Programming note #146: I am back after a brief break, which wasn’t really a break but intensive work on the Salary Trends Report. The feedback so far has been fantastic and motivating to do more. If you missed the report, here is the link.

🎈 Based on the reader’s feedback, I’m adding the e-mail subject clickbait answer:

E-mail subject answer: check the Job Futuromat in Snippet #9.

🌟 Handpicked community

is a place where we meet, share projects and ideas and look for help.

Meet — handpicked events:

Show cool stuff or Ask for something:

  • Can your finance team spot an AI-made receipt/invoice? InvoReceipVerifier uses image metadata to detect fakes—no tech skills needed. Fast and free, try it now!

  • Bored of staring at the same screen every day? Try our free browser extension to be inspired by a new breathtaking view every time you open a new tab. The team is also looking for a Fullstack Engineer to join them.

  • 🔨 Are you building something great? Apply for an EWOR fellowship.

📨 Submit your input for the community here. This section is also featured on LinkedIn in the weekly post.

👀 Handpicked jobs

is a rotating selection of jobs from companies I’d check out.

5️⃣ from the rotation this week: Data, Analytics & Finance:

The remaining jobs (also outside rotation) are in the Handpicked job board.Are you looking for new colleagues or work in HR? Submit a job.

✨ Handpicked deals

Your purchase or interest will help sustain this project.

☕️ Coffee Talk with Niclas Vogt

is where my guest contributes three links and I write a short bio. Permanent collection.

Niclas is the Head of Communications at the Startup-Verband, where he works to spotlight founders, challenge bureaucracy, and help shape a future-friendly Germany. I've met him for a nice chat in one of the best Italian restaurants in Berlin, and that recommendation alone gives a lot of credibility to his selection:

  • Bar Nonno in Schöneberg - This is where I take people when I want to show them my version of dolce vita in Berlin. A gem that nails the art of aperitivo – Bar Nonno serves the best Spritz in town. Order a Nonno Spritz with a plate of Gnocco Fritto and thank me later. It makes you feel like you’ve teleported to Modena. Whether you're unwinding after work or kicking off the weekend, this spot has serious charm without even trying too hard.

  • Architecture Walk: Bauhaus meets Waldsiedlung Krumme Lanke - Take a walk through the Bauhaus settlement around Onkel Toms Hütte, then cross over into the Waldsiedlung Krumme Lanke. It’s a cosy, quiet neighbourhood with a contradictory past – originally built for SS officers in the 1930s. The contrast between modernist ideals and historical legacy makes for a uniquely Berlin experience. Bonus: In the 1920s, an architectural “Dächerkrieg” (war of the roofs) broke out here over clashing urban visions. It’s Berlin in a nutshell: bold ideals and dark chapters, side by side. A walk that turns into a history lesson.

  • Read: Dog Wolf Jackal - One of the most vivid literary portraits of Neukölln I’ve come across. Gritty, poetic, and deeply human, this novel dives into Berlin’s rougher edges without sugarcoating them. It’s a stunning read for anyone who appreciates the fragmented beauty of a district that refuses to be boxed in. For me, it’s one of the most Berlin books out there – with raw directness and a subtle echo of the dry, unfiltered aesthetic of ’90s rap.

🗞 Snippets

is a selection of links focused on Berlin/Germany, career, timeless content and business.

Berlin & Germany, career & timeless

  1. ☝️ If you’d like to submit a job for €0 to the Handpicked Job board, you can now do it via a new form and also add a detailed description. Why not? (The old option via a Google form is also possible.)

  2. BVG received a solid salary bump, and let’s hope this helps improve their reliability and punctuality. According to RBB, only 94% of planned trains made it, the worst result in years. In terms of punctuality, 98.3% of trains were on time, also the worst result in years. Things might improve in September with new trains. S-Bahns also might not be the most punctual, but Deutsche Bahn will thoroughly clean 14 stations in their spring cleaning campaign.

  3. Starting in May, holding up the doors in the U-Bahn trains, buses, or trams could mean a €50 fine. BVG hopes it’ll prevent at least some of the nearly 200 broken doors per month in the trains alone.

