5 ms·

My experience with Berlin is 1) plenty of enthusiastic people and startups, 2) not enough funding to go around, 3) still some weird hiring practices in place.

My experience with Berlin is 1) plenty of enthusiastic people and startups, 2) not enough funding to go around, 3) still some weird hiring practices in place. I have several decades of development+startup experience, and while interviewing for a CTO spot recently, I was asked in all seriousness what my GPA was. I could only guess, I hadn't thought about it in many years. The interviewer gravely informed me that most of their hires were in the "top 5%" of their graduating classes. This was a company that was allegedly, by their advertisements and verbal communications, looking for a tech cofounder/CTO. I read recently online that Berlin is welcoming superstar American techies with open arms, which, of course, would be true of pretty much any startup community. I'm not surprised that they rolled out the red carpet for the author, but I don't think that ordinary non-German devs should expect the same or even similar treatment. English-only speakers will find that one can get by just fine in Berlin without German. It's nice if you have a bit of it to facilitate communication with non-university-educated people, but it's just a nice-to-have. My experience is that people in the startup world here are incredibly fluent in English. I love Berlin and look forward to returning, but the hype is pretty over-the-top. It's a good scene, but I don't think it's a great scene. Certainly nothing like SV or NYC. My purely subjective impression is that it's something more along the lines of a Toronto or perhaps a Boulder or an Austin.

raverbashing 12y ago
Care to explain more about n.3? "I read recently online that Berlin is welcoming superstar American techies with open arms, which, of course, would be true of pretty much any startup community." That's probably an exaggeration, they have lots of superstars from other countries to hire, and are kind of "skeptic" about the American way of doing business
- brightsize 12y ago
  "The Germans are looking for leaders working for large-scale U.S. tech firms, typically companies that have 10 million or more users,” Hurtig says. “They want tech leaders who have experience in scaling, with products like mobile, apps, and websites.” http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/16/wanted-in-berlin-young-american-tech-execs-amenable-to-skinny-dipping/ http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/16/wanted-in-berlin-young-ame...
- gerbal 12y ago
  It's a huge pain in the ass to hire an american (compared to an EU resident), so it's not worth it unless they bring something awesome to the table.
  - raverbashing 12y ago
    I've seen interns being hired from the USA. It's a hassle, but not really a "huge pain in the ass"
bitL 12y ago
Berlin is underfunded, top management has the "dominate everything" attitude in most start ups, no equity to employees, people are expected to be conforming to their bosses (German mentality), wage split into fixed (small) + variable part (which mostly doesn't materialize), low-ball offers are the name of the game in Berlin, selling a dream of a bright future with no equity.
- monksy 12y ago
  > low-ball offers are the name of the game in Berlin, selling a dream of a bright future with no equity. I was flown to Berlin to be interviewed twice. Once by a startup and another by a large organization that had the funds. I've got to agree with this. One of the big reasons that Berlin/Germany has the difficulty with getting talent that they do is that they actively try to undercut the market. They won't compete with the American IT/Dev market. The offer I got was 38k Euro/year while making $60k US. (Also.. remember German taxes for being "non-religious" and single are ~42%) Another thing to note (from my experience)... They won't even consider you if you don't have a masters degree.
  - thejdude 12y ago
    38k€ is I'd say an entry-level wage in Germany (in cities; less in rural areas, more in places like Munich). The maximum marginal tax rate is 42% in Germany. As a developer, you'll very like pay only 25% of your income as taxes (but add health "insurance" and mandatory payments into the pension fund etc., so you'll end up with half your salary gone). The master's degree thing is pretty much true. While there are non-studied professionals and you can get a job with a non-college education, I think most interesting jobs are only available to graduates.
    - raverbashing 12y ago
      I know plenty of people that got in without a Masters in Berlin, so YMMV 38k€ is low, it's possible to get more (but then, with the taxes and everything this translates to maybe 3k€ per month tops - with a very high salary)

raverbashing 12y ago

Care to explain more about n.3? "I read recently online that Berlin is welcoming superstar American techies with open arms, which, of course, would be true of pretty much any startup community." That's probably an exaggeration, they have lots of superstars from other countries to hire, and are kind of "skeptic" about the American way of doing business

brightsize 12y ago
"The Germans are looking for leaders working for large-scale U.S. tech firms, typically companies that have 10 million or more users,” Hurtig says. “They want tech leaders who have experience in scaling, with products like mobile, apps, and websites.” http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/16/wanted-in-berlin-young-american-tech-execs-amenable-to-skinny-dipping/ http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/16/wanted-in-berlin-young-ame...
gerbal 12y ago
It's a huge pain in the ass to hire an american (compared to an EU resident), so it's not worth it unless they bring something awesome to the table.
- raverbashing 12y ago
  I've seen interns being hired from the USA. It's a hassle, but not really a "huge pain in the ass"

bitL 12y ago

Berlin is underfunded, top management has the "dominate everything" attitude in most start ups, no equity to employees, people are expected to be conforming to their bosses (German mentality), wage split into fixed (small) + variable part (which mostly doesn't materialize), low-ball offers are the name of the game in Berlin, selling a dream of a bright future with no equity.

monksy 12y ago
> low-ball offers are the name of the game in Berlin, selling a dream of a bright future with no equity. I was flown to Berlin to be interviewed twice. Once by a startup and another by a large organization that had the funds. I've got to agree with this. One of the big reasons that Berlin/Germany has the difficulty with getting talent that they do is that they actively try to undercut the market. They won't compete with the American IT/Dev market. The offer I got was 38k Euro/year while making $60k US. (Also.. remember German taxes for being "non-religious" and single are ~42%) Another thing to note (from my experience)... They won't even consider you if you don't have a masters degree.
- thejdude 12y ago
  38k€ is I'd say an entry-level wage in Germany (in cities; less in rural areas, more in places like Munich). The maximum marginal tax rate is 42% in Germany. As a developer, you'll very like pay only 25% of your income as taxes (but add health "insurance" and mandatory payments into the pension fund etc., so you'll end up with half your salary gone). The master's degree thing is pretty much true. While there are non-studied professionals and you can get a job with a non-college education, I think most interesting jobs are only available to graduates.
  - raverbashing 12y ago
    I know plenty of people that got in without a Masters in Berlin, so YMMV 38k€ is low, it's possible to get more (but then, with the taxes and everything this translates to maybe 3k€ per month tops - with a very high salary)