Two months have passed, and here is the collection again (I skipped December, sorry!). A roundup of my favourite snippets, up to 6 per week or more. Thank you so much for your support! ❤️ You can also easily navigate to each issue by clicking on the title.
I published my first Perspective, a new addition to Handpicked:
Unpublished extras
I am not gonna lie, but this post got me to buy several things: What’s in my bag, 2023 — I recommend a CO2 detector.
Animation vs Physics video:
Why you have an accent in a foreign language by The Economist.
“Offline is the New Online” by Rachel Haywire has some wild theses that I kind of like!
How to Steal a Masterpiece: Advice from the World’s Greatest Art Thief (the crazy part is that you can only steal for yourself!)
Week of 8th (issue #83)
🪦 Berlinfoodstories made a list of restaurants that permanently closed in 2023. This year VAT is back to 19% and everyone talks about recession, so the outlook for the restauranteurs isn’t the best. I cook a lot, but when I eat out, I don’t mind paying for the good stuff and complaining to people joining me if the food is mediocre instead of telling it to the staff (“Alles ok, danke!”). I know, stupid.
🫣 Recession? What recession? People were happy to spend €58M (+47%) more on fireworks this year (a total of €180M) compared to 2019 (last year before the temporary ban). That’s the same as last year, but I’m not sure the interpretation that people were angrier last year is valid (Tweet). €180M. Think about it for a moment.
🚄 Have you already onboarded the (gen) AI train? If not, stay put because the hype is gone. Here is a great six-month-old essay from Ted Goia, where he claims that the “only areas where AI is flourishing are shamming, spamming & scamming.” In December, NYT filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on copyright infringement, which summoned threadbois to demonstrate their expertise for and against it. Zvi summed the copyrights topic up perfectly. For more on “‘AI, and everything else”, the annual presentation from Ben Evans. It's worth reading.
📆 One of the favourite pastimes of some of my former colleagues was planning their holiday at the start of the year based on the optimal use of the so-called “Brückentage”. If you feel like doing the same, here is your chance because RBB made a helpful overview. I wish I had any visibility into my year.
🙅🏻♂️ Zapier has a good content blog, and they did an overview of the best to-do apps, a fitting topic for all the New Year resolutions. I went full circle, tried everything and ended up writing things down on paper.
💬 Briefly:
Did Uber win the scaling game and will now jack up the prices? “Uber’s $129B market cap is now equivalent to the valuation of *ALL 16* of its top global competitors, across both ridesharing and food delivery… COMBINED!” (LinkedIn) — addition on 31.1: it also explains all the spending on the naming rights that followed.
Week of 15th (issue #84)
🇲🇽 I admit that for a long time, I did not know if the shot was called Mexikaner or Mexicana (German pronunciation of Mexicaner, lol), but I have loved it since I first tried it a decade ago. It’s like a little soup, a tiny spicy meal shot. Exberliner has a nice article on where to try the best ones. Prost!
🚄 Here is a nice Reddit comment tip to remember if you ever feel adventurous to take non-direct trains with Deutsche Bahn. “You're entitled to either a taxi ride from Berlin to your destination station or a hotel in Berlin, paid by Deutsche Bahn.” (in case you miss your last train home)
😶 Big and small tech is struggling, laying off people, especially in the US. Google, Instagram, Amazon Prime Video, Unity... Here is a viral TikTok of one of the layoffs by Cloudflare, which was handled extremely poorly, using an excuse of performance when it was about hiring too aggressively (a common theme!). For a good debate about the TikTok video, here is Hacker News.
🇩🇪 If you work or intend to work in Germany, do invest in learning German. It’s fun (don’t murder me!), rich language (it’s possible to combine words: weg+bier, for example!) and speaking it will improve your day-to-day life quality by a factor of 10. You should follow germanonliners on Instagram. I love his authentic style, and the content is TOP. Here is his advice on how to learn German in 6 months.
📸 The best science images of 2023 by Nature. Immersive. I loved Space Monet, while Swirling Cyclones reminded me of Van Gogh.
