Cannes, Berlin, Midem, Startups
Friday, February 17th, 2012
Ever since 1966 Midem has been one of the biggest and most respected music fairs in the world. This year we decided to take a look. The music business is changing so is Midem. One could see a lot of “old” industry and people told us that it isn`t like it used to be. Less people coming due to the problems the international music industry is facing in the past couple of years. But Midem is reinventing itself. Midem is now attracting more and more young startups from around the world and extending from “just music” to digital media.
Cannes being a warm and sunny place in the cold European winter could well be the place for a new – not only music related – digital fair people from all over the world will pilger to. We need a SXSW in Europe – of course european style! This may take a few more years however we could feel the transition going on at Midem making a dinosaur a lion again!
Amongst many parties and live gigs we got the chance to meet quite a few Berliners amongst them José Matías del Pino from the Berlin based startup Ondango that took part in the Midem Lab Competition and Philipp Eibach from wahwah.fm. We took the chance to fire some BERLIN LOVES YOU questions at them. See what José had to say!
José on a little hidden beach close to Cannes
In one sentence – and we mean one sentence – what is it you do?
Ondango is a beautiful shopping system that helps brands of all kind to sell their products directly on their Facebook Pages.
Why are you doing it in Berlin?
I was living in Munich before founding the company, and my first co-founder was living in Berlin. He has a family, so it was easier for me to move to Berlin than for him to go to Munich. Besides that, the cost of living is lower in Berlin, which is also an advantage when you’re starting a business.
Whats the best thing about doing it in Berlin?
Berlin has nowadays the most exciting startup ecosystem in Europe. Hundreds of companies are based here and one can profit from direct relationships with potential customers and partners. There’s plenty of creative, affordable talent from all around the world here, too.
Whats the worst thing about doing it in Berlin?
The winter!
Your favourite place for lunch is…
There’s a small Italian restaurant right next to Sponsopay’s offices in the Ackerstraße in Mitte (between Invalidenstr. and Torstr.), can’t recall the name though – great pasta and friendly service.
If you had to leave Berlin within two hours knowing that you could nevercome back what would you do in that time?
It depends on the time of the year, the weather and the time of the day. Assuming the best case (nice weather in a Summer afternoon), I’d like to hang out with friends, eating a pizza and having a beer at Club der Visionäre.
Would you consider yourself an artist?
Not really, although artists and entrepreneurs do share some characteristics: Passion for what you do, following a vision, the need to be creative and resourceful, a lack of risk-aversion.
Why are you here at Midem?
Ondango was finalist of the Midemlab competition, where 30 companies from all around the world pitched their Tech&Music-related business to a jury of experts.
Presentation during the Midem Lab competition
Did you enjoy it?
A lot. Met interesting people and made valuable connections to potential customers and partners.
Who is your favourite company in the Midem Lab competition and why?
I guess I’m not allowed to say Ondango, right? 
I like WildChords from Finland – very polished product, fun to use, addressing a big market that’s ripe for disruption.
Parlez vous francais?
Nope.
What was the frenchest thing you did while you were here?
Sadly not much, it was all about work and meetings. I guess eating baguettes and croissants don’t count as a French thing!
You met the Rovio (aka Angry Birds) CEO for breakfast how was that and how was he?
I met Mikael Hed for a short meeting regarding the possibility of selling Angry Birds Merch on their Facebook Page. He was very cool, and showed a lot of interest about what we’re doing. We also talked about typical internet-geek topics (scaling SAAS models, challenges in international e-commerce, etc). For a person with his scope of responsibilities, very down to earth.
THANK YOU 
