looking for an engaging keynote speaker to elevate your next event, I invite you to discover more about my keynote topics and speaking engagements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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This MadeMeThink…

Dublin Tech Summit

Regular readers know that I like to go to a tech/startup conference (see here). Last week, I took a closer look at the Dublin Tech Summit.

If you've been around the tech world for a long time, you may remember that the WebSummit started in Dublin and then moved to Lisbon. The WebSummit used to be in the same location where the Tech Summit is now (=RDS), but over time it just got too big (70,000 visitors, 2,600 startups, 800 speakers 👀). The RDS in Dublin is - in the world of huge conferences - a medium-sized venue that hosts around 8,000 visitors, 200 speakers and 150 start-ups at the Dublin Tech Summit. However, the RDS venue might already be too small for the Tech Summit, which is perhaps why the main stage was set up in an unheated outdoor tent, in which it was quite chilly at times 🥶 Although there were attendees from 60 different countries, the Tech Summit is predominantly attended by local visitors.

In terms of content, the Tech Summit could also have been called the AI Summit, as almost all presentations and panels centred on AI. But it was a good fit for me, as I also deal intensively with the topic. During the days on one of the stages, the moderator stated:

"AI is the Oppenheimer moment of our generation”

This statement MadeMeThink. Is it truly accurate? The reference to J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, refers to the profound and potentially dangerous effects of a transformative technology. Just as the atomic bomb changed the course of history, artificial intelligence holds the power to revolutionize our world in ways we are only beginning to understand. It raises questions about the ethical implications, the responsibilities of those who develop such technology, and the long-term effects on society. Are we prepared to handle the consequences of AI, both positive and negative, as we continue to push the boundaries of innovation? That is certainly a question that I have not been able to answer fully. But the current open letter from current and former employees of pioneering AI companies certainly makes me doubt this.

“AI companies have strong financial incentives to avoid effective oversight (…) they currently have only weak obligations to share some of this information with governments, and none with civil society (…) current and former employees are among the few people who can hold them accountable to the public. Yet broad confidentiality agreements block us from voicing our concerns.” - Excerpt from the open letter.

This open letter, signed by 4 current and 7 former OpenAI employees, definitely made me think. But alongside these big and concerning questions about AI, the Dublin Tech Summit also showcased some “feel-good” AI applications such as “Kiki”. Kiki is a virtual human avatar that uses AI to provide sign language interpretation (see video below). Kiki is used in Japan for real-time earthquake and disaster warnings. The system automatically generates sign language animations based on data from the Japan Meteorological Agency and delivers important information within minutes, around the clock, ensuring that important warnings are accessible to the deaf and hearing-impaired at all times.

Latest since the memorial service for Nelson Mandela (see video below), we know how challenging it can be to find a reliable sign language translator. In emergencies, like earthquakes, the immediate need for someone fluent in sign language becomes nearly impossible to meet. This is where AI shines, providing a beautiful and beneficial application by ensuring real-time sign language interpretation when it's needed most.

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Okay, what else. In one of the panel discussions at TechSummit, I heard the term ‘Vanilla AI’ for the first time, which made me smile (and then think). It describes companies that implement only basic AI features to appear innovative without fully integrating the technology. Essentially, they use minimal, plugin AI components just for show. I think I'll adopt the term "Vanilla AI." And I do indeed often see that new technologies are only used superficially to give the impression that an organisation is innovative.

The Irish qualifiers for the Startup World Cup Final also took place during the Dublin Tech Summit. The Startup Worldcup seems to be a big deal. Pegasus Tech Ventures organises it every year. For the finalists, the final involves pitches in front of a relevant audience in Silicon Valley and a million in funding for the winner. On the following slide you can see the winners of the last years.

The winner of the Irish qualifier for the grand final in Silicon Valley was - no surprise - an AI startup: Inspeq.ai, a tool that improves LLM performance by 90% and reduces hallucination by 80% (and this is particularly important in business chat applications).

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At every big tech event, there are usually a bunch of side events. The side events are often almost as important as the main event, as they usually enable an exchange within a specific community. At the Tech Summit in Dublin, there were surprisingly few side events (or they took place without me realising it). However, I did attend some side events.

