As a VC, I travel a lot. And although I have been in the business for many years now, I still visit a lot of places where I have no idea where to dine or where to go in a free hour. So for me, location-based services are not only a fantastic investment opportunity with enormous growth potential, but also tools that make my life easier. The same is true for services that allow me to share my experiences at such places. Thanks to mobile devices, I am now able to do it on the spot. The real-time web is here!

To be sure, business travellers are only a small target group for the new generation of local online services, but the number of prospective customers is much larger. Most people are keen to learn more about the best cook or the best food shop in town, and many businesses want to be able to reach these people at a time and place when they are most likely to become customers. And it is exactly this enormous target group on the one hand, and hundreds of thousands of local businesses on the other, that make the field of location-based services so attractive.

Naturally, it will not be straightforward for Internet companies to conquer fragmented local markets. But I am highly confident that the attitude of the current generation of Internet entrepreneurs will convince SMEs to invest some of their marketing budget online. Having proven themselves resilient during the lean times of recession, these entrepreneurs are committed, down-to-earth and focused business leaders who know just how to pitch their product every day.