March 1, 2011

By Tofte Kristorsson
Staff Reporter

Legendary Swedish entrepreneur launches first Social Exchange: Introducing Social Networking 2.0

Swedish internet visionary and serial entrepreneur Johan Staël von Holstein is back, this time with
MyCube, which he calls 'the social exchange,' where privacy, ownership and control are the foundations
that enable more valuable and meaningful online interactions.

I was happy being able to catch up with Johan Staël von Holstein at Arlanda airport in Stockholm. As
always, he's in a hurry, this time to catch a plane to take him to Singapore, where he now calls home.

"I live in wonderful Singapore, but I am here now and then," says Staël von Holstein. "My partner Johan
Sellström is leading some of the development for MyCube here. We have chosen Singapore and Sweden
because of their talent pools, digital infrastructures and geographical positions, covering the Asian and
European markets."

He's already looking at his watch, so I jump right to it. Will Sweden yet again be behind the launch of
one of the world's largest internet companies? Staël von Holstein's eyes sparkle and with a broad smile
he replies.

"Yes, of course. Sweden has a rich heritage of success in this sector," he says. "No other country outside
of the US has generated more companies with true international success on the internet. Swedish
entrepreneurs brought the world Skype, MySQL, Tradedoubler, Pricerunner, Spotify, Kazaa,
ThePirateBay and LBI."

He adds, "We have the pedigree, ingenuity and the talent to be leading the evolution of the internet.
But I must say MyCube is a truly international company with 15 nationalities among its 40 employees."

Swedish entrepreneurs could again be leading this next push in to the future of the internet if MyCube,
launched on Wednesday, fulfills its ambition to redefine social networking. Straight away, it's easy to see
that Staël von Holstein has massive ambition, but he also has credentials to match.

The MyCube founder and CEO is one of the internet's true visionaries and pioneers. He founded
Letsbuyit.com in 1998, for a while the largest e-commerce company in Europe and the first consumer
aggregator and role model for Groupon. He was also among the first investors in aSmallworld and prior
to that, one of the founding partners in Icon Medialab, (LBI) the world's largest internet consultancy.

After two and a half years in development, MyCube is ready to introduce the world to what Staël von
Holstein claims will be social networking 2.0. How does it feel to finally launch and why has it taken so
long?

"We had a rocket start in the winter and spring of 2008 and were up to 30 employees by August. Then
we were hit by a sledgehammer with the financial crisis. It was probably just as well as nobody in the
world wanted to listen to our arguments about privacy and integrity back then. But now they do," he
says with a confident smile.

The recent privacy backlash against Facebook has spawned a number of social network startups that
claim to tackle the issue of privacy and integrity. Is MyCube all about privacy too?

"No, MyCube is not just about privacy and integrity, it is putting privacy, ownership and control at the
very heart of our service – as something that is sacrosanct and intrinsic to our offering," Staël von
Holstein says.

He adds, "The default of a MyCube profile is complete privacy. It's then for the user to decide what they
do or don’t want to do. It's only in this way that users are really free to make decisions about their
privacy, so in this respect MyCube is introducing real freedom into the social networking space."

Surely as an entrepreneur Stael von Holstein must know that first mover advantage can play a critical
role. Why has he been so quiet with his plans and isn't he afraid that other companies might already
have taken the field?

"No, no, no. We are a sophisticated social exchange where privacy and integrity are the beginning. The
ownership and control provided with MyCube will enable you to create a true digital identity, and that
will give you endless opportunities that will empower you and have remarkable effects on our society."

He continues, "We will treat you as an individual with individual rights. You decide for yourself and only
have to abide by the laws of the country where you live – not by the restrictions that the current
networking companies places on you.”

"It's about total ownership and control, turning the internet on its head by focusing on individualizing
the whole system, putting social networking into a new era where the user will be totally platform
independent and free.

"We are a social exchange where knowledge, interest, experience and valuable content can be
monetized. Individualizing the internet will mean increased relevance, preciseness, timely and trust
worthy information. We are so disruptive and so transformative we have deliberately chosen to go
under the radar."

What do you mean by a true digital identity?

"My real digital identity has to be a mirror image of my physical identity, which is actually who I really
am; my bad sides, good sides, my secrets, my opinions and thoughts, it's diverse, it's complex, it's
private and it's mine," he says.

What will the benefits of that be?

"Because I can be myself. I have lectured to tens of thousands of people throughout the world and at
these lectures, I have asked people, what are the greatest things in life? I have a list of some hundreds of
words ranging from love to Mother to strawberries, but not one single word that reflects anything
digital," Staël von Holstein says.

"The more you live according to your physical life the better. The digital world should empower us, but
today it is used to exploit us and we are run by internet companies and large brands. We have to
interact on their terms, not our own terms like we do in real life. MyCube is setting you free and working
for you," he adds.

