[{"content":"","date":"12 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/legal/","section":"Legal","summary":"","title":"Legal","type":"legal"},{"content":"","date":"12 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/legal/n8n/","section":"Legal","summary":"","title":"n8n — Legal","type":"legal"},{"content":"Last updated: April 12, 2026\n1. Introduction # This Privacy Policy describes how henemm.com (\u0026ldquo;we\u0026rdquo;, \u0026ldquo;us\u0026rdquo;, \u0026ldquo;our\u0026rdquo;) handles your data when you use our n8n automation service at n8n.henemm.com, including integrations with third-party services such as Google Calendar.\n2. Data We Collect # When you connect third-party accounts (e.g. Google Calendar) to our n8n service, we may access:\nCalendar data: Event titles, dates, times, and related metadata for the purpose of calendar synchronisation and automation workflows. Authentication tokens: OAuth tokens required to maintain your connection to third-party services. These are stored securely on our server. We do not collect passwords, payment information, or personal data beyond what is necessary for the automations you configure.\n3. How We Use Your Data # Your data is used exclusively to:\nExecute the automation workflows you have configured Synchronise calendar events and other data between connected services Maintain active connections to third-party services We do not sell, share, or transfer your data to any third parties beyond the services you have explicitly connected.\n4. Data Storage and Security # All data is stored on a secured server hosted by Hetzner Cloud in Germany Access is restricted to the site operator Connections to third-party services use OAuth 2.0 with encrypted tokens All traffic is encrypted via HTTPS/TLS 5. Data Retention # Authentication tokens are retained as long as the integration is active Workflow data (logs, execution history) is retained for up to 30 days and then automatically deleted You can request deletion of your data at any time 6. Your Rights # You have the right to:\nRevoke access to connected services at any time via your Google Account settings or the respective third-party service Request a copy of any data we hold about you Request deletion of your data 7. Third-Party Services # Our n8n service may connect to third-party services on your behalf, including but not limited to:\nGoogle Calendar (Google LLC) Each third-party service has its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review them.\n8. Contact # For questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact: henning@henemm.com\n9. Changes # We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected by updating the \u0026ldquo;Last updated\u0026rdquo; date at the top of this page.\n","date":"12 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/legal/n8n/privacy-policy/","section":"Legal","summary":"","title":"Privacy Policy — henemm.com (n8n)","type":"legal"},{"content":"Last updated: April 12, 2026\n1. Introduction # These Terms of Service (\u0026ldquo;Terms\u0026rdquo;) govern your use of the n8n automation service provided at n8n.henemm.com (\u0026ldquo;the Service\u0026rdquo;), operated by henemm.com (\u0026ldquo;we\u0026rdquo;, \u0026ldquo;us\u0026rdquo;, \u0026ldquo;our\u0026rdquo;).\nBy using the Service, you agree to these Terms.\n2. Description of Service # The Service provides workflow automation through n8n, including integrations with third-party services such as Google Calendar. The Service is provided for personal and private use by the site operator and authorised users.\n3. Access and Accounts # Access to the Service is granted on an invitation-only basis You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials You must not share access with unauthorised parties 4. Acceptable Use # You agree not to:\nUse the Service for any unlawful purpose Attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service or its infrastructure Interfere with or disrupt the Service Use the Service to send spam or unsolicited messages 5. Third-Party Services # The Service integrates with third-party services (e.g. Google Calendar). Your use of these integrations is subject to the respective third-party terms and policies. We are not responsible for the availability or behaviour of third-party services.\n6. Data and Privacy # Your use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy. By using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy.\n7. Availability # The Service is provided on a best-effort basis We do not guarantee uptime or availability We reserve the right to modify or discontinue the Service at any time 8. Limitation of Liability # The Service is provided \u0026ldquo;as is\u0026rdquo; without warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we shall not be liable for any damages arising from your use of the Service.\n9. Changes to These Terms # We may update these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.\n10. Contact # For questions about these Terms, please contact: henning@henemm.com\n","date":"12 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/legal/n8n/terms-of-service/","section":"Legal","summary":"","title":"Terms of Service — henemm.com (n8n)","type":"legal"},{"content":" Introduction # My name is Henning Emmrich. I\u0026rsquo;m a passionate leader and founder. I\u0026rsquo;m happy when I can inspire other people. I\u0026rsquo;m a doer with a passion for people and processes.\nWhat I\u0026rsquo;m best at # I\u0026rsquo;m a generalist — as you can quickly see. My passion is to create fundamental, lasting things.\nWhereby things are to be understood quite broadly: I\u0026rsquo;m as proud of an icon library that\u0026rsquo;s created and that has lasted for almost a decade as I\u0026rsquo;m of a new price list with a revolutionary concept that has also lasted for many years — even after I left. But I\u0026rsquo;m just as happy about the teams I\u0026rsquo;ve built and the people I\u0026rsquo;ve helped to develop positively. And, of course, also processes that I\u0026rsquo;ve automated or fundamental business decisions and orientations that I\u0026rsquo;ve affected.\nFinally, I was happy to see how much the values, goals, and Ways of Working resonated with the Frontastic team.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s important to me not only to initiate things but also to complete them. People are at the center of this — because you can\u0026rsquo;t implement anything any other way.\nAn example of the importance of interpersonal relationships: When reflecting on an asset deal for which I was responsible, the CEO of the purchased unit said that it was essentially the good feeling I\u0026rsquo;d generated in him that had led to the decision in favor of us as the buyer.\nBuilding my first company # In my professional career, I\u0026rsquo;ve been responsible for developing the company in various positions. But it was when I was in my mid-40s I decided to start my own company with my co-founders.\nAs COO and Co-Founder, I\u0026rsquo;ve helped to build a remote native company. Eventually, we were 60 team members operating out of 20 countries in many time zones — mostly asynchronously. Our company culture and our Ways of Working resonated very much with the team members. Furthermore, we managed to automate almost every process using tools like Zapier and Make.\nThe private person # I come from the far north, from Oldenburg in Holstein. Today I live with my family and our dog in a suburb of Münster. I\u0026rsquo;m delighted to be active outdoors, whether with the dog, on my gravel bike, or skiing.\nI\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to a brief exchange. Don\u0026rsquo;t hesitate to contact me or schedule a quick chat.\nVita # English # In 2023, he, Thomas Gottheil, and Michal Bartmanski started goodgrow. They are all entrepreneurs who have built and successfully sold tech startups ourselves. With their practical experience, network, and capital, they now help early-stage start-ups that want to bring about sustainable and significant change in climate, resource efficiency, and waste avoidance.\nHenning Emmrich writes about digital transformation, business processes as well as remote culture. He gives passionate talks on topics such as the needs of distributed teams and business process automation.\nAs a consultant, coach, and sparring partner, he helps fast-growing companies find structures and develop and shape a corporate culture with a hands-on mentality.\nHis passions as an entrepreneur include building an outstanding corporate culture with close social bonds between employees as the foundation of high-performing distributed teams and automating repetitive trivialities.\nHenning Emmrich studied social pedagogy and business administration in Münster. He has been working in the enterprise software industry for 25 years.