💬 Briefly:
Random, but I’ll throw it in—734 cattle were kept in Berlin as of November 3rd. Out of these, a good 100 were dairy cows. (St. BB)
Trade Republic turned profitable for 2023 and issued their own debit card, which was celebrated with/at a bizarre protest (🇩🇪), reported by Marieke from FF. Strange!
Week of 22nd (issue #85)
🇦🇹 I’ve done a review of Felix Austria’s Schnitzel on Instagram. Both gut gelungen.
🍴 A lovely list from the official tourist blog of Berlin of 11 places with lunches for under 11€.
🏟️ After reporting two profitable quarters in a row, Uber is on a naming spending spree in Berlin. As you probably heard, they’ll pay to rename Mercedes Benz Arena and Verti Music Hall to Uber Arena and Uber Eats Music Hall. Everyone talks about it, so it already seems like a good marketing stunt. Related, Bitpanda became an official crypto partner of FC Bayern. In general, buying naming rights isn’t a particularly bullish signal.
🇩🇪 Why Germany Is Rich But Germans Are Poor and Angry by Bloomberg is a great read. “The shared prosperity bit is partly a myth: Inequality is high by European standards and median net wealth of around €106,000 is well below the euro-area median of around €150,000.” The German economy was also the worst-performing major economy last year. So let’s take it positively: it can only improve!
🫣 Google is somehow struggling, and besides a lot of schadenfreude and calls for Pichai’s head, many grounded comments fly around. I liked this one (tweet) that paying employees 6-7 figure incomes to work on whatever they like can only be an anomaly. Similar from an insider (LinkedIn). Something needs to give.
👌 I encourage you to read this essay with 6 points about career and life by Cate Hall, which did rounds last week. Great ideas, especially on embracing rejection.
r/berlin choices of the week is this maybe still relevant tip on how to walk on ice (bent knees, acting like a penguin). I would add to keep your hands outside of your pockets. From r/Germany I have this funny thread on German habits that make no sense. Winning an argument with doch is my winner.
💬 Briefly:
😔 Bad news: Sirplus -60; Google laid off more people; Wayfair (-13%) as well. They both have a presence here. Related, Wayfair’s CEO Niraj Shah told employees “to work longer hours” in his year-end e-mail. Sad.
Week of 29th (issue #86)
I published my first Perspective: 🧭 How to find a great company to work for? It's subjective, but I think I’ll also like it in 6 months—it often happens that writing doesn’t age well for the author.
💶 Numbeo published its cost of living index 2024. Berlin is at #48 in Europe, and Hamburg is the top German city at #20. If we sort by restaurants, we are #81 and #51 by groceries. On our favourite topic, rents, Berlin is #23.
🎥 Berlinale is just around the corner. I attended last year for the first time, and the Programme can be overwhelming. My tip is to pick two or three movies from the competition—I assume they are well-curated. Don’t be afraid of large venues; it works. I was also buying tickets from Kleinanzeigen. If you have other tips, please do share in the comments. For an overview of the 20 competition movies, head to Tip Berlin. (🇩🇪) Tempting.
🤖 High-salaried tech bubble of 2008-2022 probably finally burst (Tweet). So if five years ago everyone wanted to work in tech to earn big, what comes next? Health, climate? Anti-tech? Oil companies? Hmm.
🏠 Apartment search hack/tip: Publish an advert in the newspapers and promote yourself on Kleinanzeigen—the main thesis being that some people don’t want to be flooded by thousands of requests. I found an apartment this way in Stuttgart and got reminded of it by this great tip from AdMysterious2746 on Reddit.
✏️ The day you became a better writer is a short text, and… where do I sign? Each word should tell. The more you write, the better you’ll get at it. There are only upsides, in business and privately. Write more!
💬 Briefly:
I’ve been publishing ASML positions here often in the last year and it’s because they are one of the most important companies in the world and ALSO based in Berlin. They just posted great results. Check them out.
