"Move Over Silicon Valley, Here Come European Start-Ups"... says New York Times senior writer John Markoff.

... “The epicenter was Silicon Valley, but that has created a wave of innovation that has now reached the entire world,” said Yossi Vardi, an Israeli entrepreneur and investor who financed his son’s development of ICQ, an early Internet chat program later sold to America Online.

Internet start-ups in Europe received a significant boost last month with the initial public offering of Open BC/Xing, a German Web site that is a competitor of the American site LinkedIn for social networking among businesses...

Read the full article about DLD - THE technology and media conference in Europe - and other successful  European companies.

Our China Joint Venture has recieved from Research Institute of Chinese Ministry for Information Technology and CCID this years Innovation prize. Congrats to our China Team around Dr. Xinyu Song.

The quiet period is finally!!! over and international press is knocking at our door. Everybody wants to know about our IPO last December, xing.com´s successful business model and our international strategy.

See Lars in interview with Dan Scott, CNBC.

If you want to watch the interview, you have to put up with a small plug. But we didn´t put it in there ;-)

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It’s always the same: There is never enough time to read a book, especially one that is business related. We always get recommendations from friends, colleagues, family: “You have to read this book…, it’s the best…,you can learn a lot from it…”, but you’re unsure if you want to invest money into a book you don’t even know if you’ll like, let alone have time to read!

But there is a solution: Thanks to the fantastic concept behind getAbstract. getAbstract is an online offer that summarizes business books. Each year, 10,000 books are examined by getAbstract and the best ones are summarized into 5 pages. By now, there are 3,500 titles from 90 business categories available. So you can decide simply and easily, if you like a book before buying it. For all XING Premium Members there is a special offer from getAbstract in PremiumWorld – Look out for it!!!

Customize your info boxes on XING: just drag and drop them as you like.

At the beginning of this week I heard about an incredible success story beginning. I was so thrilled, that I had to know more so I could blog about it for you. Not only can Peggy tell an interesting story about herself, how it felt as an American moving to a foreign country, but also about starting a business with one important aspect missing: clients! On top of that it’s the spirit of her story and her personality you’re fascinated by. Find out, how she overcame every challenge in the end becoming a very successful business woman.

Peggy, what´s your success story about?

Just three years ago, I took up the challenge to live in a foreign country (an American living in Germany) and I became a self-employed coach and trainer for personal development and communication. Three years ago, I didn't have any coaching or training clients. Today, my coaching and training business is picking up more speed than ever before, and I attribute a big part of that success to being a member of XING.

What do you feel is unique about your story? Can you explain a little?

If anyone had asked me three years ago if I could get coaching clients from an online networking platform, I would have said, NO. Today, there is not one day that goes by that I don't tell someone about XING and what it can do for them and their business.

What do you attribute your success to?

During the first year of my openBC/XING membership, I didn't use the platform much at all and I got nothing out of being a member. Of course I also convinced myself it wasn’t a good tool. One day, someone explained what I needed to do. I took his advice and:

1.) completed my profile with all the relevant information,
2.) enhanced the amount of keywords in my profile so that more people would find me through a random search,
3.) started running searches of my own to find people who might be interested in a cooperation or need something I had to offer,
4.) started contacting every person who visited my profile individually and asking in a friendly way if there was anything in particular they were looking for.

In addition to the internet platform, a small group of business people in our city who are also members of XING decided to ask other members if they would like to start meeting face-to-face on a monthly basis. Although the real-life meetings cannot replace the networking on the internet platform, I have profited greatly by gaining new and potential clients from meeting other XING members in my city face-to-face.

What role did XING play in your success story?

Being a member of the internet platform XING has made it possible in many ways for me to come into contact with people and businesses which require my services. XING has not only enhanced my business, it has also enhanced my personal life by offering a huge selection of personal contacts for friendship. And that means a lot to a person living in a foreign country.

Did new opportunities or contacts result from your story?

XING has opened the door for me to provide services - not only in the country where I live (Germany), but also with requests coming from XING members who live and work as far away as China, Dubai and the USA. Only by being a member of such a large, international platform like XING has made this possible. Thanks!!

Thank you and congratulations to your successful business!

I found mypictr surprisingly useful and maybe you might too. I know that many internet users seriously are suffering from pixel attacks, stretched bodies or squeezed heads on their pictures. All that is now a thing of the past. You can look good online.

You know other features or programs like this making peoples' online lives much much  easier?! Please go ahead and share them with me...I will test them out and talk about it on openBLOG :)