Life is a funny thing. You never know where it will take you. I realized something. I am over something. Something I thought it would take me a long time to come over and it did…

Right now I am sitting and enjoying an afternoon coffee listening to Annie Lennox - “Into the West”, the end song of the third and last part of Lord of the Rings. I cannot help thinking back on a year that has changed my life tremendously. A friend asked me how my year has been so far and I tried to summarize it, but probably did not make it justice. I think it is hard to summarize the year in any fair manner as there are so many episodes, events and meetings that has built it up. The year of 2007 is one of the most impactful years in my life. I have learned a lot of myself - both strengths and weaknesses.

This year has very much been woven up by seeking answers - either in business or personal as for what I wanted to do. The summer as probably one of the most experiences of my life time. It was a big roller-coaster ride in any possible way. Very intense indeed.

I remember one turning point. I think it was late August and I was taking a long walk listening to music and ended up sitting at a bench at Stanford Campus looking at the stars. Thinking of what made sense to do. Or how to go there. I made the decision there under the stars. Since then I have stayed honest to that decision. What the decision was I will leave out but I believe I made the right choice. Time will tell.

After a few days with less intense work at the end of 2007, I have gotten some perspective over things and I believe I know how I would like to take on this new year and what I would like to do.

I look with anticipation and comfort to the year of 2008.

“What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home”

I woke up this morning with around 10 missed calls, 15 SMSs and a truck load of emails about the tragic death and assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan earlier today Pacific Time. I cannot say I know so much about Pakistani politics, but I do believe that violence is not the right way to go and that it never has been. We need to as a global society understand that only through dialogue we will be able to sustainable move forward into the future.

Too many global issues we have at hand - global warming, the war on terror, the global economy - are now being controlled and their solutions are being directed by a smaller number of people trying to obscure the path to the future. I have said this before that it is not a political statement but a human statement for the future. We all need to realize that the only sustainable way to walk into the future is to start to shape a global society and thereafter behave as such. This is truly not an original thought. Does United Nations and European Union ring a bell? The difference however is that we today via technology can build these borderless friendships if we only learn to embrace our differences and realize that we are very similar when it comes to it. When it comes down to it we want to live a peaceful life, work, eat, have kids sleep and most of all be with friends and family without feeling threatened. This is so simple.

Events such as the assassination of Benazir Bhutto makes me sad not only because of the death of a person, with significance whether you liked the political agenda of her or not, but it also makes me angry because we are letting the bad elements of this world to control and to some extent shape our future. Why do we let them? It shouldn’t be that way. It can change. Call me naive, but I will continue to believe this is the right way.

A friend said it so well: “Sitting here catching up in a pine and aspen grove on the slopes of the Jackson Hole ski resort. Bhutto’s death seems so far away, and so discouraging…”

I agree…

Sitting in the comfortable environment in Palo Alto is also a bit strange as you think back on what is happening around the world right now. However we should all try to find our role here and see how we should influence the future. I believe my role is here now.

Personally and all my friends knows this, I am such a profound believer of the open dialogue and the true freedom of speech. The first step is to embrace the differences with your enemy but you should also always, always look into yourself what you can do, what your part of the issue is. We are all part of a global society and we should start to realize that. Call it butter fly effect, the “pass it forward”-effect, but all our actions have some effect and the best way is to start to reflecting on how our behavior influences other people and if we have the right to do so. When it comes to violence I believe this is such an easy answer - violence never work.

In order for us to move forward here we need a global dialogue between all the world’s citizens about every issues - huge, small, big or just the average everyday issue we face. This is how we will progress as a society and this is what I sincerely believe we can do at http://www.allvoices.com.

Therefore, please help me spread the word as a sincerely believe the only way to move beyond this endless violence is to promote dialogue between citizens across the globe. The future lies in the unedited dialogue between the citizens of the world so let us start this dialogue now.

