It was April 2006 when Fon signed its first international agreement with a fantastic telco, Neuf Cegetel. At the time, that relationship gave Fon a huge qualitative and quantitative jump forward: on the one hand, it accelerated Fon’s growth like we never imagined, on the other hand, it proved we were a suitable partner for telcos, creating value for them and their customers.
Since then Fon has come a long way. We have built a global WiFi network and partnered with some of the leading telcos of the world. Neuf also changed. When SFR acquired Neuf, it became part of one of the largest integrated telcos in Europe. Fon WiFi continued to be a priority for SFR’s integrated fixed mobile strategy, and SFR customers could easily join Fon by activating it on their CPE.
Now, after many years of a fruitful partnership, SFR-Fon has further expanded its relationship. In order to enjoy the benefits of free access to Fon’s global WiFi network, all SFR broadband customers are now part of the Fon community. They get free and unlimited access to the global Fon network and in turn share a bit of unused WiFi with the Fon community.
With over 3M hotspots, the SFR WiFi Fon coverage in France is impressive. If you are a Fonero and happen to be on vacation in France, look for the “SFR WiFi Fon” signal – you will find it almost everywhere. (Note: We still need to update our maps to reflect all SFR-Fon Spots.)
In total, we now have almost 12M Fon hotspots around the world! Stay tuned for more to come!
2013 5
On How I Gave Up On Music Piracy
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Internet & Technology with
It has been quite a while since I stopped downloading music. It’s not that I was afraid of getting caught for illegal downloads– in Spain, internet piracy is not a criminal offense. Instead, I gave up on downloading music, even in a country with few penalties for doing so, because cloud services are just better.
Downloading an mp3, whether legally or illegally, is slow, boring and expensive. Slow because it takes time to find a specific song, download it and then sync the songs with whatever device you want to use. Boring because the process (of downloading and paying) is tedious. And expensive because even though you don’t pay for the download, paying for CDs, hard drives or any other file-storage devices ends up being more expensive than any of the options in the table included above.
Listening to music from the cloud is the most recent trend in the world of online audio. That’s because it is fast, fun and cheap. You don’t have to wait to listen to what you want, be it online or downloaded onto your device via offline mode. It’s fun because cloud music has a social aspect in that you can see what your friends are listening to, get recommendations, read lyrics at the same time you are listening to the music and much more. And cheap because the prices, due to the high level of competition, is far lower than any external hard drive to store mp3s.
Pandora is the service with the most users – currently at 70 million. Behind them are iHeartRadio (48 million), TuneIn (40 million) and Deezer (30 million). It’s also worth noting the strength of premium memberships in Spotify: their 6 million premium subscribers make up roughly 30% of their total number of subscribers, making Spotify stand out among the rest.
All of the services I included in the table have a free version, and their restrictions are often the same: ads, a limited amount of song “skips”, lower audio quality, or limited amount of free listening time.
It’s in the paid versions where you notice important differences. The new iTunes Radio seems to be the best deal: for $25 per year it offers music without limits or ads. Pandora offers the same for $36 a year. For monthly subscriptions, the prices are quite similar. The cheapest is Pandora, which for $4 gives the best quality music without ads. Behind them is Spotify, which for $5 provides music without ads but without a mobile option. Monthly unlimited plans, for all devices and with no ads, do not drop below $10 in any of the platforms.
The size of the iTunes Radio music catalogue is still unknown, making the 30 million tracks available in Xbox Music the most attractive in terms of music variety. Pandora’s library is quite poor in comparison, with only 1 million songs.
Sound quality is surprisingly variable among the services, and many of the platforms don’t make this information public. Among those that do, Google, Spotify and Deezer claim the highest bit rate at up to 320kbps.
Another aspect worthy of noting is that of availability. The majority of the platforms analyzed are accessible to anyone, anywhere. Only Pandora, Slacker and iHeartRadio limit access – they are only available in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Lastly, I took a look at the apps that each service provides. With our world becoming increasingly more mobile, most people only listen to music from their mobile device. Therefore my opinion is that any good music service should be available for all operating systems. Among the services I analyzed, Pandora, Spotify, Slacker and iHeartRadio can be found on all operating systems whereas iTunes Radio will only be available for iPhone users, Xbox Music can only be obtained through Windows Phone, and Google Play is only available for Android.
I personally prefer Spotify: it’s got great sound quality, an ample music library and apps that improve the user’s listening experience. For copyright-free music and DJ remixes I tune into SoundCloud.
My friend Marco Boerries, one of the participants of Founders Forum Menorca TechTalk this weekend, has just shared with me the great news that he has recieved $38m in Series A financing for his project NumberFour from some of the smartest investors in the world many of whom are also my investors in Fon. This include Index Ventures, Allen&Co and T-Ventures among others. The partner at Index who is in charge of the investment is Mike Volpi, one of the only VCs I know who combines tremendous corporate experience from his decade at Cisco with investment acumen. $38m for a Series A round of a product that is not yet out is very impressive and shows the trust that Marco has generated among his investors.
