A month is around, and here is the collection again. Here is a roundup of the most clicked and my favourite snippets, up to 6 per week. Thank you so much for your support! ❤️
Unpublished extras
🎨 How Larry Gagosian Reshaped the Art World - a very long read on the most famous art dealer in the world. Enjoyable and fascinating.
✍🏻 I do not rate Boris Johnson, but he is a great writer (“The wonder drug I hoped would stop my 11.30pm fridge raids for cheddar and chorizo didn’t work for me. But I still believe it could change the lives of millions”). I am biased, but I think writing really helps with the clarity of ideas.
🗽 New York, but still interesting: How Much Does It Cost to Live Like This? It would be interesting to see this for Berlin. I find it fascinating how different aspirations we have.
🚬 I am in my good third week of smoking my last cigarette. This book (Easy Way to stop smoking by Carr)… just works? Let’s see, I still wait for a couple of week before declaring it to the world 😅
Week of 3rd (July)
Top 100 employers in 2021 (by # of employees). I found it interesting that we do not really have BIG companies here. Yes, I am looking at you, Stuttgart.
😎 Here are seven lovely questions to impress your boss.
💰19,500€ Kalt is currently the highest rent in Berlin (720sqm). I find it ugly.
🦾 Have you ever wondered what the monotonous job of packing online orders looks like? Here is an insight. I admire the skill.
🚙 We don’t do cars in Berlin much. Destatis reports that Berlin has the lowest car density among all German federal states with 337 cars per 1,000 residents. Compare this to Saarland (658) and Bayern (622). Since you asked, Slovenia (572), Chad (5.84) and finally, China (200).
How about some of the best dancing bars? I was sad to see I only know two. Not much of a dancer, huh?
Week of 10th (July)
🤕 Do you share photos of your kids online? An interesting video from Telekom! Maybe a bit too much, but it still makes me wonder if I should start producing video content and put my face out there.
🍟 How much ultra-processed food do you eat? (e.g. soft drinks, candy, chips, frozen dinners, processed meat) A fascinating chart:
😅 When considering applying for a job, you should maybe read through the lines: this comment on Reddit offers some brilliant translations. I liked "Must be a self-starter." Translation: "Shits on fire yo."
⚽️ Next year, Euro24 will also be hosted in Berlin. We will get a massive goal (poorly rendered images are available) at Brandenburger Tor. They expect 2.5M visitors, which might be an (💰) opportunity for your spare room or your Keller: we only had 138k hotel beds in 2021, according to RBB.
📊 Numbeo published a mid-year cost of living index. I am not even gonna tell you who is the richest in Europe because we all know it. But I will tell you that I am really surprised about the top German city Darmstadt (#19). Berlin is 38th, #27 Munich, #28 Dusseldorf, #30 Hamburg, #69 Stuttgart.
💬 Briefly:
Ah komm, Deutsche Bahn. In the first six months of this year, only 68.6% of ICE and IC trains were on time. (🇩🇪) Compared to the Swiss 93% and Japan’s close to 100%, that’s viel luft nach oben.
Week of 17th (July)
🙏 Are you currently interviewing? Read this extensive guide by Coach Erica (yeah, I know). It has plenty of great ideas to steal. My suggested approach of taking notes on your work achievements will make the prep easier. Also, don’t forget the questions to ask. Both articles are in the footer; you can use my questions to inspire the high-signal questions she suggests.
Also vacation related: 21.9% of people living in Germany cannot afford to go on vacation for a week, 2% more than in 2021.
r/berlin choice of the week is what people like in Berlin. It’s my favourite city because there are so many options to do and try different things, and every Kiez has places to explore. I do not mind the weather at all. I’ve also found an answer to last week’s question about why it makes sense to see movies on 70mm: it’s big and loud—looking forward to it.
🪴 If you like to cook and want an amazing tip on how to make working with fresh herbs easier, here is a great freeze-them-and-then-crumble hack. I haven’t tried it yet, but it works.
🦜 This interview went viral in parts of German political Twitter: an SPD politician parroted the same answer for over three minutes. We have seen it before with Ed Milliband.
💬 Briefly:
What a burn! According to Handelsblatt, Getir is losing up to $100M monthly.
