🎙 Welcome back to Mayhem & Masterplans, the podcast where Max, Simon, and Andreas prove once again that strategy, AI, and business life are never as smooth as your favorite startup slide deck. This week, we go full AI in everyday life, get lost in Mittelstand nostalgia, and Simon tries (and fails) to talk about cycling.

In this episode, we:

🔹 Chased Andreas across Germany – From Berlin to the West and back, while fighting off the sniffles, Andreas gives us a crash course in how to do conference hopping, sick mode included.

🔹 Debated Mittelstand vs. startup mindset – Andreas shares impressions from the Zukunftstag Deutscher Mittelstand and why SMEs still struggle with vision. Max and Simon argue that startups could learn a thing or two from German SMEs about profitability—and vice versa.

🔹 Talked subtle AI – Forget ChatGPT and robot overlords. We dive into the quiet side of AI: smarter customer service bots, auto-improved audio, and the kind of small automations that make life just a bit smoother (and less bureaucratic).

🔹 Roasted AI hype – Are we falling for the same old tech hype cycle? Max argues we’re overestimating the short term and underestimating the long term—again.

🔹 Fought about branding and sports – Simon tried (and failed) to steer the show into cycling’s five monuments and the power of sports branding. Max pulled the emergency brake, promising a dedicated episode (eventually).

🔹 Shared social media hacks – Max breaks down how he trained his Instagram algorithm to show more useful, entertaining, and business-relevant content—without falling into the influencer rabbit hole.

🔹 Closed with an AI should be invisible but delightful rant – Software should be forgettable and still make you smile. That’s the Hypecast way.

And of course, we wrapped with our musical picks:

🎵 The Four Horsemen – Metallica (Andreas keeping it old-school heavy)

🎵 Gone Away – The Offspring (Max going full 90s heartbreak punk)

🎵 Jetzt kommt die Osterzeit – Rolf Zuckowski (Simon... well... kids music wins again)

🎧 Subscribe to Mayhem & Masterplans wherever you get your podcasts—and follow us for chaotic strategy debates, AI skepticism, and the occasional off-topic cycling chat:

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🎙️ Produced by: Hypecast

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