\nAs a thinker and doer, he has helped various companies in different industries and positions drive their business forward, whether in Product, Marketing, Business Development, or as Chief Digital Officer or Chief Operations Officer.\nAs a leader, he has helped many people to grow.\nGerman # Henning Emmrich studierte Sozial Pädagogik und Betriebswirtschaftslehre in Münster. Seit 25 Jahren ist er in der Enterprise Software Branche tätig.\nAls Denker und Macher hat er einer Vielzahl von Unternehmen in unterschiedlichen Branchen und in unterschiedlichen Positionen geholfen, ihr Geschäft voranzutreiben: im Produkt, im Marketing, im Business Development – als Chief Digital Officer oder Chief Operations Officer. Als Leader hat er vielen Mitarbeitenden geholfen, sich weiterzuentwickeln.\nAnfang 2018 hat er Frontastic als COO mitgegründet. Das Unternehmen gilt in Deutschland als ein Vorreiter und Vorzeige-Unternehmen der Remote Kultur. Ende 2021 wurde Frontastic erfolgreich an commercetools verkauft.\nHenning Emmrich schreibt über digitale Transformation, Geschäftsprozesse sowie über Remote-Kultur. Er hält leidenschaftliche Vorträge etwa über die Bedürfnisse von verteilten Teams oder die Automatisierung von Geschäftsprozessen.\nAls Berater, Coach und Sparring Partner hilft er mit Hands-On-Mentalität schnell wachsenden Unternehmen Strukturen zu finden und eine Unternehmenskultur zu entwicklen und zu prägen.\nZu seinen Leidenschaften als Unternehmer gehört der Aufbau einer herausragenden Unternehmenskultur mit engen sozialen Bindungen zwischen den Mitarbeitern als Grundlage von hoch-performanten, verteilten Teams sowie die Automatisierung von wiederkehrenden Kleinigkeiten.\n2023 hat er zusammen mit Thomas Gottheil und Michal Bartmanski die goodgrow gegründet. Alle drei sind Unternehmer, die selber Tech-Startups aufgebaut und erfolgreich verkauft haben. Mit Praxiserfahrung, Netzwerk und Kapital helfen sie nun frühphasigen Startups in den Themenfeldern Klima, Ressourcen-Effizienz und Müllvermeidung, die einen nachhaltigen und wesentlichen Wandel herbeiführen wollen.\nCompanies I have worked for # GROUP Rainer Kossow GmbH — Project Manager CEYONIQ AG — Product Manager amenotec GmbH — Director of Marketing, Partner, and Product Management d.velop AG — Product Marketing Manager SAPERION AG — Director of Marketing VOI e.V. — Executive Board Pentadoc KnowHouse GmbH — Managing Director EASY Software AG — Director of Strategic Development Flash-U GmbH — Managing Director, Chief Digital Officer Shopmacher GmbH — Project Manager e-Commerce Frontastic GmbH — Founder, Chief Operating Officer commercetools GmbH — Senior Vice President Frontend Platform goodgrow GmbH — investing in impact topics, mainly startups addressing climate change, resource efficiency, and waste prevention. ","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/about-me/","section":"About me","summary":"","title":"About me","type":"about-me"},{"content":"My main gripe with AI-assisted software development has always been its inconsistency. Things would go smoothly for long stretches, only to be followed by a sudden nosedive in quality and outcome. Upon closer inspection, the culprits were usually \u0026ldquo;context\u0026rdquo; and complexity.\nThe OpenSpec approach (or Spec-Driven Development) isn\u0026rsquo;t exactly new, but it\u0026rsquo;s a game-changer for AI. It helps the model keep only the strictly relevant information in its memory—its context window. By using a system of agents (Agent OS) and hooks, I can finally force Claude Code into sticking to a rigid workflow.\nFor example, I kick things off with a /user-story, a /feature, or a /bug, which then triggers a specific chain of skills. Hooks prevent the AI from jumping the gun—like starting to modify code before the necessary tests (TDD-RED) are written.\nI don\u0026rsquo;t develop this framework as a standalone project, but rather inside my actual active projects. I then regularly use the Agent OS OpenSpec Framework to update itself based on these improvements, and conversely, propagate those core updates back to the individual projects. Naturally, I don\u0026rsquo;t do any of this by hand — I let Claude Code handle the heavy lifting.\nLinks # Agent OS OpenSpec on GitHub ","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/ai-native-software-development/agent-os-openspec/","section":"AI native Software Development","summary":"A spec-driven development framework for Claude Code — enforcing rigid AI workflows with agents, hooks, and TDD.","title":"Agent OS OpenSpec","type":"ai-native-software-development"},{"content":"Since the summer of 2025, I\u0026rsquo;ve been building software using various AI tools. Here\u0026rsquo;s the catch: I can\u0026rsquo;t actually code—aside from a tiny bit of JavaScript. However, I have a solid grasp of how software is built and have spent my entire career in the software industry.\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/ai-native-software-development/","section":"AI native Software Development","summary":"","title":"AI native Software Development","type":"ai-native-software-development"},{"content":"","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/","section":"Blog","summary":"","title":"Blog","type":"blog"},{"content":"Tags: entrepreneurs, first-time founders Costs: 5.000€/first year\nCreating and implementing your company’s Vision, Mission, Objectives, Values, Culture, Processes, and Tools. At some point, many fast-growing companies and startups find that they lack efficiency. They need more and more staff to enable their growth. The gross margin is not improving as desired, and the runway is losing length.\nVision, Mission, Values, Culture, and Objectives are not just nice words to be placed on your website. Implemented in the day-to-day work of the leadership and all other employees, they are the basics to improve your efficiency. Processes, automation, tools, and proper ways of working are essential for a company’s success.\nDo you want to update your company OS and make it up to date?\nFrom my point of view, it doesn\u0026rsquo;t take much to enable, for example, a very good company culture, engaged team members, and smooth processes. But above all, it doesn\u0026rsquo;t need theory but leadership that gets things done. In an individual workshop, we work out the goal and define the first step.\nAfterward, we meet regularly to make sure that you do not stop moving toward the jointly defined goal. In between, we validate together simply if the goal is still the right one and the chosen path is usable.\nScope:\nKickoff: 4 hours Change: 1 hour/month Project plan and documentation Cost:\n5.000 € for the first year\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/products-offerings/building-your-company-operating-system/","section":"Products \u0026 Offerings","summary":"Build, implement, grow — create and implement your company’s vision, values, culture, and processes. 5,000€/first year.","title":"Building your Company Operating System","type":"products-offerings"},{"content":"Tags: Guidelines, Remote Work Pillar: remote Leadership\n\u0026ldquo;What do I need to bring as a team member to work remotely? What skills do I need?\u0026rdquo; A business friend recently asked me this question. I think it\u0026rsquo;s an excellent and interesting question.\nClassification # First of all, I would like to state that it is essential to distinguish between the different degrees of remote work:\nIs it the occasional work from the home office? Or are you a team member based in a different city to the office? So are most people sitting together in the office and only you are not? Or is it a company that only has remote employees, i.e. doesn\u0026rsquo;t have an office itself? And as a bonus question, is it possible to work in a co-working space? In my opinion, remote work is far too often equated with working from home. There may be people for whom working within their own four walls is the ideal situation. But for many, it is also important to separate work and private life spatially - and for them, it can make much more sense to work in a co-working space (this can also be a rented individual office at a company in the neighborhood).\nTraits and skills of remote employees # Now let\u0026rsquo;s move on to personal character traits and skills.\nℹ️ In my further explanations, I will focus on real remote work, assuming that there is no office and that the corporate culture takes place in virtual space, for example, in Slack, Notion, and other tools.\nSuccessful work in a company, in a team, is characterized by social connectedness and the common striving to achieve something. In an office, this social connection is created automatically by seeing and interacting with each other on a daily basis. Everyone has a different need for this perceived social connection, but without it, a team cannot navigate through a crisis or conflict meaningfully. It requires mutual trust and a sense of togetherness.