The idea behind NumberFour can be summarize as a software package that levels the playing field between the the little guy (SMEs) and the big corporations. A platform that provides productivity, communication, sales, production, procurement, delivery, reservation and financial tools for offline and online SMEs. With lots of big companies participating in a large number of sectors, being competitive and successful is increasingly more difficult for small businesses. The goal of NumberFour is to put them on equal footing with large enterprises by building a business platform paired with a collection of apps that run on smartphones, tablets and personal computers. While a lot of companies have tried to crack this field, Marco Boerries background as the founder of Star Office sold to Sun Microsystems a decade ago makes him uniquely qualified to come up with a winning product. The company is called NumberFour because it is Marco’s fourth start up. The product is not public but many friends of mine have seen it, including of course the ones who invested with Marco and are all extremely impressed.
2013 24
Coworking spaces, prepare your start up in Menorca
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Entrepreneurship with
I find inspiration every time I visit Menorca. So about a year ago, I began working on an idea I called “MenorcaTech” to create a workspace in a beautiful environment for entrepreneurs from all over the world to work from. Fortunately, the idea spread throughout the island, and several coworking projects have been growing and solidifying over the last few months.
For this reason I have decided that instead of starting from scratch and opening a coworking space in Menorca, the most productive thing to do would be to give my support to a few incredible teams that are already making coworking in Menorca a reality.
In that spirit, I would like to introduce the entrepreneurs of Menorca, the Baleares, Spain, Europe, and the world to these three projects:
1. El Plato de Joves Empresaris: Carmen Crespo is the founder of this coworking site in Mahón (the island’s capital). There is a very positive attitude in the space that invites creativity and is fundamental to networking. They also organize innovative events every week so that all of the entrepreneurs who work there can learn or simply interact with one another.
2. CAEB Menorca: Founded by Josep Fortuny, the space is located in the coveted area of central Mahón with spectacular views of the port. Another attraction is that the site is linked with ParcBit in Palma de Mallorca, and members of this space in Mahón enjoys the ample benefits that a entrepreneur would have at ParcBit. To complement the sleek and modern design of the space, premium materials from a trusted marble distributor add a refined, professional touch throughout the interior. To complement your office’s modern design with something classic, you may use a vintage rug.
3. Coworking Mercadal: This project is still under development but has a lot of potential. The force behind it is Xisco Ametller, the mayor of Mercadal. The most impressive aspect of this project are the incredible facilities that the town has to offer entrepreneurs. There are conference rooms with the newest technology, convention centers and even the possibility of working every once in a while from the Faro de Cavalleria, with one of the most amazing views overlooking the sea.
Now I plan to turn my focus to creating “roaming” agreements between these and other coworking spaces in Europe and the USA. The idea is that international entrepreneurs can move freely between these centers and work from Menorca. Imagine you are a start up in London say, and you have raised some fund from angel investors or VCs, and you are a small team that needs to focus on product. What I can tell you is that 4 months of runway in London become 8 months of runway in Menorca, and you have an inspirational setting that is priceless. Rents are very very low compared to big city rentals and there are daily flights to London and many other European cities for around €200 R/T. And this is part of a bigger idea which is that there should be roaming among all co working spaces and settlements among owners because many start ups require travel and just like Fon you share at home and roam the world for free I think if you pay for one co working space that you leave free when you travel for someone else to use you should have your space free elsewhere.
If you know of a co working space that would like to roam in Menorca so start up entrepreneurs can work there or if you are an entrepreneur looking to spend weeks or months in Menorca please write to paula@jazzya.com.
2013 23
Another reason to teach your children well
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in General with
Today we had great conversations with my 18 year-old son Tom who studies physics at Imperial. It was great to have him over at our home in Madrid for many reasons, but I will focus on one: yes, there is a “payback” time educating your children, and that is when they educate you back. This afternoon I learned a lot from Tom. We spoke about using ultrasound to charge gadgets wirelessly vs using magnetic induction, we had a debate about how sunblock works, Tom told me about a simulation built on Python using object oriented programming of a diamond that receives different beams of light that a classmate did. And this week I also learned a lot about Aura the company that Isabella is working at this summer, and the fascinating work she is doing in biotechnology using viral envelopes to treat cancer. And recently I learned a great deal from my eldest daughter Alexa, who graduated from Columbia and now works in technology and has her first start up, Modabound. While she is in a field much closer to mine I still learn from her because of her academic approach to things, like she went to General Assembly to study programming, something I still have not done. And she has an amazing eye for product so I informally consult with her on a great new product that we are developing at Fon.
