— Notizen
Thoughts on processes, automation, AI, and what happens between code, people, and ROI. Written for mid-market leaders who want more than technology as a consumable.
— 01 / Thoughts
Thousands of companies bought expensive workflows that fell over after nine months. Now they say the technology does not deliver. Both were predictable, and both say more about the market of 2024 than about those companies. Why the frustration is not a result but a date.
We never see the thing, only its shadow. Models, data, renderings. Plato's cave says: get out, climb to the sun. But the ascent doesn't free you from shadows. It gives you a better fire. Knowledge isn't leaving the cave. Knowledge is casting sharper, repeatable shadows. And the thing with no shadow at all, the sun itself? A blank page.
White, light oak, rounded corners, a plant. The Apple Store, the coworking space, the dentist, your landing page. The obvious explanation — designers got lazy — is wrong. The real one is worse: optimisation is a beauty machine. It just can't see what it can't measure.
VW is halving its model range, and the works council speaks of disrespect. The convenient reading is that someone here refuses to accept that the world changes. It is wrong — in a way that reveals more about us than about Wolfsburg.
Every technological revolution convinces us that this time, at last, we understand why winners win. We almost never notice that the explanation arrives after the winner does.
A missed penalty becomes the diagnosis of an entire country within minutes. The fascinating part isn't whether the diagnosis is right — it's how effortlessly our mind builds a closed explanation of the world from a single event. On the difference between a good story and a good explanation.
— 02 / Books
Enron didn't die of fraud. It died of a company that had trained itself out of hearing the word no. A reading note on Jeff Skilling as Achilles — and on what that has to do with Nvidia's $42 billion and the memo nobody wants to write.
In 1896 George Santayana wrote the most uncomfortable definition of beauty: it isn't in the thing — it's your pleasure, which you pin on the thing. A reading note from someone who builds exactly that for a living. With an interactive test.
Wilde's only novel argues with itself: 'There is no such thing as an immoral book' — and then damns its hero anyway. A reading note on beauty without a conscience, from someone who builds surfaces that never age for a living.
The book isn’t the subject — a question is: why do people fall hardest right after they’ve made it? On wealth that eats itself, from the lone speculator to family businesses to Fukuyama’s “End of History.”
Re-read with a tech lens. Why 1984 is less a prediction than a tool — and where the parallels to today hold up, and where they don't.
A former Tesla President distills Musk’s five-step algorithm. Compelling — but how much of it actually transfers to a normal company, without Musk’s budget and risk appetite?
— 03 / Strategy & Business
Add up your AI subscription and you get a high API-equivalent value. The number is real, but it means less than it promises.
Why so many software projects run over budget and behind schedule, and why unclear requirements are almost always the real cause. With the latest figures.
Pricing isn't math – it's psychology. Learn the cognitive principles behind successful SaaS pricing strategies.
People don't buy products – they hire them to get a job done. The JTBD framework revolutionizes product development and marketing.
Free keyword research methods for developers and tech bloggers. With step-by-step guide.
Crawling, Core Web Vitals, Schema Markup - everything developers need to know about technical SEO. With code examples.
— 04 / Build in Public
— 05 / AI & Automation
A neural network, 70 years of draw data, hundreds of lines of code — and in the end the AI is exactly as accurate as a chicken pecking at numbers. With an interactive simulator to try it yourself.
SEO alone is no longer enough. If your business is invisible in AI search engines, you're losing customers. This guide shows how GEO, llms.txt and AI SEO get you found in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.
Which AI tools are actually worth it for businesses? From ChatGPT to n8n to specialized sales AIs – this guide covers 25 tools with concrete use cases, costs, and ROI per department.
Markets don't reward complexity – they reward outcomes. Why the best experts rarely become the wealthiest.
As AI adoption grows, governance becomes mandatory. A practical framework for responsible AI use in small and medium businesses.
Marketing agent negotiates with finance agent, sales agent coordinates with support. How multi-agent systems automate complex business processes.