\nPeople my age may still remember pen pals, but younger people are more likely to remember gaming acquaintances. This also creates a feeling of connection and social closeness - without having to see each other in person all the time. This is precisely what a remote company and every single team member must (want to) achieve.\n1️⃣ The ability to build and maintain a relationship over distance # Accordingly, the first essential character trait or competence is building and maintaining a relationship over distance.\nMy experience is that the company or the leadership must constantly encourage all team members to devote time to this. And the founder or leadership must take the time to set an example. I have always emphasized that I can imagine better things than playing Scribbl.io but that this shared silliness is essential for the success of our startup. It also helps to set meaningful guidelines: for example, each team member should spend 1-2 hours per week of organized time to make small talk and the like with other team members and across the organization.\n2️⃣ Self-organization and motivation # For people working remotely, it is crucial to have a high level of self-organization and -motivation. You need to be able to be enthusiastic about your work and want to work without pressure \u0026ldquo;from above.” On the other hand, you also need to find a sensible amount of working time and a good and healthy balance between working hours and free time. It is not easy for many people to call it a day, primarily when you work from home. Closing time means you switch off from work and don\u0026rsquo;t check again to see if anything is new.\nOf course, the company and leadership can and must provide support here too. But due to the distance, the possibilities are much more limited than when you work together in an office.\nA very related topic is \u0026ldquo;non-parental culture.”\nThis is about taking responsibility for your working environment and surroundings. You have to have the ultimate will to solve problems and not complain about them. If you don\u0026rsquo;t have this quality, \u0026ldquo;isolated\u0026rdquo; work from a home office or co-working space can also become a time bomb.\nOn the other hand, the company must encourage employees to do this from the outset. In our company, for example, every team member was given a virtual credit card before their first day at work, which they used to purchase their work equipment. There was a clear description of roles which, in addition to the area of responsibility, also indicated the decision-making powers.\n3️⃣ Excellent written communication skills # In my opinion, one of the most critical points is excellent written communication skills. A distributed organization benefits greatly from working asynchronously. So don\u0026rsquo;t set up a video conference for every topic, but first try to record, discuss, and solve as many topics as possible in writing.\nFinding common dates is a bottleneck in many companies, and the daily madness of meetings prevents focus work in many companies. Therefore: start asynchronously, and this requires that it is not perceived as annoying to formulate a well-summarized, clear text.\nℹ️ If you want to work in a remote team, you should tend to over-communicate.\nWhy? You have to be aware that team members working remotely are not visible by default: In the office, you are visible just by being there. Others can see that you are there; they can also see how you move, what facial expressions and gestures you use today, and so on. All of this is hidden if you are not working in the same place.\nIf you work remotely, as a company, you have to create meaningful ways for employees to share this information, and the team members also have to be willing to share this information.\nRemote team members should also tend to over-communicate in terms of work results. It is easier to filter on the receiver side — find out the relevant information for yourself — than to repeatedly request information from the sender.\nHere is an overview of the type of information we are dealing with here:\nWork results Failures/learnings Events from private life Standups - How is the mood, are there any blockers, what am I currently working on\u0026hellip; and much more. Of course, it is always posted in the right channel and with sufficient context so others can classify the information. A team working remotely must send out information analogous to Facebook. It is not the sender who decides what information is helpful, but the recipient.\nℹ️ This does not mean producing and publishing information indiscriminately. On the contrary: it is vital to be able to communicate very explicitly (for example, not writing around the point, but clearly stating what it is about and what is essential or what action is expected) and to provide as much context as possible so that the recipient can process the information without having to do a lot of research.\nAt Frontastic, we have even dedicated one of the five values to this topic: transparency first.\nAnyone setting up a remote company or perhaps following the impulses of the pandemic and now operating a hybrid model must be aware that this involves a significant change: Intransparency in the broadest sense: In the office, I can quickly recognize what mood another team member is in. This tells me whether it\u0026rsquo;s the right time for an important conversation or whether I can ask the person for help.\nNew team members also learn very quickly how the team communicates because you hear a lot of things subliminally in the office.\nIn a remote organization, on the other hand, I have to make sure that everything is communicated in public channels in Slack or Teams, for example. This is the only way other people have the chance to \u0026ldquo;catch\u0026rdquo; this information. This doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean that you have to follow every conversation - you (hopefully 😂 ) don\u0026rsquo;t do that in the office either. But you should give chance a chance.\n4️⃣ Willingness for intensive, personal meetings # Last but not least, I can think of a completely different point: The willingness and readiness to travel to a retreat once or twice a year and spend intensive, personal time there with other company members. Unfortunately, this is also not a matter of course and should be clarified in advance.\nFrom an employer/HR perspective # From an employer or HR perspective, the question of how these skills can be tested in the application process.\nIn my experience, switching at least part of the process to written communication works quite well. We had a semi-automated question ping-pong that gave us a pretty good idea of whether the applicant could establish an initial relationship in this way. We also experimented with inviting candidates to a dedicated Slack space (optional) and offering a way to engage in \u0026ldquo;lightweight\u0026rdquo; communication.\nIn my opinion, this is a perfect way to recognize how good the respective skills are in written communication and how well people can build relationships in this way.\nPoint 2) self-organization and self-motivation, on the other hand, can be determined just as well in the traditional way as point 4) the willingness to travel to a place for a week for a retreat and to spend relatively intensive time with the team members.\nLast but not least, here are two tips that many recruiting teams probably already implement anyway:\nwe have had excellent experiences incorporating our values into the initial communication and referencing them repeatedly. On closer inspection, some values, such as \u0026ldquo;Transparency first\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re in this together\u0026rdquo;, are not suitable for every person. To stay with the latter example, the fact that it is more important to communicate or put things in writing than to produce new results causes resentment among some. However a high degree of work autonomy requires very good and very well-structured internal documentation. We have encouraged the individual teams to provide concrete examples from their daily processes - similar to a diary. We have already integrated these into the job advertisements, giving applicants an unadulterated first impression of the work in the team. The important thing here is that it doesn\u0026rsquo;t sound like marketing blah-blah (and it isn\u0026rsquo;t), but rather very concisely describes the special features and day-to-day activities. Conclusion # Not every personality type is suitable for working in a remote team. Some skills and abilities can be learned, others not so much.\nIn my opinion, both sides must be honest about their expectations. For example, the question arises about whether you can expect every personality type to participate in a retreat or whether this can be an optional offer in the spirit of \u0026ldquo;diversity rules\u0026rdquo;.