Greets from Morocco,
I am taking a short break, but it wasn’t a properly planned vacation, so I still need to work. But this is fine, because I love my job.
One part of my job this year is to crack 3,000 respondents for the Salary Trends survey, and we are actually very close. This is also because of your help and because I could donate some money to Zuckerberg to run ads on Meta, thanks to our sponsors: Ravio, our benchmarking partner, and Factofly, our independent work partner, for supporting this year's survey.
If you still haven’t participated, here is your chance. Unfortunately, we are lacking Germans, and this is ein bisschen traurig. If you have an idea on how to lift ze number, please let me know and help. It’s the final week!
🗞 Berlin & Germany
We ran an AI workshop with Phil (OpenClaw). I attended and loved his teaching style. So we're doing more. This time it's for anyone without a technical background who wants to build something with AI using the terminal, where the real power lives. Two sessions are a week apart, so you have time to experiment in between. Very limited spots at Mindspace. Register here. (If you can only attend the first day, let us know).
Is there anything better than sitting on a sunny terrace sipping on your coffee or an Aperol Spritz? For me, yes, sitting in the shade, but it’s great to have the sun option. And this list of 11 cafés is full of options. Some look extremely cosy.
I did my MBA at HTW in Köpenick, but I have a couple of newsletter-friends that are raving about the ESMT: “amazing experience”, “several friends for life”, “I am a bit sad its over.” So if you are thinking of studying a bit more, join their open house event this Saturday.
The World Happiness Report 2026 is out: Finland is again #1, Germany is in place #17, closely followed by Slovenia. You can find the overview table in the bottom of the page.
Last week I published a link to the central repo of all the protests in Berlin. And for a second, I thought: this would be a cool vibe code project. And Desmond, a subscriber, read my mind and vibe-coded this web app so it’s easier for you to decide which protest is worth your time. What a time to be alive, you can spin up an app in a couple of hours!
Rent cap doesn’t work (except if you are on an ancient contract), but somehow we still believe in it in Germany and Berlin? Here is a case study from Austin, where they successfully lowered the median rent from $1,546 in December 2021 to $1,296 in 2026. The solution was to build 120k units. I wonder who will run on this platform in this year’s election. Yeah, there is always a BUT, but things can’t be so hard to change.
I am not sure how to think about separating work from the person, but what Christian Ulmen allegedly did to his ex-wife, Collien Fernandes, is beyond disgusting. I loved the Jerks series (now removed from Joyn), but wow, this is really sick. And yes, it’s always men. (For the ones who don’t speak German: she accuses her ex-husband of having impersonated her, sent pornographic material that appeared to show her, and arranged phone sex encounters with men, all to satisfy his fetish. And he did it FOR YEARS. This topic has now exploded in all the German media with a protest organised in Berlin yesterday.) You can sign this petition against the spread of stolen photos online.
I had difficulty deciding on which chart to include, but Tagesspiegel has another great interactive article on drug consumption in European cities. And, of course, Berlin is doing pretty well. #3 in ketamine, #4 weed, #11 in MDMA, #14 in speed, #25 in meth and #38 in cocaine. I also found the charts showing that cocaine is the only drug without peaks over the weekends. Crazy.
Tagesspiegel
Who would have guessed? The annual parking fees (€20,40 for two years) in Berlin will, attention: overreaction-incoming, stay the cheapest in the Western Hemisphere due to the elections this year. Check the chart for the lost income in the article.
From time to time, especially in winter, threads appear on reddit about the air quality in Berlin. Indeed, the air is often worse due to coal burning in Poland, but the apps are also misleading. Their colour scales vary wildly and don't reflect actual health risks. A reading of 35 µg/m³ NO₂ could show as green, yellow, or red depending on which standard is used (German, EU, or WHO). Practical advice from researchers: ignore the colourful maps, avoid major roads, especially during rush hour, and watch out for diesel buses and trucks idling next to you at traffic lights. Those cause the sharpest spikes in local exposure. Also, the long-term health benefits of cycling or jogging outweigh pollution risks, even in cities. [more, €] But yes, traffic stinks. I always notice it while running or walking close to a busy road.
Stats: Germany installed 4.8M new solar installations (106,200 MW) at the end of 2025, which is up 17.6% in units and 11.8% in capacity vs. 2024 (4.0M / 95,000 MW). See Briefly too.