TechIreland hosted an excellent networking event for founders at the Dublin Tech Summit. Thanks to an introduction from Josef Treml of Advantage Austria to Sree from TechIreland, I was able to attend and engage in meaningful conversations with Irish founders. During the event, TechIreland announced a cooperation with Dealroom, which will provide a dedicated Irish Ecosystem Space on their platform. More on this in my next newsletter, where I'll be covering the Irish startup and innovation ecosystem.

I also went to a startup side event, which was also quite nice (see picture below).

I wondered whether there might be fewer side events at the Dublin Tech Summit because Dublin itself seems like a side event. The city's nightlife, especially in areas like Temple Bar, is vibrant with live music, crowds, and a great atmosphere every night. I explored a few selected spots and was amazed by the lively scene.

One evening I visited a church. Plot twist: the church turned out to be a bar 😅🤷‍♂️ So, I enjoyed a Guinness and watched some traditional dancing.

Another day, I went to the bank, which also turned out to be a bar 😅🙈 I ended up having an Irish coffee, that certainly woke me up 👀🤯

And even at the airport, not normally a relaxed place, there was a cosy bar, even outside.

I got the feeling that the Irish really like to have a drink, but thats another story 😅Last but not least: When browsing through the stores at the airport, e.g. I found this “Worry Stone.” The stone itself didn’t interest me much, but the phrase “Why Worry?” on the packaging made me think (and smile).

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Okay, that's it for this week. Next week we'll continue with a look at the Irish startup and innovation ecosystem. Stay tuned…

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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This MadeMeThink…

Human - AI Relationship

When I thought about artificial intelligence, I mainly thought about its functional use. I thought of AI as a tool that helps create content, organise daily tasks or answer questions, much like a highly efficient assistant. This week, however, I came across a new perspective that MadeMeThink…

I watched Scott Galloway's keynote "Predictions for 2024" from the OMR Festival that was taking place in Hamburg these days. One prediction of his talk (which can be viewed here) was that the success and impact of AI is strongly linked to the increasing loneliness of people.

I then did some research and, despite social networks, better communication options and global communities, people have never been more lonely.

However, relationships and friendships are very important for a happy life. People are social beings.

The question that now arises is: Does AI fill the gap that people have in terms of their emotional relationships with others? At the latest since Joaquin Phoenix fell in love with his AI assistant in the Oscar-winning film ‘Her’, we can imagine how such a relationship with an artificial intelligence might develop.

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And if you look at this week's presentation of ChatGPT-4o, you get the feeling that a lot of emphasis was placed on getting more emotion into the AI's voice, check out this section of the OpenAI spring update (see minute 12:24).

So will AI assistants be more than just little functional helpers in the future? There certainly seems to be a need for more emotionality in artificial intelligence. But will this also lead to friendships or romantic relationships with artificial intelligence? It almost looks that way… companies such as Candy AI (“Create your own AI Girlfriend”) or Replika (“The AI companion who cares. Always here to listen and talk. Always on your side”) are already targeting this and offering their customers relationships with AI.

Perhaps ‘’advisor relationships‘’ with AIs will also become established. Reid Hoffmann, Linkedin founder and renowned investor, has fed an AI with all his past content and conducted an interview with it (or himself?). Quite entertaining in my opinion (watch here). I can well imagine this becoming a business model, with established personalities like Reid building an AI clone of themselves and for example founders subscribing to this AI clone to get support for their startup projects... it's quite possible that a feeling of a relationship with the real-looking AI Reid can develop in such a setting.

So much for relationships with artificial intelligence. What is your opinion on this?

By the way, GPT-4o can now also serve as a real-time translator (see here). I was recently in Brazil (for some impressions see here) and practiced Portuguese for 100 days beforehand. I was able to communicate reasonably well (maybe like 2-year-old toddler). But with Real Life Translations from ChatGPT, this will certainly become even easier in the future. Nevertheless, I will continue to learn Portuguese. On the one hand, it's cognitively demanding to learn a new language, which is fun, but on the other hand, there's still a bit of magic involved when you can speak the local language yourself... and the people in Brazil are always happy when someone tries to speak their language :) Speaking a local language IMHO is also more about showing that you're willing to make the effort, and no AI can do it for you...