\nWhat points have I forgotten? How did you experience working in a remote team, what is essential to be able to do?\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/can-i-work-in-a-remote-team/","section":"Blog","summary":"The key traits and skills you need to thrive in a remote team: relationship building over distance, self-organization, excellent written communication, and willingness for retreats.","title":"Can I work in a remote team?","type":"blog"},{"content":" Get in Touch # I\u0026rsquo;d love to hear from you! Whether you have a question, want to collaborate, or just want to say hello \u0026ndash; feel free to reach out.\nThank you!\nYour message has been sent. I'll get back to you soon.\nSend another message Something went wrong. Please try again or contact me directly.\nName * Email * Message * Send Message Schedule a Chat Prefer a quick call? Book a meeting via Google Calendar:\nBook a Meeting ","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/footer-information/contact/","section":"Footer Information","summary":"","title":"Contact","type":"footer-information"},{"content":"Letzte Aktualisierung: 6. Oktober 2025\n1. Überblick # Lean Health Timer ist eine Meditations- und Achtsamkeits-App, die Ihnen dabei hilft, regelmäßige Meditations- und Atemübungen durchzuführen. Diese Datenschutzerklärung beschreibt, wie wir mit Ihren Daten umgehen.\n2. Datensammlung und -verwendung # 2.1 HealthKit-Daten # Die App verwendet HealthKit, um:\nAchtsamkeits-Sitzungen in der Apple Health App zu protokollieren Herzfrequenzdaten während Meditationen zu lesen (nur Apple Watch) Wichtig: Alle HealthKit-Daten bleiben auf Ihrem Gerät. Wir übertragen keine HealthKit-Daten an externe Server oder Dritte.\n2.2 App-Einstellungen # Die App speichert Ihre Einstellungen lokal auf Ihrem Gerät:\nMeditations- und Pausenzeiten Atemübungspresets Audio- und Haptik-Einstellungen 3. Datenfreigabe # Wir geben keine persönlichen Daten an Dritte weiter. Alle Ihre Daten bleiben auf Ihrem Gerät.\n4. Datensicherheit # Da alle Daten lokal auf Ihrem Gerät gespeichert werden, unterliegen sie den Sicherheitsmaßnahmen von iOS und Apple Health.\n5. Ihre Rechte # Sie können jederzeit:\nHealthKit-Berechtigungen in den iOS-Einstellungen widerrufen Die App löschen, um alle lokal gespeicherten Daten zu entfernen HealthKit-Daten in der Apple Health App verwalten 6. Kontakt # Bei Fragen zu dieser Datenschutzerklärung können Sie uns kontaktieren unter: privacy@leanhealthtimer.com\n7. Änderungen # Wir können diese Datenschutzerklärung von Zeit zu Zeit aktualisieren. Wesentliche Änderungen werden über App-Updates kommuniziert.\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/privacy-policy/","section":"Datenschutzerklärung","summary":"","title":"Datenschutzerklärung","type":"privacy-policy"},{"content":"Tags: entrepreneurs, first-time founders, innovation leaders, vc analysts Costs: 1.200 €\ndiscovering potential, increasing efficiency In a joint discussion, we define the goal of the cooperation in order to discover your company’s potential together in the subsequent analysis meeting. By this, we’ll raise your company’s efficiency and your startup’s runway.\nWhat does this mean? As I have worked in many very modern working environments and have penetrated many topics not only in theory but also in practice, I provide valuable impulses for improvement.\nThe focus here is on\nmarketing/sales organization, general company organization core processes and all topics related to the company and employee culture New Work/remote teams Scope: 2x 2 hours, written result documentation Cost: 1.200 €\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/products-offerings/efficiency-workshop-to-raise-potential/","section":"Products \u0026 Offerings","summary":"Discovering potential, increasing efficiency — for entrepreneurs, founders, and VC analysts. 1,200€.","title":"Efficiency workshop to raise potential","type":"products-offerings"},{"content":"Our son is currently the primary driver of our Škoda Enyaq. To keep his energy consumption in check without having to turn every single trip into a debate (I personally stick to my bicycle here in Münster), we struck a deal: he pays a set fee for every percentage point of battery drained.\nNow, you could track that manually. Or, you could just whip up a native iOS app that pulls battery data directly via HomeAssistant\u0026rsquo;s Škoda plugin.\nThe only downside is that it requires the HomeAssistant Cloud. On the flip side, the app works with other EVs as well. All in all, building this app took barely a week.\nLinks # HomeAssistant EV Fahrtenbuch on the App Store Source Code on GitHub ","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/ai-native-software-development/fahrtenbuch/","section":"AI native Software Development","summary":"iOS app that tracks EV battery usage via HomeAssistant — built in barely a week.","title":"EV Fahrtenbuch","type":"ai-native-software-development"},{"content":"FocusBlox is my latest creation. Like the others, it was born out of personal necessity—and a bit of self-observation. I often find that by the end of the day, I haven\u0026rsquo;t tackled the things that actually matter to me; instead, I\u0026rsquo;ve let myself get swept away by the daily grind.\nSure, I\u0026rsquo;ve tried various to-do apps. But the issue isn\u0026rsquo;t that I don\u0026rsquo;t know what needs doing. It\u0026rsquo;s that I lack the discipline to execute tasks in the right order and actually stick to the allotted time slots (timeboxing).\nFocusBlox can sync with Apple Reminders or use its own iCloud-synchronized database. It offers several ways to rapidly capture a train of thought, an idea, or a task. Each day, the user defines specific time slots for focused work and then pulls tasks from a prioritized backlog to fill them.\nAs soon as a FocusBlox session begins, a dedicated screen pops up with a countdown, encouraging you to work with laser focus within that timebox. Just before the time is up, the app nudges you so you can wrap things up neatly and, if necessary, create a follow-up task.\nFocusBlox also features daily and weekly reviews. This is where I can see what I\u0026rsquo;ve actually accomplished and analyze how much time I\u0026rsquo;ve invested in different types of activities. For my own life, I\u0026rsquo;ve defined these categories: Learning, Recharging Personal Energy, Making Money, and Social Time. It\u0026rsquo;s crucial for me to strike a healthy balance across the week.\nLinks # Source Code on GitHub ","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/ai-native-software-development/focusblox/","section":"AI native Software Development","summary":"iOS timeboxing app with prioritized backlog, focus sessions, and weekly reviews for balanced productivity.","title":"FocusBlox","type":"ai-native-software-development"},{"content":"","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/footer-information/","section":"Footer Information","summary":"","title":"Footer Information","type":"footer-information"},{"content":" The Backstory # In the summer of 2025, I tackled the GR 20 in Corsica for the third time. One major risk on the trail during summer is sudden thunderstorms. While Météo-France\u0026rsquo;s AROME model offers incredibly precise forecast data, there\u0026rsquo;s a catch: large sections of the trail have absolutely no cell service. However, my Garmin inReach Messenger is capable of receiving satellite texts.\nSo, I devised a plan. I used Claude to build a CustomGPT for ChatGPT that acted as my \u0026ldquo;Tech Lead,\u0026rdquo; feeding technical requirements into Cursor AI. Cursor then did the heavy lifting, implementing the actual project for me in Python.\nLong story short: It worked. It actually worked incredibly well. The weather updates I received every morning and evening were spot-on and saved me from walking straight into several severe thunderstorms.\nBut getting there was as rocky as the GR 20 itself. Several times, I thought I was right at the finish line—only to realize moments later that the AI had pretty much torched the entire codebase, and even frequent Git commits couldn\u0026rsquo;t always save me. It cost me about two months of my life. I\u0026rsquo;m guessing an experienced developer could have pulled it off in three weeks with AI, or maybe five weeks without it.\nThe biggest lesson I learned is that AI is about as smart and enthusiastic as a junior developer. But unlike a human junior, the AI doesn\u0026rsquo;t learn from its mistakes. You have to constantly optimize the processes yourself to keep the AI on the rails. I also learned the hard way that you need to structure your documentation in a highly modular way, ensuring the AI only loads the specific context it needs into its memory—and nothing more.\nThose were just my first attempts. Six months have passed since then; I\u0026rsquo;ve learned a ton, and the software landscape has evolved significantly, too.