Author Archives: Moritz Haegi

  • King Bibi looks to cement his regime

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    “The way out of the political impasse runs through Netanyahu.” According to one of Israel’s largest newspapers, Yediot Ahronoth, the message from the polling stations is clear: amidst fears over the spread of the Coronavirus, concomitant economic turbulences, and a care-taker government without any real budgeting or appointing power, Israelis thrust their support behind the devil they know rather than the one they do not (Benny Gantz), and helped Netanyahu’s right-wing-religious bloc to 58 out of a possible 120 Knesset seats. Although this places the right-religious camp three seats short of an absolute majority, it is still possible that a governing coalition will be formed with Netanyahu (Likud) at its helm. Most commentators agree that there are three possible scenarios from here on out: A At least three Knesset Members (MKs) from the Centre-Left or Yisrael Beiteinu defect to the right-wing, giving it an absolute majority; B A unity government is formed between the Likud and Gantz’s Blue and White, possibly with alternating premiership between Bibi and Gantz, or without Netanyahu; C Coalition talks fail again and a fourth election takes place in August. After three elections within the last 11 months, neither the Israeli public nor most political parties want another election, rendering the third scenario unlikely. A national unity government could materialize if Bibi does not find enough defectors, which mainly depends on Yisrael Beiteinu’s stance towards Netanyahu and the religious parties. Although Yisrael Beiteinu’s secular-nationalist ideology is not far from Likud’s, its leader Avigdor Liberman has a long-standing rift with the ultra-orthodox over military conscription, and a more personal one with Netanyahu. Indeed, Yisrael Beiteinu has indicated that it would support an opposition bill disqualifying Netanyahu from the premiership over his criminal indictments. That being said, the Likud bloc should have some formidable bargaining chips for defection, like complimentary ambassadorial or even ministerial roles. The morning after the election, the Likud claimed that it already had defectors in the pipeline.


    Smearing 
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    If the run-up to the election is any indication, the Likud will go to all lengths to get the job done. According to various news outlets, Likud already threatened MK Omer Yankelevich (Blue and White) that it would release more embarrassing recordings of her if she did not defect. In the week prior to the election, a recording had been released where Yankelevich is quoted as having said that her party’s leader Gantz “is a dumb loser unfit to be prime minister.” In a campaign filled with slanders and insults, a particular low point was reached when Likud falsely claimed that it was in possession of a video showing a naked Gantz masturbating. The extent of nasty remarks even led Israeli president Reuven Rivlin, himself a Likud member, but increasingly a voice for basic decency, to feel a “deep sense of shame about the awful and grubby election campaign.” Not unlike their US counterparts, Netanyahu and his allies have created a political climate where factual arguments are fading in favour of conviction politics and childish insults. This means that politics become more emotional and personalized, which allows charismatic leaders like Netanyahu to act more recklessly in their pursuit of power, delegitimizing anyone that stands in their way. Bibi’s foremost target is the Israeli judiciary, specifically the Supreme Court, which has not only served as a guardian of democracy throughout the country’s history, but is also currently investigating Netanyahu on three charges of corruption.

