“Keep calm and carry on and on and on…” So many things to do, so little time. So much coffee.
Another month of 2025 gone, and it still feels surreal that I’m sitting here, in a room with really high ceilings about 80km away from the next large city in Germany, balancing a full-time job and building a prototype for an AI startup. It’s crazy. Not in the “tech bro on LinkedIn” way, more like “how did I get here?” kind of crazy.
My co-founder and I are in the late stages of designing a prototype. It’s been an incredible and deeply personal journey. A lot of learning. A lot of failing. More failing. A few tiny wins that taste like victory, even though they probably shouldn’t. But I guess this is the beauty of doing something you truly love. Or at least, something you’re too stubborn to quit.
Just for context:
Back in October 2024, my friend and I were working on a completely different tech idea (#automationplatform). It was slow. Some weeks, it felt like watching paint dry. Other weeks, it felt like we should throw the entire thing out the window and go do something “normal”. But looking back, it was a crash course in both entrepreneurship and human psychology. Because when you’re building something from scratch, the biggest challenge isn’t the market, the product, or even the funding. It’s showing up, day after day.
Also we didn’t know back then that the real idea, the one that would actually stick, was just a few months away.
What’s the startup about?
AI. Wow, not exactly new anymore, I know. AI is the new blockchain, except this time, it’s not just hype. Back in my “blockchain will change the world” days, we all thought we were disrupting everything with tokenisation, NFTs and smart contracts. I truly believed that for a moment. But now, AI is here and we’re actually building stuff that works.
I’ve spent years in marketing, working with founders, attending events, sitting through endless accelerator pitch sessions. And yet, when it came time to create my own product, I was overwhelmed. Paralyzed, even. There’s a huge gap between “knowing things” and “doing things.”
Lessons learned so far:
1. Don’t co-found a startup with someone who has the same skillset as you.
You need a person you can trust and someone you can spend weeks and months and years working on a product. But when it comes to actual skills, you don’t need another version of yourself. You need someone who complements your gaps. One of you must be the tech guy. Or at least be able to speak developer without crying. So, not me.
2. Avoid accusations. And maybe don’t point out personality flaws.
I can really sit there for hours brainstorming ideas, drafting concepts, researching markets and stalking competitors. Naturally I expect others to put the same amount of time and enthusiasm into the project. So what I learned over the last few months was that some things are really better left unsaid or you’re risking losing a co-founder and a friend. Yell to yourself or into a towel in the bathroom, but don’t voice unhelpful feedback. “I swear to God, you have the attention span of a squirrel.”
3. Avoid critics and haters.
Thinking back to our first startup idea and the time wasted talking to anyone and everyone about how we were designing an automation platform for solopreneurs and SMBs, I remember a lot of raised eyebrows, awkward silences, and smirks. Those moments stick. They make you second-guess yourself, even when you shouldn’t. In the early days, an idea is fragile. The maker’s spirit is fragile. Sharing too soon with the wrong people is the fastest way to kill it.
No one really knows what will work until it does. There’s no perfect plan, no guaranteed outcome. Just decisions, iterations, and showing up every day. Some things will break, some will take off. The only way forward is to keep going. And this is really what’s driving me out of bed in the morning. And I’m happy to be part of a tech community. Let’s see where this leads.
More coming soon!
EXPRESSO NIGHTS 