  4. Berlin Senate won’t extend a contract with Nextbike that is running out end of June. This doesn’t mean the end of the service, but it certainly won’t help with the quality, because the company plans to withdraw from some districts or decrease rental areas, for example, in Steglitz, Neukölln, Tempelhof, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Pankow and Reinickendorf. (RBB)

  5. Naming laws are changing in Germany: if you want, your children can now have double surnames in whichever order, even if you aren’t married. Double surnames will also be possible for both spouses. You can also change your surname more easily. More.

  6. 💎 An instant favourite: pasta at Tirelli’s in Kreuzberg, next to Viktoriapark.

  7. Cash-only, one of the several typical complaints of expats about Berlin (and Germany), is (soon?) to become a thing of the past if he coalition agreement between CDU and SPD comes into force. Related, according to an RTL/ntv poll, AfD became the strongest party in Germany with 26%. It’s only a poll, but still, a first.

  8. Career: Did AI completely kill coding challenges, take-home exercises and LinkedIn job postings? Pragmatic Engineer thinks so, and it does make sense. Related on fake job seekers.

  9. Career: Job Futuromat is a very useful tool from IAB/Agentur für Arbeit that enables you to check your profession’s numbers (also salary) and the risk of losing your job based on automation. It includes around 4k different job titles.

  10. Timeless: How to live a miserable life or using the inversion to flip the conventional wisdom around.

Briefly

  1. Bad news: Kraken (US cyrpto) -15%. VW will, after 7 years, shut down Heycar, a used car platform, which failed to compete with mobile.de and Autoscout24.

  2. Stats: The share of female founders in Germany dropped for the first time in 5 years, to 18.8%. Men-only teams receive 91% of the funding. (Startup Verband)

  3. Lyft acquired FreeNow from Mercedes and BMW. The shared mobility times are now definitely over.Pliant (Berlin, fintech) took over hi.health (Vienna, insurtech).

  4. German startups secured €1.6B in 295 funding rounds in Q1 2025, up 14% from Q4 202 but below Q1 2024's €1.9B. (KfW)

  5. ATMOS Space Cargo (Ba-Wü) has conducted the first orbital test flight of its re-entry capsule to and back from Low Earth Orbit.

  6. GE Vernova Q1 2025: $8.03B revenue (10% YoY increase vs $7.55B expected). Wind business (strong in Germany) showed mixed results.

  7. Delivery Hero Q1: GMV up 7.6% to €12.4B. Compy maintains its annual forecast: 8-10% GMV growth, 17-19% segment revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA of €975M-€1.025B.

  8. Tesla Q1: Revenue -9% YoY ($19.34B), net income -71% ($409M). In Berlin, Senator for Labour, called Teslas “Nazi cars” on Twitter which caused an uproar, especially in Brandenburg. She deleted the tweet, but doubled down on her opinion of Elon Musk.

  9. Revolut 2024: pre-tax profits up 158% (€1.3B), revenue +76% (€3.7B).

  10. The EU Commission fined Apple €500M for breaching the Digital Markets Act’s rules for app stores. Meta’s fine was €200M for its "pay or consent" advertising model.

  11. Solaris co-founder Andreas Bittner is suing Japanese investor and new owner SBI, because the old investors lost almost everything. (MM, €) Their share value dropped from €7k to 10 cents.

Weekly social

  1. Reddit: Have you ever noticed the little figures on the street signs? I haven’t.

  2. Twitter: The Spanish Inquisition currently has stronger approval with the public than Trump's tariffs.

  3. Twitter: There is truly nothing that can prepare you for the interview! And more about them.

  4. TikTok: Punctuation marks hanging out.

💸 Funded in Berlin & Germany

is a list of companies that received funding over €1M.

  1. Noxtua | Berlin | Legal AI development | $92.2M Series B | Careers. (formerly known as Xayn)

  2. Fleming | Berlin | Health financing for practitioners | €40M Credit | Careers.

  3. cakewalk | Berlin | Identity governance automation | $7.5M Seed | No careers.

  4. Telli | Berlin | AI agent call service | $3.6M Pre-seed | Careers.

  5. Clinomic | Aachen | AI-powered ICU assistant | €23M Series B | Careers.

  6. node.energy | Frankfurt | Renewable energy procurement software | €15M Series B | Careers.

  7. Aatec Medical | Munich | Respiratory disease treatment platform | €4M Pre-series A | No careers.

  8. Okapi:Orbits | Braunschweig | Space traffic management | €13M Seed | Careers.

😅 Meanwhile

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