• Business,  Marketing,  travel

    Uber Bummed

    The good, hard working folks over at Uber just sent out an email to some of their best and earliest users to inform them that the 15% FoundersCard discount select customers have been enjoying is being phased out. For those unfamiliar with FoundersCard, it offers founder-types and entrepreneurs select deals on everything from travel to business services. Uber had set up a discount for 15% off the first 100 rides for FC members. The goal was to entice early adopters who would evangelize Uber’s service. From my anecdotal experience, it worked beautifully. My friends and I sang Uber’s praises far and wide (and drummed up quite a bit of business…

  • Business,  travel

    Timing Is Everything – Umbrellas for Sale!

    Have you ever noticed how, in many cities, when it starts to rain, people magically appear with a whole lot of umbrellas for sale? They don’t seem to come from any particular place, and as soon as the rain disappears, so do they. I’ve always wondered where these people come from, and how it is they always happen to have an inventory of umbrellas for sale stashed somewhere nearby, just in case it rains. I’ve experienced this phenomenon in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and even Rome – where I was once caught in a surprise downpour and actually bought an umbrella… for a mere € 2! It continues to…

  • travel

    Some things I learned in Europe

    I recently returned from two weeks in Europe, attending a trade show, working from our Geneva office, and then a little fun in Paris. Along the way I learned several things. Here are some of those lessons: Mullets are still very much in style among Eastern Europeans. Europeans still like Americans, even if they don’t understand or like our government. They especially like Americans who hate George Bush. At most hotels parking is relatively cheap, but Internet connections are ridiculously expensive. Swedish expats are kind of like the mafia – they all know each other, stick together, and help each other out. It pays to make friends with Swedes. Parisians…

  • Business,  tradeshow,  travel

    Bonjour de Genève

    Greetings from Geneva! I’m working out of our European office this week after attending CeBIT in Hannover last week. The tradeshow was huge, with over 500,000 people attending. And although it was a lot of work, we got some great leads, maintained our existing business relationships, and had a lot of fun in the process. Now I’m sitting in our Geneva office, with a beautiful view of the Jura mountains and the top of the Jet d’Eau visible above the Geneva skyline.  I’m looking forward to a week of working with my European colleagues. Will post more as the week progresses.

  • Business,  CES,  travel

    Going to CES

    I’ll be at CES in Las Vegas next week, representing Joby and promoting our new product offerings. Come visit us at booth #71037 in the Sands! If anyone will be in Vegas, drop me a line at peter [at] pberg.com. I’ll try to post some updates from the field, so watch this space for more info!