Programming note #135: I am excited to introduce a new ad-hoc article: a CV template. You will find the link in the snippets. I'll expand it a bit in the coming weeks - feedback is welcome.

Also, our first coworking space deals are just around the corner.

🚨 This is the last email from Substack for now - if everything goes well, you will receive the next one from newsletter@handpickedberlin.com email address. If you won’t receive it until 10:00 AM next Monday (10.2), it’s probably in the spam/promotions tab.

🌟 Handpicked community

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

Meet — handpicked events:

• Digital health cocktail hour - Femtech founders in focus | Wed, 05/02 18:00 | Merantix AI Campus

• Online life drawing session | Thu, 06/02 20:00 | Online

• Berlin AI hackathon | Sat, 15/02 09:00 | Speedinvest

• Women's AI breakfast - VC & investing in AI | Tue, 18/02 09:00 | Merantix AI Campus Berlin

• Journaling club: Morning pages & brain dumps | Tue, 25/02 18:00 | Michelberger Hotel

• Intellectuals and Culture in the Time of Monsters- Yassin al-Haj Saleh | Thu, 20/02 19:00 | Bard College Berlin W15 Cafe

• this could be your event - advertise it

Show cool stuff or Ask for something:

• Requests for startups from Y Combinator. Great ideas if you are looking for something to build. AI everywhere.

📨 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

1. 🇩🇪 Adevinta - Business Development Manager - OEM Partnerships

2. 50Hertz - Digital Portfolio Manager

3. Nvidia - Government Affairs Program Manager

4. 🇩🇪 Siemens Energy - Procurement Engineering Expert

5. Wolt - Strategy & Operations Manager, Logistics Development

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

✨ Handpicked Deals

is where you find good stuff. Your interest/purchase will help sustain this project.

• Learn German at SmarterGerman—HANDPICKED11 for 11% discount. I wondered how it is and then Codee reviewed it in this comment.

• Handpicked Berlin experts: find the expert you need! Relocation, employment matters, insurance and career coaches.

• Advertise in Handpicked Berlin

☕️ Coffee with Mafalda Johannsen

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

Mafalda is all about sales and even runs two sales podcasts. Beyond her professional life, she's a creative soul who writes theatre plays and song lyrics and maintains an impressive collection of 140+ snowglobes. Here is what she prepared for you:

• If Books Could Kill — This is a hilarious podcast debunking airport books and best sellers full of BS. As someone who loves reading, it breaks my heart to see bad books outselling great ones, so this podcast feels like therapy to me.

• Plasticine Band — This world music, jazz fusion band defies sonic boundaries. Each song is so different from the others that you'll probably find something for yourself! My favourites are "Magreb", "PsyClone", and "Funkycine".

• A Swim in a Pond in the Rain — This book changed my life. It lives up to its promise: "Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life". The author, George Saunders, is not only a very bright person but also possesses a sensational sense of humour.

🗞 Snippets

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

Berlin & Germany, career & timeless

1. 🚨 This is the last email from Substack for now - if everything goes well, you will receive the next one from newsletter@handpickedberlin.com email address. If you won’t receive it until 10:00 AM next Monday (10.2), it’s probably in the spam/promotions tab.

2. CV Template for Germany, based on all the knowledge I have collected so far. Some might call it ugly, but it does what it needs to do. Adapt as you like, best edited in Google Docs.

3. Berlin is broke. Instead of raising the unbelievably low parking fees of €10.20 per year immediately, the raise is only planned for double budget of 2026/2027. Most of the German cities charge much more (up to €360 annually in Bonn). SPD suggested €160, CDU didn’t propose a number yet. If they went with €200, this would mean app. €40M more annually from the pockets of 210k parking permit holders. (RBB & others)

4. In December I shared the Mietwucher / Exploitative rent pre-elections website from the Left. It turns out that out of 32k Berlin submissions, 22.7k pay too much. Around 13.5k by more than 50%. Ouch. (TAZ, 🇩🇪)

5. The Economist's latest Jan ‘25 Big Mac index (€), a lighthearted way of checking if currencies are at their correct value, is out. When adjusting for economic differences between countries (GDP), the euro appears to be overvalued by about 16.5% against the US dollar (15.8% in ‘24). A Big Mac costs 2.8% more in the eurozone than in the US, but should actually cost 11.7% less given our economic fundamentals. This approach isn't meant to be a precise indicator, but it offers a way to understand why prices might feel higher than they should be, even before factoring in inflation.