    Eroding democracy

    The “King of Israel”, as his supporters triumphantly chanted on election night, has been indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. In what has been termed “Case 2000”, Netanyahu allegedly offered an editor at Yedioth Ahronoth to shut down its main competitor Israel HaYom, if said editor would start hiring journalists that covered Netanyahu in a more favourable light. The trial against the Likud leader is set to start on March 17th, precisely the date when Rivlin will presumably task Netanyahu with forming a governing coalition. The court hearings were initially scheduled for last November, but had been delayed multiple times under the pretext that the elections should take place first. Now, with a plurality – but not a majority – of Knesset seats, Netanyahu’s camp is doing all it can to delegitimize the Supreme Court and Attorney General Avichai Mandelbilt, who Netanyahu himself had appointed in 2015. While legislation granting Netanyahu immunity is unlikely to pass as long as his bloc does not have a majority, the right-wing and far-right will not stop chipping away at the rule of law and democratic spaces in Israel. The Nation-State Law adopted in 2018 defines Israel as the nation state of only the Jewish people, thus effectively discriminating against the country’s Arab citizens who account for roughly 20% of its population. Netanyahu recently backed an “override bill”, yet to be discussed in parliament, which would allow the Knesset and the government to ignore rulings of the Supreme Court, thereby undermining its standing as the High Court of Israel. Moreover, the right-wing has repeatedly attempted to pass legislation aimed at curtailing “anti-Israel” speech in culture and education. Even if not put into law, these attacks have a chilling effect on artists, cultural institutions and NGOs. A successful such bid was the passage of the so-called “Breaking the Silence Law (2018)”, which prevents groups that “operate in contradiction with the state’s education goals” from accessing schools. As the name indicates, this most notably affected “Breaking the Silence”, an Israeli NGO led by former IDF soldiers, willing to publicly share their experiences of having served in the West Bank and Gaza. These developments demonstrate the right-wing’s calculated efforts to silence critics and move the boundaries of what is considered politically acceptable rightwards. The demise of the Israeli Labor party, notably the founding party of the state, and with it the Zionist left is a result of this right-wing project for cultural and ideological hegemony – a project marked by a staunchly hawkish stance on security and the Palestinians. For all the dominance the right-wing has accrued over the last two decades, the elections of March 2nd do bear hope for the emergence of a counterhegemonic movement, devoted to genuine equality, civil rights and democratic principles.

    A glimmer of hope

    Aside from the right-religious bloc, the mostly Arab Joint Liste merged victorious from the elections, gaining 15 Knesset seats (April ’19: 10; September ’19: 13) and garnering nearly 90% of the Arab vote (April ’19: 71%, September ’19: 81%). Arab voter turnout surged to 65% – the highest since 1999 – after all the Zionist parties except Labor-Meretz-Gesher had made derogatory remarks towards Arab Israelis and Palestinians in general. As Gantz endorsed Trump’s “Deal of the Century” and Netanyahu called all Arabs terrorists, Palestinian citizens of Israel flocked to the ballots to voice their dismay. What is more, numerous left-wing Israeli Jews disillusioned by the historic decline of Labor and Meretz voted for the Joint List, viewing it as the best option for genuine civil equality and an equitable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The success of the Joint List could indeed bring together a broader movement of groups that are not or under-represented in Israel’s elites and its ideational superstructure, thereby transcending the Jewish-Arab divide. This would most notably include ultra-orthodox and non-Ashkenazi Jews. An Ashkenazi who likes to present himself as a champion of Mirzahi struggles, Netanyahu has been quick to scotch any such intersectional consciousness between Jewish and Arab Israelis. While an intersectional Jewish-Arab movement is still in its infancy, it could break the current narrative of animosity and distrust between Jews and Arabs in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories – thus bringing a common vision of full equality and civil rights to the deadlocked conflict, and with it the prospect of genuine peace in the holy land.

  • START Summit – Live Ticker

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    On the 18th and 19th of March, the START Summit, the leading conference for student entrepreneurship in Europe, takes place in St. Gallen. prisma covers the summit live with multiple people on the ground. Abbreviations: Dominik Mayer (dm), Oscar Hong (oh), Simone Brunner (sb), Moritz Haegi (mh) & Kevin Kohler (kk)


    Post-Summit Short interviews with participants (German & English)

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    Here you can find the interview with Mike Hearn

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    Here you can find the interview with Jose Luis Cordeiro as an article

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    Here you can find a photo gallery

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    20:53 Grand Finale The START Summit 2016 has closed with the START Summiteer Award. 8 Start-Ups made it to the final of the pitching contest: Minebox, Metrilus, Towsh, Kasko, Gamaya, Carzada, Reactive Robotics & Splendit. And the winner is…

    A huge compliment to all those who helped organizing this event. I think I can speak for all participants, when I say, that you’ve done an absolutely phenomenal job! Chapeau!

