Having been to Nokia in Oulu, I have met some of the most amazing people I know. And it is one of them who has come up with a rather nifty idea. Kristian Luoma, Product Manager turned Entrepreneur decided to do something about this situation.

What would happen if an extreme incubator would be set up in Oulu, where these bright minds can work together on the next big thing. Nokia started out as a small Finnish company and became the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturer with an annual revenue of €42.45 billion. What would stop the Finns from reclaiming former glory?

If there’s something that every Entrepreneur I’ve met has said to me, it was: Dream big! Achieve the un-achievable! “Oulu Fifty” is a vision for a programme with the insane goal of producing fifty start-ups in twelve months. That’s roughly 1 start-up per week! It would be a programme giving these talented people all the tools they need, such as shared office space, legal advice, exposure, chances to get in touch with VCs and much more. The goal is to create a vibrant community that fosters innovation and spins out seedable companies.

“Oulu Fifty” would run innovation and idea exploration sessions which would be open to anyone to attend. It would regularly have hackfests to perform rapid prototyping. It would seek out to consumers to vote on the best ideas – every week. It would educate its members on technology and other necessary skills – by mentoring and by leasing inspiring speakers to visit the campus occasionally.

This could be an amazing opportunity for both the Finnish government which is strongly encouraging entrepreneurship and the Nokians. But such a programme requires a few things to be successful. On one hand, “Oulu Fifty” would need support from the industry. Getting Entrepreneurs and VCs involved that would be willing to visit. On the other hand, this programme would need financial support to pay for facilities as well as a limited staff running the programme which would approximately be €0,5 million for 1 year of operation.

I personally love this idea, but all the credit has to go to Kristian Luoma who dreamt up this idea. This programme could bring Oulu back to the forefront of technological innovation and save the by Nokia abandoned local community. I sincerely hope that there is a future in this idea, but we will see what happens in the next few weeks.

Just in case you have €0,5 million lying around, and want to support this programme, do contact me: florian at florian jensen dot com

After having seen this cartoon, don’t you agree that no other president has given more to his country? We should ask him if he would like to lead Europe in that direction. Maybe let him replace Trichet?

Illustration by Kevin Kallaugher

Buffett

“In effect, our country has been behaving like an extraordinarily rich family that possesses an immense farm. In order to consume 4 percent more than we produce — that’s the trade deficit — we have, day by day, been both selling pieces of the farm and increasing the mortgage on what we still own.”

He goes on to explain why the US can spend like crazy…

“…we can behave today as we wish because our past financial behavior was so exemplary…”

…and warns that it will be over - sometimes.

“…our national credit card allows us to charge truly breathtaking amounts. But that card’s credit line is not limitless.”

AND he actually proposes a solution!

“We would achieve this balance by issuing what I will call Import Certificates (ICs) to all U.S. exporters in an amount equal to the dollar value of their exports. Each exporter would, in turn, sell the ICs to parties — either exporters abroad or importers here — wanting to get goods into the U.S. To import $1 million of goods, for example, an importer would need ICs that were the byproduct of $1 million of exports. The inevitable result: trade balance. ”

Buffe, we love ya! Now, let’s hope there will soon be a US president that has the balls to actually do something!

Full article

Source: marcialis.eu

The vote of the Flemish parliament to separate BHV (= first step of the Flemish government to transform Brussels into the capital of Flanders) has disastrous consequences of foreign capital investors in Flanders. Foreign and especially American investors want political stability.

In the following months it is expected that no additional investments will be made in Flanders. Other investment decisions will be reviewed.

Rumors say that Dow Corning intend to leave Belgium for Paris; Glaxo-Smith-Kline is revising its decision to expand; Dupont is expected to review its investments in the port of Antwerp.

Many foreigners from the new member states have arrived in Brussels to work in the European institutions or in European lobby companies. These well paid foreigners are expected to buy flats and houses in the next months and years. The vote of the Flemish parliament is perceived by them as an unacceptable nationalistic act. For them the Flemish are the bad guys, and the French speaking are the victims. They will not want to live in regions and cities governed by nationalists. They don’t want to be associated with such political convictions. They will invest in Brussels and Wallonia.

According to the market analysts of the major bank conglomerate, the real estate market in Flanders will fall by 10 to 25% in the next few months. They strongly recommend that owners do not panic and sell, else the market could collapse in summer 2008.

About the splitting of Belgium, please read and watch this: Link

Feel free to post ideas of things you want to see in my store here!