Mortgage lending in Germany dropped 50% YoY to €13.7bn in May 2023, hitting its lowest May since 2005.
Good news: Bundeskartellamt wants to preserve the 50+1 rule in professional football, preventing total takeovers by investors. No further exceptions (TSG Hoffenheim, VfL Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen) are planned.
Week of 24th (July)
🚞 This is a beautiful explanation of the layers of our amazing Berlin public transport on Twitter. Reading it, I realised I never noticed trams only do the East. 😅
💦 Have you ever wondered how many drinking fountains are in Berlin? Me neither, but I can tell you it’s 222. You can find your closest one on this map.
🛂 The Henley Passport Index tells you how strong your passport is. German is second with Italian and Spanish (190 destinations with no visa). Slovenia 183, Iran 44, last place Afghanistan 27.
😎 Career-related: Someone asked how to remind people you are their boss. The advice, a comment, is worth saving. I particularly like “do not lead with questions” and the “three things EVERYBODY needs to be able to say: I don’t know, I made a mistake, I need help”. In fact, how many great bosses did you have? Even if you’d need to shovel shit, things are easier with a great boss!
💸 Do you like meetings? If you do, fair enough—I don’t. That’s why I like the solution implemented by Shopify, where employees see the cost of the meeting at the point of scheduling it. Is this meeting really necessary? In late March they also cancelled recurring meetings involving more than three people, Wednesdays were made meeting-free, resulting in around a third less time spent in meetings.
🧐 I liked this essay on angry, unf*ckable young men. Solid points that explain a lot.
r/berlin choice of the week: if your neighbours drop a shitload of stuff in front of your house when moving out, you can report it to Ordnungsamt here. They will pick it up.
Week of 31st (July)
🛴 How about scooters? Banned in Paris, but very alive in Berlin: “As of May 1, official permits have been granted for 47,550 e-scooters, compared to 23,000 in June 2021.” Not a big fan, but if it rocks your boat, why not? Just park it well.
The noise camera on K’damm (issue #54) delivered! It caught 1,144 cars and motorcycles louder than 82 decibels until July 4th—the experiment will continue until the end of the month and will be integrated in Lärmaktionsplan für Berlin which will be published next July. 100% support from my side, let’s just speed it up!
🤑 Is it better to rent or buy? According to Handelsblatt (🇩🇪) it makes more sense to rent in Berlin. Your rent should not exceed 25% of your net income if you are lucky enough.
🇩🇪📉 I’ve mentioned the challenges of the German das Auto previously. This (extremely pessimistic) article from Politico expands on that, and it does make you think. “Absent an unexpected turnaround, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Germany is headed for a much deeper economic decline.” Worth a read! Now let’s do something about it.
r/berlin choice of the week is this list of the best bakeries in town. Germany probably has the best art of bread in the world? This contributes to the quality of life in Berlin, which I rate 9/10. See what others think. To make it a ten, I would need a better-oriented and cheaper apartment.
💬 Briefly:
Getir is trying to limit the cash burn by exiting Italy and Portugal weeks after leaving France and Spain. Who’s next? They are still delivering in the UK, the US, Germany, the Netherlands, and Turkey and reportedly looking for fresh funds.
Flix is planning to IPO in the first half of 2024. (Reuters)
Funded in Berlin & Germany
ToolTime | Berlin | SaaS solution for craftsmen to tackle administrative tasks | €30M | Careers.
McMakler | Berlin | Real-estate and proptech company | €20M at lowered valuation | Careers.
Bluu Seafood | Berlin | Creates cultivated cell-based fish product. | €16M Series A | Careers.
Service4Charger | Berlin | Comprehensive service provider for EV charging infrastructure planning, installation, operation, and maintenance. | €10M Series A | Careers.
Doctorflix | Berlin | Digital medical education provider. | €2M Seed | Careers.
Manti Manti | Berlin | Focused on children's glasses. | €1M | Careers.
hema.to | Munich | Developing a way to use blood data analysis to personalize treatments. | €3.6M Seed | Careers.
TURN2X | Munich | Expanding production of renewable natural gas across Europe. | €4.3M | Careers.