This sounds big and ambitious, so is his plan to take on Facebook as a direct competitor?

"No, I don't see us as a competitor in the traditional sense," he says. "MyCube is a paradigm shift in how
we relate to the internet. Just like the p.o.p protocol set e-mails free from being restricted within AOL,
Memo and Lotus Notes, MyCube will eventually set people free from being locked up in 'closed walled
garden networks.'"

He adds, "We are creating a social exchange where you can communicate with all your social networking
sites. Where you can protect and monetize all of your digital assets and much more. Social media is vast
and growing tremendously and there will be room for many, many new players. We are fragmenting the
internet and fundamentally changing how it works!"

Before I have a chance to ask, Staël von Holstein preempts my next question. There is literally no
stopping him.

"Yes, I know you will ask that I'm claiming MyCube will change the world and become an internet giant,
bigger than Facebook and Google in Apple in just a few short years. So surely I am competing with
Facebook," he says. "But I will tell you that this is completely different. It is fundamentally about having
privacy, control and ownership of your digital life. Why wouldn't you want that?"

"I believe that everybody with individual brand value; intellectual property; knowledge of importance;
everybody with assets of some kind - as well as people who are responsible and worried about their
children and their future - should use MyCube," he continues. "Why should anyone give away their
digital assets to large internet companies to freely exploit for their own benefit?"

He adds, "You know, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook has said that the era of privacy is over and Eric
Schmidt of Google suggests that kids change their names when they finish University so they can leave
behind their teenage identity behind. In fact, both Schmidt and Zuckerberg have publicly stated that
anyone who's not comfortable with revealing everything about themselves must have something to
hide.

"Between them, they've constructed an internet world-view that says everyone must live their lives in
full view; where everything can – and should – be there for everyone to see.

"This isn't freedom, it's like living in a dictatorship. They might be right and I might be wrong, but even if
I am, at least 25 per cent of people will be as 'paranoid' as I am and they will, as I do, resist surrendering
their privacy and seek freedom and choice. People simply want to have different relationships with
different people. We all have things that we do not want totally in public."

Staël von Holstein doesn't need any encouragement, but when I first mention Facebook, his demeanour
changes. The smile is replaced by a steely look, the contemplative responses ditched for a torrent of
pointed words.

Is he just out to attack Facebook's success and become the long-awaited alternative that probably
hundreds of millions users today on Facebook have been waiting for?

"The thing about Facebook is that I love it and hate it," he explains. "I love what I can do, but cannot for
the life of me understand why they decide everything for me and limit my freedom and ability to control
to such an extent."

He adds, "I like to use the analogy of owning rather than renting property. Facebook can often feel like
you're renting the space from a slum landlord. They dictate all the terms. If they want to put in a new
window, they do. If they want to change the locks, they do. And if they want to kick you out of the
whole property altogether, taking ownership of everything inside, they do."

He continues, "A lot of people don't realize, but the content they put on existing social networks no
longer belongs to them – all those pictures, contact details and discussions belong to the social network.
If they ban you from their service, all those pictures, contacts, email exchanges are lost forever.

"With MyCube, we have created an experience that is about owning. You own the space and you do
what you like in it. The content can't be taken away, only you can decide what should be deleted.
MyCube won't tell you what you can and can't do.

"Unlike other social networks, MyCube won't force you to share anything. If you want to share with the
world, fine. But if you don't, that's fine too. MyCube is not going to spy on you like evil companies such
as Apple, Google and Facebook do.

"Instead, we'll provide the space for you to use as you like and you have to take personal responsibility
for your own actions. But privacy, ownership and control is just one dimension of what MyCube will
offer.

"But I haven’t even got into the financial benefits we will empower people with. MyCubeis creating a
unique micro-payment system based on the exchange of valuable content between individuals and also
an exchange between you and brands or businesses you are interested in having a dialogue with. You
will see when we have our public launch, but I can promise it won't be anything like what you have ever
seen on the Internet before."

With another glance at his watch, I realise my time with Staël von Holstein is almost over. He's up and
ready to go to his gate, but there's one last question burning in my mind. The idea is so broad, the
company so small and the competition so large, how on earth is he going to make it happen?
"The demand from hundreds of million social media users is already there. All we are doing is providing
the tools," he says.

From our brief discussion, it's hard not to be won over by Staël von Holstein’s persuasive drive, insightful
vision and incredible passion. The potential of MyCube is tantalizing, opening up a new dimension not
only to the debates about privacy and social networking, but to how we relate to the internet in a
fundamental way. It could literally change the world.

As more of us create content that we want control over and value as part of our personal knowledge
and expression, the idea that disruptive technology from an emerging company will create real value for
that is perhaps the most exciting prospect.

MyCube is launching its private beta soon we will soon see what the future of the internet will look like.
I for one can't wait.