Book me as your keynote speaker: If you found this article insightful and you’re looking for an engaging keynote speaker to elevate your next event, I invite you to discover more about my keynote topics and speaking engagements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

No, just kidding, we'll soon also have completed the virtual part 😅🤷‍♂️ BUT as they say these days, we are in a time of lifelong learning. In this respect, I would like to initiate this process with regard to business models 👀 Especially when it comes to business models, it is important to stay ahead of the curve, because emerging technologies, changing customer behaviors, and “new” problems are constantly changing the landscape. Therefore, I would like to share a few sources with you that I really appreciate and whose content I enjoy absorbing:

Lex Fridman hosts a podcast that, while not specifically focused on digital business models, often intersects with related themes through discussions on emerging technologies and trends. His podcast features conversations with interesting figures such as Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg, making it a valuable resource for anyone interested in the broader implications of digital innovation on business. The insights offered by such influential speakers can provide a better understanding of how new technologies might shape or disrupt existing business models.

Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn and a prominent investor, hosts the "Masters of Scale" podcast, where he leverages his extensive network of contacts among the world's most influential founders and thought leaders. In his podcast, Hoffman explores how some of the most successful startups were conceived and developed. Many episodes provide deep insights into the evolution of their business models, offering valuable lessons on scaling businesses effectively from those who have navigated this journey firsthand. This podcast is an excellent resource for understanding the dynamics and strategies behind starting and scaling different business models.

The MIT Technology Review offers a comprehensive suite of newsletters that are invaluable for staying informed about emerging technologies and relevant stakeholders in this field. Among these, "The Download" stands out as a particularly noteworthy resource. This newsletter delivers concise, expertly curated insights into the latest developments in technology, helping readers grasp the significance and implications of new innovations. For anyone interested in the cutting-edge of tech, "The Download" provides a reliable and informative snapshot of what's happening in the field.

Crunchbase (and Dealroom) are serving as an interesting resource for tracking investment trends, in line with the motto “follow the money”. These platforms document funding rounds, acquisitions and financial movements within the startup ecosystem. By analyzing where investors are placing their bets, Crunchbase and Dealroom provide insights into emerging business models and potential shifts in the market landscape. This information can be helpful in predicting future trends and provides clues about “new” types of business models, making Crunchbase and Dealroom a good tool for anyone who wants to know where the (business) world is heading next.

And then, saving the best for last, there's this fantastic newsletter called MadeMeThink 😅😅😅 All joking aside, take a look at the sources above... and if you still haven't had enough, feel free to contact me for more content!

Last but not least, in addition to these content sources, conferences also offer interesting opportunities for gaining a better insight into “new” business models. There are several notable conferences taking place in Europe that I can highly recommend, such as the WebSummit, Slush or the nearby Start Summit in St. Gallen. These events bring together thought leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators from various industries and offer attendees a front row seat to learn about the latest trends and emerging business models. They provide great networking opportunities and insights that can enhance one’s understanding of relevant developments.

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

Attentive readers of my last posts on business models may have wondered why I put the word "new" in quotation marks when referring to "new" business models. But there is a reason for this and it can be found in the work of Gassmann et al.

In their research, Gassmann et al. recognized that many "new" business models are not really new at all, but are based on existing (old) business model patterns. In fact, Gassmann et al. describe that 90% of all “new” business models are merely recombinations of existing patterns. Interesting… if only I knew these patterns, for goodness sake, I hear you thinking. And if you were really just thinking that, I have good news for you: science has got you covered!

Gassmann et al. have identified 55+ business model patterns that can serve as a source of inspiration. There is a book on it, but someone recently asked me who still reads books 🤷‍♂️🥶 In this respect, I am glad that the authors have summarized the 55+ business models in a card format (find them here under Business Model Pattern Cards, example see below). You can read through the paper in an hour and pick up the various business patterns.

Now the question is, how can these patterns be recombined into new business models? I asked ChatGPT if it could come up with some business model innovation for selected existing business models based on Gassmann's patterns. The output was rather modest, to say the least. It seems that there is still a need for entrepreneurial/ innovative peeps here. Okay, I hear you thinking, but how should I proceed if I want to build innovative business models? Most people would clearly answer with use the “Lean Startup Method”. I am also a fan of this method and even teach a one-week course at our university called “Lean Startup Bootcamp” 👀 If you are interested to learn more and get an overview on the Lean Startup Method, you can check out Steve Blank’s Harvard Business Review Article titled “Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything”.