Very much as I did for the events in Lebanon last summer I thought it would be good to get people around the world and in particular in Pakistan to share their views about what is happening there after the assassination of Bhutto. Please spread the word about the pages below where anyone can contribute their opinions, ask questions or just let the world know how you feel. We will not edit any content at the site so everything is unedited. It is a free, unedited, unmediated forum for everyone to give their side of the story and to tell the rest of the world about events that matter. If you choose to contribute via cellphone (SMS, MMS and email) use the following numbers: +45-609-91-0280; +61-427-22-9537; mms@allvoices.com (for images).

Here is the event page for the tragic death of Benazir where you will find news stories, blogs, first hand accounts, videos and images about the assassination showing you all the angles of the event, please give us yours.
http://www.allvoices.com/benazir-bhutto-is-dead

A page with any content related to Benazir Bhutto including other parts she was part of. Let us know what your feelings are about her and her work.
http://www.allvoices.com/people/Benazir-Bhutto

(A more general presentation of allvoices is found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAM1y_Qb9Do )

Lately I have been thinking of what forms the personality of a person. I daily meet people and I am constantly amazed by the diversity of peoples minds and their characteristics. I am also amazed how many people I meet who are totally unaware of their personality and how much it influences their behavior in different situations. My oldest brother once told me that the most important thing is to always look into yourself and see what part you played in any event. This is most likely the hardest thing to do as you have to face yourself. Your fears, your shortcomings, but also your talents and greatnesses about you. (I remember a song from a song group from Uppsala, Sweden called ViBaFemBa called Slutstrid (i.e. The Final Battle) that very much tells this story.) Many people do not get this at all and are suck in chasing the answer outside themselves. I understand why, but yet don’t.

What I have grown to realize is that we should always stay honest to who we are, and what we have become. We should always learn from what we face in life but we are who we are.

A good friend gave me a book with a collection of chronicles of Hans Bergstrom, the former editor-in-chief at Dagens Nyheter - one of the biggest daily morning news papers in Sweden. I read several of the chronicles and one struck me as very on point about where the web, media and the world is heading. He wrote it around 99’ and mentioned that it is as important to write as it is to read.

I started to write this blog Sunday evening, but didn’t get far as things got in the middle. I am however glad they did as it will now get I a slightly different touch.

Hans Bergstrom is right in a way, and wrong in another. What he is right about is that we all have a right to speak our mind and opinion. (User generated media is giving a majority of the internet population the right tools to express themselves, yet we have a long way to go when it comes to organizing this material.) Back to the points by Hans Bergstrom. However I would still claim that the most important thing is to listen, rather than to express your opinion or proclaim your excellence. Some of my Swedish friends will now say. “Erik, you are talking about the law of Jante, and that is something we all are not that fond of.” I am not sure though that it is purely a bad thing. I do think it is over-exaggerated in Sweden though.

The same good friend and also mentor who gave me the book said the very obvious to me last year when we worked together: “The most difficult thing is to listen.” It may seem like a very trivial task but most people only hear or read what they want to. The importance of this becomes more important as your responsibility and need for leadership grow.

I usually recall that moment often these days mainly as part of my work.

The hardest thing is to listen. To really listen. Wise words.

In a way I wonder why, and in a way I understand completely why. What amazes me is that it seems to me that people who claim to feel for others and would like to get their voices heard have a hard time to really listen. Or maybe it is me who is not really listening here. I guess it is as simple as the more you care about something, the harder it is to really see that thing in different lights, in the “true” lights, whatever “true” lights means.

The most important thing is to learn to listen and probably also when not to listen. Interesting enough this is a very important element in all stages of creating social media.

It has been almost two months since I blogged here. It has been an intense period and the last month and a half has felt like a lifetime. Anyhow, everything is great here and the weather is great for rollerblading. Yesterday after a smashing win over Johan in tennis (yet with a healing injury in my right arm), I, Johan and Georges went up in the surrounding hills and rollerbladed for two hours. We did a quick stop at Alpine Inn (more commonly known here as Zotts) for a diet coke in the sun, and then we headed back to Palo Alto. To summarize, a huge load of work, but life is really good.

… the tough get going. It seems as if that is the mantra of the day or more of the year. It is rolling up your sleeves time. It is crunch time. Pick your favorite line. Things are moving. Things are moving fast now. Things are moving somewhere. Let us see where they are moving…

I wrote a piece describing the Silicon Valley and the secret behind its success recently. I have appended the text below.