— 06 / AI & Digitalization
The AI boom is burning capital and electricity at a historic scale — while nearly half of corporate projects fail before they reach production. Why AI is a powerful tool but not a miracle, and how SMEs use it as an amplifier instead of a replacement.
A thought experiment: one US directive switches off two frontier AI models worldwide. A field guide to Europe's dependency — and the barriers we have to remove to build our own.
— 07 / Digital Psychology
Your brain reads loudness as probability — and panics on every bad day. Here's how to separate signal from noise and decide in a calibrated way.
Learn the difference between manipulative and ethical design patterns. With examples and decision framework.
CRMs are excellent reporting tools – but terrible motivation tools. How sales gamification bridges the gap between pipeline reviews.
Digital wellbeing from a psychological perspective: Why screen time isn't the problem and which strategies actually work.
Choice Architecture explained: How to achieve better outcomes for users and business through smart decision design – without manipulation.
Understanding Emotional Design: How emotions drive user behavior and how to design products that people truly love.
— 08 / Leadership & Teams
One leadership style doesn't fit all. Learn the Situational Leadership Model and how to adapt your style to the person, task, and context.
The quality of your decisions determines the quality of your results. Learn frameworks like RAPID, 10/10/10, and OODA for better decisions in tech teams.
80% of project problems are people problems. Learn how to identify stakeholders, understand their interests, and create win-win situations.
Traditional mentoring flows from top to bottom. Reverse mentoring flips that – and brings fresh perspectives to leadership. Here's how it works.
We all have blind spots. Learn how unconscious bias works in tech teams – in hiring, promotions, and daily decisions – and what you can do about it.
Blame game or learning culture? A positive error culture distinguishes innovative from stagnating companies. Here's how to build one.
— 09 / Productivity
Tech professionals have one of the highest burnout rates. Learn to recognize the warning signs in yourself and your team – and what you can do to prevent it.
Everything is important, nothing has time – the daily reality of tech leaders. Learn frameworks like Eisenhower, RICE, and MoSCoW to finally do the right things first.
The more decisions you make, the worse they get. Learn how decision fatigue works and how you as a tech leader can combat it.
Planning fallacy, confirmation bias, sunk cost fallacy – cognitive biases systematically sabotage projects. Here's how to recognize and avoid them.
Synchronous meetings destroy productivity. Learn how asynchronous communication makes your team more efficient and enables deep work.
Flow is the state of highest productivity. Learn the science behind it and practical techniques to regularly get into flow as a developer.
— 10 / Communication
Criticism can motivate or destroy – the difference lies in how you deliver it. Learn techniques for constructive criticism that leads to improvement.
Good feedback is a turbo for development. Bad feedback destroys motivation and trust. Learn frameworks like SBI and COIN for constructive feedback.
Most people listen to respond – not to understand. Learn the techniques of active listening and how they transform your communication.
— 11 / Odoo & CRM
Architecture, data model, mail handling, and design decisions of the Odoo CRM Outreach Campaigns module. Written for Odoo developers and technical evaluators.
How to configure multiple sender addresses and SMTP servers in Odoo 18 CRM for better deliverability and personalized outreach.
How to write effective cold email templates for Odoo CRM Outreach. With concrete examples, placeholder reference, and tips for better reply rates.
How to manage opt-outs cleanly with the Do Not Contact system in Odoo CRM Outreach and run GDPR-compliant cold email outreach.
Practical workflow for agencies and consultancies: How a 5–15 person team uses Odoo Community Edition for structured outbound sales.
External cold email tools vs. native outreach in Odoo CRM — cost, data ownership, workflow, and deliverability compared side by side.
— 12 / Cybersecurity
Quantum computers will break classical encryption. Timeline, concrete risks, and migration plan for IT decision makers.
Trust no one, verify everything. How Zero Trust replaces traditional perimeter security and how to implement it in SMBs.
The EU Cybersecurity Directive NIS2 takes effect without transition period. Checklist, requirements, and concrete measures for IT leaders.