In the lean startup method (in a nutshell), you outline the “new” business model in a business model canvas (if needed, you can learn more about the business model canvas here) and then you validate critical hypotheses about the “new” business model (e.g. people will order socks by subscription online) with a minimum viable product (short MVP). The method is great, it relies heavily on action and the generation of real-life results.

And entrepreneurs & innovators embrace the hustle— execute, iterate, pivot. Just go for it. So theory and conceptual work is sometimes seen as somewhat old-fashioned in the innovation/ startup bubble (a la "we'd rather try it out than think about it for a long time"). But I believe that having a certain theoretical basis, a certain amount of thinking before acting, raises the (lean startup) experiments to a higher level (also see my article below). Reading and thinking about the business model patterns of Gassmann et al. is therefore (IMHO) an hour well spent.

So if you are pursuing business model innovation, ask yourself questions like: What problems have not been properly solved (which may be better solved today with new technologies; read more about this here)? Is there any literature that I can use to quickly get up to speed on the subject? Which environments (and people) are thought-provoking and provide new perspectives? Are there other innovators who have already gained experience in this field (failed attempts as well)? Are there any methods that can help me in the process (e.g. Jobs-to-be-done, Lean Startup, Design Thinking)? What do we want to achieve? And so on... you wouldn't believe how many people start innovation projects without having done the slightest homework 🙈

So make sure that you are prepared to seize innovation opportunities, because as my favourite roman philosopher said:

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" - Seneca

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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This MadeMeThink…

“New” Business Models

Attentive readers of my last posts on business models may have wondered why I put the word "new" in quotation marks when referring to "new" business models. But there is a reason for this and it can be found in the work of Gassmann et al.

In their research, Gassmann et al. recognized that many "new" business models are not really new at all, but are based on existing (old) business model patterns. In fact, Gassmann et al. describe that 90% of all “new” business models are merely recombinations of existing patterns. Interesting… if only I knew these patterns, for goodness sake, I hear you thinking. And if you were really just thinking that, I have good news for you: science has got you covered!

Gassmann et al. have identified 55+ business model patterns that can serve as a source of inspiration. There is a book on it, but someone recently asked me who still reads books 🤷‍♂️🥶 In this respect, I am glad that the authors have summarized the 55+ business models in a card format (find them here under Business Model Pattern Cards, example see below). You can read through the paper in an hour and pick up the various business patterns.

Subscribe now

Now the question is, how can these patterns be recombined into new business models? I asked ChatGPT if it could come up with some business model innovation for selected existing business models based on Gassmann's patterns. The output was rather modest, to say the least. It seems that there is still a need for entrepreneurial/ innovative peeps here. Okay, I hear you thinking, but how should I proceed if I want to build innovative business models? Most people would clearly answer with use the “Lean Startup Method”. I am also a fan of this method and even teach a one-week course at our university called “Lean Startup Bootcamp” 👀 If you are interested to learn more and get an overview on the Lean Startup Method, you can check out Steve Blank’s Harvard Business Review Article titled “Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything”.

In the lean startup method (in a nutshell), you outline the “new” business model in a business model canvas (if needed, you can learn more about the business model canvas here) and then you validate critical hypotheses about the “new” business model (e.g. people will order socks by subscription online) with a minimum viable product (short MVP). The method is great, it relies heavily on action and the generation of real-life results.

And entrepreneurs & innovators embrace the hustle— execute, iterate, pivot. Just go for it. So theory and conceptual work is sometimes seen as somewhat old-fashioned in the innovation/ startup bubble (a la "we'd rather try it out than think about it for a long time"). But I believe that having a certain theoretical basis, a certain amount of thinking before acting, raises the (lean startup) experiments to a higher level (also see my article below). Reading and thinking about the business model patterns of Gassmann et al. is therefore (IMHO) an hour well spent.

