Wired’s June issue featured an inspirational letter by Louis Rossetto, one of the magazine founders, addressed to his children. The letter ends with this note:

[...]we were often accused during my time at Wired of being overly optimistic. But optimism is not false hope, it’s a strategy for living.

It’s interesting to think of optimism as a strategy for living (and, why not, business). We live in times where some people regard optimism as some kind of delusional behavior or, on a different angle, relate it to an esoteric outlook on life.

It’s important to realize that being optimistic doesn’t mean that you won’t fail. Nevertheless, if your long-run strategy is built on optimism, it means you will keep on trying and, eventually, increase your chances of attaining success.In this article about Top Gun Salespeople, based on Psychological studies, optimism is listed as one of the three critical elements that make a great salesman. And if you conceive “selling” as something larger than getting people to buy products or services, while also encompassing the promotion of ideas, values and yourself, well, a good chunk of optimism (and hard work, of course) can prove adamant to your success.

YDreams has occasionally been described as a company far too optimistic for its context. Well, we’ll take that compliment.

In January 2006, YDreams closed a round of venture capital funding led by ES Tech Ventures somewhere in the neighborhood of 8.5 million Euros, which provided the company with the boost it needed to go to the next step. Most of you already know this, but I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane and share with you some of the months that led to Alfredo, our Director of Finance (most probably accompanied by his four-legged friend Bones) walking into our bank branch, wearing one of his trademark t-shirts, with a check for 8.5 million Euros in his pocket. I would’ve loved to have seen the look on that teller’s face.

The month’s that preceded January 2006 were grueling to say the least. We’re talking endless bureaucratic procedures such as scary legal due diligences and extensive financial audits. I personally recall a few all-nighters, buried under mountains of paper, crunching numbers and trying to figure out exactly what went where, when and how. I wasn’t alone of course. All us Jurassic YDreamers were in it together – just ask anyone who was around then – unless of course they’ve blocked it out entirely.

“Multi-tasking” was the word of the moment with everyone pitching in, doing pretty much anything from mounting projectors and preparing impactful presentations to scrambling for caterers willing to come to the FCT campus at the spur-of-the-moment for potential investors who seemed to pop in every other day. It was nerve-wrecking, often tiring but also extremely exciting. We were all sure something good was about to happen – it was almost palpable.

Darius Mahdjoubi, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, believes that YDreams is a “gazelle” type company: one that, after years of consistent development of intellectual property and products, will grow “explosively” in the global market. Darius will actually follow our development in the coming years to verify his research hypothesis.

YDreams founders are determined to contribute towards Darius’ research success. Like many “gazelle” companies before us (most historic tech companies were once “gazelles”), we have a strong vision, superb research and international class products and project development. YDreams intends to be the world leader in the creation of unique interactive objects and environments. References such as NOKIA, Vodafone, Adidas, Nike, Coca-Cola and Portugal Telecom in over fifteen countries have provided YDreams with the required credibility to claim such leadership.

A few months ago we realized we needed the help of a senior manager to take YDreams to the next level. We could not be happier with the person that is now our new Chief Operating Officer: Victor Centeno. Victor brings a wealth of management and marketing experiences from his tenures at companies such as Johnson and Johnson and Diageo in several countries. He will be instrumental in setting the environment for the success of the new YDreams products that will be launched in May 2008.

Not long ago YDreams had to suffer through cramped Portuguese offices located in Lisbon and Caparica. Today we are very happy with our new headquarters located on the campus of the New University of Lisbon in Caparica. The 2000 square meter building houses all YDreams divisions and displays most of our past and current work. YDreamers are also able to use the facility to support extra-curricular activities: our rock band will have a studio; we will have locker rooms for our surfers, bikers, tennis, basketball and football players. There will be also a bio-agricultural field for those inclined to cultivate it.

YDreams has entered a new era.

*[editorial featured on the fourth edition of our quarterly Newsletter]

Most of us have heard of South by Southwest but think of it exclusively as a music festival. SXSW is that and much more. It is a 2 week long event that takes Austin over and it’s starting on Friday!

The Wikipedia description:

“South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas. Originating as the Austin Battle of the Bands, SXSW officially began in 1987 and is centered around the downtown Austin Convention Center. Each of the three parts run relatively independently, with different start and end dates. SXSW is one of the largest music festivals in the United States, with more than 1,400 performers playing dozens of venues around Austin over four days in March. Though it is an industry-based event, SXSW Music links locally with events such as the annual Austin Music Awards show. SXSW is the highest money-making public event for the Austin economy, bringing in more revenue than the Austin City Limits Music Festival or the Texas Longhorn home games.”

Music is cool, and we all love Film but this year Interactive is the place to be at – especially because YDreams will have a special say in how it turns out. I’ll be a speaker at one of the panels on Saturday, “Location-based Entertainment, Animating Overlooked Spaces” (learn more about it here).

I expect to take advantage of my Gold Pass as much as possible over the next week and will try to report back frequently.

Wish me luck!

One of the Portuguese artist’s famous robot “Swarm Paintings” is the cover image for the first 2008 issue of Artificial Life magazine (published by MIT Press). The Swarm Paintings by Leonel Moura are created by a computer running an ant algorithm that is connected to a robotic arm. More info about Leonel Moura here.

Below, the cover image:

Just a reminder to all you art aficionados that ARCO 2008 is right around the corner. This year’s edition of the contemporary art fair, starring Brazil as the special guest nation, is underway in Madrid from February 13th – 18th. But take note, it only opens to the general public from the 15th onwards.

The place is huge and covers everything from historical vanguard art to modern masters, contemporary classics and high-tech art using the latest advances and techniques in painting, sculpting, installations, photography, video and new media.

In the past I’ve seen some pretty amazing stuff at ARCO. Last year I remember coming across a Fogscreen projection from the Finnish company that partnered up with us last May for ECSITE Lisbon 2007.

At ARCO, art and new media technologies come together in some really spectacular ways. Overall the ARCO puts on a good show for art and tech aficionados alike – an excellent suggestion for a weekend escapade, I’d say.

Our colleague Sérgio Estevão won the Forum Nokia November contribution award with his Blog “MIDP Adventures“. Sérgio is one of the most outstanding software engineers I’ve ever come across and also a good friend. He’s been working with YDreams since 2002 and was involved in almost all our games: Undercover, Undercover 2: Merc Wars, LexFerrum and spooks:mobile among many many other projects.