Two weeks in Berlin: my first (biz tech) impressions

It's been two weeks since, with the dawn of 2017, I moved to Berlin. Not long enough to settle anywhere, even less so when you are joining a new company in a city you are not familiar with, where you do not speak the language and know nobody (plus the weather - two cloudy and snowy weeks - and short days do not help either).  But I am taking baby steps each day, slowly but confidently, supported by a couple of acquaintances - how important it is to have friends who can "refer" you anywhere - and a warm welcome at work.

By looking at these past 15 days I can already point out a few local behaviours that have surprised me in areas where technology has been (and is expected to continue) playing a significant part. 


1. Cash is king
After having lived in New York for a long time I got used to paying 90% of anything with debit/credit card (I feel like Spain, or at least Madrid, has also evolved a lot in terms of accepting this payment means in the last years), as I find it convenient and it works great to track my expenses via apps, etc. 

That is not going to work in Berlin, I am afraid. Big bummer. Multiple places - not talking just about the doner kebab shop around the corner - do not accept cards and paying in cash is the only alternative. The same limitation goes for the Stripes of the world. Plus it kind of strikes me that, in particular in a city that has positioned itself as a top European tech hub, payment technology - one of finch darlings - is so detached from the day-to-day.

2. No Sunday shopping 
I typically do not have time Mon to Fri to buy stuff, other than groceries. When it comes to clothing, furniture, personal care, etc, it is Saturday and Sunday for me. 
Realizing that shops close on Sundays in a major and touristy city like Berlin has been a surprise. 

At a time where people are increasingly buying stuff online, this just gives people another reason to continue to do so - for instance, German online retailer Zalando keeps increasing sales vigorously quarter after quarter. I do not see that trend stopping around here (competition isses with Amazon and others left aside). At the end of the day you can buy online any day at any time.

3. No food delivery wars?
In the last few years a lot of money has been poured into food delivery companies such as Deliveroo, Just Eat, etc., just as other players such as Uber launched businesses (UberEats) to get a piece of the action. 

In two weeks I have just seen riders - and not a lot I must say - who work for one company: Delivery Hero's Foodora. I do not know the reason but I must admit I was expecting more activity and more players in the battle field. 

4. Berliners do not like their banks...either
Obviously I needed to open a bank account for my daily operations in Germany. I asked people around and there was no consensus whatsoever about what bank to pick. The consensus was actually on how disappointed most people were with their respective banks.

So, I have decided to give a shot at N26 (formerly Number26), the new German challenger bank backed by Peter Thiel and other VCs. I will be able to provide more info in a few months but I must say that the whole process of opening an account and of getting my cards and activating them was easy, seamless... and all online!

5. Car-sharing is hot
Before arriving in Berlin I had heard stories about how much Berliners use their own bikes - I have not seen a Citibike-like service such as the one in New York - to commute to and from work. Totally true, even if it is -8C outside and snowing. But public transportation - a great network of S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses is in place - is also very much used. Another thing that has somewhat suprised me is that traffic flows rather nicely when compared - based on my limited perception to date - to New York or Madrid. 

But one thing that is really hot in here is car-sharing. In addition to Mercedes Benz-owned Car-2-Go (which I already used in Spain - the same app works nicely, which is great), BMW has also its own car-sharing service called DriveNow.

There is a lot is to be learned when you relocate to a new country and keeping an eye on how things work is enriching. The European Union may be one single market, but at the end of the day, the differences among country members and their citizens are still very relevant. And I do not see that changing in the short and medium term, it is in each country's DNA.

Moving to Berlin: my new challenges ahead in fintech

My new challenges in 2017

A lot has happened over the last 16 months. I have gone through a roller coaster-kind of professional experience where I have had the opportunity to experience the good, the bad and the ugly of what working at a young startup means. I will reflect about such an experience in future posts but one thing is clear to me: I have learnt a lot at multiple levels. And now I am confident that such experience - paired up with my existing background which, as unexpected as it may be, is going to prove pretty helpful shortly - will help me succeed in all all my forthcoming challenges.

There is doubt that 2017 will be bringing me new challenges, opportunities and, in short, a new life in Berlin, Germany. As of January 1, I will be joining Crosslend, an innovative debt capital platform, as Country Manager for Spain.

Crosslend: what is it about

Near-zero and even negative interest rates make it increasingly difficult for investors to get higher returns, while increasingly tighter legal requirements make it harder for financial institutions to lend and push money down to the real economy (ie. SMEs). 

By means of an innovative and disruptive cross-border, single-loan securitization structure, Crosslend is creating a marketplace where both investors and debt originators can better achieve some of their goals. On the one hand, the company wants to help investors obtain higher yields by investing in a sort of new asset class, so the former can better meet their mid and long term yield goals. On the other, there is the challenge of becoming an important player in building the European capital markets union that should helps bridge the existing funding shortage between financiers (banks and others) and underfunded borrowers, by given the former a new alternative to free up capital and keep on going with their lending activities.

Co-CEO Dagmar Bottenbruch summarizes some of the key point sin this short interview at the LendIt conference held in last October.

Getting into fintech

Fintech has always been a sub-sector I have been attracted to and that I have had interest in, mainly as a user/consumer of new tools (wealth management robo-advisors, personal finance tools, international wire transfers, etc.), and also as a follower of disruptive B2B trends (crowdfunding, crowdlending, FX, etc.).

Some friends and colleagues have pointed out in the past that it could be a good destination for me. I think I enjoy an above-average understanding of finance as a whole thanks to my education and work experience, plus now I am able to bring in a more compelling tech / startup background (yet from a different industry) to the table. I am very happy to see that both ends are meeting now and excited about this new opportunity.

Berlin: a great place to be

Anyone who follows the European startup scene knows that in recent years Berlin has become - alongside London (even more so post-Brexit) - the European startup hub. A wealth of entrepreneurs and investors, the availability of international talent, a cosmopolitan environment and a reasonable cost of life (in particular when compared to Paris and London) have given rise to a thriving startup ecosystem. 

Plus Berlin is also a key player in the powerful German (and European) fintech ecosystem - see picture below - which spans across multiple sub-sectors and products, in both B2B and B2C segments.

However, I would be lying if I said that the idea of moving to Berlin has not been a surprise to me. I was not counting on starting my life pretty much from scratch...again. New country, new language (even if you can supposedly live off English quite nicely in Berlin), new friends... it gets harder as one grows older, but still... 

After weighing in Crosslend's promising project (backed by reputed VCs such as Lakestar and Northzone) and inspiring vision, a role that offers me a challenging opportunity and everything that Berlin has to offer, I have made up my mind. It will be curious to jump on a plane on January 1 to kick off such a new time for me.

To an exciting and fruitful 2017!!