Share

So if you are pursuing business model innovation, ask yourself questions like: What problems have not been properly solved (which may be better solved today with new technologies; read more about this here)? Is there any literature that I can use to quickly get up to speed on the subject? Which environments (and people) are thought-provoking and provide new perspectives? Are there other innovators who have already gained experience in this field (failed attempts as well)? Are there any methods that can help me in the process (e.g. Jobs-to-be-done, Lean Startup, Design Thinking)? What do we want to achieve? And so on... you wouldn't believe how many people start innovation projects without having done the slightest homework 🙈

So make sure that you are prepared to seize innovation opportunities, because as my favourite roman philosopher said:

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" - Seneca

Subscribe now

A Personal update…

Trip to Brazil

I'm back. It's been a bit quieter on my channels because I took a trip to Brazil and decided to stay Offline and fully immerse myself in the moment 🇧🇷

Brazil has really captivated me. A great country! Warm-hearted people, fantastic food, a rich fauna and flora, great weather and an interesting domestic market 👀

It's the second time I've visited Brazil. This time I was better prepared and I studied Portuguese for 100 days beforehand. My Portuguese was probably only as good as that of a 2-year-old toddler, but that alone was very helpful, because in Brazil only about 5% of the population speak English.

Have you ever been to Brazil and what was your experience? I look forward to hearing about your experiences, feel free to comment on my Linkedin Post or below.

Book me as your keynote speaker: If you found this article insightful and you’re looking for an engaging keynote speaker to elevate your next event, I invite you to discover more about my keynote topics and speaking engagements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.

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This MadeMeThink last week…

Bitcoin is once again attracting public attention these days as the media and social networks discuss the upcoming halving event and its impact. The Bitcoin Halving is a pre-programmed reduction in the rewards miners receive for processing transactions, an event that occurs approximately every four years. This mechanism was designed to control the supply of Bitcoin, introduce scarcity into the system and create a deflationary effect. The Bitcoin Halving is expected to take place on April 19, 2024 (see halving countdown).

In this article, however, I don't want to speculate on the Bitcoin price, but rather talk about a few more fundamental and (IMHO more) important aspects of blockchain technology, which goes far beyond the sphere of crypto currencies and promises to redefine interactions and trust in the digital age.

We need more Transparency

When you dig deep into a specific area, at some point you usually focus on specific details and cover them. These details are important and fascinating, but this week I was reminded again of the great promises of Web3/ Blockchain-Technology and the fundamental benefits it brings, such as the following:

• Permissionless: Enables anyone to participate without the need for authorization, promoting inclusivity and innovation across the network.

• Decentralization: Removes the need for a central authority, enhancing system resilience and reducing single points of failure.

• Transparency: Ensures all transactions are visible to network participants, fostering trust and accountability.

• Security: Advanced cryptographic techniques make blockchain data secure and resistant to tampering and fraud.

• Immutability: Blockchain's immutability guarantees the permanence and unalterability of recorded data, ensuring historical integrity.

All of the above are great values. Especially transparency is something that I really appreciate in the Web3 space (even my side hustle WalletFrens.xyz is based on this value). But what exactly does transparency mean? I give you an example. Lately, I’ve been wondering what the Ethereum Foundation's reserves are and whether they are currently liquidating reserves. Using an intelligence platform called Arkham, I looked at the various assets and financial activities of the Ethereum Foundation and got my answers (see screenshot; they hold 1,2 billion in crypto assets, so they shouldn't run out of money anytime soon). This can be verified as every transaction in the blockchain is public.

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Then I was interested in what assets the most famous Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has. This information is also public, available with one click, in real time. And in various analysis options, e.g. which wallets Vitalik has interacted with (see below). And this is not because the Ethereum Foundation or Vitalik have released this information, it is inherent to the system. Each wallet address and its activity can be viewed on the blockchain.

While I was looking at the portfolio and individual transactions of the Ethereum Foundation and Vitalik, I had to pause for a moment. I had to think about how I take this transparency in the web3 space for granted, and how much this transparency is missing in “real life”.

I thought about how the transparency of Web3 would affect critical real-world areas, such as political parties (including top politicians), NGOs, universities, and other organizations utilizing taxpayer money. Wouldn't it be nice to know in real time what money political parties receive from whom or how state organisations use taxpayers' money?

You can play around with tools like Arkham (or Etherscan) yourself, query your own (or your frens) wallet addresses and access nice visualisations. Have fun!

Book me as your keynote speaker: If you found this article insightful and you’re looking for an engaging keynote speaker to elevate your next event, I invite you to discover more about my keynote topics and speaking engagements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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Sharing is caring! If you've enjoyed this read, please spread the word to a friend. Your support is invaluable! Referrals = more readers = more time for me to write articles = better quality of the insights you receive (+ good karma). And I'm sure your friend will appreciate your recommendation too. I certainly appreciate it very much!

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Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups, organizations or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.