should our messages and photos be scanned?
Issue #162 (18 Aug) – going full-time; coffee with Jonathan; where to eat and not to eat; ACs on the rise; how to be better and great puzzles.
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Programming note #162: It took almost 3 months, but it happened — I received the Gründungszuschuss. This means I will finally be able to dedicate 100% of my time to Handpicked Berlin. My goal is to build a sustainable business. But before that, the newsletter will be on a short break next Monday, so see you again on the 1st of September.
In the meantime, you can help me by responding to this question: What should I do more of? Thanks, everything helps.
Thanks to our sponsor, Feather (I can only recommend you to get legal insurance - it saved me over €3000!)
The email subject is related to Snippet #7, and from my perspective, it’s a clear “No”.
🌟 Handpicked community
Meet — 6 handpicked events:
PowerUp - the Qonto Event for Entrepreneurs 🚀 | Your Business. Your Growth. More Opportunities | Thu, 25.09. at 18.00 | Radialsystem Berlin (50% off with HANDPICKED50)*
The Self-Leadership Shift: Leading with Love, Not Fear. The future belongs to people who choose courage over fear. Join us for a workshop on intentional leadership, grounded in values, clarity and purpose. | Wed, 03/09 18:00 | Mindspace Krausenstraße (20% off with HANDPICKED)*
Stories & Build: Berlin’s early-stage founders share real, unfiltered building stories in a relaxed bar setting | Thu, 28/08 19:00 | salon wellenmaschine*
Cap table confessions - Seed Society summer closing event | Fri, 22/08 18:30 | Location after registration
BITS & DRINKS // Networking für digitale Köpfe der Hauptstadtregion | Wed, 27/08 18.30 | Bikini Berlin
Mitte Daily's Pétanque picnic | Sat, 30/08 16:00 | Gipsdreieck
This could be your event! Advertise it.
Show cool stuff or Ask for something:
🚨 You can transform your career with Fired Up: free digital HR & AI project management training. It’s free for job seekers with a Bildungsgutschein.*
🇦🇷 Here is something very interesting: Join Edge City Patagonia (Oct 18-Nov 15), a month-long popup city in Argentina's Andes where builders, researchers & creators of frontier tech, culture, & art gather to innovate & prototype the future. (20% off with BERLINFRIENDS)*
🇯🇵 If you prefer Japan: MotionLab.Berlin is looking for Berlin-based startups to join their delegation trip to Japan to help them scale to this market and connect with local actors. The trip is from 18 to 24 September. Apply here.
📨 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 Marketing and Communications.
Feather's legal insurance: a perfect solution for every employee (because you never know!)
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⚖️ Criminal add-on – Protection for criminal cases.
And yes, it’s in English - because navigating German legalese is a nightmare no one should face alone.
☕️ Coffee Talk with Jonathan Eade
Jonathan is the only person from the Faroe Islands that I know (he is half Faroese). He is a former banker turned impact investor. Our conversation reminded me of how much I appreciate grounded people with a good BS detector. Here is what he prepared for you:
Ankerklause — Ankerklause on the Landwehr Canal is a great people-watching place, particularly on market days. It's a perfect place to start the night, though sometimes tricky to get a table outside so - smiling sweetly definitely helps!
Trading Game — A book by Gary Stevenson, a former trader, talking about growing inequality as being the biggest threat to democracy and our way of life and not the themes selected by the current populists. I think he is bang on.
A tip of sweating daily — Sweat for at least 10 minutes every day! It doesn’t matter whether it’s running on the Feld or in the gym (though this summer Freibads may be too cold to build up a sweat!). A French doctor once told me that by doing this every day, you can eat, drink and live more or less as you like (apparently that also includes the occasional vice!) and you’ll have many healthy years in front of you!
🗞 Snippets
Berlin & Germany, career & timeless
You can help me become better by answering this question: What should I do more of? Thanks, every input counts. Do write anything that comes to your mind.
I published Where not to eat in Pankow / Prenzaluer Berg for July and June. On Instagram, I did a more positive version of the top 8 rated places in July.