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    As from now on, the on-the-fly reporting is over, however, we have amassed a lot of great material, including really interesting interviews with Jose Luis Cordeiro, Bibop Gresta & Mike Hearn, which we will publish in the coming days. So, stay tuned & see you at the afterparty! (kk)


    17:58 Krschzptthh! Could you hear that? That was the sound of male egos being crushed by Dr. Gerhard Lohmann of Swiss Re. The data isn’t ambiguous: “Men have a systematically higher risk of being involved in accidents than women”. (kk)

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    17:30 What makes Israel a “start-up nation“? Answers can be found on main stage right now. (dm)


    15:45 Bitcoin civil war The debate about the scalability of Bitcoin also makes waves at the summit. First, Andreas Antonopoulos, a “bitcoin-maximalist“, was on the main stage with a sometimes quite angry tirade against the government and big banks, in which he also alluded to the current debate about an FBI backdoor in iPhones and said: “No, Mr. President, I don’t have a Swiss bank account in my pocket, I have a Swiss bank in there!” Directly afterwards Mike Hearn, whose article about the failure of Bitcoin at the beginning of the year caused the Bitcoin price to crash, took on the START Arena and shared his vision of the future usage of the blockchain. More on that later.(kk)

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    15:32 Some impressions (sb)


    13:46 Changing times Mining resources looks differently nowadays… 20160319_134319


    12:35 Uber showcase Uber disrupts the taxi industry – no news there. Interesting: With UberEATS they also started to tackle Instacart & other “last yarders”. More interesting: Will decentralized Apps (dapps) disrupt the sharing economy apps? Looking forward to get Mike Hearn’s take on that! (kk)


    11:36 Burn noticed So, yes, nobody of us is a native speaker and we do this ticker live from our smartphones, mistakes happen! As the moderator said today “regret is greater than rejection”, you won’t improve if you’re afraid of someone mocking you anonymously. Anyway, if you really are good at writing in English, you’re more than welcome to join prisma and show off your skills ;) (kk)

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    11:10 Wow! Amazing keynote by Bibop Gresta from Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. They are building their first tracks in Qual Valley right now and have just announced a contract with the government of Slovakia about a week ago, with six or seven additional governments coming up soon. As Bibop alluded, one of them is situated very close to Switzerland! Hyperloop really is the future for travel between (relatively close) cities, with Uber / self-driving cars picking up from there. Interview upcoming! (kk)

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    20:50 You always meet twice (at least) Some belated notes: This morning, we ran into the president of the University of St. Gallen, Thomas Bieger, and I pressed him a little concerning the further integration of technology into University courses and apparently there really are some interesting developments going on. As Bieger told us the industry & commerce chamber of St. Gallen is financing a feasibility study on this issue. Especially, quantitative methods and coding may be upgraded in the curriculum in the near future.

    Also, I saw some of the Technion guys from the Starthack again. Best luck at the pitch tomorrow! (kk)

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    18:45 HSG Founder of the Year HSG alumnus Caspar Coppetti was awarded with this years prize for his sports shoes start-up “On” and won 10’000 CHF (oh)

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    18:35 Just write a cool quote next to the photo, they said (oh)

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    18:11 Our student radio toxic.fm was also present at today’s summit activities – encountering extraordinary ideas and a deligthed Thomas Bieger.

    Here is toxic.fm’s radio segment for Summit Day 1 (mh)


    16:55 Mildly interesting fact Here’s an overview of the countries the participants of the summit come from (kk)

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    16:38 A discussion about singularities So, I finally managed to upload the Interview with Jose Luis Cordeiro. I will write up an actual article with some background info later ;) (kk)


    14:58 Eric Giler knows (where) his stuff (is) Just coming from his talk on the company Origin Wireless. Fascinating, they’re able to locate things at relatively short distance without triangulation and with lots of interference extremely accurately. Interesting applications for IoT/ Home Security Systems (kk)20160318_144041


    14:55 Ran out of battery power Thank technology they have these great battery packs here. (kk)

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    13:44 start-up pitch competition! Their chance to shine and convince not only a experienced jury, but also a tech-enthusiastic crowd! Here’s where you engage with early adopters ;) Minebox on stage right now (dm)


    13:19 Lunch? Sorry, no time to try. Too many interesting workshops and speeches going on right now;) Heard it’s great though (dm)


    13:13 Interview upcoming Just had a great interview with Jose Luis Cordero. Will post it later ;) (kk/oh)

