Just did a small presentation at LeWeb3…

Fleck was given a presentation slot in the Startup Room at Le Web 3. I was very nervous before and during my presentation but I do think it went good.

Normally I’m not that nervous but the room was small and warm and I still didn’t feel too good from last night and just before my presentation I met a VC from the US who asked me to talk a bit about Fleck. He was very friendly but I just couldn’t get one sentence after another and kept stuttering and was constantly searching for words. That didnt bode very well for my public pitch.

But halfway through my story I noticed one of the judges smilling at me and that was all the reassurence I needed to make my nerves diappear. I decided not to show any slides but just try to tell an interesting story about the history of Hypertext, Vannevar Bush and how I hope Fleck will play a part in that. My opening words were “I won’t show you a presentation but I’ll tell you a story so you can relax for a few minutes now”.  The judges jokingly let out a huge sigh of relief which was a good start.

Patrick told me that the winning presentation will get a speaking slot at the end of the day and might even get another prize. This is going to be exciting!

Is that really me???

Here is a photo of last night at the LeWeb3 and Netvibes party at the Paris Bodega. As you will see in the photo I’m enjoying myself on stage with other, ahem, conference guests…

Flickr Photo: Fleck surroundings

Testing the Fleck post function

Aaaaah, mu MacBook Pro came back to life after about 3 hours of panic. Scott Rafer helped me with the brilliant suggestion of starting up in ’save mode’. That worked!

The Internet Entrepreneur

Crash

What would be a good moment for your brand new MacBook Pro to crash? Never! But how about when you are visiting Paris for LeWeb3, without any backup or a cd to start up from? Even worse, right.

I was barely able to test the new blogging feature of Fleck when my Mac froze. Not a problem I thought, just restart and get on with it. But since I restarted the screen stays blue en all I see is a spinning wheel. Nothing else…..

Typical….

Goodmorning Paris

In Paris life goes on 24 hours a day but it doesn’t seem to start until 9 in the morning.

Last night we went to the hotel room at 12. at night to finish the evening with a glass of cognac. The city was still extremely alive until 6 in the morning and then went silent.

But this morning the streets seem empty. Maybe it just looks like it but the streets in Amsterdam seem much busier in the morning. I kind of like that. I’m more concentrated in the evening.

Paris, here we come!

We are on our wat to Paris to visit Les Blogs. It is a 6 hour drive and are halfway. We decided to stop for lunch and the first thing we found was a McDonalds.

Tonight there is a diner for all The Dutch visitors of the conference so that where we are going too.

On monday we will launch a new Fleck feature and on tuesday we will present Fleck at the conference.

Why we do what we do…

When I was 6 years old I wanted to be a millionaire. I figured I would find a treasure while diving and then go through life a dandy with white cloves, a black hat and a butler.

One day one of my friends, who shared the same dream, made me a businesscard. Just one, on a large piece of paper, with a drawing of white gloves, a bunch of money and a hat. It said: “Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Millionaire” and had my address and telephone number on it.

I kept it in my room somewhere, pinned to the wall. A few months later an American friend of my father (a wealthy surgeon) came over to our house and noticed the drawing of the businesscard. He loved it and asked if he could take it with him and do something special with it. A few weeks later a large and quite heavy box arrived from the USA. When I came home from school we all gathered around the kitchen table and unpacked the mysterious package. It contained several thousands business-cards, printed on beautiful paper with raised lettering and a scanned drawing printed on it. It said “Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Millionaire”.

So from my 8th till my 16th birthday I handed out these business-cards to everyone I met. My teachers in school, my friends and family, but also shopkeepers, policeman (after they caught me) and bus-drivers. Everyone I met received a card. I still meet people who, upon hearing my name, recognize me from those cards and I know that there are still many of them in collections or pinned to refrigerators or whiteboards.

When I speak in public I often ask people if they want to be rich. Hardly anyone ever raises their hands. being ‘in it for the money’ isn’t perceived as a positive thing by most people. But I don’t really care why you are in it as long as the thing you are ‘in it for’ really motivates you.

It might be that your father thought you were a loser and you are trying to prove him wrong.
Maybe you think that being successful will get you more sex.
Maybe you want to be famous so the bullies that gave you a hard time in school will read about your success.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not JUST in it for the money. Being a Millionaire is not the ONLY thing that motivates me. I get more joy and satisfaction from working on a new website or talking with users then counting money. In fact, if I would be a millionaire I would invest my money in start-ups and new projects.

Ok, and maybe just one tiny, shiny, really expensive car, or two…
Recently I said in an interview that I wanted to be on the cover of Wired Magazine. I wasn’t kidding and I don’t take it back but I do want to clarify it a bit. If I ever make it to the cover of Wired Magazine that will mean that I will have done something extremely innovative and interesting for a lot of people. Being on the cover of Wired Magazine is a clear signal that you did something right (or extremely wrong which was newsworthy. But you get my point).

Getting rich is comparable. I don’t want to win the lottery, I want to earn my money. And I don’t want to buy the front page of Wired Magazine, I want to be on there because of what I achieved. And that motivates me.

What is important is that you are motivated. I had those business-cards which reminded me every day of what I wanted to achieve. I have every Wired Magazine ever printed and look at them every day on my way out of the door. What does motivate you and how do you remember yourself?
Knowing what motivates you and reminding yourself often can be very helpful. Especially on a dull and rainy friday when suddenly you think to yourself: “Why do I do what I do..?”

Pitchtalk about Innovation

Ronnie Overgoor is a dutch entrepreneur. An innovative one! He is the owner of Pitchtalk.tv. Pitchtalk is a VideoBlog/TV Show/Talkshow sort of thing that is only shown online. I was a guest on this show with Han Gerrits of The Innovation Factory and Kees Zegers, another dutch Serial Entrepreneur. We had a great time and could have talked for hours.

Check it out: Pitchtalk