get on the waitlist for mentors/mentees
Issue #115 (26 Aug) – 20+ data/analytics/fin jobs; new event released; Coffee with Kristina; overrated German dishes?; rooftop bars; neobrokers killing it; what makes a good cover letter?
Programming note: We still have a couple of tickets for our hands-on street art tour tomorrow at 18:00 in Kreuzberg. It’ll be a perfect end to the day with some great people. You’ll even be able to create your graffiti or tag (if you want, of course!)
🚨 We are also throwing another Afterwork event. Minigolf at Tempelhof. Link in the snippets! Be fast; we have a limited number of tickets available! 🚨
Based on feedback, I improved my mentorship article and would love to use the power of this community to kickstart a small mentee/mentor matching program. If you’d be interested as a mentor or mentee, put yourself on the waitlist. It’s a couple of clicks only.
🌟 Handpicked community
is a place where we meet, share projects and ideas and look for help.
📨 Submit your input here. Inspiration for all the categories on the link.
🎪 Meet — tech & other events:
🎨 Handpicked Afterwork #1: Hands-on Street Art Tour | tomorrow, 27.8 at 18.00 | Hallesches Tor & Around
LTUX Berlin Community event: Biergarten Edition | Tue, 27.8 at 18.30 | BRLO
The Berlin Product Talks 2024 | Tue, 3.9 at 18.30 | DDR Museum
😎 Show — Cool stuff / Shoutouts / Projects & similar:
Last week, I dissed the concept of food festivals, but Francisco had a recommendation: a niche Chilli Festival.
A 400 sqm easy space at Marlene-Dietrich-Allee (Potsdam-Babelsberg) is available free of charge for non-commercial events like meetups, presentations, and art projects. Ideal for creative and community-driven initiatives. (contact: talentpointeins@gmail.com)
Startups, collaborate with Baylor MBA students on your business challenges! This fall, you can sponsor a Business Challenge Project in Berlin. Get fresh insights and solutions at no cost. Minimal time commitment (6-8 hours). Projects start in September, and final presentations are in October. Interested? Contact ashley@ibstours.com for details.
🔍 Ask — for a Service / Co-founder / Project help & similar:
If you are a PR/comms professional, you can join the exclusive PReakfast club by Bettertrust this Thursday. (🇩🇪)
Looking for the submission link? It’s below the title ⤴️
👀 Handpicked jobs
is a rotating selection of around 20 jobs from companies I’d check out.
5️⃣ from the rotation this week: Data, Analytics & Finance
(Removed) - Siemens Energy - Enterprise Data Architect and Ontologist
Google - Senior Analytical Consultant, Large Customer Sales, Retail
The remaining jobs (also outside rotation) are in the Handpicked online database.
✍🏼 waitlist for Handpicked Mentors Program: become a mentor or a mentee
I never had a mentor, so I’d like to use this newsletter platform to enable us to meet and mentor each other in a classical or more modern way (peer, reverse, group, but NEVER PAID). If you aren’t into it, I won’t be doing it, so let me know you are interested by putting yourself on the waitlist:
What finally convinced me that I should try to help all of us is this clip of Ray Charles talking about his mentee Quincy Jones:
🗞 Top inspiration snippets
☕️ Coffee with Kristina Bogansky
is where my guest contributes three links and an explanation while I write a short bio.
Kristina is an extremely cool, almost-neighbour and the first professional stand-up comedian I ever met. You can follow her on Instagram (🇩🇪) and catch her on stage in Berlin and all over Germany. This was also the first time I went to record someone’s tips over a coffee. This is what I transcribed for you:
Sandgrube im Jagen 86 des Grunewaldes - When I moved to Berlin in 2019, I felt the need to connect with nature. Grunewald has this large sand dune, which is perfect for walking and relaxing. I recommend visiting during weekdays to avoid crowds. It's a great spot to relax and feel connected to nature within the city.
Delphi Filmpalast - This is my favourite cinema in Berlin. I love going there, regardless of what's playing. The atmosphere is special, especially in the afternoons when it's nearly empty. It is unique because they don't allow popcorn, which I appreciate as it creates a quieter, more immersive movie-watching experience. It's an excellent place for independent films and a solo cinema experience.
Downstairs Comedy Club - This is the best new comedy club in Berlin, founded by the famous Felix Lobrecht. Everything about the club is top-notch - from the technique and lighting to the aesthetics. They offer both German and English shows, showcasing high-quality comedians. If you want to see how the German stand-up comedy scene has developed beyond what you see on TV, this is the place to go.