You are right now in the heart of an area, once called “The Valley of Heart’s Delight”, today better known as the Silicon Valley. Few locations have this veil of mystery. What is the secret behind the success and the ability to rejuvenate itself? Many have tried to analyze the ecosystem of the Valley and certain key factors can probably be found. The mixture of companies of different size, together with the presence of one of the best universities in the world, is fundamental. It has been described as “a regional network-based industrial system that promotes learning and flexible adjustment among specialist producers of a complex of related technologies” in contrast to the situation often found in Europe or, for example in the Boston Area, where regions are dominated by a small number of fully integrated, but independent corporations.

The Silicon Valley mixture of large companies, such as Google, Yahoo, Intel and Cisco, with small and medium sized start-ups enables both people and knowledge to easily flow between the different companies. Various events, seminars, conferences, workshops or just a cup of coffee in the sunshine all lead to an effective technology transfer and exchange of knowledge. Competition and collaboration coexist, creating strong personal connections between the people.

Collaboration, both informal and more formalized, is certainly a key factor to the mystery. The constant exchange of ideas, revolutionary new concepts, brainstorming, competing, challenging each other, all contribute to creating the vital energetic heart beat of the Valley. It is therefore not surprising that the new social media, often referred to as Web 2.0, is thriving here in the Valley, while having some trouble with acceptance in other parts of the world. A vital element of the social media is the interaction between the users. Phenomena such as YouTube, MySpace, and Wikipedia are significant signs of the social media really appealing to the users. Social media is about personal connections between individuals and harnessing those connections to take advantage of the collective knowledge of the community.

The idea of collaboration and organic network building are, however, not new in Sweden either. The so called “dinner teams” in the student organizations called “Nations” in Uppsala in the early and middle part of last century nurtured and created personal relationships across the academic disciplines discussions during breakfast, lunch and dinner. The social gatherings at the Nations in Uppsala have always been significant network building activities. Other social networks such as Juvenalorden, Orphei Drängar and Royal Society of Science have also had importance. On the national level, the traditional scientific societies and academies such as the Royal Academy of Science and Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences have acted as a social media. The national networks have predominantly been focused on connecting established individuals. Newly formed social networks, such as the elite student network Nova100, connect students early on in their studies and careers. These personal connections are further strengthened by social media and networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

The concept of building on friendship and collaboration as a means to create more powerful entities together is certainly well-known through history. The formation of the United Nations came out of the political chaos after the World Wars, and the European Union has its roots in the political tension between France and Germany. The main differences today are the bottom-up approach and the connections between individuals regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, cultural or social background are constantly growing with the help of modern technology. The New York Times columnist and author Thomas L. Friedman spoke about this in his book “The World is Flat”. Combining the bottom-up approach with dynamic, organic and flexible yet firm leadership is definitely the future and is very much dominating in the Valley today. The hierarchies are there, yet democratic. They are organic, yet structured. They are dynamic, yet static.

The (free) exchange of ideas has been shown to be very important for the economical growth. Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor Paul Romer, who developed The New Growth Theory, explains it as:

“Perhaps the most important ideas of all are meta-ideas. These are ideas about how to support the production and transmission of other ideas.”

The unique social ecosystem combined with well-experienced and risk-taking (or perhaps somewhat risk-taking) investors make innovation thrive and flourish. Additionally, the number of people in the Valley having experienced the technology transfer process as well as the startup business world is much larger than elsewhere. Therefore anyone in the Valley - both established individuals and newcomers - can always find mentors to guide them. The importance of mentorship is also a key element in education. At American universities, each student gets assigned a counselor, mentor, to assist in selecting courses and other study related matters.

The importance of the mentality of the people living in the Valley cannot be over-exaggerated. The first new inhabitants of California (besides the Native American Indians) were men and women, stubbornly crossing the Rocky Mountains and enduring great hardships to find a new frontier. Their dedication is nothing else than remarkable and truly amazing. “I will get there, and I will build my own future…” Do and create the impossible. Do it yourself. Do not wait for anyone else to do it for you. They all believe in the impossible and always break new ground.