\nLinks # Weather Email Autobot (original) on GitHub Gregor Zwanzig (rewrite) on GitHub ","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/ai-native-software-development/gregor-zwanzig/","section":"AI native Software Development","summary":"Precise weather forecasts via satellite text for hikers on the GR 20 in Corsica — built with Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor AI.","title":"Gregor Zwanzig","type":"ai-native-software-development"},{"content":"The idea struck me while I was using the \u0026ldquo;Seven\u0026rdquo; workout app. I used it religiously, but eventually just as a glorified timer, since years of physical therapy had taught me a whole routine of my own exercises. Then Thomas nudged me to get back into Transcendental Meditation. Just like that, the concept for a simple dual-timer app was born (hence the original product name, \u0026ldquo;Lean Health Timer\u0026rdquo;).\nI kicked off development using ChatGPT, which had recently gained the ability to write directly into various IDEs. Things went smoothly, so I kept piling on features. But the real breakthrough happened when I switched over to Claude Code.\nToday, the app is packed with features that I personally find exciting and that help me build healthy habits:\nMeditation: An open-ended timer and various presets for breathwork meditation. Workouts: An open-ended timer and various workout presets. Habits Tracker: A \u0026ldquo;NoAlc\u0026rdquo; (alcohol-free) tracker, along with several other trackers for good and bad habits. Achievements: This is mainly about cementing habits, tracking progress, and celebrating wins. \u0026ldquo;Streaks\u0026rdquo; work wonders for me in building consistency. To make sure you don\u0026rsquo;t lose your streak the moment you slip up, you earn \u0026ldquo;Jokers\u0026rdquo; that you can play to cover a missed day. SmartReminders: I\u0026rsquo;m particularly proud of this feature. It reminds me in the morning, for example, to log a missed workout, a skipped meditation, or a forgotten entry in the NoAlc log. But here\u0026rsquo;s the kicker: it only alerts me if I actually haven\u0026rsquo;t done it yet. Otherwise, it would just be annoying every single day. Links # Lean Health Timer on the App Store Source Code on GitHub ","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/ai-native-software-development/healthy-habits/","section":"AI native Software Development","summary":"iOS app for meditation, workouts, habit tracking, achievements, and smart reminders — born from personal need.","title":"Healthy Habits","type":"ai-native-software-development"},{"content":" HENEMM GmbH # Stories, How-tos, and Knowledge-Sharing Can I work in a remote team? The key traits and skills you need to thrive in a remote team: relationship building over distance, self-organization, excellent written communication, and willingness for retreats. How I use Slack — in Detail Detailed Slack guidelines for distributed teams: channel naming conventions, expectations for response times, profile settings, and notification management. My top 2 myths about remote work Debunking two common myths: that remote work automatically means more focus time, and that distributed teams have less social bonding. Notion as CMS A comparison of services that turn Notion into a website CMS: Feather, Super, Potion, and Hostnotion — with pricing and feature overview. Office-based versus fully virtual A comparison of four work models — on-site, office-first, work-from-anywhere, and fully virtual — with pros, cons, and a decision guide for consistency. Report: Hike \u0026 Work A field report on combining a multi-day hike along the Hermannsweg with asynchronous remote work — equipment, daily routine, and lessons learned. Report: Ski \u0026 Work A team workation report: skiing in the morning, working in the afternoon, cooking and discussing in the evening — how it scaled at Frontastic. The Company Operating System How to build an efficient company OS: defining the why, what, and how through vision, mission, values, ways of working, and the right software stack. Ways of Working: How I use Slack How I use Slack as an asynchronous communication tool: public channels over DMs, threading, explicit emojis, and why Slack should replace internal email. All Blog Posts About Me # My name is Henning Emmrich. I\u0026rsquo;m a passionate leader and founder. I\u0026rsquo;m happy when I can inspire other people. I\u0026rsquo;m a doer with a passion for people and processes.\nMore about me\nMy Offerings Building your Company Operating System Build, implement, grow — create and implement your company\u0026rsquo;s vision, values, culture, and processes. 5,000€/first year. Efficiency workshop to raise potential Discovering potential, increasing efficiency — for entrepreneurs, founders, and VC analysts. 1,200€. Your personal sparring partner Reflect, challenge, inspire — an independent sparring partner for entrepreneurs and first-time founders. 200€/hour. All Offerings AI Native Software Development # Learn more\nLet\u0026rsquo;s chat! # I\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to a brief exchange. Don\u0026rsquo;t hesitate to contact me or schedule a quick chat.\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"HENEMM","summary":"","title":"HENEMM","type":"page"},{"content":"Tags: Slack, Ways of Working Pillar: remote Startup Tips Tools Tricks\nHave you already read this article: Ways of Working: How I use Slack? Expectations # You don\u0026rsquo;t have to read everything — only read posts where you or your team are directly mentioned, your team channel, and the company-must-reads channels You should respond within 4 hours when directly mentioned (within working hours) Keep others updated (by replying or an emoji) if you won\u0026rsquo;t be able to respond within the defined response time (4 hours) Always use a thread when answering a post Always mention someone when you expect an answer from them If you\u0026rsquo;re mentioned, acknowledge the post with a reply or an emoji Never use @here or @channel; mention a person or a team (Slack group) instead Always post publicly (avoid direct/group messages) unless it\u0026rsquo;s confidential You\u0026rsquo;re free to leave a thread (one can only leave a channel or — if it\u0026rsquo;s generally relevant — mute it) Remember, Slack isn\u0026rsquo;t synchronous communication by default, so you shouldn\u0026rsquo;t expect an immediate response.\nSlack isn\u0026rsquo;t documentation. All outcomes and decisions from discussions on Slack should be written into your documentation space.\nChannel usage # Slack wants you to use channels for categorization.\nYou can join or remove yourself from any optional channel at any time.\nIf a new topic doesn\u0026rsquo;t fit into the current channels, you can create a new channel based on the channel naming below. Remember to give a channel topic and description.\nPlease think twice before creating a new channel. Mandatory channels to join # Examples\nThe following channels are mandatory for everyone:\n#company-general-must_reads #company_[your region]-must_reads #company-general-convers #team-\u0026lt;your-home-team\u0026gt;-internal All other channels are optional. We recommend being a member of many channels (so that you can be reached easily using @... mentions) but set up the notifications so that you\u0026rsquo;re not distracted by the noise.\nAcknowledgment, info only, circulate # You can help others to quickly get the proper context (and, in some cases: call to action) of a message by adding a leading emoji:\nYou might see a message that starts with or includes an :ack: emoji. In this case, it\u0026rsquo;s essential to read the message and respond by using the :ack: emoji. You can also give feedback if you want to.\nFor your information. No action required\nSpread the news.\nInternal information, don’t distribute.\nDiscussion. This is something you’d like to discuss. Comments in the thread are welcome.\n![Untitled](/images/Untitled 1.png)\nQuestion. Ideally, give some alternatives as answers. Make use of reaction emojis like 1️⃣ first alternative and 2️⃣ second alternative\nChannel prefix # Prefix Usage company for all company-wide channels dept for all department-wide information team for all team channels (where applicable, the team name should get the short name of the department as a prefix) guild for all static groups of people who aren’t a team customer customer-related channel partner partner-related channel project temporary channel for dedicated projects ask channel that offers any kind of help issues issues are automatically published to this kind of channel info other kinds of information are (automatically) published to this channel social social activity or exchange test channels for testing Multiproduct # if a channel is created to our product portfolio, make clear if it’s related to all products or a specific one (this can be applicable for teams in support or professional services, too).