Read this if you're just starting out

I'm turning 33 soon, and am now ~10 years into my professional career. During this time, I've:

• Bootstrapped a company to ~1M in yearly revenue and brought >400 nurses from Italy to Germany
• Briefly dabbled in AI-powered strength & conditioning coaching apps
• Expanded an unknown startup from the small town of Koblenz into all of Europe, launching 7 markets and helping the company grow to 300 employees
• Taken a sabbatical, accidentally written a half-finished book, published an online course
• Played lacrosse weekly and competed in 3 international tournaments with Team Germany

Those ten years have been fun. But honestly, there were so many things holding me back. If I could go back in time, this is what I'd tell my freshly graduated self:

1/ Pick the people you surround yourself with carefully

I got lucky with my first cofounders — we met, instantly vibed, and figured "f**k it, let's build this company". Not the most thorough process, but it worked out just fine.

We did make one big mistake: we never left Frankfurt — a city that's highly liveable, but without a lot of entrepreneurial energy. It felt like we were treading water.

Moving to Berlin, I instantly found my tribe — people who think exactly like me. I believe we could've been much more successful simply by being immersed in the right ecosystem.

You become the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

2/ It's okay to ask for help

I've always had the urge to figure out everything myself (and still do). This is a bad approach:

1. Other people have made the same mistakes before
2. It doesn't scale

Find people who are 1-2 steps ahead of you on your journey. Not the "guru" — someone who can still relate to your struggles. My advice is probably terrible for people still in high school (too long ago), but likely solid for anyone looking to take their next professional step.

You can also have mentors without them knowing they're your mentor. I've learned a ton from Tim Ferriss without ever having spoken to him.

People are generally willing to help if asked. Just make sure you ask concretely — not to "pick someone's brain".

3/ Invest in future you

In all of my businesses, I've been working too much in the business instead of on the business. The same trap exists in careers.

Allocate 10-20% of your time to "personal R&D" — things without a clear path to immediate return. Right now, that probably means tinkering with AI. But it could also be learning a new language, getting good at public speaking, writing a blog, taking drawing lessons, or meeting people from a completely different bubble.

Google does the same: employees get 20% of their time for moonshot projects with no clear ROI. That's how Gmail got built.

(h/t to Andrew Yeung for this piece of advice)

4/ Say "yes" a lot

Early in your career, you have no idea what you actually like. So when in doubt — just say yes.

One of my most life-changing experiences was a four-week project in Rwanda at age 19. The student org I was with (Enactus) needed someone to fly to Rwanda, teach people how to produce glasses for less than one dollar, and help them build a business around it.

The catch: the trip overlapped with exam period.

Out of 100+ people in the org, I was the only one willing to skip a few exams and go. That experience taught me the power of impact entrepreneurship — you can literally fly to Africa, help people build a business, and create positive impact for decades to come.

One year later, I did the same in Brazil. They've since sold more than 1 million pairs of glasses to people who otherwise couldn't have afforded them.

Life-changing, just because I was willing to skip a few exams.

Disclaimer: nobody gives a s**t if you take an extra semester in university if you use it to do cool things.

5/ There's no "right" career path

I'm 100% convinced there isn't one right career path — there are many. In my last year of high school, I agonized over what to study. Business? Informatics? Geography? Physics? Sports medicine? Psychology?

I picked business and informatics because it kept the most options open. Had I picked geography, my life would be equally good — just different.

All paths depicted here are correct.

What matters is that you make a decision and go through with it. Don't overthink it.

6/ You can't build your public profile early enough

One of my biggest regrets: not starting to create content sooner. I had a blog where I occasionally posted and shared it with Facebook friends — spotty at best.

Three years ago, I started writing weekly and publishing daily. It's been a game changer: a four-figure online course launch, a completely new startup, 1k+ readers opening my emails every Monday, and ~700k people seeing my LinkedIn posts every year.

Content compounds. The earlier you start, the earlier you reap outsized returns. People like Cesca, Simon, and Ester are doing it exactly right — publishing regularly across platforms. Project their audiences ten years forward and there's no world in which they won’t be successful at what they do. 

Create, don't just consume.

7/ Become a master communicator

Communication is the force multiplier of everything else. If you're good at something and you can write and speak, you'll get a leadership role in no time. The ability to build relationships will work wonders for your career, too.

Get good at writing. Take a public speaking class. Get reps in. Future you will thank you.

8/ Don't copy what everyone else is doing

After university, I thought I had to go into management consulting — like everyone else graduating from my target school. Thank god I didn't.

Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean it's right. Following the traditional career path is a low-agency move. Find out what you like, combine those things, and build your own path.

Building a life you enjoy is your responsibility. Don't let someone else make that decision for you.

I have a ton more of these thoughts, but this newsletter needs to go out.

Let me know if you liked it, and maybe I’ll publish a part 2 next time. 

Have a wonderful week!