are you subletting? things might change!
Issue #167 (Sep 29) - investors are bullish on Germany; 4 methods of finding an apartment; 11 spots for tacos; on the urgency of leisure and life-changing items.
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Programming note #167: I am looking for community members who’d be willing to openly discuss their career, salary, living cost and income development. You will remain anonymous. Send me an email or approach me on socials.
We had our first Insider’s Dinner Club last Monday, and it was a great success. I previously already recommended Hanuman Thai Curry House (excellent curries!). What I didn’t know is that they also do catering for events. Check them out.
Thanks to our sponsors, Getsafe, Vanta and Almedia.
The email subject is in snippet #5!
🌟 Handpicked community
Meet — 5 handpicked events:
See you at Make With Notion Community Takeover | Tue, 07/10 17:30 | Spreespeicher
AI agents after hours by buildersklub x Make - German AI roadshow | Wed, 01/10 18:00 | Bi Nuu
Hack the flux: Generative edition | Thu, 09/10 18:00 | Merantix AI Campus
Spotlight: Cybersecurity talks – Ideas to secure our digital future | Tue, 30/09 17:30 | 42 Berlin
The Erotic Album: Sound Poems from the Body | Fri, 10/10 20:00 | Lettrétage
This could be your event! Advertise it.
Show cool stuff or Ask for something:
Are you a startup or SME working on clean tech or sustainable energy solutions? In this info session, you will learn everything about Komm:Transform (free trainings, matchmaking and events).
Check out Ampli Vibe AI newsletter: From vibe coding to agentic workflows, explore how AI is reshaping the way we build. A weekly roundup of tools, trends, and inspiration for modern builders, engineers, and product people.
If you feel like pizza and Aperol, check out True Italian Pizza week until Oct 1. 41 pizzerias, Pizza + Aperol for €16.
Something interesting to share? Go for it.
👀 Handpicked jobs
3️⃣ job highlights of the week
🚨 Do you know Almedia? They are one of Berlin’s fastest-growing startups, scaling while staying bootstrapped. They aim to become Germany’s second bootstrapped unicorn and are already pushing against giants like Google and Meta. This ambition means they have over 45 roles open right now. Worth a look!*
The remaining jobs are on the Handpicked job board. This week’s focus was on Tech & Development.
Germany’s Insurance Jungle Made Simple!
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☕️ Coffee Talk with Matthias Voss
Matthias is one of the people I met at a random event in town, and I somehow managed to stay in touch with. And I am glad I did. He helps startups and others improve their decks and close more deals. Here is what he prepared for you:
Zu Hell Café & Bar - Zu Hell Café & Bar is the bar that I would create myself. It's small, tidy, and they serve coffee all day long. After lunch, you pick up an espresso. After dinner, you pick up an espresso martini. Perfect.
The One Thing - Back in the days, I would read all about self-improvement and productivity. This is the only book you need on this topic. So let me ask you, what's your one thing?
Go Wakeboarding - Everyone talks about Padel nowadays. Don't get why, go wakeboarding instead. Here is where I usually go, because it's close by.
🗞 Snippets
Berlin & Germany, career & timeless
I wrote a new article: this time about 4 unconventional methods of finding an apartment. Three of them probably work worldwide.
Berlin Builders Circle, a capped community I am starting, already has some very strong applicants. I will keep the form open for some more time. Don’t be shy!
Why is opposing Chat Control extremely important? Here is an explainer. It would apply to all interpersonal communication service providers but would exempt government accounts. 🤡
Smokers behave! Starting last Monday, Ordnundgsamt in plainclothes and uniform is patrolling Berlin to catch those littering with cigarette butts. Fines are between €55 and up to €120. Btw, this book helped me stop smoking over 2 years ago. Would recommend.
Are you subletting? The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) gave first opinion that tenants shouldn't profit from sublets - the purpose is cost relief while abroad, not income generation. It’s a Berlin case: the tenant paid €460/month, and charged subtenants €962 for a furnished apartment. Lower courts said this violates rent control. BGH will decide on January 28 whether rent control applies to sublets. If BGH rules against profitable subletting, main tenants could lose apartments for overcharging. Here is an interview with Mr Bartles from Mieterverein, where he describes the problem as “Wild West” with criminal practices. For sure, Mr Bartles, for sure!
11 spots for tacos in Berlin. I tried a couple from the list and can vouch for Tacos El Rey. That’s also one of the reasons why our Insider’s Dinner Club #2 will be hosted by the mastermind behind the place.
