Hi everyone,
last week I messed up the viral Instagram reel link. It was about sick leave reforms (100k likes in an hour), and here it is again.
In other news, Handpicked is about curating different sources and ideas. If something makes it in, I think it’s worth your attention and doesn’t necessarily mean that I agree with it. If I do, I’ll say so. This also means that some weeks I could be pissing you off. It can be an event with Helsing, rent controls or an odd sentence around a link.
In the times of social media algorithms pushing us into echo chambers to keep us hooked, I think being exposed to different opinions and ideas matters more than ever.
I try to go out there and wrestle with an idea, get curious, maybe even angry, but always ready to change my belief. If you haven’t already, I invite you to try it yourself. Thank you so much for being here.
📌 Pinned
One unforced error too many? Tennis-gate seems to be the end of the political career of the governing mayor Kai Wegner. He made several false statements about his crisis management (€) on the first day of the power outage earlier in January and then also claimed he talked with Kanzler Merz, which Merz’s chancellery denies (€). Wegner already stepped down as a lead candidate in the September elections. It’s unclear if he can survive as mayor until the elections. It's fair to assume that democracy is working until scandals like this see the light of day and have consequences. Wegner’s CDU replacement at the elections will be Stefan Evers, state minister of finance (profiled by taz).
Do you plan to vote in September's Berlin election?
🗞 Berlin & Germany
Events events. Our Get Together is sold out, but you should join me at Apple. We also had a full house at our last Everyday AI Club, a meetup about applied AI. If you’d like to partner up for our September event, do approach me. In addition, if you want to open your AI chakras by building your first app with AI, there is still time: Saturday, the 25th of July or Thursday, the 30th. You can get it in your learning & development budget. Early bird ends this week.
Startup Verband released the H1 2026 report on the state of the German startup ecosystem. Good news: in the first half, 3053 new startups were founded (+52% more than H2 2025 and more than in the whole of 2024). A good third are AI-related ones. Insolvencies are down as well. And Berlin is still easily the capital of the German scene.
The best-kept park in Berlin, Gleisdreieck, is getting an official open-air event space. Organisers will be able to register raves 24 to 72 hours in advance and play music until 10 PM.
A tip for before the rave: this hidden cafe gem at the edge of Kreuzberg and Gleisdreieck, full of Italians, owned by Italians. Unfortunately, the location sucks, but 42 Inspiring Coffe is amazing. You could probably combine the trip with Gelato Disco, the best ice cream in the area.
Two sides of Berlin governance medal: allow oak processionary moths to spread so much that you then need to build up fences around benches that also cost money. On the other hand, Bürgeramts are much more efficient, but unfortunately, Martina Klement (CSU) left the administration. Is it all just a matter of leadership? It could be!
I've often noticed different product recalls in supermarkets, usually at the exits, and always wondered how many products I have already unknowingly consumed. Because who reads those things? Well, sometimes it’s so serious it makes it to Instagram, as in the case of Rewe's frozen berries spreading Hepatitis A.
Here is the BBC’s collection of pretty alarming climate charts about Europe, the fastest-warming continent. I found this one especially interesting:
Stats: after Frankfurt, Berlin is Germany's second most liveable city according to EUI's annual rating. None of them is in the top 10: Copenhagen is number one, followed by Vienna, Melbourne, Sydney, Zurich, Geneva, Osaka, Adelaide, Vancouver and Tokyo.
Berlin-related headlines
More than 9,000 arrest warrants in Berlin not enforced [more]
"No comparable case yet": can the federal government step in and stop Berlin from expropriating housing? [more, €]
Cost review on the peripheral development of Tempelhofer Feld is in: this is what future tenants would pay [more, €]
1,800 people demonstrate against Rheinmetall's weapons production in Berlin-Gesundbrunnen [more]
New law makes e-scooter rental companies liable in accidents [more]
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We are back at Apple Rosenthaler Straße. This time we will explore how a raw idea can become a real business that (also) supports LGBTQIA+ communities. In celebration of Pride, I’ll be talking with Nora von Breitenbach of Quouch and serial entrepreneur Dr. Steffen Zoller of Pinksummits to discuss the challenges, opportunities and courage involved, followed by a chance to network. Part of Made for Business.
