Lots has been written about personalised manufacturing over the years – the notion that companies will deliver every consumer exactly what they want at point of purchase. While it may be some time before you can purchase a Coca Cola from a vending machine that delivers the flavour combination, sweetness, size (dose?) of Coke that you want at that point, one company has made a virtue of their ability to deliver exactly what a customer wants.

As long as you don’t mind grotty meat in a burger bun, Burger King makes much of the consumer’s ability to choose extra mayo, no mustard or gherkin, extra ‘salad’ etc. Their latest marketing wheeze in the US takes this idea a step further. When customers order a burger, they have their photograph taken at the till. The photo is printed onto the burger wrapper and you are handed a personalised burger with a personalised wrap.

Clever. Not only does it underline the personalisation of the product and makes people smile, it may even make people smarten up a bit and could even reduce litter.

Some very useful numbers contained in this presentation from Intel Capital. I have removed some ‘Intel Confidential’ information from this presentations but the numbers here do make you think. Download Intel Internet Slides pdf here.

Some other snippets of information while I am at it that came out of the conversation at our event yesterday:

• 2007 was the first year that we produced more data in the world than we have the capacity to store.
• In 2009, thanks largely to the rise of social networking, there was more data produced in the world than all previous year’s combined.
• Zynga, producer of games for Facebook, is Pay Pal’s second largest customer globally.

Publishing is dead.

Everyone in new media knows that even if the publishing industry hasn’t realised it yet.

If you have two minutes and 30 seconds to spare, watch this.

It might reinforce some of your views but it might challenge some others.

Thanks to the excellent India Knight for finding this.

Congratulations to the team at Atomico who announced that it has completed fundraising for its second fund, Atomico Ventures II.

The $165 million fund will focus primarily on Europe, and will seek to invest in early stage, high growth technology companies, with the goal to provide outsized returns to investors over the long-term. The fund will achieve this by investing in outstanding management teams, who address large market opportunities that leverage innovative business models and transformational technologies.

The partners of Atomico are the largest investors in this fund and have been joined by several top-tier institutions, truly aligning interests for all parties.

Niklas Zennström, Founder and CEO of Atomico, commented: “We are delighted to announce that we have completed the fundraising for Atomico Ventures II, which will be focused primarily on early-stage tech companies in Europe. We will seek to invest in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building exceptional businesses. We will target companies that we believe have the potential to generate significant growth, transform their industries, and deliver strong returns.” Company website.

While this is great news – this is one of the few funds to close in 2010, (Sofinnova and Aster both closed funds in January February) – it also demonstrates the challenging fund raising environment at present. The fund was initially targeting around $260 million.

Speaking to the FT, Niklas Zennström said,

“The firm will focus on early-stage software and internet companies that have the potential to be “transformative”, said Mr Zennström. That model will be welcomed by British entrepreneurs, who have complained that in the downturn, investors have become more risk averse, making safer bets in later-stage companies.

“The type of companies we are looking at are consumer-facing and also small business . . .  that do not need to build up sales forces around the world to scale and grow,” Mr Zennström told the Financial Times. “These are the kinds of companies like Skype, Google and Facebook who, if the business model is really working, they can get large revenues without having to go through too many financing rounds.”

Good news for ambitious and accomplished European web entrepreneurs.

• is looking for a brilliant part time event manager. #
• Keep leaving meetings with sense I left coat behind then remember it's springtime. Happy sunny days. Winter behind us. #
• RT @andrewsmall: Looking fwd to the BLN event tonight. great bunch of people registered to attend http://bit.ly/adNDgq – us too! #
• Off for family trip to see 'Up' at the Newnham Croft pop-up family picture house. Predict some tears. #

The Business Leaders Network (BLN) runs events – workshops, dinners and conferences – for entrepreneurs and investors engaged in building growth businesses. Founded in the month prior to the Lehman Bros crash, we have grown steadily over the past 18 months in a tough market environment. We now need some more people to help us!

The Role Building on our reputation and existing event programme, we are now looking to develop our event programme and membership model. We are looking for support, initially part-time, to help manage a busy office, take control of the development and delivery of specific events and to develop a membership programme.

We require an individual who is capable and eager to take ownership of tasks to ensure that not only are deadlines met, but with the highest quality results. With too much to be done every day, we can tailor the role to suit the right candidate’s skill set.

You will liaise with existing and prospective BLN members, as well as working with other professionals. You will be able to pick new things up quickly and be prepared to work in a small team. The role will also involve putting together event booklets and delegate material, as well as managing project plans.

Candidates are likely to have experience in some of the following: event management; conference production; membership management; investor relations; corporate finance; event marketing; web site management; blogging. This is a role for a candidate who is looking to work in a fast-paced and dynamic environment for 2 days per week, with the potential for additional work opportunities from home.

Core deliverables:

–          Communicating regularly with clients & responding to enquiries

–          Maintaining & updating current records

–          Identifying potential future BLN members from a range of sources

–          Helping to secure attendees for events

–          Ensuring a high degree of accuracy in the production of BLN documents/reports

–          Ad-hoc project flexibility

–          Event management assistance

Hours We will be as flexible as possible in terms of working hours – we recognise that sometimes the best people for a role don’t have the luxury of a 9-5 lifestyle. The role could be particularly suitable for example for a parent who is looking to move back into the real world.

How to Apply: To apply please simply send your CV and a covering letter via email to darren@TheBLN.com. We will review all applicants and respond back to you. Successful applications will be called for interview shortly afterwards.

Just a quick heads up on the participants for tomorrow night’s CEO Tales event. Thanks to some superhuman feats of organisation by Taylor Wessing’s event team, we now have a few additional places available. Thanks Lucy!

The Emerging VC Landscape – Participant List

• 4iP, Director
• ACIS, COO
• ACIS, CEO
• Acuitas, Managing Director
• Advanced Marketing Concepts, Principal
• Advent Ventures, Managing Partner
• aiHit, CEO
• All-In Group, CEO
• Antisoma, ex CFO
• Anti-X, CEO
• Archangel Informal Investment Ltd, CEO
• Arrow Capital, Managing Partner
• ASCENDANT LIMITED, Managing Director
• Aster Capital, Investment Partner
• Atlas Venture, Partner
• Axon Automotive, Founder & MD
• Balderton Capital, Associate

It was reported in the Sunday Telegraph this week and confirmed by insiders today. Richemont has been an investor in Net-a-Porter for many years and hold a 29% stake so it is not the biggest surprise that they have emerged as the purchaser of Net-a-Porter. They have had plenty of time to size up the business and the price seems reasonable given both the growth and the brand. A good day for Natalie Massanet and Mark Sebba, the founder and CEO respectively.