Head of the week: "Switzerland suffers from the dispersal of activities".
Peter Rudin, an early-generation Internet entrepreneur and president of the Swiss Interactive Media Association (SIMA)
Peter Rudin, Internet entrepreneur from the very beginning, President of the swiss interactive media association (sima)Head of the week "Switzerland is suffering from the dispersal of activities "Peter Rudin has already founded and sold five companies in his lifetime. He brought his last company, the Internet provider pioneer Blue Window, into Swisscom. Actually, the 57-year-old Basel resident, who lives in Zurich, no longer needs to raise a sixth company. He is the entrepreneurial type, says Rudin. That's why he founded Upaq a year ago. The company specializes in the secure and reliable transport of digital data in the e-commerce market.
The start-up company is thriving. Rudin has been particularly successful in the capital market. He has found potent investors in VENTIS AG, a private Swiss venture capital firm, Tumbleweed Communications Corp., a leading provider of Internet communications services, and Chase Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Chase Manhattan Corporation. Just recently, he was also able to win over the postal service. In total, more than 20 million in seed capital has been raised.
The fact that Peter Rudin has also been President of the swiss interactive media association (sima) since mid-March is therefore no coincidence: the association wants to make itself increasingly felt in the political arena. As an Internet entrepreneur from the very beginning and a founding member of sima, Peter Rudin is the ideal person for the job.
At the beginning of the year, the association, which emerged from former teletext providers and CD-ROM producers, succeeded in integrating the Internet service providers. In mid-March, half of the board was filled with new members, and now they want to step on the gas.
In the words of Peter Rudin, "Switzerland is in an excellent position to play a significant role in e-business worldwide, even though the home market is very small. But we suffer from the dispersal of individual activities. We therefore need a body that embodies this spirit of optimism to the outside world."
Of course, Rudin also knows that an association is an association and must rely on the militia system: But time is the scarcest commodity, especially in the Internet industry. "That's why we'll have to pursue a strategy of small steps," says Rudin.
The focus is on training. And on the billions that the federal government will earn through the auction of the UTMS mobile licenses. In Rudin's view, some of these should be used again for specific purposes. For example, to promote continuing education. However, he will first have to convince a prominent opponent of this idea. Namely, Federal Councilor Pascal Couchepin, who would much rather use the expected proceeds to pay off the national debt.
Thomas Brenzikofer
The start-up company is thriving. Rudin has been particularly successful in the capital market. He has found potent investors in VENTIS AG, a private Swiss venture capital firm, Tumbleweed Communications Corp., a leading provider of Internet communications services, and Chase Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Chase Manhattan Corporation. Just recently, he was also able to win over the postal service. In total, more than 20 million in seed capital has been raised.
The fact that Peter Rudin has also been President of the swiss interactive media association (sima) since mid-March is therefore no coincidence: the association wants to make itself increasingly felt in the political arena. As an Internet entrepreneur from the very beginning and a founding member of sima, Peter Rudin is the ideal person for the job.
At the beginning of the year, the association, which emerged from former teletext providers and CD-ROM producers, succeeded in integrating the Internet service providers. In mid-March, half of the board was filled with new members, and now they want to step on the gas.
In the words of Peter Rudin, "Switzerland is in an excellent position to play a significant role in e-business worldwide, even though the home market is very small. But we suffer from the dispersal of individual activities. We therefore need a body that embodies this spirit of optimism to the outside world."
Of course, Rudin also knows that an association is an association and must rely on the militia system: But time is the scarcest commodity, especially in the Internet industry. "That's why we'll have to pursue a strategy of small steps," says Rudin.
The focus is on training. And on the billions that the federal government will earn through the auction of the UTMS mobile licenses. In Rudin's view, some of these should be used again for specific purposes. For example, to promote continuing education. However, he will first have to convince a prominent opponent of this idea. Namely, Federal Councilor Pascal Couchepin, who would much rather use the expected proceeds to pay off the national debt.
Thomas Brenzikofer
