Imagine this: You're lining up for an event and have a casual conversation with the guy next to you...when you notice that his necklace is recording and transcribing every word into an app. How would you feel?

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This is what I experienced a couple of weeks back in San Francisco, when lining up for a Replit event. Zach Eisenhauer was the person next to me.

I've rarely felt this mix of excitement, fear, and awe, as it feels like this is behavior-shifting tech+hardware combination will inevitably make its way into our lives in one form or another.

This is Non-Linear with Zach Eisenhauer, Founder of Compass Wearables.

Show notes:

(01:22 - 04:57): Meeting Zach in SF

(04:57 - 12:55): Zach's journey until building Compass

(12:55 - 19:18): Growth Engineering at NGL

(19:18 - 24:00): Building consumer social apps

(24:00 - 30:00): Founding Compass

(30:00 - 35:00): Use Cases and Target Users for Compass

(35:00 - 39:00): Compass in 3-5 Years

(39:00 - 42:20): AI Hardware Products

(42:20 - 47:10): Launching a hardware Product

(47:10 - 50:57): Fundraising and Team Expansion

(50:57 - End): Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Twitter Zach: https://x.com/hackwithzach
Linkedin Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacheisenhauer/

Twitter Chris: https://x.com/iamchrischi3
Linkedin Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

How to grow a six-figure-business while working in Strategy Consulting?
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Going from a 70-hour week to a self-imposed 100-hour week in order to bootstrap an online business on the side.

Axel Grubba began this journey at the end of his Masters, continuing it while working at L.E.K Consulting (Warsaw/Munich/London), and beyond.

How did he do it? What was his first venture, his second and what is he doing now?

In this episode Axel leads us through his past years in which he

- built his first six-figure business

- created his second venture with >150,000 monthly visitors

- learned to code

- has been looking for bootstrapper colleagues 

- and how he boosts his lifestyle
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Show notes:

(0:00 - 14:00): Axel’s Background

(14:00 - 17:20): Taking his first steps

(17:20 - 24:50): Building an affiliate platform

(24:50 - 27:10): Strategy consulting + Building

(27:10 - 33:00): Managing himself & Product Building

(33:00 - 39:20): The role of community for him

(39:20 - 40:20 ): Learning to code

(40:20 - 44:40): Niche Picking

(44:40 - 46:20): Accelerating Personal Develoopment

(46:20 - end): Hacks, GPTs, Axel’s Question

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Linkedin Axel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axelgrubba/
Linkedin Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

How to get to +1m Youtube Subscribers?

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If you ask the new generation what they want to be doing once they're grown up, you will likely hear "Influencer" more than anything else. Producing content for a living is the golden goose for many out there. At the same time, it seems unattainable.

One who made a living with Youtube is Kojo Boison. In his early 20s, in 2017, he had already amassed 1 millions subscribers on his Youtube Channel.

How did he do it?

This is what Kojo tells us in this episode:

- how to figure out what to focus on and when to leave
- how to decipher the youtube algorithm
- how to become resilient

...and more
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Show Notes:

0:00 - 3:20: Intro

3:20 - 7:20: Bitcoin & educating himself

7:20 - 13:20: Quitting a successful venture

13:20 - 22:00: Youtube vs. TikTok vs. Instagram

22:00 - 43:00: Beating the Youtube algorithm

43:00 - 54:00: Picking a battle

54:00 - 1:05:00: How to solopreneur

1:05:00 - end: End

How to thrive in Uncertainty?

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What sounds like just another whacky course at business school to gather some credits towards your MBA probably is one of the most important skills in today's work landscape which is shook up by technology, viruses or wars in monthly intervals.

But how do you actually learn such a skill?

This is what Michela Andreolli tells us in this episodes.

She leads us through her past years in which she
- quit her well-paying job at Google without knowing what to do next
- visited all Ivy's in the US speaking to profs and VCs
- built out her own community of students
- built followings on Linkedin and TikTok,
- and most importantly, in which she learned to master navigating uncertain situations.