Berlin-related headlines
The Carnival of Cultures says it is missing around €250,000 for its May event. [read]
Initiative sues against nightly closure of Görlitzer Park [read]
Berlin café "SowohlAlsAuch" goes bankrupt: another institution in Prenzlauer Berg disappears [read, €]
FAQ: What matters for the 2026 Berlin election [read]
Elsenbrücke now has two lanes in both directions: traffic jams only on the highway [read]
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🌿 Worth your time
AI tech bro, the founder of Suno, an AI music tool, went viral with his idiotic statement about the process of making music. Someone added a statement from Prince. “To create something from nothing is one of the greatest feelings, and I wish it upon everybody.” Goosebumps. My favourite podcaster, Blindboy, did an episode on the exact same topic afterwards, “Artificial Intelligence is Disgusting and it will never replace Artists“. Loved it.
Thank you so much for giving me your attention, because Attention is a luxury good. So let’s keep reading books, listening to the radio and attending in-person events.
Pair it with this advice on how to understand impulsive behaviour and how to respond and feel more in control (along with concrete tips and activity ideas). For me, the only way not to finish my favourite chocolate is not to buy it.
📌 Briefly
The European Commission is introducing EU Inc. A company in less than 48 hours, no minimum capital requirement, fully online and borderless. Sounds too good to be true. [more]
Metaverse, once framed as a $5 trillion opportunity by McKinsey, is dead. [more]
The scramble for the last pool of capital (IPO) for OpenAI and Anthropic is here. [more]
Ex-SAP CTO Jürgen Müller and Julian Teicke (The Delta, ex wefox) founded Agent F, an AI company that wants to compete with SAP’s ERP business. [more]
Who would have thought? But the Iran war energy crisis triggered another global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence. [more]
St. Oberholz, one of the Berlin startup ecosystem institutions, will open a coworking space and cafe in Munich. [more]
Personio (Munich, HR systems) valuation at €8.5B. Revenue 2024: €196M, losses €196M. [more]
Nicole Büttner from Merantix Momentum, now also general secretary of FDP, as promised, shaved her head because FDP didn’t make it into the parliament in the recent elections in Baden-Württemberg.
Catch 22? Deutsche Bahn paid €156.1M in delay compensation last year, 3× the 2019 figure, but €41M less than 2024. [more]
Germany's solar industry warned that planned subsidy cuts could slash private solar demand from 5 GW to under 2 GW/year (only 1 in 3 homeowners would still install panels). Of around 100,000 solar jobs, half would be at risk. [more]
Nobody in Germany wants it, but UniCredit (Milan) wants to take Commerzbank over. The official offer for the shareholders is planned for May. [more]
After Lufthansa, now also 94% of Eurowings pilots (82% turnout) voted to strike. No dates set yet.
Decathlon (France, sport retail) will cooperate with Media-Markt-Saturn to suuport its planned expansion in Germany (from 100 to 150 stores).
HelloFresh 2025: revenue -9% to €6.8B, operating profit +14% to €423M. [more] Stock at an all-time low, -94% in the past 5 years.
Springer Nature 2025: revenue €1.93B (+6.2%), operating profit €543.6M (+9.2%), free cash flow €298M, net debt €1.2B (leverage 1.7×), EPS €1.93, dividend €0.83/share. [more]
Google Maps will display real-time public transportation data for buses and trains nationwide across Germany. [more]
Some product launches: Scalable Capital (Munich, fintech) launched a new savings account with 2.5% variable interest*. Taxfix (Berlin, fintech) launched an automated tax service for VAT-liable self-employed individuals, aiming to generate monthly recurring revenue. Unzer (Berlin, payments) business accounts and corporate credit cards for micro-enterprises in partnership with Plian.
This week's Coffee Talk: Rob D. Willis
The talking head expert and a master storyteller from Berlin. The full conversation, jobs, events & what the community is up to, every Thursday. Free.
What I loved from last week’s issue? The fact that AI is making CEOs delusional. Watch the clip, it’s excellent!
😅 Meanwhile
for this price, not bad at all
via r/ich_iel
Weekly social and outside interests
Reddit: some of reddit’s favourite low-budget restaurants in town. Ishin (3x in Berlin) seems to be rated high. Sarajevo as well and I can vouch for that.
Reddit: An amazing throwback to the art made at home during Covid, which is now 6 years ago. Ugh. (Each photo is better than the previous one!)
Instagram: Living soil vs city soil. Nothing to add. I definitely am joining a Verein to help our city become greener. Will report on this mission.
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