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Startups, Sparks and Serendipity

Startups, Sparks and Serendipity

By Mike Mahlkow and Max Elster

Startups, Sparks and Serendipity is a product of two good friends talking about issues they are passionate about, namely the Startup world, Self-Improvement and life-altering epiphanies. Due to the interesting combination of Max being very deeply integrated in the European Startup scene and Mike having shifted his focus towards the US in recent years, the two combine the best practices and learnings from Silicon Valley with those of Berlin and Zurich. The conversations are unfiltered and interesting for people interested in entrepreneurship and personal growth.
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Currently playing episode

005 - The Y Combinator Interview

Startups, Sparks and SerendipityMay 02, 2020

00:00
44:44
034 - We changed the channel - 2 Minute Update
Mar 15, 202202:33
033 - Finding Your Personal Mission Statement

033 - Finding Your Personal Mission Statement

Hey listeners,

Mike and I talk about the value of finding your personal mission statement and how it can help you with staying focused on the things that actually drive value and happiness for you personally - especially when building companies and products.

We'd be glad to get your feedback and hear about strategies and methodologies of you finding your personal mission statement. Let us know via DMs or on Linkedin/Twitter how you found your vision/purpose!

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Max and Mike

Jul 07, 202125:36
032 - Should we specialize or be a generalist?
Feb 24, 202122:54
031 - A wine app raises 155m, Spotify's patent to analyze user's voice, Apple and Cars and Global Tax for Tech Companies

031 - A wine app raises 155m, Spotify's patent to analyze user's voice, Apple and Cars and Global Tax for Tech Companies

Hello to all listeners! 

Mike and I have once again sat down together to talk about various topics: 

  • Wine-app Vivino raises 155m round - what's special about the app and the industry?
  • Spotify was granted a patent for a technology that analyzes listeners’ voice and background noise to suggest content based on their mood, gender, age, accent, or even social setting
  • Global tax for tech companies upcoming?
  • The role of social media is more present than ever at this point in time (not just in global politics..) 
  • Apple and cars?


Follow us on Twitter, Linkedin and all other platforms @maxelster and @mikemahlkow. 


Feb 14, 202144:59
030 - Nikolaus Volk, CEO of Kyte: Uber for Rental Cars, Mobility, Machine Learning at Kyte, Studying at Stanford

030 - Nikolaus Volk, CEO of Kyte: Uber for Rental Cars, Mobility, Machine Learning at Kyte, Studying at Stanford

Nikolaus Volk is the Founder and CEO of Kyte, a San-Francisco based Startup that delivers rental cars to your home. They help everyone to access rental cars with the simplicity of Uber. 

A few facts about Nik: 

  • He studied at Stanford and TU Munich
  • He worked at Uber for a few years 
  • Kyte raised 9m for their expansion
  • Offices in Munich and San Francisco

We talked about: 

  • The current mobility market and delivering an Uber for rental cars to the US market 
  • Importance of Machine Learning at Kyte 
  • Studying at Stanford vs. Studying in Germany
  • Hiring the right people 

In case you like it, feel free to subscribe. :) 



Feb 08, 202156:10
029 - What we can learn from AirBnB
Jan 23, 202140:03
028 - Semir Jahic from Clari talks about sales processes, differences Europe vs. US and finding the right startup to work for
Jan 03, 202152:44
027 - Startup News Flash, Virtual Headquarter Startups, Learning New Skills
Dec 13, 202042:06
026 - Homeoffice Setup and Socialising now, Startup Hubs, New Books to read
Dec 06, 202033:24
025 - Interview with Sameday Testing Founder Felix Huettenbach: Building a company around COVID tests, spending time in a monastery and tips on building a successful business
Nov 28, 202050:03
024 - Interview with Bryan Wish: Launching books successfully, How to Network and Finding Your Own Personal Path

024 - Interview with Bryan Wish: Launching books successfully, How to Network and Finding Your Own Personal Path

Bryan is the founder of BW Missions, a company that works with mission-driven entrepreneurs, thought-leaders, and CEOs including Nir Eyal (Author Hooked & Indistractable), Rick Smith (CEO Axon/ inventor of the TASER), Denise Gosnell (Chief Data Officer at DataStax), Dan Berger (Former CEO of Social Tables, acquired by CVENT), Allen Gannett, and many more to develop and execute digital strategies behind book, product, and business launches.

His clients have been represented in Inc., Forbes, TechCrunch, Morning Brew, HBR, and Wired Magazine. Mike and I have known Bryan for a couple of years and he’s one of the best networked people we know and a person that truly cares about helping people carving their pathway.

