Tag Archive for 'recession'

What I learned by ignoring the presentations at BarCamp Budapest and talking to the audience

Published on March 12, 2010 in Business innovation, Current events, Hungary and Venture capital. 9 Comments Tags: arcus, barcamp, Barnabas Malnay, best practices, budapest, business, CEO Chris Mattheisen, e-commerce, entrepreneur, facebook, funding, huffpo, Hungary, Innovation, iwiw, jeremie, Julia Krysztofiak-, kitchen budapest, Magyar, magyar telekom, mike butcher, recession, startup mode, Venture capital.

Hungarian attendees seemed more pessimistic than I did about what we saw this week at BarCamp Budapest, at least according to my random sample of conversation. I enjoyed thoroughly being one of the only foreigners at hand, along with TechCrunch Europe editor, Mike Butcher and a handful of presenters. The best English-language tweet of the day came from Julia Krysztofiak-Szopa (AdTaily).

with all due respect for the #barcamp #budapest speakers – powerpoint presentation suicide & u don’t have to speak magyarul to notice it.

The truth is I hardly watched any of the presentations, except to occasionally poke my head in the door. I had been lead to believe that at BarCamp, the audience is the content, and so I used this as my excuse to largely ignore the prepared program and talk with people about what’s currently happening in the Hungarian online market.

Everybody’s heard about Jeremie, and several people I met had a business idea in their back pocket. The ad recession hit hard last year, and revenues are down across the board. One local media agency, Arcus, recently imploded. I have the impression that a good number of talented people are knocking around for opportunities.

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Can Centrope profit from the Chinese recovery?

Published on July 27, 2009 in Facts, figures & trends. 2 Comments Tags: central europe, China, crisis, economy forecast, recession, recovery.

The IMF recently published its latest World Economic Outlook Update. The forecasts are not surprising: “The global economy is beginning to pull out of a recession unprecedented in the post–World War II era, but stabilization is uneven and the recovery is expected to be sluggish.”

However the situtation is different in China, which is expecting 7.5 % growth in 2009 and 8.5 % in 2010.

World_output_090724

Data source: IMF / Chart: PBN

While the output in the Euro area is expected to be -4,8 % in 2009 and still negative in 2010, the Chinese economy is recovering very fast, reaching as high values as in 2007.

How can we profit from this Chinese growth here in Central Europe?

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A recession is a good time to learn a new skill

Published on May 7, 2009 in Austria, Czech Republic, Facts, figures & trends, Hungary and Slovakia. 0 Comments Tags: art of public speaking, basic presentation skills, bratislava, budapest, constructive feedback, european entrepreneurs, how to speak in public, prague, recession, toastmasters club, vesely, zagreb.

On several occasions, Vlastimil Vesely and I have volunteered our time with Europe Unlimited, teaching Central European entrepreneurs how to present their business plans to an investor. The simplest part is teaching entrepreneurs what investors want to see in a business plan. By far, the greater challenge is coaching them on basic presentation skills.

Unfortunately, the art of public speaking is not much emphasized in Central European education. Nevertheless, if you have any ambition in business or public life, there comes a time when you will need to stand up and present your ideas to an audience. You will have to win that sale, convince your colleagues, win new partners and if you’re especially persuasive you might one day address the board of directors and the media.

The good news is there’s an easy way to learn how to speak in public, and you can take part in each of our CENTROPE countries.

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The gathering storm & ICT

Published on March 21, 2009 in Current events. 3 Comments Tags: ICT, Innovation, recession, Shakespeare.

“Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout”

king-lear

King Lear was defiant against the wind, be it light or hurricane. It seems now that a storm is gathering, and that the countries of Centrope will have to think about shouting defiantly to the rampaging economic elements.

Our countries have been hit variously. I haven’t been following all that closely, I must admit, but it seems Hungary has taken a particularly bad hit so far. Slovenia and Croatia, meanwhile, have only started to feel the strength of this storm, and Croatian political leaders (at least) are doing their best to bury their heads in the sand, hoping, like children, that if they only close their eyes the crisis will not see them and will somehow pass by without noticing our little country. Unfortunately, that’s not very likely. The ruling party hopes, at least, that the worst will not come before local elections scheduled for early May. After that – que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be.

So what about ICT? What about innovation in this stormy weather?

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Centrope ICT: opportunities amidst looming recession?

Published on December 16, 2008 in Current events. 0 Comments Tags: Austria, central europe, Centrope, EIT, Hungary, ICT, investment, recession, Slovakia, Western Hungary.

Albeit still being positive that consumer spending in Central European economies namely Germany or Austria will be more robust than largely expected, a recession seems to be unavoidable; even to optimists like me. Hoping that the recession will be a rather mild one, it might be useful to highlight the expected impact on Centrope’s ICT industry, including the identification of opportunities that might occur amidst crisis:

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How will the coming recession affect your business?

Published on October 18, 2008 in About CITT, Austria, Current events, Czech Republic, Facts, figures & trends, Hungary and Slovakia. 6 Comments Tags: economic landscape, emerging markets, european economies, flood waters, introduction of the euro, recession, shock waves, tsunami.

A financial tsunami smashed through the world economy this month, sweeping away Wall Street titans and sending shock waves through Europe, Asia and Emerging Markets. The Hungarian stock exchange took a massive hit, dropping 40% this month. All Central European economies are affected, and analysts are asking aloud whether the region’s 10 year boom may be over, and whether the introduction of the Euro may be delayed in some markets.

It’s a confusing situation, and only when the flood waters recede will we understand how our economic landscape has been altered. While many speculate about technology recession, Google’s spectacular 3rd quarter results seems to suggest online marketing budgets are resilient.

I’d like to hear from nowEurope readers and contributors. What signs do you see? How will this recession affect your business, and what steps are you taking to meet the challenge? Please use the comments to let me know what you think.

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