One of the industries currently booming in Berlin is, unfortunately, the defence industry. In the last four months, the number of so-called dual-use companies increased from 50 to 100. These firms mainly produce surveillance drones, small satellites, sensors, and communications technology, with some pivoting to direct military hardware like ammunition components. Combine this with the FT video below for understanding the dangers of the unproductive defence investments.
Looking for a business idea? I can pitch you cooling-related stuff. The demand for AC is rising heavily in Germany (from 2019 to 2024, the production rose by 75% to 317k). No wonder, our summers are getting hotter. The general absence of the ACs in Europe can easily be explained by this graphic, which is, by the way, also a good visualisation of global warming:
85°F is 29.4°C, from NY Times. 💎 The team from Nobelhart & Schmutzig released their Google Map of recommendations. It includes restaurants, cafes and bars. Great stuff!
This is a well-made FT’s video about the historical allergy to debt in Germany and what sort of a political gamble the spending package of €500B really is. If things don’t improve fast, AfD will clearly win the next election.
The EU has an idea to scan your private messages and photos. And this isn’t good. At this moment, 9 member states are still undecided, and you can help by sending a letter to your MEP. It will take 5 min of your time.
Career: How to think like a VC when deciding if you want to work for a startup? A good article from Irina and Oana. I also wrote something similar, 12 things to know before joining a startup.
Career: Do you request your candidates to do live coding? Maybe something to reconsider, because stress impacts performance. We all have seen it before — for example, when someone’s looking, I make more mistakes while typing. The article also includes a couple of tips on how to deal with the stress of live coding.
Career: How to instantly be better at things from Cate Hall has some good advice: if you pretend/imagine you are someone else by allowing your intuitive system to take over. An interesting concept.
Timeless: This is a dangerous website of very simple puzzle games that you can even share with others (e.g. playing the same exact puzzle, because they have IDs). No ads, and nothing fancy, just high-quality puzzle games. I tried a couple and then remembered I have stuff to do. Hah!
Smart Living in Germany is a free newsletter that helps you spend smarter. From banking, insurance and tax insights to cashback and shopping deals – get clear, practical advice to help you cut costs and get more out of your money in Germany.*
Briefly
Bad news: it seems like they also took a week off.
Stats: In 2024, the most expensive flat in Berlin was sold in Charlottenburg for €8.3M (22k/sqm). The most expensive house was a villa in Kladow for €17.2M, and the most expensive parking spot was sold in Mitte for €100k.
The winners of Deep Tech Awards: Lably, Noah Labs, Kipu Quantum, PRAMOMOLECULAR, AFTS.
vibe moves you (Vienna, electric cars subscription) is planning an expansion to Germany; Kombo (Berlin, SaaS) acquired Midlane (HR Tech).
N26 founders Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal could soon be fired by the investors.
Bankrupt Lilium (airtaxi, VTOL) might get a new investor, Ambitious Air Mobility Group (AAMG).
HelloFresh Q2: €1.7B in revenue (-9.5% YoY); net income €13.3M (+49.4%).
Klarna Q2: $823M in revenue (+20% YoY); net loss of $53M (up from $18M).
On Running (also based in Berlin) is widening its lead over Hoka. Their Q2 sales were up +32% YoY.
Munchies in Kreuzberg will move to a bigger place next door (former STA) this winter. The biggest problem was (is) trash left behind by the patrons.
A bit unusual article for this newsletter, but I need to share this fascinating Nazi’s roundtrip: from being born in a hardcore Nazi family over to becoming a left-wing terrorist and finally returning to his Nazi roots. Horst Mahler is dead. (in German)
Weekly social
Reddit: People discuss overhyped places in Berlin. Na ja. But you can see the commentariat sentiment. Perhaps more constructive: some ideas on how to land a dermatologist.
Twitter: Have you ever noticed that people dressed better in the past? (unrolled thread)
Instagram: Volunteers cleaned Warschauer Str. Commendable effort! (in Russian but with German subtitles)
💸 Funded in Berlin & Germany
Almost crickets! Congrats Plancraft!
Plancraft | Hamburg | Craftsman business management software | €38M Series B | Careers.
😅 Meanwhile
it’s already mid-August
Igor Ranc
Founder & Curator of Handpicked Berlin
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