Wow,
this is the 200th issue of this newsletter. I am gonna pretend this was planned and that I celebrated it at a Metallica concert on the weekend. In reality, I almost met myself at all the events we organised or participated in this week.
Showing up more or less every week for 200 weeks is a lot of work, but don’t they say have fun while working, and you will never work again? I would have totally done it again, mostly because I met so many great people and made friends on the way.
I am grateful that YOU are reading this and following me on this bootstrapping journey. We live in strange times: we are under attack from AI slop and populism. I will do my best to keep my standards and to have a positive impact on society.
To the next 200.
📌 Pinned
Several countries are thinking of banning social media for children, with Australia being the first one to do so for those under 16s (in effect since the end of ‘25). Two-thirds of people (n=2500) in Germany would be in favour of a ban for children under 14, but at the same time, 59% don’t believe that it could actually prevent children from using social media. Very much related, smartphones are likely bad for our brains and using a dumb phone makes them function better. Also, an experiment with 72k teens in the DACH region showed general well-being rise and lower depression symptoms.
BUT, to ban something, you need everyone to prove their age, which means age gating would effectively kill anonymous accounts and anonymity on the internet as we know it. Which is already in a sorry state. Critics say it’s just surveillance in disguise.
Ban social media for kids even if everyone has to verify their age?
🗞 Berlin & Germany
We ran our first hackathon together with Alpic, sponsored by Mindspace and OpenAI, in the amazing Krausenstr location (photos). Tomorrow we are doing our first Everyday AI Club (AI with focus on non-techies), which is unfortunately sold out, but make sure to show your interest by booking the “can’t make it” ticket. Also, we’ll talk about Berlin’s tech culture on the 9th of June. Come join us.
Our partner, Impact Hub, is inviting you to join their Climate Action Accelerator to scale your business. The focus is on climate tech startups. You get partner & investor intros, mentoring, masterclasses, with zero equity taken. Apply by July 26!
Börek/burek is one of the staples of Slovenian/Balkan fast food. I had a lot, and I can vouch for Euro Imbiss 2 (what a name, I wonder where number 1 went!) in Neukölln for a Balkan-style börek. The place looks like it was never renovated, but burek with cheese is excellent. Skip čevapčiči, nothing beats Sarajevo Berlin.
I attended the opening of Mokka-Milch last week. A former institution is now open and will host several events, hopefully also our coworking. Go and check it out, it’s beautiful. Combine with a film at Kino International.
Berlin’s district offices issued barely 1k littering fines and warnings in 2025 and collected just €300k. Rookie numbers! I am all for vibrant Berlin, but littering is bad bad form, and we can do way better. The fines were raised sharply in November, so let’s see what the 2026 numbers say. If I ran in September, I would add “illegale Müllentsorgung konsequenter verfolgen und ahnden”.
Connections from BER are a disaster, and it’s also because of the anti-Berlin Lufthansa lobby. It’s absolutely wild that THE CAPITAL of GERMANY only has UP TO 8 long-haul flights: New York, Montreal, Toronto, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Beijing. Air Berlin once ran a hub at Tegel until its insolvency about eight years ago. Lufthansa blames BER’s insufficient “catchment”, ie. not enough people in the area. But I guess they are also happy that Etihad and Emirates aren’t granted BER landing rights. Woah.
All in favour say “Ja”. Berlin's Späti association is planning a Volksbegehren (citizens' petition) to allow (or legalise?) Sunday opening. Several are open anyhow, so I am all in favour, especially if the owner will be working him/herself. TIL: a Späti can run as a "mixed business" (part shop, part eatery selling beer and Bockwurst for immediate consumption, which permits alcohol service). A lighter version, the "license-free eatery," only needs registration but restricts alcohol to small bottles to-go, with no drinking in or in front of the shop.
Berlin's new 2026 rent index puts the median net cold rent at €7.71/m², up nearly 7% (about 50 cents) over two years — the steepest rise since 2017.
Stats: A record 309,852 people obtained German citizenship in 2025 (vs 291,955 in 2024). YoY growth was 6% vs 46% the year before; a new wave is expected in 2027 as Ukrainian refugees hit the five-year residency threshold. [more]
Berlin-related headlines
Even fewer flats completed in Berlin and Brandenburg [more]
S-Bahn announces joint patrols of cleaning crews and security staff from June [more]
€6M total cost: Pavement at Berlin's East Side Gallery to be widened [more, €]
Expo 2035: Berlin SPD calls emergency coalition meeting with CDU over the bid [more]
First support beam in place: Alexanderplatz U-Bahn station to be reinforced for the new heavier tram [more, €]
"No advertising in our name" - Coca-Cola apologises to Berlin's Markthalle Neun [more, €]
Ad
GITEX is back… and we got some FREE passes!