This week we sat down with Bryan Wish to discuss carving paths and finding a sense of belonging. Bryan talks about his journey through finding the right path for him and paints a picture for listeners to better understand where belonging comes from, and how to focus on the right search. We then discussed how your inner-circle and broader network can be used for long-term benefit. We dive deeper into how to network and select the right people with whom to surround yourself. Lastly, we spoke about book publishing, and the reasons for, and intentions behind writing and publishing a book. This podcast episode deals with the challenges of finding your sense of belonging, keeping the right people around you, and all the thoughts that go into the choice of writing a book. We certainly enjoyed this episode, and hope you do too.

Recommendations:

To Read: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel A. Van der Kolk

Follow Bryan on Linkedin

Follow Mike on Linkedin

Follow Max on Linkedin

Nov 17, 202037:21
023 - Interview with Ben Zoldan: Coping with difficult times, Storytelling and human-oriented connections
Nov 08, 202052:57
022 - The Startup Report 2020, Status in Enterprise Software and a great Marketing blogger
Nov 01, 202045:19
021 - Routines for traveling and working and managing work, health and life
Oct 02, 202043:20
020 - Dopamine Games and a book for people in struggle
Sep 19, 202043:51
019 - Jeff Gothelf on Employability, Entrepreneurship and Building Your Personal Platform
Sep 06, 202048:31
018 - Micro Entrepreneurship: The new normal?
Aug 26, 202040:01
017 - A great founder handbook, better decision making and the power of not knowing something

017 - A great founder handbook, better decision making and the power of not knowing something

017 - A great founder handbook, better decision making and the power of not knowing something

Aug 14, 202048:27
016 - First Thoughts on Starting A Podcast, Rome Research and Macro.io
Jul 26, 202023:31
015 - The Serendipity Mindset with Christian Busch

015 - The Serendipity Mindset with Christian Busch

This week we met with our first guest, Christian Busch and had a special conversation about serendipity. What is serendipity? How can we actively manage situations to make them more serendipitous? Does luck favor the prepared?  How can we increase the surface area of luck? This episode gives a look into how to connect dots to access the serendipities in our lives and how reframing situations and looking at things from unexpected perspectives can make a huge difference.  One of our favorite takeaways this week is that we cannot always control the stimuli that may affect us. However we can control our response to it. If we can redefine key moments and reframe our perspective in relation to these stimuli, we can create enormous opportunities for serendipity.


About Christian: Dr. Christian Busch is the director of the Global Economy program at New York University's Center for Global Affairs, where he teaches on purpose-driven leadership, impact entrepreneurship, social innovation, and emerging markets. He is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE) and the co-founder of Leaders on Purpose, an organization convening high-impact leaders, as well as the Sandbox Network, a global community of young innovators active in over 20 countries (Source: SerendipityMindset.com).


Recommendations:

Books:

The Serendipity Mindset by Christian Busch https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611516/the-serendipity-mindset-by-christian-busch-phd/

Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning

Tools:

A Serendipity Journal

Jul 19, 202050:35
014 - Mike's Solo Episode - Inversion, Hanlon's Razor and the future of humanity
Jul 13, 202022:33
013 - Face-2-Face Session in Social Distancing And Thoughts on WireCard and Organizing Life
Jun 28, 202043:10
012 - The consolidation of the audio industry and advice for our past selves

012 - The consolidation of the audio industry and advice for our past selves

012 - The consolidation of the audio industry and advice for our past selves

Jun 23, 202052:02
011 - The Audio Industry Deep Dive
Jun 14, 202042:21
010 - Mental Models: The Compound Effect and Conclusion Biases
Jun 07, 202035:37
009 - Why to start a startup?
Jun 02, 202036:11
008 - The Best Brands in 2020 and Email Hacks
May 25, 202037:02
007 - Startup Ideas and what to do with them
May 17, 202037:34
006 - Mental Models and Lack of Time
May 09, 202036:52
005 - The Y Combinator Interview
May 02, 202044:44
004 - The Y Combinator Application
Apr 27, 202019:46
003 - Systems and Standing Desks

003 - Systems and Standing Desks

The Tripple S podcast with a Double S episode. Join us while we talk about the difference between goals and systems, the unbelievable effects of standing desks on your back, and one of the best blogs on the internet

Apr 19, 202013:57
002 - Small Virus, Big Effect: The Great Indoors
Apr 06, 202049:43
001 - A New Player Joined The Game.

001 - A New Player Joined The Game.

Welcome to the first ever episode of Mike & Max talking about startups, self-improvement and ideas that inspire them. The idea for this podcast was based on the fact that Max & Mike felt as if they did not spend enough time talking to each other and decided to force themselves to do it by recording themselves. We had a lot of fun and have recorded 4 additional episodes since then. Please enjoy a then still nameless podcast featuring an episode about our favorite startups, remote work (before it got cool through Covid-19) and our favorite book suggestions.
Apr 04, 202045:30