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    13.10 Missing out Speaking about farming: how’s lunch over there at Olma? I heard F&B is always crucial at such events ;-) (na)


    13:00 The future of farmingGamaya believes that it’s possible to make agriculture carbon neutral. (dm)


    12.05 Jose Luis Cordeiro impressed everyone with his speech about the exponential growth of emerging & future technologies as well as with his mickey mouse head. (oh)

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    11:00 Watch out Jose Luis Cordeiro: “In 5 years everyone will have decoded their DNA”, “You’re part of the last human generation that happened by mistake” (kk)

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    10:45 Achievement unlocked Jonas could hand over a bottle of Vodka to University president Thomas Bieger, nice! (kk)


    10:35 It has begun! Jonas Muff has opened the conference, followed by the mayor of St. Gallen, Thomas Scheitlin, & now Thomas Bieger is on stage. Slight technical difficulties handled with humor. All highlight how crucial entrepreneurship & innovation are for city & university & society. (kk)

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    09:55 “The most interesting coke I’ve ever drunk!” As we’re waiting for the opening ceremony to begin, Dominik gets really excited about the coke here ;) (kk)

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    09:15 Good morning! By the way, don’t trust these words, that’s exactly the event you’re looking for.(oh) 

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    20:47 On Times Square By the way, since I already mentioned the FB page of START. The photo of a huge ad on Times Square in New York that attracted a lot of attention about a week ago is 100% legit. Apparently Nasdaq is looking to become a partner at the next summit. (kk)

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    20:38 A small downer ahead of the summit As the START team posted on Facebook, keynote speaker Tom Mueller of SpaceX unfortunately won’t be able to attend the conference:

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    Having read the interesting Musk biography written by Ashlee Vance, I suspect that Musk may has introduced this policy not out of concerns about information security alone. According to Vance he really does like to be in control of everything (including the media) and isn’t always the best at sharing credit. However, let’s not delve into further speculation here. As long as SpaceX brings me to Mars I’m more than happy ;) (kk)


    Pre-Summit Some impressions from the Hackathon that took place one week prior to the summit

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    zvg / Luca Michelli


    We also conducted an interview with Jonas Muff the president of START Global a few weeks ahead of the summit (german)

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    Jonas Muff


    You can read up on last year’s summit as well. Here’s an interview with Omid Scheybani from Google. (german)

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  • OpenAir vs. Bib: Der beste Live-Ticker des Jahres

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    Das wohl fieseste Wochenende des Semester steht bevor. Während sich abertausende Musiksüchtige im Sittertobel musikalisch und anderweitig zudröhnen lassen, steckt so manch ein Studi noch bis spätabends in der Bibliothek und lernt und lernt und lernt. Verfolgt hier in unserem Ticker, wie ein paar prisma-Redakteure das Leben am Openair St. Gallen feiern und andere sich in der Bib abrackern.

    Es tickern für euch: Adrian Köstli (ak), Moritz Haegi (mh) vom Gelände, Luana Rossi (lr), Kevin Kohler (kk), Nina Amann (na) und Simone Brunner (sb) aus der Bib.


    19:00 Uii, das war heiss! Hier unten alles okay. Die Feuerwehr hatte den Brand rasch unter Kontrolle. Wanda, Kodaline, Kraftklub und Paulo Nutini rundeten das OASG 2015 heute ab. Mir bleibt nur noch, mich zum Shuttlebus zu begeben. Und zuhause dann IMT büffeln. Bin ab morgen wieder in der Bib. Der Ticker endet aber an dieser Stelle. Danke für’s Mitlesen. (ak)

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    11:25 Feurio! Diesselbe grosse Schweizer Zeitung die über sexhungrige Festivalbesucher schrieb, zeigt jetzt Zelte in Flammen… Man kann ja über die Bib sagen was man will aber immerhin brennt sie nicht. Alles in Ordnung im Sittertobel?? (kk)

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    21:44 Farin Urlaub Racing Team! (ak)


    20:05 Wir machen hier kein Fremd-Posting, lieber Adrian Nur weil du (wahrscheinlich seit heute morgen) schon einen an der Schüssel hast, poste ich sicher keine Ticker-Einträge für dich ;) trotzdem: Much love <3 (na)