\nprod-all if applicable for all products prod_coco Composable Commerce related channel prod_ft Frontend related channel Region # if a channel is related to a region, add it in a standardized format:\napac emea americas … Channel suffix # Suffix Usage internal to indicated that a channel is for team internal discussions only chat to indicate that this channel is more to “just” chat shared all channels shared with external should get the prefix shared convers for example, teams could have a dedicated channel for conversation with people outside of their team Department abbreviation # As a prefix where needed, if possible, **use the full name\nExamples**\nDepartment/Group Abbreviation C-Level c_lev Leadership leader Research \u0026amp; Development r_n_d (Professional) Services ps Sales sales Marketing mktg People \u0026amp; Organization p_n_o Corporate Services cs Support, Doc \u0026amp; Training sdnt Profile setting # Display name: Your \u0026lt;First name\u0026gt; or \u0026lt;Nickname\u0026gt; only. Starting with a capital letter.\nIf you work part-time, include the days you work, for example, Catherine [Mon-Wed]. This should also be updated when you\u0026rsquo;re on holiday to \u0026lt;First name\u0026gt; [back DD Mon] .\nTo make communication across time zones easier and to handle expectations, add your general working hours in short (just a wide guess) in UTC: Catherine [Mon-Wed, 7-17 UTC] It doesn’t matter if you’re taking breaks in between or similar, it should just give other people a rough feeling when they could expect an answer from you.\nPhoto: please use a photo of your face that makes it easy to recognize you and distinguish you from others.\nFull name: Your \u0026lt;First name\u0026gt; \u0026lt;Last name\u0026gt;.\nWhat I do: Your role title at commercetools.\nPronouns: Your preferred pronouns.\nPhone number: Your mobile phone number if you need to be called.\nTime zone: Select the time zone you\u0026rsquo;re currently in.\nMy Working Hours: The hours you usually (or prefer) to work. Use a 24-hour clock and UTC.\nGitHub profile: Your GitHub profile name if you have one.\nStatus settings # Updating status settings page\nAlways keep your status up-to-date so others can easily see if you\u0026rsquo;re available or not.\n![Untitled](/images/Untitled 2.png)\nUse here anytime you\u0026rsquo;re available\n![Untitled](/images/Untitled 3.png)\nUse brb (be right back) for when you\u0026rsquo;re away for an hour or more (you can adjust the time it\u0026rsquo;s visible)\n![Untitled](/images/Untitled 4.png)\nUse away when you leave for the day\n![Untitled](/images/Untitled 5.png)\nUse focus when you\u0026rsquo;re in focus mode and won\u0026rsquo;t respond to messages for a while\nYou can use any other emoji for other statuses as long as the status description clearly explains what it means.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s OK to turn off Slack for a couple of hours. If you need to focus, turn off Slack (set your status to 🎧 Focus mode) and look at new messages only twice a day or so. User groups # Everyone should belong to at least 1 user group, your home team. A group can then be mentioned in any message on any channel. Always use a user group rather than @channel or @here.\nYou can find a list of the user groups under People and then User groups. You can add yourself to any user group you want to.\nGroup names should follow the same conventions as channel names\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/how-i-use-slack-in-detail/","section":"Blog","summary":"Detailed Slack guidelines for distributed teams: channel naming conventions, expectations for response times, profile settings, and notification management.","title":"How I use Slack — in Detail","type":"blog"},{"content":" Angaben gemäß § 5 TMG\nHenning Emmrich, Eichenaue 14, 48157 Münster, Germany\nVertreten durch: Henning Emmrich\nRegistereintrag: Eintragung im Handelsregister.Registergericht: MünsterRegisternummer: 20343\nUmsatzsteuer-ID: Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer gemäß §27a Umsatzsteuergesetz: DE353761711\nVerantwortlich für den Inhalt nach § 55 Abs. 2 RStV: Henning Emmrich Eichenaue 14 48157 Münster\nHaftungsausschluss:\nHaftung für Inhalte\nDie Inhalte unserer Seiten wurden mit größter Sorgfalt erstellt. Für die Richtigkeit, Vollständigkeit und Aktualität der Inhalte können wir jedoch keine Gewähr übernehmen. Als Diensteanbieter sind wir gemäß § 7 Abs.1 TMG für eigene Inhalte auf diesen Seiten nach den allgemeinen Gesetzen verantwortlich. Nach §§ 8 bis 10 TMG sind wir als Diensteanbieter jedoch nicht verpflichtet, übermittelte oder gespeicherte fremde Informationen zu überwachen oder nach Umständen zu forschen, die auf eine rechtswidrige Tätigkeit hinweisen. Verpflichtungen zur Entfernung oder Sperrung der Nutzung von Informationen nach den allgemeinen Gesetzen bleiben hiervon unberührt. Eine diesbezügliche Haftung ist jedoch erst ab dem Zeitpunkt der Kenntnis einer konkreten Rechtsverletzung möglich. Bei Bekanntwerden von entsprechenden Rechtsverletzungen werden wir diese Inhalte umgehend entfernen.\nHaftung für Links\nUnser Angebot enthält Links zu externen Webseiten Dritter, auf deren Inhalte wir keinen Einfluss haben. Deshalb können wir für diese fremden Inhalte auch keine Gewähr übernehmen. Für die Inhalte der verlinkten Seiten ist stets der jeweilige Anbieter oder Betreiber der Seiten verantwortlich. Die verlinkten Seiten wurden zum Zeitpunkt der Verlinkung auf mögliche Rechtsverstöße überprüft. Rechtswidrige Inhalte waren zum Zeitpunkt der Verlinkung nicht erkennbar. Eine permanente inhaltliche Kontrolle der verlinkten Seiten ist jedoch ohne konkrete Anhaltspunkte einer Rechtsverletzung nicht zumutbar. Bei Bekanntwerden von Rechtsverletzungen werden wir derartige Links umgehend entfernen.\nUrheberrecht\nDie durch die Seitenbetreiber erstellten Inhalte und Werke auf diesen Seiten unterliegen dem deutschen Urheberrecht. Die Vervielfältigung, Bearbeitung, Verbreitung und jede Art der Verwertung außerhalb der Grenzen des Urheberrechtes bedürfen der schriftlichen Zustimmung des jeweiligen Autors bzw. Erstellers. Downloads und Kopien dieser Seite sind nur für den privaten, nicht kommerziellen Gebrauch gestattet. Soweit die Inhalte auf dieser Seite nicht vom Betreiber erstellt wurden, werden die Urheberrechte Dritter beachtet. Insbesondere werden Inhalte Dritter als solche gekennzeichnet. Sollten Sie trotzdem auf eine Urheberrechtsverletzung aufmerksam werden, bitten wir um einen entsprechenden Hinweis. Bei Bekanntwerden von Rechtsverletzungen werden wir derartige Inhalte umgehend entfernen.\nDatenschutz\nDie Nutzung unserer Webseite ist in der Regel ohne Angabe personenbezogener Daten möglich. Soweit auf unseren Seiten personenbezogene Daten (beispielsweise Name, Anschrift oder eMail-Adressen) erhoben werden, erfolgt dies, soweit möglich, stets auf freiwilliger Basis. Diese Daten werden ohne Ihre ausdrückliche Zustimmung nicht an Dritte weitergegeben.Wir weisen darauf hin, dass die Datenübertragung im Internet (z.B. bei der Kommunikation per E-Mail) Sicherheitslücken aufweisen kann. Ein lückenloser Schutz der Daten vor dem Zugriff durch Dritte ist nicht möglich.Der Nutzung von im Rahmen der Impressumspflicht veröffentlichten Kontaktdaten durch Dritte zur Übersendung von nicht ausdrücklich angeforderter Werbung und Informationsmaterialien wird hiermit ausdrücklich widersprochen. Die Betreiber der Seiten behalten sich ausdrücklich rechtliche Schritte im Falle der unverlangten Zusendung von Werbeinformationen, etwa durch Spam-Mails, vor.\nImpressum vom Impressum Generator der Kanzlei Hasselbach, Frankfurt\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/footer-information/imprint/","section":"Footer Information","summary":"","title":"Imprint","type":"footer-information"},{"content":"Tags: Remote Work Pillar: remote Startup Tips Tools Tricks\nLooking back on more than 5 years of fully remote work, I felt Inspired by Mandy\u0026rsquo;s article. So I looked back and considered what the #2 biggest myths about remote companies and working in distributed teams are.\n1️⃣ You automatically have more time to focus when you don\u0026rsquo;t work in the office. [𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘]\n2️⃣ You have less social contact with your team members when you don’t work in the office. [𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘]\nFirst, both points depend on whether you organize your remote work well.\n1️⃣ More time for focus work. Do you remember? In the past, we were saying: \u0026ldquo;𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥; 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸.\u0026rdquo;\nHand on heart: Who of you, who slid more or less bumpily into #remotework during the pandemic, has the feeling that you have more time for #focuswork at home today than you used to have in the office? My feeling is instead the opposite. I hear from many people that they don\u0026rsquo;t know when to do their actual work because of all the meetings.