Founders STAND UP! The anti-copycat revolution starts now
Berlin founders, this is your time. Did you know the very first computer was invented in this city? We should be proud of that! So, why the hell was Berlin known as the copycat capital of Europe? Think for a second. How many great technology startups have we invented in the last 40 years? Not many.
People recognize us European founders as great executers, but also for not being very creative at all. All the creativity seems to be in the US right now, with companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Zynga, AirBnB, Dropbox and so on.
All we’ve been able to do is copy these companies and their ideas. We’ve had everything from clones of Facebook and Groupon to clones of Twitter and Airbnb. There were simple reasons for this. Entrepreneurs could simply clone an idea right from the other side of the globe and they didn’t have to go through any leaps or bounds as it had already been tried and tested elsewhere.
But this false belief was not sustainable. For some, this method did indeed make them a lot of money. Copycats were receiving investment but as time grew on many investors were less inclined to throw money at the majority of regurgitated ideas. The underlying problem still existed – the “tech scene” in Berlin had become stagnant, and many of the copycats were to blame. So that’s the history, now it’s time for change.
A new horizon, this is the era for innovation.
Before now, the whole thing was a vicious cycle. Entrepreneurs began to recreate US products, European investors funded these copycat companies and made a return, and this further influenced new entrepreneurs to do the same. The two sides were pointing the finger at each other, and in the end both parties were to blame. Investors couldn’t fund startups anymore as… well… there wasn’t any. It was just the same of the same. The tech scene here was being strangled, both in terms of money and creativity. Well, the arguement isn’t important anymore. We’re now in an era of immense innovation and, in the words of Dylan, the times they are a-changin’. Germany, and in particular Berlin Mitte, is growing organically once again – in a crazy, outside the box kinda way. Fresh ideas are now finally bringing fresh money.
“You used to bump into startups that were doing the typical German thing of building a clone. Now the whole city is one crazy startup — chaotic, unstructured and with a counter-culture vibe.” – Alex Ljung, CEO of Soundcloud
The US has always been original as it’s created some of the most influential people and companies. If you’d like some spontaneous inspiration, no doubt sitting on a bench outside the Apple campus would result in one of the best conversations of your life – with a stranger nonetheless. I can imagine the bus ride to the valley is incredibly inspirational too. Heck, Google Reader was supposedly a product of this bus ride. People there have huge companies with big ideas, like Google and Facebook, to look up to. It’s littered with likeminded people and for a long time, Berlin hasn’t had this. Luckily people in Berlin are beginning to realize the importance of community. Two American entrepreneurs, Schuyler Deerman and Travis Todd, have started making changes - with movements such as Silicon Allee. Slowly, individuals are building an inspirational setting for us all, and guess what? We’ve now got the startups to boot.
Berlin take note, here are your role models.
The following companies are shaping the Berlin tech scene as we speak. For any budding entrepreneur or startup…. get on your bike. Use the map at the top of this post and go meet them. Seriously. If you want to know the future of Berlin, it’s in their hands. Of course, this list is alphabetically ordered ;)
6Wunderkinder is the creator of the cloud-based and platform independent productivity tool Wunderlist and is working hard on launching Wunderkit, the world’s first productivity platform.
Christian Reber @christianreber
Aka Aki is a mobile social networking site that wants to let users discover and connect with members as they go about their days.
Gabriel Yoran @gabrielberlin
Amen will be “the best place for having an opinion on the world”. Ashton Kutcher seems to agree, he recently invested in this startup that has provided very little information to the public.
Felix Petersen @fiahless
Buddy Beers enables friends to emotionalize their connections even when they’re worlds away through the oldest social/local activity, buying someone a beer in a pub. The Buddy Beers Carlsberg iPhone app launches in August, quickly followed by the Buddy Beers iPhone and Android apps.
Travis J. Todd @travisjtodd
CrowdPark is a leading developer of Social Forecasting and Social Betting Games in Europe.
Martin Frindt @frinsen
ezeep develops software, desktop apps, hardware, mobile apps and web-services to better manage printers and printing costs in the cloud.
Sascha Kellert @kellert
Gidsy is a community marketplace where people can offer and book tours and activities.
Edial Dekker @edial
Moped is a mobile app that helps you settle up with your friends using your smart phone.
Schuyler Deerman @schuylerdeerman
Readmill is an open platform for sharing what you and your friends read. It visualizes your experience around a book meaning notes, highlights and attention data.
Henrik Berggren @henrikberggren
ResearchGate is a network dedicated to science and research. Connect, collaborate and discover scientific publications, jobs and conferences.
Ijad Madisch @IjadMadisch
SoundCloud is a platform that puts your sound at the heart of communities, websites and even apps. Watch conversations, connections and social experiences happen, with your sound as the spark.
Alexander Ljung @alexanderljung
tape.tv is music television in the digital age: personal, tangible and innovative. Through its combo of smart transmission logic and exciting in-house productions, the channel offers music videos, artists and their fans a new, visual home.
txtr is an innovative company in the fast-growing digital reading market. We develop, operate and market a comprehensive solution for selling eBooks and eReading content.