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    18:42 Farin who? Wer sind den Farin und Fritz? Ach übrigens: in 15 minuten schliesst die Bib (gleich ertönt der Gong) – ich geh wenigstens mit einem guten Gefühl nach Hause, weil ich was gemacht habe… und du so? (na)


    18:28  Apropos Sex! Eine einschlägige Gratiszeitung hat ja behauptet, dass so manch einer ans Openäär gehe, um aufzureissen und aufgerissen zu werden. Würdet ihr mit einem wildfremden Partymonster einfach so mal hurtig gschwind ein Nümmerli machen? Ich nicht. Aber Farin oder Fritz vielleicht? (ak)


    14:29 Ach herrje! Warum muss in der heutigen Zeit alles immer sexualisiert werden? Das war eine völlig unschuldige Idee, aber im Grunde hast du ja schon Recht: Sex sells! Dementsprechend schlage ich Kendra Sunderland für die Rolle der Reblla vor… (kk)


    14:20 *hmkkmmmh* Also ich bin gestern auch in einen Zug eingestiegen und im Aargau gelandet, aber der Zug fuhr irgendwann auch wieder zurück nach St. Gallen und da bin ich jetzt seit gestern Abend auch wieder. Und zu deiner Idee, dich als Screen-Writer zu versuchen: Hast du dir den Titel deiner Serie mal genauer angeschaut? Ich will ja nicht prüde rüberkommen, aber das ist eindeutig zweideutig… (na)


    14:05 Geistesblitz! Ja, Nina, ich werde heute wohl tatsächlich nicht mehr in der Bib auftauchen. Ich bin gestern in einen Zug eingestiegen und im Aargau gelandet, vorsätzlich versteht sich. Dieser Live-Ticker hat mich dafür auf eine geniale Idee für eine neue Hit-Serie gebracht. Die Geschichte dreht sich um 4 junge HSG-Studenten, wovon die 2 Hauptcharaktere, Leonhard und Xheldon, gemeinsam in einer WG leben. An Wochentagen treffen sie sich die vier in der Mensa zum Essen und in einem mit Bücherregalen vollgestopften Gebäude um sich die neusten, heissesten Wirtschaftsbücher unter den Nagel zu reissen. Die Studenten leben komplett in ihrer HSG-Bubble, Entscheidungen werden per SWOT-Analyse, Marginalkostenrechnung oder Game Theory gefällt, die BWLer machen Witze über die VWLer und umgekehrt, mit Leuten von ausserhalb der Uni haben sie nur selten Kontakt. Auch wenn sich einer von ihnen für einen Riesenplayer hält, bleibt das weibliche Geschlecht für die 4 Jungs zu einem grossen Teil ein Mysterium, schliesslich sind Frauen in ihrer Studienrichtung massiv untervertreten. Das alles beginnt sich auf einmal zu ändern als neben Leonhard und Xheldon die hübsche Blondine Rebella (Rufname Reblla) einzieht. Mehr will ich an dieser Stelle noch nicht verraten. Ich nenne die Serie:

    *drumroll*

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    Hat jemand schon Ideen für die Besetzung? Du könntest doch auf dem Festivalgelände bereits einmal ein paar Rollen vorcasten Adi ;-) (kk)


    12:59 Long live Petrus! Also ich werde ja schon fast ein bisschen schadenfreudig, wenn ich an den Himmel schaue. Nicht, dass ich dir gutes Wetter nicht gönnen mag, lieber Adrian, aber ich rede mir einfach ein, dass es viel angenehmer ist, in der Bib zu lernen, als im Sittertobel im Regen zu stehen. Ich wälze mich lieber durch mein 700-seitiges Skript als durch den Schlamm am Openair. (na)

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    11:43 Kommt er oder kommt er nicht? Gewiss lebe ich noch. Teils. Gestern schwelgte ich wie Mo in Erinnerungen an die rebellische Jugend. Dann ging alles schnell: ein bisschen Bier, ein bisschen Rauchen, dazu ganz viel Musik und Tanz. Und heute soll das passieren, womit alle schon gerechnet haben. Sankt Gallen soll zu Schlammgallen werden. So sind die Stiefel und der Regenponcho seit der Ankunft bereitgelegt. Doch hört! Meteo Schweiz zeigt auf dem Regenradar, wie das Wölkchen zwar kurz vorbeischauen soll, nach 20 Minuten solls dann wieder vorbei sein. Ob’s zum Schlammcatch reicht? (ak)