The role of Stanford University in the Valley is central. The former Dean of the School of Engineering at Stanford University, James F. Gibbons, brought forward one of the more commonly used explanations on Stanford’s role in the Valley, which is “transferring technology from its laboratories to commercial companies.” However, it is not necessarily restricted to the technology transfer office at the university, but rooted in the openness of the university. The close connection between the university and the outside of the university is often forgotten as a factor in the technology transfer, especially since many startups are brainchildren of students, researchers, and other faculty members of Stanford University. Many faculty members are advisors to high-tech startups in the Valley and it is very common that Stanford students work on startups in parallel to their studies.

Looking back Stanford University has been very active in creating what is now known as Silicon Valley. Many, who were transferred to California during the World War II, stayed on when the war ended, and a mass unemployment resulted. Professor Fred Terman encouraged his PhD students Bill Hewlett and David Packard to start a new business, and the rest is history. The birth of Hewlett Packard is historically important and also shows the importance of Stanford University on the ecosystem of the Valley.

A university is about curiosity, seeking answers, and questioning. This freedom of inquiry is an always present element in the daily life at Stanford University. Professor Emeritus in Physical Chemistry Lars-Olof Sundelof of Uppsala University in a speech once described the role of the university to be analogous to a shipyard. The shipyard can only build the ship, but the ship itself sails the oceans. The better preparations of the ship by the shipyard, the better it will manage the ocean (especially the storms). The university should prepare the students for their future and the future challenges they will face. It cannot nor should it dictate the future of the students. The students should make their own future. The students should however learn how to build their future. The students should learn to be curious, to seek answers, to be creative and to trust themselves.

It is important to produce results in various forms and results are certainly important in the Valley. It is about moving forward, evolving as individuals, and always trying to improve the research or product in the unalterable dance towards perfection. The iteration from simple models or prototypes to fully developed models or products, with the help of end audience and customers, has been formalized into the concept of iterative prototyping and other innovation frameworks. Fundamentally it is only about tailing the right solution for the end audience with its assistance. Social media solutions such as Wikipedia and Digg are good examples of using the community to build and form the right solution. Last year a new school with focus on design was founded at Stanford University – the Stanford d-School - which focuses on making the innovation process more efficient and provides courses on the innovation process and innovation frameworks.

Looking at the nature of the Valley and the role of Stanford University in it, it is also clear that any university plays an essential role in the growth of the society as well as in economical growth. What makes the Valley unique may not be the mentality of people in the Valley but the energy of the Valley surely is. It is inspiring and needs to be experienced. It is the thrill of innovation, curiosity, and people. It is the travel down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.

I read this at Roughtype. I get scared. This is not at all where I do believe we should go. I remember a Donald Duck cartoon on the same subject. Conclusion there is that it makes us dumb and even though it sounds pretty stupid I agree with that conclusion. It is stupid. I prefer to make my own decisions. Have we really become this lame that we need someone else and even a search engine/technology to make our own daily decisions? Yikes… Personally I have no idea nor understanding why that should be the case. Pathetic and scary…

You will find more on this amazing quote by Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt in this Financial Times article -  Google’s goal to organize your daily life.

It makes me shiver…

I have spoken to a lot of people here in the valley who claimed that didn’t need scaling solutions early on. I have consistently said that it is important to think about scale from the beginning, not count on that it get solved down the line. Twitter is a nice concept but it is ultimately killing your earned traffic when your site has downtimes and unaccessible API:s. The downtimes due to bad architectural choices such as choosing Ruby on Rails (with known database scaling issues) have been too many and people are migrating over to a competitor Jaiku, which is more stable with less features though.

I cannot understand anyone who doesn’t think about scale for a business proposal from the beginning, especially when it comes to community/social media sites. Whoever claims to build the community without any scale in the backend from the beginning knows very little about the impact poor scale - for instance slow page loads, frequent downtimes - can have on your community. You might actually end up destroying your community totally.

Lesson learnt: Build for scale from the beginning or at least with scale in mind from the beginning and you will not have the headache. Both entreprenurs and venture capitalists should start to realize that.

Did  I mention I think Twitter is over-hyped?!