🇩🇪 Berlin & other good stuff
is a selection of links focused on Berlin/Germany, career, timeless content and business.
⛳️ Time for another afterwork event: Join us on one of the most creative minigolf courses in Berlin (Sep 11th, 18:00). 18 holes and great people. Limited tickets. Afterwards, we head to the nearby beer garden.
Last week, we briefly touched on the Döner wars between Germany and Türkiye. I am interested if you also find
Berliner’s selection of 13 rooftop bars where you can chill for the remainder of the summer.
Looking for an exhibition in Berlin? Look no further than Index.
A lot of space to grow (for your career as well?)! Neobrokers like Scalable, Flatexdegiro, and Trade Republic report record numbers in new customer acquisitions, trading activities, and savings plan subscriptions. (HB, 🇩🇪) According to Deutsches Aktieninstitut, in 2023, “12.3M Germans invested in stocks, equity funds, and ETFs. This represents 17.6% of the population aged 14 and above – so roughly one out of six people.“
Career: State of the startups in the US as per Carta & FT (€), Germany can’t be far away. Leaner all the way. The best times to start working for a startup are just around the corner.
Career: The Best Cover Letter I Ever Received. In a nutshell: “It’s short. It sums up the résumé as it relates to the job. It asks for the job.”
Timeless: How to Stay Calm by Greg Isenberg:
Timeless: A beautiful essay—Repair and Remain: How to do the slow, hard, good work of staying put. “That slow corrosion that comes if you ignore the small, nagging troubles of your life has the potential to wreck a family the way a nail clipper can wreck a bathroom. And somebody’s going to pay for it, even if it isn’t you.”
📱 Weekly Social.
Reddit: How NOT TO tip at some fancy new devices where Product Designer did a crappy job because the finance guy told him to. Spoiler alert: press the button with the circle at the bottom right.
Twitter: German Navy on the Thames.
Twitter: From the US, we have an escalation from very demure to...
Reddit: “Are you saying the chats start, but they don't Finnish?” comment on the dating app experience was hilarious.
💬 Briefly.
😔 Bad news: BVG plans to reduce the frequency for 30 seconds on some U-Bahn lines during peak hours, mainly due to technical problems, staff shortages and an ageing fleet waiting for new train deliveries.
Stats: In the first half of 2024, BER passenger volume increased by 12.7% to 11.8M compared to 2023. That’s still much less than in the record year of 2019 (17.4M). For comparison, 28.8M passengers passed through Frankfurt, close to 3x more.
Berlin-based Contentful acquired ninetailed (ibid.); AutoScout24 (Munich) acquired Canadian Trader Corporation; SAP got a regulatory green light to acquire Israeli WalkMe.
Enpal doubled its revenue to €905M in 2023, up from €415M. Adjusted EBITDA slightly decreased to €21M from €23M. The company installed over 100,000 new energy systems, bringing the total to nearly 160,000. (MM)
Good news for faster internet in Berlin: Comprehensive fibre optic coverage is now to be achieved by 2028, two years earlier than previously planned, according to Senator for Economic Affairs and formed mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD).
Lieferando will now also deliver Tchibo products.
Struggling battery maker Varta reached a restructuring agreement to reduce debt and grant ownership to Porsche and billionaire Michael Tojner. (RT)
Tech EU has a great overview of the struggles of European-cultivated meat startups. It doesn’t look particularly good.
Delivery Hero is apparently planning to expand into financial services, offering loans to restaurants. (Finance FW, 🇩🇪)
💸 Recently funded in Berlin & Germany
is a list of companies that received funding over €1M.
Reliant AI | Berlin/Montreal | AI-based analysis software for biopharma | €10.1M | Careers.
Root Global | Berlin | CO2 footprint management platform | €8M Seed | Careers.
Boomerang | Hamburg | Sustainable logistics solutions | €1.9M Seed | Careers.
XO Life | Munich | Digital health platform | €7M | Careers.
😅 Meanwhile
hopping on a quick call
✌️ Handpicked essentials and a treat:
♡ 20% Berlin: all the Berlin news twice a week, in English! ♡
- all the Handpicked Articles worth reading
- 🚨 updated & improved article on why you need a mentor
- How to learn German and get over “Genau” and “mit Karte, bitte”?
- ⚽️ Football in Berlin: all the links you will ever need
- Berlin Salary Trends Reports: How do you compare?
- ❓Surprise treat for the curious
✨ Berlin Events Weekly: the best resource for events in Berlin ✨
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