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    Samstag (!!!) 09:40 Lebst du schon? Heute wäre ja eigentlich der perfekte Tag, mal zum Zeitpunkt der Bib-Öffnung schon in den Startlöchern zu stehen, und nicht erst zwei Stunden später einzutrudeln, schliesslich öffnet die Bib samstags ja erst eine Stunde später als üblich. Aber weit und breit sehe ich nichts von Luana, Adi, Kevin oder Moritz. Moritz ist entschuldigt, der ist wahrscheinlich noch nicht zuhause und steckt im Appenzell fest. Von Adi zumindest weiss ich, dass er eigentlich mit dem Gedanken spielte, heute mal vorbeizuschauen. Adi auf meine Frage per Whatsapp, ob er schon lebe oder noch katert: “teils teils”. Ich glaube, das wird heut nichts mehr, oder? (na)

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    00:30 Heimkehr
    In den falschen Bus eingestiegen – in Appenzell Ausserrhoden gelandet, schöner Kanton doch mittelfristig nicht so meins. Warte auf Bus heim nach St. Gallen – Rise Against war ganz gut, erinnerte an vergangene Zeiten, rebellischere Zeiten. Noel Gallagher absolutes Highlight des Abends, Britpop vom feinsten. Don’t look back in anger what is there more to say? Oasis ohne Liam! (mh)


    21:57 Schlussstrich. Wer kennt sie nicht, die herbe Enttäuschung wenn bald nach Dämmerung die Schliessung der Bib in Windeseile (weil time flies when you’re having fun und so) näher rückt und es Zeit wird seine sieben Sachen zu packen und nach Hause zu gehen. Was mich in solchen Momenten aufheitert, ist der wohlige Gedanke daran, dass das Ganze am nächsten Morgen ja Gott sei Dank wieder von Neuem beginnt und ich mich dementsprechend auf einen weiteren Tag voller Freude, Spass und Spannung freuen kann! Ich wünschte es würde niemals enden. (lr)

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    16:58 Science Bitch! Hitzköpfig? Nein. Wirr? Ein bisschen. Allerdings sollte man nicht unbedingt mit Steinen werfen, wenn man in einem Zelt mit kopulierenden Plastikflamingos sitzt ;-) Rechthaberisch? Auf jeden Fall. Das Niveau am OpenAir ist rund 170 Meter tiefer als in der Bib. Case Closed. (kk)

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    16:19  Klima: tropisch. Stimmung: heiss. Lieber Kevin, kühle deinen Kopf. Du scheinst mir wirre Sachen zu tickern! Derweil bin ich mit meiner Truppe in ein schwedisches Einrichtungshaus hier ganz in der Nähe gepilgert (BWL I, Übung 3). Da gibts ja saugünstiges Essen. Und Kinder. Und Duschvorhänge. Schöner Campen, heisst unser Motto eben! Ich entdecke übrigens immer mehr Gemeinsamkeiten mit der Bib: hier ist es sicher genauso schwül wie bei euch. ;) (ak)

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    16:09 So nah und doch so fern. Da Gallus wieder einmal im “On-Teil” seiner On-Off Beziehung mit Petrus zu sein scheint, habe ich das Closed Air verlassen und bin den Hügel hinter meiner Wohnung hochgekraxelt. Das Resultat enthält sowohl die HSG als auch das OpenAir, welches allerdings aufgrund des zu tiefen Niveaus nicht sichtbar ist ;-).