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Show notes:

(0:00 - 2:00): Intro

(2:00 - 8:00): Michela’s Story

(8:00 - 19:50): Leaving Google

(19:50 - 33:30): Traveling to the US

(33:30 - 43:15): Thriving in Uncertainty

(43:15 - 52:00): Creating Content

(52:00 - End): Business

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Linkedin Michela: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelaandreolli/
Linkedin Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

How to move from investing into startups in Europe to becoming growth lead at Babbel Live in NYC?

Krishan Allen is the Growth Lead of Babbel Live in NYC and a great example to what fluid and iterative career design looks like after a couple of years.

Starting out in the heart of the startup ecosystem, San Francisco, he decided to move to Rotterdam for his Master’s to delve deeper into Behavioral Economics. This in turn brought him to work for Speedinvest and co-open their Berlin residence.

What followed were happy years as an early-stage investor and Chief of Staff for a consumer social company. Now Krish moved back and makes Babbel Live's growth marketing work.

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Show Notes:

• (01:43-05:33): Background of our friendship
• (05:33-11:44): High-level View on Jobs
• (11:44-23:26): Krish’s Background
• (23:26-27:34): Interest based Career Design
• (27:34-30:10): From Venture Capital to Operations
• (30:10-43:06): Growth Marketing and Scaleup Work
• (43:06-47:08): Closing Remarks

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Krish Allen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishan-allen/
Christian Abt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

How to become a purely remote operating Marketeer / while playing 2nd Bundesliga in Padel tennis?

Julian Wagner is the CEO of Skillsfaster, a purely remote operating, bootstrapped edtech startup based in London, providing expert online courses on niches such as fitness to makeup, and photography.

Having done his high school degrees already remotely, Julian is a true frontrunner of digital nomading, has officially been operating outside of Germany since more than 5 years, and thus, is an expert on working on one’s own.

The depth of his experience and knowledge in and around online business is stunning and he shares an abundance of tipps and tricks around productivity, making one’s first steps in becoming entrepreneurial, and more.

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Show Notes:

(0:00 - 2:10): Intro

(2:10 - 7:30): Julian’s Background & Characteristics

(7:30 - 9:10): First Entrepreneurial Steps

(9:10 - 12:50): Getting into Poker

(12:50 - 20:00): Successful People Mindset

(20:00 - 27:45): Online Education & Online Business

(27:45 - 31:30): Understanding How Systems Work

(31:30 - 32:30): How to market

(32:30 - 40:20): Work Ethics

(40:20 - 45:30): Effectiveness

(45:30 - 48:00): Social Aspect of Solopreneurship

(48:00 - 50:00): Personal Vision Creation

(50:00 - 53:30): VC vs Bootstrap

(53:30 - End): Rapid Fire

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Jirove's episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkNUPOM7fL8

Linkedin Julian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianmwagner/
Linkedin Christian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

For the next 10 episodes we will exclusively focus on Bootstrappers, Marketeers & Community Builders.

Happy Listening!

How to become a self-taught multipreneur?

Thomas Kohler is not only a super quick learner and fun guy to hang around, but also the embodiement of output focus and execution.

Without studying he started working for a startup in Vienna and was able to rapidly build up responsibity. This he then used as leverage to start a side-hustle in recruiting which soon turned out to work quite well.

Today, Thomas leads two businesses, PPLwise + Remove.tech, hosts plenty of dinners, and shares with us how he regulates himself, a handful of actionable tips for approaching work, and more.

Show notes:

0:00 - 5:30: Personal Story

5:30 - 11:40 : First Job without a Degree

11:40 - 17:40 : First Business (Youtube) and Way of Working

17:40 - 23:10: Way of Working

23:40 - 32:40: Remove.tech

32:40 - 34:00: Leading two businesses

34:00 - End: Personal Operating System

Linkedin Thomas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/
Linkedin Christian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/