Funded in Berlin & Germany
Enpal | Berlin | Innovative solar energy solutions for homes and businesses | €160M asset sale | Careers.
UltiHash | Berlin | Byte-level deduplication technology for data storage | $2.5M Pre-Seed | Careers.
Link11 | Frankfurt am Main | Global security cloud platform with patented DDoS protection | €26.5M | Careers.
Evum Motors | Munich | Robust electric utility vehicle manufacturer expanding in Europe | €25M | Careers.
Blickfeld | Munich | Specializing in LiDAR sensors for environmental perception | €53.5M | Careers.
Vectoflow | Gilching | Customized 3D-printed flow measurement tools | €4M Series A | Careers.
Kipu Quantum | Karlsruhe | Advancing quantum computing with innovative algorithms | €13.5M | Careers.
Zander Laboratories | Cottbus | Non-invasive brain-computer interfaces for human-machine interaction | €30M | Careers.
EmmySoft | Düsseldorf | Digital recruiting solutions transforming the hiring process | €4.5M | No Careers.
proSports.Zone | Leipzig | Cloud-based software for professional sports management | €1.2M | Careers.
suena | Hamburg | Trading-as-a-service platform for energy storage | €3M | Careers.
Timeless | Berlin | Investment in sneakers and luxury watches | €11.5M | Careers.
Finoa | Potsdam | Secure crypto asset management and custody services | $15M | Careers.
Finn | Munich | Car-subscriptions | €100M | Careers.
Sinpex | Munich | Automated B2B identification and compliance | €4M | Careers.
Einwert | Munich | Digital infrastructure for real estate valuation | €4M | Careers.
ai-omatic solutions | Hamburg | Machine maintenance systems with predictive capabilities | €2M | Careers.
Sunvigo | Cologne | Solar energy solutions for homeowners | €15M | Careers.
Airfocus | Hamburg | Software tools for strategic product management | $7.5M | Careers.
Stay Awesome | Kassel | Eco-friendly accommodation options in the hospitality sector | €1.06M | Careers.
Everphone | Berlin | Company smartphones as a service | €271M (€250M debt and €21M equity) | Careers.
Pliant | Berlin | Corporate credit card services with payment automation and White-Label Cards-as-a-Service | €8M | Careers.
Ineratec | Karlsruhe | Production of Power-to-X plants and e-Fuels | €118M Series B | Careers.
Disco Pharmaceuticals | Cologne | Cancer cells for new drug targets and development | €20M Seed | No careers.
Membion | Roetgen near Aachen | Wastewater purification with membrane bioreactor modules | €5M | No Careers.
hey circle | Munich | Reusable shipping system in e-commerce | €1.5M | Careers.
Atmen | Munich | Hydrogen and e-fuels certification | €1.3M | Careers.
Monta | Berlin | Workforce expansion, research and product development focus | €80M Series B | Careers.
Kittl | Berlin | Browser-based graphic design | $36M Series B | Careers.
Mondu | Berlin | European B2B payment solution expansion | €30M debt | Careers.
Qdrant | Berlin | Open-source vector databases for AI | $28M | Careers.
Morressier | Berlin | Scholarly research publisher tools | $16.5M Series B | Careers.
Ceezer | Berlin | Carbon credit portfolio management | €10.3M Series A | Careers.
deeploi | Berlin | IT platform and support, business growth | €6M | Careers.
Packmatic | Berlin | Product packaging marketplace | €15M | Careers.
Vyld | Berlin | Sustainable menstrual products | undisclosed | Careers.
Instagrid | Stuttgart | High-performance portable battery systems | €87M Series C | Careers.
Infinite Roots | Hamburg | Global food system transformation, mycelium technology | $58M Series B | Careers.
Locaboo | Munich | Cloud solution, public space management and booking | €1.2M Funding | Careers.
Implify | Frankfurt | Digital implantology procurement, dental practice services | undisclosed Series A | Careers.
Thanks for reading and your support! ❤️