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    Wie kann man bloss so zerfressen von innerem Hass sein, dass man sich selbst und anderen das Geschenk des Lebens nimmt, nur weil jemand Photonen mit einer anderen Wellenlänge reflektiert oder weil jemand an eine andere Metaphysik glaubt? Ich werde das nie verstehen. Arme Menschen, schöne Welt; fuck your terror, life is beautiful <3 (kk)


    12:02 No place I’d rather be. Die Assessis sind durch mit den grossen Prüfungen und das merkt man auch am Füllgrad der Bib. Herrlich, jedoch ungewohnt leer und kühl ist es hier drin – also wohl ganz so wie auf dem Festivalgelände, stelle ich mir vor. (lr)

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    09:56 Guätä Morgä, es Kaffi und es Gpfeli bitte. Das Gute am Openair ist ja, dass man nie zu lange schläft. Weil die Sonne sowieso ab 7:30 Uhr beginnt das Zelt aufzuheizen, flüchtet man sich spätestens ab 10 Uhr hinaus. Erst unter den Pavillon – Augen reiben, Kräfte sammeln – und dann ab ins Z’morge-Zelt!

    P.S.: Da fühlt sich’s wie daheim (a.k.a. Dufourstrasse 50) an.. Kaffee aus dem Pappbecher mit Rührstäbli. (ak)

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    08:59 Morgenstund hat Müesli im Mund, ebenfalls ohne Cocktailsauce ;-) (sb)

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    22:09 Karl Wer? Ich hab Level 1 erreicht: Bier für 6.50 Fr. und Chicken Tandoori im Fladenbrot (ohne Coktail-Sauce) für 10.- Fr. gekauft mit meinem Cashless-Bändeli. Dazu das erste (persönliche) Highlight des Openairs: Frank Turner, angekündigt als Punkpoet. Sein seichter “Punk” ist das, was meinem lernüberstressten Kopf jetzt hilft, in’s Wochenende zu taumeln. Das teure Bier war seinen Preis wert. Vielleicht. Bis morgen. (ak)

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    21:00 I read some Marx and I liked it! Aufgrund der aus meinen eigenen Festivalerfahrungen extrapolierten negativen Korrelation zwischen der Aufnahmefähigkeit in der Bib und jener auf dem Festivalgelände schliesse ich, dass heute Abend vermutlich keine Replik mehr aus dem Sittertobel kommen wird (und wohl auch sollte). Ich habe den Prokrastinationsteil meiner Lernzeit heute allerdings wirklich produktiv genutzt und Karl-Marx-Musikvideos gesucht. Dementsprechend möchte ich euch die folgende Internetperle trotzdem nicht vorenthalten: (kk)


    17:25 Wer hat das bessere Line-Up? Hey Adi, ich hab da mal kurz das OASG Line-Up für heute abgecheckt und dies mag vielleicht auch daran liegen, dass ich langsam alt werde, doch diese Namen sagen mir ehrlich gesagt überhaupt nichts. Jetzt, schau dir einmal mein hochkarätiges Programm für heute Abend an. Was ist eine “Antilopen Gang” schon gegen Legenden wie Friedrich Engels und Karl f*cking Marx? (kk)

    programm


    16:45  Es wäre schon lange soweit gewesen! Seit Wochen sehne ich ich nach dem Moment, endlich wieder vor den Toren des Prüfungsraumes auf dessen Öffnung zu warten! In der prallen Sonne unter der Pyramide warten mit mir mehrere dutzend BIA-Studenten darauf, morgen um 08.15 Uhr den Prüfungsraum zu stürmen und den besten Sitzplatz zu ergattern. Oh wie froh ich doch bin, morgen eine Prüfung schreiben zu dürfen und nicht am OASG schmachten zu müssen! (na)

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    15:40  Es ist soweit! Seit Wochen sehne ich mich nach dem Moment, endlich wieder vor den Toren des Openairs auf deren Öffnung zu warten! In der prallen Sonne warten mit mir mehrere tausend Menschen darauf, um 17 Uhr das Gelände zu stürmen und den besten Zeltplatz zu ergattern. Oh wie froh ich doch bin, jetzt nicht in der Bib zu schmachten! (ak)

    Foto 25.06.15 15 51 59

  • Start Summit 2015: At the Heart of Entrepreneurship

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    Creative minds mingled to discuss and exchange ideas at our University as part of the START Summit 2015. And who knows – the next Steve Jobs might have been among them.