Christophe Maire @christophex
Wooga develops high-quality social games on networks like Facebook.
Jens Begemanm @begemann
Are there any startups with original ideas (no copycats) in Berlin-Hamburg-Munich? …
Here are 20 in Berlin: http://www.6wunderkinder.com/blog/2011/08/09/founders-stand-up-the-anti-copycat-revolution-starts-now/...
Does the international startup and VC community recognize the current anti-copycat-movement in Berlin?…
Have a look on this posting from today: http://www.6wunderkinder.com/blog/2011/08/09/founders-stand-up-the-anti-copycat-revolution-starts-now/...
[...] – die Macher von wunderlist – rufen zur Anti-Copycat-Revolution in Berlin auf.» Founders STAND UP! The anti-copycat revolution starts now Apple Apple hat gestern (zumindest kurzfristig) Exxon überholt und war damit das wertvollste [...]
[...] Anti-Copycat Revolution Founders STAND UP! The anti-copycat revolution starts now Berlin founders, this is your time. Did you know the very first computer was invented in this city? We should be proud of that! So, why the hell was Berlin known as the copycat capital of Europe? Think for a second. How many great technology startups have we invented in the last 40 years? Not many. 6wunderkinder.com [...]
[...] 6Wunderkinder startet zusammen mit 13 anderen Berliner Startups die Initiative “Stand up!”. Die Unternehmen wollen eine “Anti-Copycat Revolution” anzetteln und dafür sorgen, dass die deutsche Startup-Szene im Ausland nicht weiter nur mit dem Klonen von US-Ideen assoziiert wird, sondern als innovativ wahrgenommen wird. 6wunderkinder.com [...]
[...] 6Wunderkinder startet zusammen mit 13 anderen Berliner Startups die Initiative “Stand up!”. Die Unternehmen wollen eine “Anti-Copycat Revolution” anzetteln und dafür sorgen, dass die deutsche Startup-Szene im Ausland nicht weiter nur mit dem Klonen von US-Ideen assoziiert wird, sondern als innovativ wahrgenommen wird. 6wunderkinder.com [...]
[...] Founders, STAND UP! Published on August 10, 2011 in contractix. 0 Comments Look at this cool initiative by 6wunderkinder: [...]
[...] & BERLIN Founders STAND UP! The anti-copycat revolution starts now | 6Wunderkinder: People recognize us European founders as great executers, but also for not being very creative at [...]
[...] Founders STAND UP! The anti-copycat revolution starts now | 6Wunderkinder Tools [...]
[...] when I read this announcement about an anti-copycat alliance of Berlin-based startups it made me smile. I had heard the conversations before, but it’s [...]
[...] konzentriert. Facebook, Groupon, Twitter, Airbnb: Alles habe man hierzulande schon geklont, so die beiden Wunderkinder Jessica Erickson und Matthew Bostock. Ihre Erklärungsansätze werden in der deutschen [...]
[...] Gründer vom App-Entwickler 6Wunderkinder gehen einen anderen Weg. In ihrem Blogartikel vor zwei Tagen rufen sie zur Anti-Copy-Cat-Revolution auf. Sie listen in ihrem Beitrag Berliner [...]
[...] world where creativity is everything, however, there has been a backlash against the copycats. In a recent blog post, Berlin-based start-up 6Wunderkinder celebrated what it says is a return to innovation in Berlin and [...]
[...] to see that bookletmobile made it to the awesome “anti-copycat”-campaign” at the 6wunderkinder [...]
[...] bursting at the seams with excitement. We have kept our lips pretty well closed this year, for the usual reasons, but we’ll begin unravelling the secret soon. We truly believe that Wunderkit is something [...]
[...] Valley in die junge Firma einsteigen, die jüngst erst mit einer Anti-Copycat-Intiative auf sich aufmerksam gemacht hatte? 6Wunderkinder-Geschäftsführer Christian Reber hält die Millionenmarke für einen [...]
[...] in die junge Firma einsteigen, die jüngst erst mit einer Anti-Copycat-Intiative auf sich aufmerksam gemacht hatte? 6Wunderkinder-Geschäftsführer Christian Reber hält die Millionenmarke [...]
[...] favourite startup from Berlin, 6Wunderkinder, sparked a small revolution: the anti-copycat revolution! We strongly support this initiative and so do many others – so should [...]
[...] is helping to drive that message forward. Indeed, 6Wunderkinder posted a ‘call to arms’ on its blog earlier this month when it called on fellow startups in the city to ‘Stand up’ and [...]
[...] is helping to drive that message forward. Indeed, 6Wunderkinder posted a ‘call to arms’ on its blog earlier this month when it called on fellow startups in the city to ‘Stand up’ and [...]
[...] is helping to drive that message forward. Indeed, 6Wunderkinder posted a ‘call to arms’ on its blog earlier this month when it called on fellow startups in the city to ‘Stand up’ and [...]
[...] is helping to drive that message forward. Indeed, 6Wunderkinder posted a ‘call to arms’ on its blog earlier this month when it called on fellow startups in the city to ‘Stand up’ and [...]