\nBut that doesn\u0026rsquo;t have to be the case. It\u0026rsquo;s just a sign of a lack of #organization. As mentioned earlier, I ran a company of 60 people with six hours of focus time daily. And I talked to each of the 60 team members at least once every 6 months for 10 minutes. I\u0026rsquo;ll let you know more about that another time.\n2️⃣ And that takes me to #socialbonding.\nIf you set up distributed teamwork correctly, there can be even more social bonding than by putting a ping pong table in the office. 😉 That\u0026rsquo;s because social bonds can be created through more than just face-to-face time and conversation. Many Frontastic team members said they have never felt as connected to team members as they did at Frontastic. And that\u0026rsquo;s despite having only worked in office-based companies before!\n𝖡𝗎𝗍 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖾 𝖻𝗎𝗂𝗅𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗌𝗈𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗅 𝖻𝗈𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗉𝖾𝗇 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝖿𝖿𝗂𝖼𝖾 \u0026ldquo;𝖻𝗒 𝖺𝖼𝖼𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍,\u0026rdquo; 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗂𝗍 𝗂𝗇 𝖺 𝖽𝗂𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖻𝗎𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗆.\n𝗧𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁: Unless there\u0026rsquo;s a person on a distributed team who\u0026rsquo;s 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱, who enjoys 𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀, and who understands the 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 (it\u0026rsquo;s essential to successful teamwork), should, by all means, avoid distributed teams and either terminate the team or commit it to an office.\nSounds harsh? It depends on your level of ambition. If you\u0026rsquo;re satisfied with the mid-range, it can be done differently.\nBut that\u0026rsquo;s not my thing.\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/my-top-2-myths-about-remote-work/","section":"Blog","summary":"Debunking two common myths: that remote work automatically means more focus time, and that distributed teams have less social bonding.","title":"My top 2 myths about remote work","type":"blog"},{"content":"Tags: Alternatives, Notion Pillar: remote Startup Tips Tools Tricks\nThere are several services that try to make Notion available as web content management system. Main goal is to offer a\ncustom domain make is faster enhance SEO add menu/footer menu search Feather Super Potion Hostnotion URL https://feather.so/ https://super.so/ https://potion.so/ https://hostnotion.co Pricing/month 25 $ 12$ 12$ 5$ Problems Some problems with URLs 1:1 displays the Notion pages Features Tags, Related Posts, Sitemap Shiny URLs Yes Yes Yes No Menu Yes Yes Yes No Footer Yes Yes No No Search Yes Yes Yes No ","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/notion-as-cms/","section":"Blog","summary":"A comparison of services that turn Notion into a website CMS: Feather, Super, Potion, and Hostnotion — with pricing and feature overview.","title":"Notion as CMS","type":"blog"},{"content":"Tags: Alternatives, Guidelines Pillar: unsure\nNo matter if 100% office-based or completely virtual teams — the essence is to do it consistently # I admit this is not one of those catchy headlines that can go viral, but it\u0026rsquo;s my firm belief.\nIf all team members sit in one location but mainly chat via Slack or Teams, something is going wrong. Or at least, the potential of face-to-face communication is not being used. I\u0026rsquo;ve watched team members talk to each other on the phone in the group office instead of briefly going to each other\u0026rsquo;s desks. If I\u0026rsquo;m just going to talk on the phone, I might as well stay home, right?\nOn an opposite note, I\u0026rsquo;ve seen a company, 50% of whose people are in home offices around the world, invite people to their office locations for Christmas parties (without giving them permission to travel). That can be done better.\nIntroduction # Together with Timo, I worked on this topic at the end of last year and would like to share some of our findings.\nThe goal of our work was to show different, coherent ways in which a company can develop.\nEach individual path is neither better nor worse in itself — rather, each concept has its advantages and disadvantages and must fit the respective company and its team members. The only important thing is to follow the chosen path consistently and not to meander back and forth between different models.\nDie Alternativen # We have identified these four alternatives:\non-site office-first anywhere virtual On-site # All team members are located in the same office (however, there may be multiple, globally distributed offices to which different teams are assigned).\nPersonal collaboration is the focus and is designed to foster relationship building as well as creativity and identification with the company. Processes and tools are designed to work on-site while working from home or while traveling is only possible in exceptional cases and is limited in time. All meetings are held in person within the teams, and important team-wide workshops are held in person in one of the meeting rooms. Information is shared in person on-site, and the company culture is significantly shaped in the offices. New talent is sought exclusively in the vicinity of each office or must relocate there. Offices are set up for daily on-site collaboration, with fixed desks for all employees. Office-first # Most team members work in one of the offices, but teams may be spread across multiple locations. Individual team members work remotely.\nThe emphasis is on face-to-face collaboration in one of the offices while also emphasizing creative work and social interaction. Processes and tools are designed to work on-site, while individual processes are opened to external team members as needed. Meetings are held face-to-face wherever possible, and remote team members either attend hybrid meetings or must be present in the office more frequently. Information is exchanged locally but documented and shared with remote employees — Remote employees are aware of and commit to participating in important corporate culture artifacts. New talent is primarily recruited for one of the office locations. Only in exceptional cases will remote employees be accepted. Offices provide space for predominantly on-site team members, while additional space is provided for co-working. Work from anywhere (any office or HomeOffice) # All team members are mobile by default and can work from the location where they are most productive. This also means that individual team members or even people with specific tasks can work permanently in an office if needed. Entire teams can also choose to work together in one physical location.\nThe focus is on virtual and asynchronous collaboration — across time zones and locations to enable focused knowledge workers. Offices can be a purposeful part of this collaboration. Processes and tools are designed for virtual collaboration and enhanced with on-site components as needed. Meetings will primarily occur virtually, while certain meetings may be scheduled in person — where it makes sense. Information is digitally documented and transparently shared so that all team members can access it equally. New talent is recruited in the form of remote roles worldwide (individual countries or time zones may be excluded), while individual roles may be tied to an office. Offices are similar to \u0026ldquo;flagship stores.\u0026rdquo; They are designed for intensive collaboration and aligned as \u0026ldquo;identity-creating home ports \u0026ldquo; as well as meeting places for internal meetings or customer/investor discussions. Virtual # All team members, without exception, work together virtually and can use a co-working space of their choice if they can\u0026rsquo;t/won\u0026rsquo;t work at home.\nThe focus is exclusively on virtual collaboration, and all energy is directed towards support and success of confidence and team-building activities. At the same time, face-to-face interaction takes place exclusively in the form of retreats, events, or meet-ups. Processes and tools are designed exclusively for virtual collaboration. Meetings occur virtually, while intensive workshops, retrospectives, or other events can be held at a location that suits one\u0026rsquo;s needs. Information is digitally documented and transparently shared so that all team members can access it equally. New talent is recruited in the form of remote roles worldwide (individual countries and time zones may be excluded). There are either no offices at all or some **flagship-store-**like offices that are used exclusively for company presentations, client/investor meetings, or company events (but do not serve as a workplace). Pros \u0026amp; Cons - Decision Guide # With the pandemic, we have a pretty wild situation. Many companies whose team members previously worked exclusively from the office suddenly find themselves in a situation where employees demand to work from home or may even be located far away in other cities or countries.