5. Social media gem: Berlin Pulse is a great Instagram channel with many interesting under-the-radar guests. They also featured me.

6. In German, for upcoming elections, Real-O-Mat matches your personal positions with parties' actual voting records in parliament, rather than campaign promises (Wahl-O-Mat coming next week). A cool idea, try it out, even if you need to use a dictionary!

7. Winter time is wellness time: 11 ideas for treating yourself. Pairs well with the upcoming Valentine's Day.

8. Career: It's the lighting. If your room and budget allows: How to improve your WFH lighting to reduce eye strain. I’d add that you should also Stoßlüften regularly (I love my Aranet4).

9. Career: Excellent career advice from Dave Kellogg: strive to make complex things simple. “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”

10. Timeless: You can get lost for hours in this post: The Best Tacit Knowledge Videos on Every Subject. I suggest a bookmark or simply creating a playlist on YouTube.

Briefly

1. Bad news: McMakler (unknown number); RBB (-254); following the spin-off of the classifieds business (Stepstone, Immowelt), the Axel Springer media group is cutting more than 100 jobs in its HQ departments (MM);
   Berlin's unemployment rate exceeded 10% for the first time in years, reaching 10.2% in January with 215,999 jobless people, up from 9.7% a year ago.

2. Stats: We only had 39 hours of sun in January. Much less than the southern states of Bayern and Ba-Wü with 79. The average was 61. (RBB)

3. Numbers roundup:
   - Galeria reported all 83 stores were profitable six months after insolvency (HB)
   - ASML Q4: better than expected! €2.7B net income on €9.3B sales, bookings reached €7.09B, maintained 2025 sales forecast of €30-35B.
   - Siemens Energy Q1: Revenue grew to €8.9B (+16% YoY), adjusted operating profit rose to €481M (from €208M), margin doubled to 5.4%
   - Zenjob 2023 (!): €65.4M revenue in 2023, down from €77.8M in 2022, missed €100M target and profitability goal. Losses narrowed to €4.9M, staff reduced to 294 from 381. (deutsche-startups)
   - Mister Spex 2024: Revenue fell 3% to €216M due to international store closures, adjusted sales up 2%, cash position at €70M+, average prescription order value increased 12%.

4. Fraud alert! Flats by Degewo’s new projects in Kreuzberg and Johannisthal aren’t available with a commission. They don’t work with agents.

5. Flaconi plans 20% revenue growth in 2025 and an expansion to Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Italy and Czech Republic (HB)

6. Top websites and apps in Germany by similarweb. A lot of shops on the app list! Klarna & ChatGPT also going strong. You can download the complete report if you give them an email.

7. Close to 83k Amazon Prime members are participating in the class action lawsuit against Amazon. Details.

8. Private equity firm EQT exited Ottobock by selling 20% stake back to the family owners.

Weekly social

1. Reddit: What did smartphones do to us? Ibiza in 2000 vs Ibiza in 2024.

2. Reddit: Pre-election act of civil unrest.

3. Reddit: Where to buy nuts in bulk?

4. Instagram: 200k in parking fees on BER. (🇩🇪)

💸 Funded in Berlin & Germany

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

1. Nala | Berlin | Corporate biodiversity management software | €3.8M | Careers.

2. Menlo79 | Berlin | Railway workforce management platform | €2.1M | Careers.

3. ginkgo | Berlin | Corporate pension platform | €1.6M Pre-seed | No careers yet.

4. INERATEC | Karlsruhe | E-fuels production technology | €70M | Careers.

5. Oceanloop | Munich | Sustainable shrimp farming technology | €35M Credit | Careers.

6. OCELL | Munich | Forest digitalization platform | €10M Series A | Careers.

😅 Meanwhile

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Handpicked footer with a treat:

• You like what you read? You can drop a rating on Google or send a testimonial.

• The best coworking spaces in Berlin and the best cafés to work from

• 12 things to know before you join a startup

• CV writing guide in Germany: insights from 6 tech recruiters

• How to find a great company to work for?

• How to learn German and get over “Genau” and “mit Karte, bitte”?

• Signing a new employment contract in Germany? Read this before.

• Don’t make these mistakes with your side hustle!

• Football in Berlin: where to play, watch and how to get involved?

• Berlin Salary Trends Reports: How do you compare?

• ❓Surprise treat for the curious

• The best questions to ask at a job interview

• Write it down now! Or why you should journal at work?

• What do hiring managers look for in CVs?

• Advertise in Handpicked

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