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On love as a competitive advantage and making profit the right way (after reading Jason Cohen)

Typical advice in business and negotiation is to charge as much as you can. Don’t leave money on the table. Some even say it’s your moral imperative to do so. This never sat well with me. I’ve always valued the long-term relationship over short-term profits. I always

The kind of product I want to build (and why I’m not pursuing a sensible opportunity)

One thing I want to write more of is how I actually make decisions as a founder. Not just the outcomes, but the tradeoffs, doubts, and reasoning behind them. This question about Jobcenter vouchers and AZAV certification comes up repeatedly in my business. What if I partner with the Jobcenter

Control is caffeine for your relationship with reality

I was researching how to fix my circadian rhythm. One of the main levers is to have your last coffee by 2pm. Not because caffeine makes it impossible to fall asleep, but because of how it works: even when you can fall asleep, drinking coffee too late quietly degrades sleep

Letter to Oli: On How I Consume Podcasts and Take Notes (Zettelkasten)

Hi Oli, It was so nice to read your letter replying to mine. It makes me feel so grateful for this downtime during the holidays, that we have the time and space to do fun stuff like this. Thanks for checking out David Senra’s podcast. It seems like it

Letter to Sopha: On Job Searching, Not Feeling Enough, and The Inner Game

Hi Sopha, Happy New Year! Wow, I was delighted to see that you actually wrote me a letter, mere hours after I texted you about my new interest in writing public letters. First of all, I’m happy to hear that meeting the ‘BER Crew’ in Lagos last May/Jun

Letter to Oli: On Craft, Quality, and Founders Podcast

Hi Oli, I like to visit your website every 6 months or so, and today was one of those days. I found your public letters to your sister Joana fascinating and it made me want to do the same. That’s why I’m writing this letter, in response to

How I Chose My 2025/2026 Annual Review Format: The Criteria I Use

What I think an Annual Review should do I think a good annual reflection requires 3 things: 1. Data Collection - getting input on what actually happened from your calendar, journals, etc. 2. Reflection - processing what all this data means, what you learned, but the questions need to be

My Takeaways From Amp It Up (Surprisingly Not About Hustle)

The book's title – Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity – sounds like it promotes "hustle culture". But it's actually about real execution, not just relentless physical effort. One, to focus first on execution (before strategy) for three

I Was Terrible at Conversations. Here's the Tape.

Here's a recording from one of the first cold calls I ever did, way back in 2013. Erika0:00/276.3721× I can't listen past 34 seconds without cringing. Notice that: * The call lasted almost 5 minutes, but because of how badly I started, I lost

From Employee to ALG to Self-Employed in Germany: Everything I Learned About Registration, Insurance, and Taxes

I just had coffee with a friend who asked me about switching to self-employment in Germany. In case it’s helpful, here’s everything we talked about. Disclaimer: This is my personal experience, not legal or tax advice. I’ve done my best to be accurate, but had to make