[...] design is helping to drive that message forward. Indeed, 6Wunderkinder posted a ‘call to arms’ on its blog earlier this month when it called on fellow startups in the city to ‘Stand up’ and declared [...]
[...] [...]
[...] sondern ein Mittelständler. Jüngst taten sich eine Reihe der Hauptstadt-Gründer zusammen und riefen auf, endlich gegen das Vorurteil “Alle nur Copycats” vorzugehen. Doch nicht nur in Berlin tut sich Spannendes. Ibo Evsan mit seinem Fliplife bekommt wenigstens ein [...]
[...] [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“.Thus, last Thursday night this week the annual Moo party – a fixture on the London [...]
[...] off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“.Thus, last Thursday night this week the annual Moo party – a fixture on the London scene – [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is cheap to live and work in, has a natural affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are rich engineering talent pools), and has an increasing international scene of technology founders. It’s also throwing off its shackles as a clone factory, something evidenced by the recent declaration of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] With our Editor-in-Chief on holiday we know we’ve been a bit sparse recently on the news front here in the Allee. Forgive us. To keep you entertained and talking until our next big story, we’re re-publishing an editorial from our dear friends Jess Erickson and Matthew Bostock at 6Wunderkinder as we think it’s a poignant topic of discussion. You can read the full text and list of innovative Berlin startups on their blog. [...]
[...] is helping to drive that message forward. Indeed, 6Wunderkinder posted a ‘call to arms’ on its blog earlier this month when it called on fellow startups in the city to ‘Stand up’ and [...]
[...] Berlin, meanwhile, is inexpensive to live and work in, has a healthy affinity for attracting talent from all over Europe (especially Central and East where there are abounding engineering talent pools), and has an augmenting general stage of record founders. It’s also throwing off a shackles as a counterpart factory, something evidenced by a new stipulation of an “anti-copycat revolution“. [...]
[...] Going on at the same time was the brand new Advance Conference. There I chaired panels on VC (video) and the clone phenomenon in Europe. I think we all came away with the feeling that Europe is ready to let loose its innovation now. We’ve had it with the cloners, as evidenced by the recent declaration by 6wunderkinder, a prominent Berlin startup, against clones. [...]
[...] Going on at the same time was the brand new Advance Conference. There I chaired panels on VC (video) and the clone phenomenon in Europe. I think we all came away with the feeling that Europe is ready to let loose its innovation now. We’ve had it with the cloners, as evidenced by the recent declaration by 6wunderkinder, a prominent Berlin startup, against clones. [...]
[...] Going on at the same time was the brand new Advance Conference. There I chaired panels on VC (video) and the clone phenomenon in Europe. I think we all came away with the feeling that Europe is ready to let loose its innovation now. We’ve had it with the cloners, as evidenced by the recent declaration by 6wunderkinder, a prominent Berlin startup, against clones. [...]
[...] primär Copycats und wenig eigene Innovation hervorzubringen (was glücklicherweise im Jahr 2011 keine Gültigkeit mehr hat).Der Blick auf das Phänomen Samwer erfordert die Abkehr von einer Schwarz-Weiß-Sicht.Einerseits [...]
[...] “Krach in [der] Berliner Gründerszene”. Ein Disput soll aufgrund eines Aufrufs zur “anti-copycat revolution” entstanden sein: es geht dabei um die (nicht neue) Debatte, ob in der Digitalen Wirtschaft in [...]
[...] Christian Reber angestoßen haben. In einem Beitrag aus dem August rief er die “Anti-Copycat-Bewegung” aus und nannte einen Reigen an Berliner Startups von Wooga bis Soundcloud, die es angeblich besser [...]
[...] gemacht, internationale Multiplikatoren und Tech-Journalisten angesprochen und nicht zuletzt mit ihrem Aufruf für eine Anti-Copycat-Revolution für viel Wirbel gesorgt.Auch regelmäßige Top-Positionierungen in den App Store Charts sowie [...]
[...] die lokale Startups-Szene ja selbst. Zum Beispiel als die 6Wunderkinder vor rund einem Monat den Wunderbefreiungsschlag in Kleinbloggersdorf anzettelten: Man wolle ja auch mal darauf hinweisen, dass man originär [...]
[...] the European market. But observers say creative leadership is now on the rise, with impassioned “anti-copycat manifestos” helping to guide the [...]
[...] als Landesgewinner auszuwählen. Seitdem habe ich den 6Wunderkindern aus dem Deutschen mobile Startup Cluster Berlin mit Ihrer Produktivtätsplattform Wunderlist die Daumen [...]
[...] Reber, CEO der 6Wunderkinder, hat in seinem Unternehmensblog zu einer Anti-Copycat Initiative aufgerufen, wovon sich Lukasz Gadowski gehörig auf den Schlips getreten fühlt und sich [...]
[...] i Berlin traži svoje mjesto. Pokušavaju se odmaknuti od kopiranja tuđih ideja i vratiti se inovativnim startupima. London je oduvijek centar za mnogo toga u financijama, pa je tamo smješten i po mom, ali i [...]