So as you help your young kids with homework remember that there is a time when you will learn from them, learn a lot, learn with pleasure, learn back. As I expand my universe listening to my older kids I wonder what my little ones Leo, Mia and David will teach me in the future. Because while it is true that the future belongs to your children, together with them, a part of that great future, will also be yours to enjoy.
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2013 16
Europe? USA? I can’t decide!
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in General with
After a childhood in Argentina I have spent most of my life alternating between the USA and Europe. And for good reason. Both are incredible places to live in. But I just can’t choose one over the other.
Europe for our family means a Madrid base, with a lot of London/Menorca and some Paris, Berlin, and sailing the wonderful Mediterranean Sea. The USA means a NYC base with a lot of Miami and East Hampton and some Bay Area. Because of our 3 young children our Atlantic crossings are limited. I would say we can cross “the pond” at most 4 times a year. The crossings are hard because of flying with a 6 year-old a 2 year-old and now a 3 month-old, and also because US immigration is becoming just horrible. To stand in cattle-like lines for 90 minutes after flying 9 hours is tough for a family. Global Entry does not work for children and babies in a family that is a mix of US and non US citizens including Spanish for which there is no Global Entry. Also because of the type of family we are, we like to be together and I can’t spend more than a week away from my loved ones. I just miss them too much. So we travel together and that makes it hard.
My professional life is mainly running Fon, doing angel investments, and teaching entrepreneurship at great universities. Fon is Madrid-based where we have a great team. We now have a phenomenal NY team as well, but much smaller and for engineering resources Spain is now more competitive. So we design in NYC and build in Spain. Now for angel investments (e.g. my recent Tumblr exit) and teaching both at Columbia and NYU it is better to be in the USA. In Europe however I teach at IE which is also a good choice and I have had another “billion plus” exit in Spain in Eolia where I was a blend of co founder and angel. So all aspects of my professional life can be pursued on both sides of the ocean really with some being temporarily better on one side or the other. It is surprising for many Americans to learn that with all its problems, the GDP of Europe is still considerably larger than that of the USA.
So the race is so close that the last 12 months we spent around 9 in the USA and 3 in Europe. The next ones the proportion will be reversed. We alternate which is not hard because we have homes in NYC, Miami, Sagaponack, Paris, London, Madrid and Menorca. Some consider this a sign of instability but for us it is our life. We find hotels tough with little children and in each home we have what we need.
And then there’s the issue of where is it that children grow up to be better people and here the answer is also split. In my view Europe is better for young children and the USA mostly beats Europe after high school. In general I think the USA has an awesome over 18 culture. What I mean here is that I prefer my children to grow up in Europe and then go to college in the USA as two of my older kids have done. On average I like European values of solidarity and camaraderie better at a young age. I admire European culture and what it does to young children’s vision of society. There is much more emphasis on cooperation than competition. As far as I am concerned it is fine if extreme ambition develops later in life but not at the toddler stage! Competing to get your children in a rat race that starts at 2 (getting into NYC private schools and so on) is not ideal, at least not for our family. And in the USA there is also extreme competition of parents through their children. But when kids are older I love what American ambition can do to motivate them to create, to build, to succeed.
We have also given thought to spending more time in London, where my son Tom goes to Imperial College. If you are in love with US culture and Europe then London is probably the best “in between” choice. London is a kinder version of NYC. A top financial, advertising, some tech center but where people are more “civilized”. What has stopped us from moving there is the weather. The outdoors plays a big part in my life and the 300 days of rain compared to the 70 days of rain say of Madrid, make London a tough choice for our family. Madrid is phenomenal weather wise. Four seasons and yet mostly sunny.
As you can see I can’t strongly favor one side of the Atlantic or the other. More than pros and cons I see pros and pros. I love Europe, I love the USA! I can say that in my view these geographies are better overall than any other part of the planet, at least for us. Certainly better than Latin America where I grew up. I find the cultural and geographic isolation, crime, corruption, and economic inequities of Latin America hard to cope with. Argentina, where I lived as a child, is a beautiful country but it can also be brutal, back stabbing country that has had tremendous political and economic instability. As far as Africa and Asia, Australia, well they are just not a choice for our family. China is fascinating yet extremely polluted and hardly a nice place to live.
Pity the Atlantic Ocean is not narrower, the Concorde that I used to fly was amazing but as proof that not all progress is forward, it is now out of service. It was amazing to cross the ocean in 3 and a half hours! Now it’s back to 7 to 10, and we continue doing it because we love both sides.
I am an amateur photographer. I like to post my photos on Flickr and enjoy sharing photo series here on the blog. So as someone who loves this art form, I’m happy to share a unique photography project started by my good friend Daniela Hinrichs.
