My Experience Moving to Berlin, to Work in Tech...Awesome! Full of Links and References...
Berlin Tech. Startup Scene...
The Place To Be...rlin
To be or not to be, that is the question.
Well, that's according to Shakespeare.
But that guy's old and boring. Don't worry about him.
One thing that sure isn't old and boring...Berlin and its tech. scene.
To be or not to Be...rlin.
What a segway!
Berlin Tech. and Party
If you're a programmer, geek, technologist, work in the tech. or want to work in the tech., then consider joining my friend's FB group here.
It's a collection of over 10,000 like-minded people.
If you don't work in tech., you should consider the change.
A robot will probably take your job real soon.
So you better learn how to build/maintain/program that robot. ;-)
Also, there is another friend's company here.
It matches your CV with a growing number of tech. startups looking for talent.
And there is a great Meetup Group for blockchain here.
And at the Mecca for Bitcoin; Room 77, there is another great meetup here.
Berlin is the hottest capital in the world for startups now. Here's why:-
1). Cheap rent, lots of space:
Startups can afford large, trendy offices, on a limited budget. These make for super relaxed environments you actually want to work in.
2). Great parties and nightlife.
Berlin is the place to be for nightlife and partying in Europe. It has the coolest clubs and bars in the world. Every summer people come from everywhere to party here.
3). The girls are gorgeous:
Quite simply there are beautiful women everywhere. They're interesting, doing cool stuff and have a great outlook on life. Super sexy.
4). Affordable rent, great apartments:
It's easy as anything to find somewhere to live (short/medium/long-term). There are a ton of agencies. They will find you a fully furnished apartment you can walk straight into. They will also take care of all the bureaucracy and paperwork. There are plenty to choose from. The rental prices are so really affordable compared to the awesomeness of the city.
5). Cost of living and lifestyle are great:
If you're struggling to make ends meet, you're not going to have a great time. If you're working at a startup you won't necessarily be making a fortune. But that won't matter, cause you won't be paying a fortune to live. When living costs are lower, everyone is happier. It makes for a nicer environment.
6). There are lots of jobs to choose from:
As startups flock to Berlin, the demand for talent rises massively. This gives you more options for jobs.
Moving here and working in tech. startups has been the best decision of my life. You will not regret it too.
Just in the Bitcoin space:
- Etheruem Dev. HQ is here,
- Ethcore is here,
- Bitwala is here,
(That's just in the Bitcoin space...to name a few).
There are awesome coworking spaces for Bitcoin like Transistor and the Rainmaker Loft
If you have any questions hit me up in the comments below.
"Quite simply there are beautiful women everywhere. They're interesting, doing cool stuff and have a great outlook on life. Super sexy" - where can i buy a ticket? ))))
haha. Cheapair.com you can pay in bitcoin ;-) See you at a meetup.
Don't forget the legendary Bitcoin Meetup at Room 77! http://www.meetup.com/de-DE/Bitcoin-Lab-Berlin/
Man, dang, how could I forget. Will edit it into the post.
Please share the post around! Hoping it will become a guide resource for people to move here.
wish I was 22 again. Take advantage, young people!
I moved here when I was a fair bit older. You're only as young as you feel Sir.
Regarding the blockchain community and especially ethereum- Berlin stays hot. Join the local Meetup Chapters here: http://www.meetup.com/de-DE/Blockchain-Meetup-Berlin/ and http://www.meetup.com/Berlin-Ethereum-Meetup/
Good call! Not always easy to remember everything. I'll edit it into the post. It's a great resource.
Would be most appreciated if you could share the post through your distribution channels. :-)
Cheers.
Yes, I recently heard a lot about Berlin or Germany in general being very startup friendly place. Lisk founders also moving to Berlin, and there are few more other startups like you mentioned setting up their HQ there, blockchain community getting bigger there. I wouldn't be surprised to see in few years Germany will be the one which embraces crypto currencies mainstream level. Nice post...
I disagree, I live in Berlin and the startup community is ruining this city. I moved away from San Francisco because of the culture. I hate how people are moving here and bringing that culture with them.
The hacker culture here is good because it stands against people who do things solely for money instead of doing this because they are interesting or worth doing.
They are not only gentrifying our neighborhoods they are gentrifying the word hacker and trying to destroy the culture.
I imagine a lot of people feel this way. I do definitely do not.
Gentrification, well...to blame startups is silly I think.
All the guys I know in real-estate (young german guys, making a killing at the moment) are selling to massive overseas funds, middle-east, israel, asia, etc...
These buyers don't step foot into Germany, they're fund managers parking huge amounts of cash. They need good safe, new developments to plough money into, in good, strong economies.
That's driving development and gentrification more than any startup.
Again, I disagree with your assessment.
Gentrification is definitely happening in Berlin, people are not spraying new hipster startups with "Gentrification" or "Slave Fashion" for no reason. If you think rent is cheap now, it was astronomically cheaper just 5 years ago. Many businesses are taking venture capital money and coming here because as you said the rent is cheaper than San Francisco and those people have enough money they will pay much higher for rent than people who have lived here and know what you should be paying. You probably pay way more than you should.
My biggest problem with startup culture is the people though, they come to our hacker meetings and completely miss the point. They give presentations about their products or startups and advertise to us and are confused when people boo them or ask them really hard questions. A good example of this behavior: A friend of mine who was at the hackerspace noisebridge was working on a project, got a lot of attention near finishing it and was immediately asked "Where are you going to sell it?". That kind of thinking is what drove me here, because the community here is not libertarian hackers like you find at Defcon. And worst of all most of startup's products are junk, unnecessary, gimicky, or just (some popular company) + (some popular company).
The tech scene is here is amazing, probably the best in the world, I have met people here who are very smart. But its definitely not the reasons you describe. It is the hacker culture that exists here and has existed here since the 80's.
Gentrification is happening, sure. I agree.
I disagree with you as to the primary causes. Refer to my earlier reply.
Hacker culture:
Well, I've spent some time in both cultures. From the anarchist hacker squats of Calafou, Spain...to the trendy offices of Kreuzberg.
I get value from both...personally. Approach is purely individual, it is a personal means of expression. I like both, for different reason.
We can agree to disagree. I just wish the startups would confine themselves to Mitte :)
CCC bleibt radikal!!!
Oh my, girls are gorgeous xD. That turned me up!
Yeah...I could have written at least a dozen more points on why it's great to work in tech. here. That's a definite bonus that one. haha.
Loved the reading but I have a disclaimer
"2). Great parties and nightlife."
that is Greece. austerity haven't changed Greece that much. we still are the best to party.
jokes aside. I loved your post.
Thanks mate. I am yet to go visit Greece. Can't wait though.
I have a lot of Greek friends from Australia. Great guys!
How are Visa's worked out and what about us non German Speakers?
What about getting a work permit/Visa? I got approached by a tech company to work in Germany but I'm unclear about what it'd take to get a work permit for myself with or without sponsorship.
Depends on what passport you're on. Also, cities in Germany vary. Berlin is quite unique, for the above reasons I said. Mostly startups. Big industry and companies are in places like Munich...which are gorgeous, but generally more expensive to live and have a completely different vibe.