blogging.vc

Want to put your startup on the map? Here’s your chance: The two fantastic students working for me (they did all the real work!) decided that my idea of mapping start-ups in flickrvision.com-style could be some fun so we threw a few hours of work at it and here’s the result: www.startupvergnuegen.com

What’s it for?

Some fun: just watch in what places start-ups are popping up. It used to be all Silicon Valley maybe…but not anymore! Go ahead and fill in your company, and this could become a good place for finding out companies in your area that you might not have heard of, figuring out interesting employers if you are moving somewhere or what not….

Who should be on it?

No firm rules so far. We figured it’d be great to have start-ups (surprise, surprise), but also angel and VC investors or other people who frequently deal with start-ups would be a good fit.

Who is behind it?

The folks at BV Capital and notably our part timers Michael Bumann (who did the coding) and Benjamin Wittorf (logo and some other stuff).

Where does the name come from?

The German word “Vergnuegen” (or “Vergnügen” with the correct Umlaut)means amusement, delight. And after all, “Fahrvergnuegen” is a word that Volkswagen firmly established in the US with an advertising campaign ca.1990 (check out ad1 and ad2). So hey, why not use this for a site that’s a little fun and was engineered in Germany?

So why does a VC do this?

No, we don’t think this will become a venture investment opportunity. No, we didn’t put millions into this. We get asked very often which intersting companies are in a particular sector or geographic area, and that is how the idea came up. And thanks to Google maps it was not too hard to implement…

How should I use it?

Don’t be ridiculous…

Ok, now please go over to startupvergnuegen.com and enter YOUR name and location! Thanks!