GITEX AI EUROPE returns to Messe Berlin on 30 June–1 July 2026 — where AI, cybersecurity, and deep tech meet the people who fund, build, and scale them.
Two days of hands-on sessions, targeted networking, and meetings designed to turn conversations into partnerships, pilots, and investment.
I’ve got a couple more free passes — I don’t know how long they will last. Use GE26HAND. Be fast.
🌿 Worth your time
Essential read of the year: “If you let AI do your writing, I will come to your house and kill you” by Sam Kriss. A beautiful and brave voice.
When I made my first lasagna, it came out as a fuck*ng great lasagna. I sent the photo to my friend from Italy, and she went, “In Italy, we don’t do so many layers.” This sentence is still living rent-free in my head. Like wtf, it’s not like the whole country is doing lasagna the same way. Now, every time you find someone banging about the right way, send them to this channel. Example:
⏱️ Briefly
Outside interests #1: Anthropic (San Francisco, AI) raised $65B Series H at a $965B post-money valuation; run-rate revenue crossed $47B this month. [more] Related, corporate America is starting to ration AI use as costs skyrocket. [more] What kind of bag will retail investors be holding if the labs ever IPO?
Outside interests #2: SpaceX is scheduled to IPO on June 12, potentially making Elon Musk a trillionaire.
Outside interests #3: YouTube is moving AI-disclosure labels to a more prominent position and rolling out automatic AI detection from May 2026. [more]
Outside interests #4: The EU Commission is reviewing whether JD.com (China, e-commerce) benefited from state advantages in its planned MediaMarkt-Saturn acquisition — the deal could face stricter conditions or be blocked.
Peec AI (Berlin, AI) hit $10M ARR in less than 1.5 years. [more]
Delivery Hero (Berlin, food delivery) — Uber submitted a third improved takeover offer after two prior cash bids valuing the company at $11.6B and $13.4B were rejected.
N26 (Berlin, fintech) co-founder Valentin Stalf will not join the supervisory board in June as planned, after losing an internal power struggle. He stepped down as co-CEO in 2025 under investor and regulator pressure. [more]
Moonfare (Berlin, private markets) received a BaFin license to operate as an independent investment firm, providing advisory and portfolio management services directly. European expansion is next.
Aware (Berlin, longevity) entered insolvency after raising over $15M. The startup offered blood tests in labs and dm drugstores.
Stiftung Warentest (Berlin, media) posted its best annual result since its founding. €8.3M profit (vs €3.8M in 2024) on €60.4M revenue. Paying digital subscriptions grew 13.9% to 140k. [more]
Siemens (Munich, industrial) plans to scrap many "Chief" titles as part of its "ONE Tech Company" restructuring and will close Nuremberg software subsidiary evosoft, affecting 380 jobs by end of next year. [more]
InfiniteRoots (Hamburg, foodtech) acquired Bosque Foods (Berlin), adding solid-state fermentation and whole-cut product development to its mycelium platform. [more]
Knuspr (Germany, online grocery), part of Rohlik Group, reported 35% revenue growth to €1.45B for fiscal year 2025/26. Germany and Austria now account for 30% of group revenue; its fifth German CEO in five years is shifting focus from expansion to profitability. [more]
Sparkassen (Germany, banking) launched “S neo”, a trading depot at €0.95 per trade with no custody fees, integrated into the Sparkassen app's 20M active users. Availability varies regionally.
Riverty (Baden-Baden, fintech), the payment subsidiary of Bertelsmann, received a banking license and is positioning itself as an alternative to Klarna.
BaFin has opened 48 insider-trading investigations into Germany's defence industry since the 2022 “Zeitenwende”, filing a criminal complaint in one case. Focus is on Rheinmetall after an April pre-close analyst call. [more]
This week's Coffee Talk: Emily Harman
Coffee talk is back with Emily, a sommelier. The full conversation, jobs, events & what the community is up to, every Thursday. Free.
😅 Meanwhile
you too?
check the comments (h/t Dejan)
Weekly social and outside interests
Reddit: Collection of iconic sports pics. An amazing thread.
elsewhere: The em dash responds to the AI allegations.
elsewhere: Probably the most creative use of AI I’ve seen so far. A history channel that goes back in time with vlogs.
Last week’s poll was about what should happen with Tempelhofer Feld. And the result is split pretty much 50-50:
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