After many years of experience working in the Internet sector, Daniela has launched a new online project called DEAR Photography, a showcase of hand-picked artists and their works, which are available as unique prints, exclusive and limited editions.
Artists and clients will be able to contact each other directly through DEAR. Artists who are granted access to the platform to broker their works receive 70% of the proceeds from sales, rather than the 50% typical for the industry.
What’s more, the service provides an augmented reality app to see the artwork on your own walls.
The project is based on photography only because, according to Daniela, “photography will be the next trend. Painting has been a much-valued art form for centuries. Photography on the other hand is still bursting with untapped potential”.
2013 26
Why I invested in SmartThings
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Investments with
A few months ago I decided to invest in SmartThings, a company that allows users to control everything surrounding them in their life on their smartphone. Lights, air conditioning, even your house’s security system. What makes SmartThings so great is not only that you can connect with these devices, but you can connect them to each other using real world apps. SmartThings creates a service out of all of your existing hardware, which is something I love and is very much in line with the Hardware as a service line that we pursue at Fon. The Fonera was created not only as an device to share WiFi, but also to make your WiFi signal more functional, more useful for the user because it allows you not only to connect to WiFi at home, but all over the world.
We are moving towards a more connected world, towards a world where technology will let us automate our day to day to a greater degree. A future where our devices will “speak” to each other to resolve our needs. Wired magazine recently reported on the phenomenon. They called SmartThings the pioneer of the field, and explained the three stages that we’ll eventually pass through to reach this “programmable world”. The first: transforming everyday objects into intelligent ones, the phase we are in now in which you hardly find products that don’t offer internet connection or synchronization with other devices. The second: connecting these objects together and allowing them to “converse” with one another, which is what SmartThings is already attempting to accomplish by connecting smartphones to an array of objects such as A/C and lights fixtures. The third and last phase is the most futuristic: building apps based on this connectivity and having them linked to available outside data, to predict, say, weather patterns and lower your A/C accordingly.
SmartThings tackles all three phases in different ways, from a chip that can be put into almost any electronic device allowing control through the mobile app, to an app development platform and store allowing anyone to create, buy, and sell apps that connect your devices. In the end it’s about seeing hardware come to life and perform a service that makes our life better, more streamlined and more connected.
Facebook is not at war with Google as both companies would like to think. It is really suffering more from guerrilla attacks from a set of small players that hit Facebook one functionality at a time. WhatsApp, Snapchat, Twitter, Quora, Path, Tango, Tumblr, Pinterest, Viber, Voxer, LinkedIn and even its own Instagram all chip away from Facebook. It’s the club of companies that are better than Facebook “at something” . And Facebook’s attempt to bury them all with a Facebook phone didn’t work out. Facebook has a billion users but these are many of the same users who more and more prefer the specialty formats of other platforms. While in Smartphones themselves the battle may be only between iPhone 5 vs Samsung IV, when it comes to apps people are much more picky. Facebook is losing dominance by the week to focused niche players.
For most people Facebook Swiss Knife approach is good, but given a choice, a tool set is better. What is Facebook to do? They are lucky enough to be sitting on a cash pile and it is a public company worth over $50bn. They have to do what Google has been doing for years. Buy, buy and buy. Instagram was a good start. Buy first and figure out how to monetize later, learn from Google’s acquisition of Youtube which for years was as struggle and now is a star.
Argentine prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo (at microphone) during the 1985 Trial of the Juntas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Former military leader Jorge Rafael Videla, the man responsible for my family’s forced exile from Argentina when I was 16, and responsible for the death of my cousin David Horacio Varsavsky when he was only 17, died today in Argentina. As a family in exile in the USA we thrived, and thanks to courageous men like district attorney Luis Moreno Ocampo, ex-general Videla spent a lot of his life in jail.
But to him and his criminal military colleagues I paradoxically owe some of my accomplishments in life. Videla and other murderous members of the Argentine military chased us away from our home, forced us into exile in the USA where a generous man, Senator Patrick Moynahan got green cards for all our family and gave us a second chance in life. But as a result of this trauma early on in my life, I was left with an extraordinary desire to prove to these awful dictators that I wasn’t worthless. That I did not deserve to die like my cousin David, that I did not deserve to be thrown out from my country. And I am convinced that I owe a great deal of my ambition to Videla and his murderous military gang. I was just a kid who wanted to prove his worth when all this happened to me. And I did that, and I do that every day I teach a class, I build my companies, I give a speech trying to inspire 20 year-olds to be entrepreneurs or I parent any one of my six children. And for this fanatic desire to prove myself, I am not sorry. We were not useless ex-general Videla. We deserved to live and thrive. And thanks to Senator Moynahan we got our chance.
I will always remember David Horacio Varsavsky.
Here is a link to the story of that year of the exile, my autobiography of the year I was 17.
