It’s happening. We’re launching a foodservice concept. In Berlin. In 2024. Are we nuts?

I know, it’s such a cliche. Almost everyone sooner or later starts to think that it would be nice to…

✅ write a book
✅ open a bar or a coffee shop.

Since books I have already written, I know that it’s not nearly as romantic as most people think. And with 7+ experience in foodservice, I should have thought twice before venturing into this red ocean of never-ending competition.

Having even a small dining establishment is like having a baby — a 24/7 job. Hard, demanding, excruciating. Costs are constantly going up — and profits down. And don’t even get me started on the labor shortage.

All this is true. And yet…

With my partner, we’ve been talking about this for years. It felt like Berlin could have benefited from some new ideas. And we had one that we couldn’t let go.

Between the two of us, we had a perfect set of skills that you’d need for a food startup. My partner could do great product and design — and I knew a lot about operations and finances (at least in theory 🙂).

But most importantly, spending less time staring at the screens and more time away from them seemed like a healthier lifestyle — and something that could give us a feeling that we truly belonged in this city.

So last year, we finally reached a point when we had to try it — or stop talking about it. We couldn’t stop talking.

So…

We’re doing it.

In 2024, we’ll be setting up a company, looking for a location, fleshing out the product — and hopefully launching the first shop of (hopefully) a strong local foodservice brand that would expand far and beyond.

We’ll be building this foodservice concept “in public.”

The way software startup founders build their companies nowadays.

Expect insights, failure stories, revelations… all the good (and bad) stuff.

But the question remains: are we nuts?