Hi and welcome.


In order to write about life first you must live it. - Ernest Hemingway


I came to Silicon Valley more than 8 years ago.  I still remember the moment I stepped out of San Francisco airport. Life had provided me a new, completely blank page. An unwritten story to write and direct by me. A story about the tech boom in Silicon Valley. The successes and failures of everyday experiments. The story about relentless hustle. The story about life in the centre of digital innovation. I couldn't wait to get started.


It has always been my dream to spend some time in the US. I never made it real. I wanted to do a year during high-school but failed to pull it off. Second attempt during college... another unrealized dream. Now I was working in a full-time position, fresh out of college. Launching into a career. But I felt regret. I never made my dream happen.


After reading the book “New New Thing” a story about James H. Clark, I couldn’t stop thinking about being in Silicon Valley. I wanted it so bad, more than ever. So I started looking for opportunities. Internships. After many emails and outreaches I finally got a reply. I landed a contact for an opportunity that would change my life.


When I landed in SFO I came with a dream, some money on my bank account, and an unpaid internship in my pocket.


This was all I needed. I came to learn. I came to hustle. I was here to make my dream come true.


In 2012, it was still early in the hype days around that wave of mobile apps. I joined a startup that had a lot of traction from browser apps. Cooliris developed a 3D photo and video gallery app for desktop. It had more than 50 million downloads and was now pivoting into the mobile space.


One of the efforts was the work on the very first photo gallery app for Android in partnership with Google. Yes, that photos app on the Nexus and many other Android phones was build by us. I was so stoked. I could land a 3 month unpaid internship in a company full of super smart people that are changing the world. After several interviews and test projects I finally got the offer. That was all I needed. A ticket. A permission to go all in.


My goal was not to explore the endless golden beaches of California or hike the granite rocks and green meadows of the Sierra Nevada. It was there to get an offer for a full-time gig. That was my success metric.  And I got it. 2 months in the CEO approached me and asked me to stay full-time. You know my answer... duh


I left everything in Germany behind and started a completely new life. A lot has happened since. And I learned so much. And I appreciate that opportunity every day. And after living my dream for so long I am wondering if others have these dreams.


It is time to help others make it happen.


The main reason for me coming to the Silicon Valley was to improve my craft. My craft is building products that make people’s lives better. There are several names for this: Product Manager, Product Guy, Product Owner, Entrepreneur.


The field I am in is moving so fast that I can’t stop learning and getting better. And the Silicon Valley is full of the most popular companies with a lot of super smart people that work tirelessly on these goals. No better place to learn and grow.


So what I am sharing on this site are life experiences and learnings. Things that I do, experience and struggle with day in and day out.


I am helping other startups from all over the world as a mentor at a startup incubator here in the Valley. And I often get approached by European startups to share my experiences. I know others have similar questions. I love to help because I was in the same position. Looking for help and experience.



The trigger to write more and start my own site was to share learnings that can help you. And it helps me renew the knowledge I picked up. I want to remember these lessons and I want to make them available to everyone.


Welcome. And please reach out. I would love to meet you.