First they came ...
First they came ...
Issue #84 (15 Jan) – 20 jobs in HR; Gegen Nazis; looking for a freelancer?; Coffee with Eva; Wirecard mafia; layoffs everywhere; a case to learn German; the best science images.
Programming note: I’ll experiment more with content in ‘24 because it’s fun, but instead of only publishing it on my website, I’ll also send it via Substack. In addition to Monday morning e-mails, you’ll occasionally receive Perspectives (what a name!) with an upper limit of 900 words (roughly 4:00 read time). Also new: “looking for freelancers section” in Kleinanzeigen! For FREE.
I wish I could invite you to our next meetup this Saturday, a kegeln match with
but the tickets sold out in a couple of hours. You can get notified next time by submitting your e-mail on the button in the footer.🌟 Handpicked Kleinanzeigen & Tech Events
🎪 Events:
medianet GAMES International introduces Studio Fizbin | Wed, 23.1 at 17.00 | Online - Zoom in 🇬🇧
DEMO DAY - Digitales Bauen und smarte Gebäude | Wed, 23.1 at 14.00 | Forum Digitale Technologien
Deep Tech Night | Thu, 25.1 at 17.00 | Linolin Fabrik
Pre-applications are open for Berlin design week (27.4 - 5.5.2024)
😎 Cool stuff:
Berlin-based feminist podcast Ms Informed is starting a feminist book club. The first meeting is on Jan 24th, and the book is Susan Sonntag's On Women. Email to join.
Businesses from Berlin can get marketing clips for free from film students.
(doing a project? Built something to show? you can get featured, too)
🔍 Searching for roles/freelance gigs:
Xavi: Agile-experienced Product Manager with AI expertise, cross-functional leadership, and a storytelling approach to strategy, seeking a new PM/Product Owner role.
Hannes (mail): Experienced in product dev/design, I lead teams in fast-paced environments for innovation and growth, seeking a leadership role in UX.”
Elena: Senior project manager open to freelance roles; background in digital products, marketing campaigns, Scrum, and coaching.
Lino: Seeking content writing/mgmt role with 5+ years in content and 7 in video editing. Lofi music creator and sci-fi/fantasy writer. Once found 10€ outside his apartment.
Thomas: French/English copywriter and translator, loves voiceovers and scripts, and seeks clients with stories. Plays trombone, benches his body weight.
Estrella is a recent Social Design grad looking for freelance gigs in Graphic Design. What the heck is Social Design you ask? Email to find out!
🫣 Looking for a service/freelancer:
Just look at this empty here. It’s because it’s new. Hueheue. Submit something if you have a job that needs to be done, and a freelancer can help. Like that Python script. A design, an article. Something you always wanted but never found the time. SEO for your business? Whatever someone can solve for you.
🫵🏻 You can get featured, too — submit on this link! It’s free for all categories.
👀 Handpicked twenty-something
📨 HR going the extra mile & readers submitted
🧞♂️ On rotation this week: HR & Recruitment
More positions (also outside rotation) in Handpicked online database.
🗞 Top inspiration snippets
☕️ Coffee with Eva Stark
Eva works as a general legal counsel at Cavalry Ventures and founded Venture Ladies, a network of women working in the field of VC. Here are her links for you:
Weird Crimes - Podcast by Ines Anioli and Visa Vie. The funniest, thrilling and informative true crime podcast with a sweet foot fetish twist and two brilliant and hilarious hosts. It's an absolute must-hear experience.
MUYA Chocolates - Literally the BEST pralines invented on earth, hand-made by the Berlin-based Pastry Chef Marie, who learned and trained with the best Chocolatiers in Paris (available also at KaDeWe and some selected Walter-Stores).
VIVA Yoga Studio in Charlottenburg - The perfect after-work calming down and relaxing experience is to join Jennifer's YIN YOGA & SOUND class. You will feel relaxed, re-balanced and grateful after her class - I guarantee it!
🇩🇪 Berlin & Other good stuff
📚 I use my mobile much less and, therefore, read more, and one of the books I recently enjoyed was Money Men, describing the fraudsters at Wirecard. I lost a few thousand euros (LinkedIn review), and the rest is history. My colleague also recommends this podcast (Spotify) to brush up on your German.
🇲🇽 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)
❌ I decided to keep my political opinions out of this newsletter, EXCEPT when it comes to Nazis. Am I white enough so they’d let me stay, or would they put me on the “remigration” bus? It's a disgusting disgrace, and we’ve seen it before. Extreme ideologies are dangerous because they start slowly and then take over suddenly. See, for example, Handmaid’s Tale or the rise of the original Nazis in these lands. We need to speak up, or it’ll end badly. (RBB, 🇩🇪)
Goosebumped. Do share this with someone if it moves something in you—more on the prose on Wikipedia. 💸 Remember how every startup said they’d be profitable by December ‘23? Miriam from Sifted did an overview that shows only 2/10 of the top 10 most valuable German unicorns are profitable annually. Still, I would wait at least until February/March to ask again.
😶 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.
🚀 I loved this six-year-old video of Jason Fried, founder of Basecamp on how to build and run a business. Highlights: Bootstrap vs VC money, how people buy sneakers, doing less but better and how getting someone to pay you for something is an extremely intimate relationship.
📸 The best science images of 2023 by Nature. Immersive. I loved Space Monet, while Swirling Cyclones reminded me of Van Gogh.
r/berlin choices of the week: several photos from 1967 where you can also see the TV tower without the dome attached. Someone contemplated offering a homeless guy a spare bed for the night; the commentariat said: “Better not.”
💬 Briefly:
😔 Bad news: last year 297 startups (HB, 🇩🇪) in Germany went bankrupt; Pitch (Berlin, online PPT) laid of 2/3 of people—interesting LinkedIn discussion and alumni directory; Voxalyze and Sirplus (Berlin) bankrupt; Xing (Hamburg) laying off 400.
Tier merged with a competitor, Dott, with a capital injection of €60M, HQ stays in Berlin, and Leuschner left as a CEO to become chairman of the board. Vivid Money (Berlin, fintech) acquired Joompay.
Picnic, a Dutch grocery delivery company with big plans in Germany, raised €355M. Careers.
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)
Unzer (Berlin, fintech) posted a loss of almost €400M in 2022 (HB).
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!
European Commission approved €902M subsidy for Northvolt’s battery factory in Heide (north of Hamburg). Careers.
💸 Recently funded in Berlin & Germany
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.
This is a footer slice of 😭 for you: “Sniffing women’s tears reduces aggression in men and alters brain activity” (PsyPost)
✌️ Handpicked essentials:
- Don’t make these mistakes with your side hustle!
- Berlin Salary Trends Report 2023: How do you compare?
- Want to get reminded for the next salary survey?
- What do hiring managers look for in CVs?
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