It’s FREE, but spots are limited.
🌿 Worth your time
In the light of my intro, here is an essay by Simon Sarris on Veganism and Moral Intuitions. There are some interesting pushbacks in the comments (for example, why focus on cows and not pigs and poultry). And my personal disclosure: I do eat meat and admire people who don’t. I do my part by trying to replace meat with alternatives as often as possible.
Slightly related and excellent piece by Derek Thompson on how optimising for health pulls us away from other people, "because the best way to get more sleep is to see fewer friends in the evening." This reminded me: I shouldn't drink too much tonight, because I need to do my long run tomorrow. 😅
⏱️ Briefly
Outside interests #1: Meta launched and already killed Muse Image, which was enabling AI effects in Instagram Stories and image generation in WhatsApp chats with Meta AI. They also disclosed that four US states are seeking $1.4T in penalties over claims that Facebook and Instagram were designed to addict children. Trial begins next month. [more]
Outside interests #2: Microsoft confirmed 3,200 Xbox job cuts plus 3,200 in enterprise sales.
Outside interests #4: The EU Parliament greenlit Chat Control 1.0, permitting suspicionless mass scanning of private communications through US tech platforms until 2028. [more]
N26 (Berlin, banking) ended free stock and ETF trading: a €0.90 per-order fee applies immediately, from September for existing customers, with 3-10 free trades on premium plans. [more]
AVM/FRITZ! (Berlin, consumer tech) celebrated 40 years; the former student BTX project became Germany's dominant home-router brand. [more]
Deutsche Bahn (Berlin, transport) is investing €50M in improving customer comms (AI chatbot, a new app and thousands more passenger-info displays). [more]
Deutsche Bank (Frankfurt, banking) received a Saudi regional HQ licence, joining Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock in Riyadh. [more]
Pure EVs overtook combustion engines as the top powertrain in German new registrations for the first time: 28.4% (+78.2% YoY) vs. 20.5% (-16.8%) in June, hybrids combined at 39.0%. [more]
Helsing (Munich, defence tech) got approval to build a large drone factory in Hallbergmoos (59% resident vote in favour): 250k sqm site, triple-digit-million investment and around 300 jobs. [more]
Mercedes-Benz (Stuttgart, automotive) delivered 837k vehicles in H1 2026 (-7%), dragged by China (-28%) despite growth in Europe (+5%) and the US (+15%). [more]
Porsche (Stuttgart, automotive) sold 122k vehicles in H1 2026 (-16%), with declines in every region, led by China at -32%. [more]
Quantum Systems (Gilching, drones) set a 699 km/h speed record for battery-powered aircraft. [more]
Germany's IT job market is tightening: ICT unemployment up from 3.7% to 4.5%, open positions down 22% YoY to 13k, with demand shifting to specialists. [more]
UniCredit (Milan, banking) now owns 44.37% of Commerzbank after its takeover offer (up to 47.59% with options). The German government called the move "unacceptable"; Commerzbank disputes the tally, saying under 2% came from real investors. [more]
Most popular in the last Careers newsletter
Coffee talk, jobs, events & what the community is up to, every Thursday. Free.
😅 Meanwhile
AMA gone wrong
Weekly social and outside interests
Reddit: now you know why traffic jams happen for no reason at all.
X: Some politicians love it when they can get rid of bike lanes.
Instagram: think of this clip of AI negotiating the price of bread when someone tells you that AI (=an LLM) will replace you and your job. Unclear which model, but still...
Elsewhere: if you'd like to test your knowledge of Berlin's public transport,
get humiliatedtry here. I will blame my terrible score on Google Maps.Last week I asked you about your information source on housing, and here are the results:
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