should e-scooters be banned?
Issue #161 (11 Aug) – product manager types; Coffee with Mats; PUA still here?; posters for flats; beer consumption in Germany, and how not to lose your job to AI.
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Programming note #161: Summer is finally back. But the rain also helped — everything is greener, and we badly needed the water. If you are interested in soil moisture, here is the Drought Monitor looking good. In other news, funding rounds are on a summer break, but you can check the monthly dry powder analysis by Capvisory.
Thanks to our sponsors, Hypofriend (see what you can afford in Berlin) and Notion. If you are a solopreneur or a company with up to 100 employees, you can get Notion for 6 months for free!
The email subject data is in Snippet #3.
🌟 Handpicked community
Meet — 5 handpicked events:
🚨 Save the date — Tuesday, 9th of September. I will host a very interesting guest who, so far, hasn’t yet spoken openly about what they are doing. So exciting.
Oatly's Sig drink sling the final Germany | Tue, 12/08 17:00 | Oatly HQ (Mehringdamm)
Women's AI breakfast: Go-to-market edition | Mon, 26/08 09:00 | AI Campus Berlin
Creative code jam | Sat, 16/08 12:00 | MotionLab.Berlin
Marketing meet & mingle #5 at Le Wagon | Thu, 14/08 18:00 | Le Wagon Berlin
This could be your event! Advertise it.
Show cool stuff or Ask for something:
What type of Product Manager are you? Discover the answer by taking this 5-minute test, inspired by Peter Deng's 5 PM archetypes, as shared on Lenny's product podcast.
What’s your rent? You’re probably not one of the lucky ones with a rental contract from 2007 for your 100 sqm apartment. So it might make sense to check if you should buy something in still one of the cheapest capitals in Europe. Check what makes sense in 3 minutes with our friends at Hypofriend.*
📨 Submit your input for the community here.
👀 Handpicked jobs
3️⃣ job highlights of the week
The remaining jobs are on the Handpicked job board. This week’s focus was Data, Analytics and Finance.
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☕️ Coffee Talk with Mats Kuuskemaa
Mats is responsible for the E-residency program of Estonia, which enables founders to easily start a EU-based business. Meeting him reminded me that with some people, time just flies by. Here is what he prepared for you:
Diener Tattersall — It's a bar/restaurant focusing on the artist community, founded in the 1950s by former Berlin boxer Franz Diener. One of those places that hasn't changed in decades, with décor dating back to the 1920s. You'll end up sitting close to strangers who will start the conversation about your food and background.
Whitlamsberlintours — Instagram channel by Jonny Whitlam, a UK expat who taught himself Berlin's history and focuses on 20th-century stories. When I moved to Berlin, I tried various history tours but found most too tourist-focused. He dives into architectural details and tells people's stories exceptionally well.
Berlinische Galerie — If you're looking for a small museum that always delivers, Berlinische Galerie offers regular and interesting exhibits. I recently loved Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra's series following the same people over several years. The permanent collection is compact with some nice pieces. A great place to take your guests.
🗞 Snippets
Berlin & Germany, career & timeless
If there is a company you’d really like to see featured in my new content format, let me know on r/handpickedberlin. I am working on fun (?) and short company briefings.
Founders Factory is looking for founders to take over two validated ideas (Immoly and Voltigo). Add “Handpicked Berlin” in the “Where did you hear about this job opening?” and I will share 50% of the referral bonus with you.
💎 Another Italian restaurant suggestion: Zum heiligen Teufel - Cucina Italiana. It was excellent. I liked the menu offer where you can choose 3 dishes and got good recommendations from the staff.
Do you think e-scooters need to be banned like in Madrid or Paris? Most Berliners would agree, but Berlin’s transport Senator is against it.
Tagesspiegel’s survey. I can’t believe pick-up artists still exist, but apparently they do (reports from Reddit). Be careful out there, ladies, especially around Alex and other tourist-heavy places.
Have you ever seen those posters on the street of people looking for apartments? It appears the method works: Tim got first offers (€) after a couple of hours. He needed 99 posters with a photo and a €500 reward.
Imagine Oranienstraße (Görlitzer Bahnhof - Moritzplatz) with reduced traffic, greenery, bicycle parking spaces, recreational areas, and wider sidewalks…
Now forget it — after a decade and spending almost 280k for the project, the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg stopped the redesign. It’s wild how hard it is to get things done in this town.Beer in Germany is in crisis! In the first half of 2025, the sales of beer had fallen below 4B liters for the first time since the data is measured (1993). And nearly 100 breweries have closed in the past five years! I am not sure if it’s the age, but I sometimes get a headache while drinking the second one.
Notice how much beer they drink in Czechia! Career: AI is changing the workplace one way or another, and here is a very detailed guide on how not to lose your job to AI. While on their page, you can also check out their career guide. I haven’t tried it myself, but it looks useful and very well researched.
Career: How to increase your surface area for luck is a good primer for just… doing stuff. For example, go out there and try different things, nobody will judge you, but you will meet interesting people who are the ones that can change your life. Excellent throughout.
Timeless: Excellent essay by Gurwinder on how social media shortens our lives. Twitter/X is a good example: after a longer break, I logged in again and “For you” became a completely useless feed of videos I don’t recall anymore. Terrible. On the other hand, I am planning to work on my Instagram content strategy this week. Huh.
Briefly
Bad news: labforward (Berlin) filed for bankruptcy.
Stats: The average German is 44.9 years old, lives with one other person on 94.4 sqm, and earns €3,978 monthly (median full-time salary).
Lemon.markets (Berlin, fintech) was acquired by dwpbank. BaFin approval is pending.
Klarna might IPO as early as September.
n8n (Berlin) funding drama continues: investors are now reportedly already bidding at €3B (Business Insider).
On the Henley Passport Index 2025 Germany is sharing 3rd place with plenty of other countries. You can travel to 189 countries visa-free. Spitzenreiter is Singapore with 193.
Siemens Energy Q3 FY25: revenues €9.7B (+13.5% YoY); net income €697M (vs -€102M last year).
HOLY (energy drinks, Berlin) hit €150M in sales and is hiring a lot.
Northvolt, a bankrupt European battery bet, was, ironically, taken over by a US-based Lyten.
Weekly social
Reddit: Have you noticed the tz ligature on some street signs? Explanations in the comments, including this Wikipedia article.
Facebook: The most German man in the world.
YouTube: Chris Kholer on online reviews.
💰 Fresh capital for founders
July highlights powered by Capvisory – a Berlin-based fundraising and M&A advisory boutique.
Each month, we spotlight new VC funds now actively deploying capital, especially in Berlin, Europe, or founder-favourite sectors (SaaS, AI, climate, B2B, etc.):
Auxxo | Germany | Early-stage startups in Europe with at least one female founder | €26M (1st close)
TechVision | Germany | Pre-seed & seed tech across Rhineland/NRW | €57M
Eurazeo | France | European AI champions | €650M (1st close)
Evantic Capital | UK | Series B & growth-stage fund focused on B2B | $355M
Shift Invest | Netherlands | Pre-seed & seed impact tech in energy, food, mobility & agri | €106M (1st close)
Full fund tracker (49x VC, 16x PE) and dry powder analysis: capvisory.de
💸 Funded in Berlin & Germany
Tanso | Munich | CO2 emissions management software | €12M | Careers.
NorcSi | Halle | Silicon battery anode technology | €10.7M | No careers.
😅 Meanwhile
living the screen dream
Igor Ranc
Founder & Curator of Handpicked Berlin
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