#sevenventures

[alexander-sattler]

"Die Medienbranche war eine der ersten, die von der Digitalisierung erfasst wurde. Vor dem Hintergrund sinkender Werbeeinnahmen und dem damit verbundenen Druck, im Bereich der neuen Medien aktiv zu sein, gründete eine Vielzahl von Medienhäusern eigene Beteiligungsarme oder sind als strategische Investoren aktiv. Eine zunehmend wichtigere Rolle spielen dabei die Medialeistungen, die in die Beteiligungen eingebracht werden."

[foundinginberlin]

Ten minutes beforehand

Many people have written about those glorious and surreal moments when on stage; and have described that tingling-buzz, afloat with giddy lightness, which allows their mouths and brain to charge into an inspired auto-pilot rendition of all of the visions collected in their minds from the prior preparation.

But what happens in the 10 minutes beforehand? Those, where your body comes into a strange alignment with your thoughts and the once jittery nerves pull themselves together in preparation for that fight (or maybe flight - if you're unlucky) response.

The room was dark and the audio was loud. At NOAH Conference in London many of the speakers were fairly professional and conservative. That was until Seven Ventures took over the stage to present the seven international start-ups that were competing to win €7 million in total prizes in TV media thanks to ProSieben. And ProSieben knows how to entertain. Think blockbuster style thriller-music and those dramatic, soothingly deep voices possible only in big-budget films.

We were ushered into a quiet area for speakers, where we met fellow nerve-riddled presenters who were also preparing to jump on stage. Espen, Capsule.fm's CEO was then hooked up with his lifeline: A headset microphone and clicker to busy his hands while on stage. From here, I was in the prime position to observe the body language and behavior of Espen and the other six CEO's, moments before their moment on stage. 

There is a period of time, around 2 minutes before you must move to the stage entrance where your body disengages with rational thought and your mind becomes still. This is reflected in the gentle grasping of the hands by Espen and the soothing, forward thrusting posture towards the front of the chair, feet spread firmly at wide braces and elbows anchored to remain strong and quiet. As your time comes, any nerves that continue to linger and are transformed into a magical surrealism, which energetically charges your whole body with belief and inspiration.

I can't say if this was the case when Espen pitched Capsule.fm, but something went right as the announcement of €1 million in TV Media was awarded. How do you feel before speaking on stage?