Always delighted to see savvy entrepreneurs and investors in Europe launch initiatives that can help young tech startups, wherever they’re located, go from idea to product without going bankrupt and disillusioned even before making it to the prototype phase.
Hence, I am completely in love with what XING founder Lars Hinrichs is doing with HackFwd, a new-style, product-oriented startup investment and advisory venture.
You can read all about the details of the project in Mike Butcher’s post on the introduction of HackFwd on TechCrunch Europe, but make sure you also watch the video at the end of the post, which does an amazing job at explaining what it’s all about in just 3 and a half minutes (with actor Stephen Fry doing the voice-over, no less).
And how about this awesome infographic I found on their website, the ‘HackFwd Blueprint’, which I just spent about half an hour dissecting. Click the full screen (or better yet, the download) button and see what startup life can be like, as neatly visualized by people with a sense of design … and humor.
(Tip: not sure where to start? Try “Is the universal answer 42 or 23?”)
HackFwd is a pre-seed fund focused on supporting and investing in “Europe’s most passionate geeks.” The company is looking for new ideas for consumer facing, scalable products. HackFwd has invested in 16 companies across all of Europe. Between the staff, board, founders, alumni, referrers and investors over 23 languages are spoken (not counting web technologies).
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