    On the third weekend in April, the concentration of innovative energy within the walls of our Alma Mater on top of the Rosenberg reached dazzling heights. For the third time START Global’s annual flagship event START Summit was held at Switzerland’s leading business University. Having almost doubled the number of participants, from 350 in 2013 to over 600 in this years conference, START Summit now deservedly lauds itself as Europe’s leading conference for entrepreneurship and innovation. As an unbiased spectator, not particularly versed in the start-up scene, I could not help but notice the impressive metamorphosis that our main building had undergone in the days leading up to the summit. The building’s ground level, common setting for many of the lively debates amongst participants throughout the weekend, was entirely draped in navy blue. Whilst an extensive and very generous lunch buffet took up the center of the main floor, much of the remaining area was occupied by fair stands from established companies, ranging from the ubiquitous Microsoft through one of Zurich’s more renowned corporate law firms Walder Wyss to the tobacco industry’s very own Oettinger-Davidoff.

    The 2015 START Summit set out to dwarf the conferences of previous years. Potential members of the organizing committee were actively recruited at the beginning of the academic year and venturesome budgetary targets were set. What at first seemed like an Icarus-esque lesson in modesty, turned out to be a task this team was up to. After having doubled the amount of its members, the newly assembled organizing team worked tirelessly towards mounting a weekend destined to eclipse all foregone events within the world of start-ups. With the budget having tripled in comparison to the previous year it was possible to invite renowned guest speakers, such as Futurist José Luis Cordeiro, HAILO CEO Ryo Umezawa or even Austria’s former chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer.

    The participants were well taken care of throughout the entire weekend, enjoying all around entertainment from the early hours of Friday to the very latest on Saturday. The Summit was opened with a speech by Google employee and self-proclamed “World Culture Storyteller”, Omid Scheybani. Grand motivational words about being disruptive and shooting for the moon were spoken, and even if one could criticize the lack of effective substance and the considerable amount of redundancy, the optimism spread across the Aula was admirable. Throughout the rest of Friday, further speeches were held, as for instance by Ryo Umezawa, an accomplished business man from Japan. Owning HAILO, a taxi start-up comparable to Uber with a market value of about 20 million dollars, Umezawa has a career upon which many in the start-up scene look with adulation.

    As the first day of the conference went by, conference participants were delighted with interesting and interactive workshops by larger firms, as well as emergent start-ups introducing their innovative ideas. As dusk was approaching over the Rosenberg, the exhausted, but hopefully intellectually fulfilled attendants made their way down the stairs of the main building towards the Mensa, where a traditional Swiss dinner had been prepared for them. To set a celebratory end to the day, a pub-crawl through downtown St. Gallen’s most prominent bars had been organized by the START Global team. As amusing and stereotypical for our University it would have been to watch a ravaging mob of out-of-towners bringing disorder to the idyllic world of a rather parochial Swiss town, the nocturnals amongst conference attendants, worn down and fatigued by a long summit day, were sighted leaving the bars relatively early.

    Understandably so, as soon after Saturday’s break of dawn the conference continued. Opened by a speech by Alfred Gusenbauer, former chancellor of Austria, venture capital investor and chairman of STRABAG, the summit was underway again for a second and final day. Simultaneously to the primary conference program, aspiring start-ups had the possibility to meet with potential investors, in the form of a discussion round and a get-together held in the study zone on the third floor of the main building. As the day progressed, Dalton Caldwell, partner at Y Combinator, an American seed accelerator that lends money and assists promising start-ups in the early phases of their existence, as well as Venezuelan Futurist José Luis Cordeiro held compelling speeches in the Aula. After having enjoyed another dinner at the university’s Mensa, the attendants were headed towards the inner city of St. Gallen again for the much awaited and well-deserved START after-party held at Trischli.

    As Sunday came, the participants, sponsors and investors left St. Gallen, while the organization team was still working hard to dismantle the facilities that had exclusively been erected for the event. Soon after, nothing but pleasant memories reminded of the vivid and creative weekend that came about our campus last weekend. Memories and the certainty, that even as a person not too intuitively fascinated by the world of start-ups, one could easily be taken in by the innovative and positive atmosphere that prevailed during the Start Summit 2015.

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