Here is a nerdy project of train stations in several cities around the world. Berlin is featured prominently, also with the concept of sandwich stations, where two lines cross at different levels.
No wonder I got lost a couple of times at Hbf. Career: Do you feel stuck in your career? It might be you are useful, but not valued. When I look back at my own career, I see a clear pattern of usefulness.
Career: How to motivate yourself to do a thing you don’t want to do? has some good ideas. What also works for me is to sometimes just drop everything else and start working on it.
Timeless: Summer is gone, but this article makes me want to leisurely stroll around some Medditerrenean town and enjoy good food and wine. On the urgency of leisure or anti-hustle.
Timeless: A very good essay about how the rise of AI’s is causing the end of thinking by Derek Thompson. Writing and reading skills are declining, and that’s really bad. It’s your choice: do you want to be a copy-paste machine, pasting stuff from LLMs left and right, or do you want to do (some?) things by yourself? Pair with the fact that humans are now getting hired to clean up after AI.
SOC 2 is one of the first things customers ask for — but it doesn't have to slow you down. With the right approach, you can turn compliance from a blocker into a business enabler.
This startup-friendly checklist from Vanta outlines the key steps to getting SOC 2 compliant quickly, even without a dedicated security team. It's a practical guide to help you build trust fast and keep momentum.
Briefly
Bad news: Bosch -13.000 until 2030; Lufthasna -20% of the administration staff. I’ve heard rumours/hearsay of layoffs in Flixbus, Blacklane and JP Morgan (in Berlin).
Stats: The number of wrongly parked e-scooters increased significantly this year. A bit over 19k in the first seven months of 2025, almost double the amount from last year. Blindenverein is suing the Senate to only allow dedicated parking spots.
Thinking of a Product Hunt launch? Probably better to spend your time elsewhere.
Foreign investors are bullish on Germany: From January to July 2025, €334B in capital flowed into Germany - more than 2.5 times the ten-year average of €126B and the second-highest figure since 2014, according to IW analysis of Bundesbank data.
SpaceX started to offer their Starlink internet service in Germany for €29 monthly, now directly competing with Telekom and Vodafone.
U2 line is gradually getting new trains, 17.5 (yes) by the end of the year. The “retired” ones will be extending the existing ones on U3. Meanwhile, the cost for the 800m extension of U3 to Mexicoplatz are rising (now already at €160M from €104M planned).
Planet Labs (US) will invest €45M and be hiring 70 people to build satellites in Berlin. Careers.
Evelyn Palla will become the new CEO of Deutsche Bahn, the first woman in charge in the 190-year history.
Tide, a UK-based business account provider which is planning a heavy expansion in Germany, raised $120M to support expansion. Careers.
TikTok Shop is growing fast in Germany: 14k sellers with the number of purchasers growing 43% monthly.
Weekly social
Reddit: What life-changing item can you buy for less than $500? A Japanese high-grade rice cooker made me think twice.
Reddit: Of course, Google Maps takedowns are in the vast majority, a German thing.
YouTube: Why everyone is quitting social media? I am in between. I need it for the newsletter, but at the same time feel so tired of it.
💸 Funded in Berlin & Germany
revel8 | Berlin | AI cybersecurity awareness platform | €5.7M | Careers.
Forgent | Berlin | AI government contract automation | €4.3M Seed | No careers.
Konvo AI | Berlin | Conversational AI for eCommerce | €3.5M Seed | No careers.
Optimeleon | Berlin | AI webpage conversion optimization | €1.5M | Careers.
Cylib | Aachen | Sustainable battery recycling technology | €26.1M EU | Careers.
Sunhat | Cologne | AI ESG data verification | €9.2M Series A | Careers.
Factor2 Energy | Duisburg | CO2-based geothermal systems | $9.1M | Careers.
Holy Technologies | Hamburg | Automated lightweight component production | €4.3M | Careers.
enaDyne | Leipzig | Plasma CO2 conversion technology | €7M | Careers.
OMMM | Leverkusen | AI planning solutions | €3.6M Seed | Careers.
Futurail | Munich | Autonomous train systems | €7.5M Seed | Careers.
yasp | Freiburg | AI training acceleration software | $5M | Careers.
😅 Meanwhile
Add Nvidia investing €100B into OpenAI to that
Igor Ranc
Founder & Curator of Handpicked Berlin
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