Young Master from the Silicon Valley in Berlin

Interesting article about a 21 year old "Wunderkind" from the Silicon Valley. He founded Kiip (an advertising platform) and was in Berlin for the Social Gaming Summit last week. I thought he is very smart and made some interesting observations/comments in this interview

• Silicon Valley doesn't really recognize that other places have interesting startup tech scenes as well. They simply consider themselves still the center of the tech world, so far it's still deserved but you have to keep working for it.
• Trying to do everything yourself: Know your strenghts and use them instead of focusing to improve your weaknesses
• "You can't judge a fish by how he climbs a tree". It's a citation from Einstein but anyway to cite that in an interview with 21. Impressive! ... and it is true
• "If the vision is strong enough, naturally driven people will devote their time, energy and their heart into something they care about as well." ... that is something that every company should care about. Do you really care about the things you do everyday ... passionately? If you do you're on the right track. If you don't ... keep searching

Germans incapable of enjoying life

Here is a study that shows what you have probably suspected all along. Germans can't enjoy life. Now comes the scary part, this is not only limited to Germans. I see many high achieving individuals from all over the world that have a challenging time to cut loose and enjoy themselves. Read it and see if you see something familiar here. If there are many similarities you should be scared.
In any case while this is so exaggerated that it's funny to read there is some truth in here.

Global Internet Success made in Germany

This is a pretty long article about the Samwer Brothers in Germany. These guys are young and very successful business people. Read the article and see if you like what you read.
They seem to be very powerful and successful but I didn't read that they live happy lifes aside from work, success and recognition by others. Is this all you need to be happy? You have to have more success, more money and more influence than 99.9% of people that you know.
It's worth reading the whole article even if it takes some time because it will make you think about your career objectives.

Facebook IPO from an european point of view

What are your thoughts on the upcoming Facebook IPO? Here is a short article from Deutsche Welle on that topic. This is what stands out for me

1. Users access Facebook more on their mobile devices than on PC's/laptops
2. Facebook has no access to Chinese Market
3. Mark Zuckerberg will hold a 57% share

Is this really a recipe for success? With regards to the sky high evaluation it would be good to know that Facebook can keep growing into the Chinese Market. How about  having more influence on the top level of Facebook?
I keep thinking of Yahoo! They were highly valued by Wall Street at one point ... and look where they are today. This might be different but I would be careful anyway.

Do other people really steal your jobs?

This is an interesting article about too many Germans in Switzerland. While I think there is some truth in this there is also a big misperception in here. Let's start with the facts. Switzerland is a small and very rich country that is a neighbor of Germany and it has, compared to Germany, very attractive tax regulations. Therefore it's pretty normal that it attracts many Germans in upper level jobs (e.g. doctors, scientists). In addition to that it has great outdoors (e.g. mountains, lakes, skiing, boating etc.) and hence a large tourism industy. In that regards its like many other places e.g. Monaco, USA, Canada, Australia.

If you have many high income earners this will move up prices, no question. This is not good for many low to middle income earners because they can't afford or hardly afford houses etc. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that this causes some conflict. This needs to be addressed but is the lockout of others the right answer?
Today most people need to adjust to a mindset where they compete with many other people around the world. The Internet made it possible. You can't lock yourself into a place and just don't let anyone in. You have to make sure that you are ready to compete successfully. To do that you have to be prepared and learn as much as you can from others.
Be open to learn from others and then make sure that everyone (incl. low to middle income earners) can have a decent living. To use yesterdays methods to fight todays problems won't work.