Daniel Mattes

Entrepreneur

I want to change the world.

If you really mean it, you have to move to the US and establish a network, there are lots of networking events every day. A start-up should consider when and to whom they want to sell, arranging the technology development accordingly. Don't sit down and hope you are going to set up a 10 billion company, set up 10 companies and sell them for 100 million each. That is more realistic.

not learning from mistakes

The most important thing is to test your product on the market. You have to produce a prototype, and that is when you have to sit there on weekends and programme. As long as I am honest with the cosumer, I can launch a product which is on 80 percent complete. That is the Beta version with a lot of mistakes, ask for feedback to improve it! Many businesses wait too long to launch. This is my second tip, if you see that it doesn't work, get rid of the idea and try the next thing. You can't predict the market. It is important to focus on the right strategy and partners, try to concentrate resources and close deals that are strategically smart. The third point is very important for me. People have to stop believing that they are going to build the next Facebook. This is day dreaming. You might of course be lucky, but it is more realistic to focus on a solid company which creates steady revenue. You might be able to sell it one day for 50 or 100 million. That is a better goal. It is good to be a believer, but you have to be realistic along the way.

Daniel Mattes is a serial Internet entrepreneur and a business angel living in Silicon Valley, USA and Austria, Europe.  

In 2005, Daniel co-founded Jajah, a VoIP service provider. He served as its CEO from its incorporation until summer 2007, maintaining the role of Executive Chairman until 2009. Daniel played a prominent role in helping Jajah raise $35 million in venture funding from Sequoia Capital, Intel Capital, Deutsche Telekom AG, Telus AG and Globespan Capital Partners. After reaching 25 million direct and 250 million indirect clients worldwide, Jajah was acquired in late 2009 by Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) for $207 million in an all cash deal. In 2007, Daniel also joined Qino Flagship AG as a member of the board.

In 2010, Daniel founded Jumio Inc., a start-up for online and mobile payments headquarter in Mountain View California. In March 2011 Jumio announced closing of its $6.5m round of financing, led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. In March 2012, Jumio the close of $25.5m in Series B funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. Jumio is applied computer vision technology. Devices are able to read and understand information out of an image, captured by a connected camera. Jumio’s technology is designed to make everyday life easier, quicker, smoother.