AIRMO | Munich | Building space satellites to measure greenhouse gas emissions. | €5.2M Pre-seed | Careers.
klarx | Munich | Rental platform for construction machinery. | €11.5M Series B | Careers.
Tradar | Munich | Offers sports enthusiasts access to a closed trading platform for sports investments via digital assets in the form of Player Token | €4M | Careers.
Cashlink | Frankfurt am Main | Infrastructure for tokenized assets, initially starting as a payment service. | €7M | Careers.
Findiq | Herford | Knowledge transfer in machine service, integrating knowledge management and assistance system in central software. | €1M | No careers.
Tenzir | Hamburg | Data-driven Security Operations platform enabling efficient identification, analysis, and neutralization of cyber-attacks. | €3M | No careers.
Notch | Hamburg | Buyer enablement solution aimed at streamlining B2B sales. | €1.1M Pre-seed | Careers.
Colonia | Cologne | Focuses on rental models in the commercial vehicle segment (tractors, trailers and trucks). | €6M | Careers.
Greenlyte Carbon Technologies | Essen | Aims to advance the carbon cycle economy. | €4.5M | No careers.
ContractHero | Berlin | Offers a contract management solution for business customers | €2.15M | Careers.
seedtrace | Berlin | Aims to "make transparency along the supply chain the norm" by offering a platform that makes the social and environmental impact of products visible and provable | €2M | Careers.
eaze | Berlin | A health tech dedicated to offering tech-enabled sleep coaching using cognitive behavioural therapy | €1.7M Pre-Seed | Careers.
Halitus | Berlin | Develops an AI-supported analysis tool that quickly and uncomplicatedly detects the concentration of various disease-relevant biomarkers in the breath | €1M | Careers.
EGYM | Munich | A health and fitness platform for businesses to access gym tech, software and services | $225M Series F | Careers.
Finn | Munich | Focuses on car subscriptions and aims to fully finance vehicles in the future and use equity capital for operational growth | €25M Asset-Backed | Careers.
Nimmsta | Munich | Uses a back-of-hand scanner with a touch display which makes the entire logistics industry more efficient | €4.6M | No Careers.
ChargeX | Munich & Dresden | Provides plug&play multi-plug systems for charging stations for electric cars | €11.5M | Careers.
Quantagonia | Frankfurt am Main | Quantum computing platform aimed at solving computational problems in AI/machine learning applications | €4.3M Seed | Careers.
Twinsity | Kassel | Creates SaaS solutions for digital 3D replicas of real objects, known as digital twins | €2.5M | Careers.
Solaris | Berlin | Banking-as-a-Service platform offering financial services via APIs | €41.8M Series F | Careers.
nyonic (reInventAI) | Berlin | Gen AI foundation models | €20M Seed | No careers.
Vertama | Berlin | Moving paper stuff into digital format. | €1M Seed | No careers.
weflow | Berlin | Revenue monitoring platform | €3.2M Seed | Careers.
Re-Fresh Global | Berlin | Transforms discarded clothing/textiles into new raw materials | €1.1M Pre-Seed | Careers.
Q.Big 3D | Aalen | Large-format plastic pellet printers | €2M | Careers.
simpleclub | München | A learning app for students aiming to push digital professional education | €3M | Careers.
AwesomeQA | München | AI-driven customer support solution for Web3 | $2.8M | Careers.
Ivy | München | API for instant bank payments | €7M | Careers.
hepster | Rostock | API focused InsurTech | €10M | Careers.
vilisto | Hamburg | Development of intelligent heating solutions | €5M | Careers.
ecoworks | Berlin | Renovates properties to reduce CO2 emissions | €22M | Careers.
nuwo | Berlin | Offers "Homeoffice-as-a-Service" for companies | €2.75M | Careers.
Constellr | Freiburg | Monitors agricultural water demand using microsatellites | $7M | Careers.
RepairFix (motum) | Münster | Fleet management platform planning international expansion | High single-digit million € | Careers.
Circus | Hamburg | Provides quick, sustainable, affordable food delivery | €5.5M | Careers.
ECO Group | Bad Homburg | Combines and scales sustainable brands | €7.5M | Careers.
QuoIntelligence | Frankfurt am Main | Offers tailored threat analyses for companies | €5M | Careers.