Founders' stories from the
trenches
- How do you
get a $6 million investment based on a single tweet?
- Who
provided shelter to the founders of Kazaa, chased by recording industry
lawyers, while they built their next project - Skype?
- Why did
two Swedes decide to move from Stockholm to Berlin and start SoundCloud
there?
As a cofounder
of the technology blog Tech.eu and a writer for publications such
as Forbes, Mreza (in Croatia) and others, over the past several years I've interviewed
some of Europe's most ambitious and successful technology entrepreneurs. They
have created amazing companies such as SoundCloud, Prezi, Last.fm, Mendeley,
Fon, Deezer, Supercell and many others - yet they are often overlooked by the
media in favor of American founders and CEO's.
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After years of
interviews and research, I've collected stories and interviews with 30 of these
entrepreneurs, from all across Europe, in a book: "The European Startup
Revolution". Four years in the making, the book covers their
experiences, failures and successes. In covering such a long time span, it
gives the reader a unique perspective of how they started out and where they
are today.
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Victor Henning - Elsevier / Mendeley
You'll want to
read this book if you're a:
- Startup
founder wise enough to learn from other people's mistakes - not just her
own :-)
- User of
one of the many products created by these entrepreneurs who's curious
about the back stories behind them
- VC or
angel investor who wants to help her or his investees on their difficult
journey
- Professional
trapped in a corporation who needs just that additional bit of inspiration
to take the plunge and - finally - go for the entrepreneurial dream
- None of
the above - but still curious about the stories and experiences of the
women and men in the book
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Lesley & Nigel Eccles - FanDuel.com
With my work
nearly complete, I need your support to finalize production and publication of
the e-book and print editions. Users of these companies' products, startup
founders and entrepreneurs from Europe and worldwide will find inspiration in
these stories.
Europeans still
burn with the passion that led our ancestors to navigate the globe. Join me as
I report on their journeys and let's create The European Startup Revolution together!
Who am I?
I'm Ivo Spigel.
Based in Zagreb, Croatia, I'm an entrepreneur myself, cofounder of an IT company called Perpetuum Mobile. I'm also a longtime writer
about technology and society. I've written for the Croatian edition of Forbes
magazine as well as the Croatian IT publication "Mreza"
("Network").
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Late in 2013 I
co-founded the technology blog
Tech.eu with the mission of reporting on
companies, trends and players in the high-tech and startup ecosystems
throughout Europe.
I've also
co-founded Croatia's leading startup accelerator, ZIP, and have been a mentor at Seedcamp, a leading European accelerator and early stage
investment fund.
**
The book is nearly done. I still need to do a few followup
interviews with some of the entrepreneurs as well as have the book copy edited
and the design and layout work done.
Then it will be time to produce both the e-book and printed
versions.
There could be hiccups and obstacles along the way but -
honestly - I don't expect any major issues.
The main problem might be my other obligations - helping to
manage my IT company with my partners, running ZIP and writing for Tech.eu in
parallel with finishing the book.
I'm confident, however, that the book will be published, with your help and support, in late April or early May of this year!
***
Stretch time!
The campaign goal was met in the late night hours of
Saturday, Feb 21! A huge *thank you* to everyone who contributed and helped
spread the good word. Now, of course, it's time for a stretch goal! The stretch
goal for this campaign is
$11,333
Why, you may ask? Well... I'll leave that answer to your
inner geek, and you're always free to ping me if you can't figure it out by
yourself (but of course you can).
What's my commitment if we reach this new goal?
I will add three
additional chapters to the book, featuring yet more amazing entrerpreneurs,
at least one of which will be from my native Croatia.
I will also donate 128 printed books to 128 Croatian high
schools. Maybe some kid out there gets inspired – you never know!
Five more days, people – no sleep 'till Brooklyn!