\nWhat worked well for a while turns out to be a productivity killer after a year, or the corporate culture threatens to go down the drain. \u0026ldquo;Just having fun together at work again\u0026rdquo; — that supposedly only works when working together in the office. \u0026ldquo;The freedom to work for a month with a view of the sea\u0026rdquo; — this is supposedly only possible with a remote employer.\nOn-site # Many of us have grown up with it: You go to the office to work. For example, this has clear advantages regarding a strict separation between work and private life. However, for many, this also means they spend a significant part of their lives commuting to work. The office offers a natural opportunity to get to know each other and build a social bond. People naturally get to see how others are doing and can help each other uncomplicatedly. However, this model comes with difficult hurdles in terms of cost, flexibility for further growth, hiring staff, and providing space.\nEspecially as a fast-growing company, this approach means looking for new office space every 1-2 years. If you are in an attractive location like Berlin, there is a lot of competition for workers. If you are \u0026ldquo;in the sticks,\u0026rdquo; you must make attractive offers or live with what is available.\nBut in purely structural terms and in terms of organizational effort, the classic office is a \u0026ldquo;no-brainer\u0026rdquo; — compared to the other models.\nOffice-first # This approach complicates collaboration because teams no longer necessarily have to be based at one location. At the same time, however, this also opens up many opportunities when it comes to recruiting. Team members who are not at any location but completely \u0026ldquo;remote\u0026rdquo; know they are virtually second-class team members. However, it is feasible since they decided to do this consciously. Example: In a meeting, all team members would sit together in one room and eat together during breaks - except for the remote team members.\nSimilarly, other measures that create social bonding would be focused entirely on office locations. And either the remote team members come in or stay out.\nThis also relates to collaborative whiteboarding and other impromptu forms of collaboration.\nThe reality is that many companies are living this model without clearly communicating it.\nWork from anywhere (any office or HomeOffice) # The focus here is on the team and the joint work. The location plays a subordinate role.\nTherefore, everything is also optimized for distributed teams. Teams that find out for themselves that they work better together in one place and also find very good people here can do so - but they have to share the necessary information using the same methods as the virtual teams.\nAnd that\u0026rsquo;s also the crux of the matter: everything has to be set up in such a way that it is perfect for virtual teams: the means and channels of communication, the collaboration, and also the social exchange.\nExperience shows: Even a distributed team can develop a tremendous sense of \u0026ldquo;we\u0026rdquo; and have enormous fun at work - if you consistently enable them to do so. And for many, this doesn\u0026rsquo;t come as quickly as in a shared office, where the necessary practices are pretty familiar: \u0026ldquo;Just bring ice cream for everyone in the summer, and people will come together.\u0026rdquo; It doesn\u0026rsquo;t work that way with virtual teams, and I can report that sharing ice cream in front of the camera/screen is anything but superb.\nSo this way is one that combines many good things but also contains the weaknesses of the different approaches. Often, just as with office-first, you feel you can\u0026rsquo;t please anyone.\nVirtual # \u0026ldquo;Remote native\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;fully distributed\u0026rdquo; are other terms for a completely virtual team. Just like the alternative, in which all team members are in one office, this path is very consistent. And therefore, you can also be very consistent in focusing on optimal implementation.\nNot having an office in no way means having to work from home. Almost every city has co-working spaces in the meantime. And even without them, you\u0026rsquo;re bound to find a company that still has a desk available that you can rent. But it also means that you\u0026rsquo;re not in the same place as \u0026ldquo;your own people\u0026rdquo;; this is very important to some people. You exclude these people as potential employees. But in return, you create an almost infinite labor market because you can hire worldwide.\nBut be careful: Without necessity, you should not exceed the following limits:\nmother tongue: If you find enough people who speak a common mother tongue, that\u0026rsquo;s great. One should not change without the necessity to, for example, English as the company language. However, if it is clear that you will have to do it sooner or later, after all, you should definitely make the switch as early as possible. regional proximity: As long as you can still find good people in the region, you should stick with it. It\u0026rsquo;s so helpful to be able to meet as a team quickly and without too much hassle. The circles will undoubtedly get bigger as you grow, but the stages ( North Rhine-Westphalia, Western Europe, Europe, World) should be walked carefully. time zones: If everyone works in one time zone, it makes many things easier. Plus/minus one or two time zones is usually not bad - you have that in the team anyway due to different living habits. But the first time you have team members who are seven time zones ahead or behind you, synchronous collaboration suddenly becomes more complicated - primarily if individual team members only work in the morning or afternoon. Resume # Personally, I am a fan of clarity and simplicity. Therefore, my favorites are the two extremes: all team members in one office or completely without an office. Anything in between is complicated and involves a lot of small compromises.\nI also think it\u0026rsquo;s consistent when employers say that all team members have to go back to the office. That doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean that you can\u0026rsquo;t stay at home for certain activities — but the standard is the office.\nOn the other hand, I think it\u0026rsquo;s wrong to say that you can only have fun and feel closeness together in the office. It is easier, yes. But from my own experience, I can say that you can have just as much — if not more — of a \u0026ldquo;we\u0026rdquo; feeling as a fully distributed team. You just have to organize the way to get there.\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/office-based-versus-fully-virtual/","section":"Blog","summary":"A comparison of four work models — on-site, office-first, work-from-anywhere, and fully virtual — with pros, cons, and a decision guide for consistency.","title":"Office-based versus fully virtual","type":"blog"},{"content":"I will arrange individual offers according to your needs in cooperation with you.\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/products-offerings/","section":"Products \u0026 Offerings","summary":"","title":"Products \u0026 Offerings","type":"products-offerings"},{"content":"Tags: Workation Pillar: remote Startup Tips Tools Tricks\nTable of Content # The Idea # The goal was to test whether it is possible (and sensible) to have your office with you while hiking. Or rather not only his office but also the bedroom and the kitchen.\nOf course, this can only be possible if the work takes place asynchronously to a high degree. So you don\u0026rsquo;t have to hang around in meetings all the time. Here I helped a bit and from the two synchronous working hours we have during the day, I only left the one in the afternoon from 15 to 16:00.\nFurther, I wanted to see if it was possible to combine sporting activity with work in a simple and straightforward way. I am not an extreme athlete and so it\u0026rsquo;s perfect enough for me to be active in sports for 5-6 hours a day — so if I sleep 7 hours and need 3 hours for my personal organization (personal hygiene, eating, and so on), I still have 8 hours left for work before a 24 hour day (24-7-3-6 = 8). Logical?\nIn the past, I\u0026rsquo;ve done several such experiments: Report: Ski \u0026amp; Work , Bicycle \u0026amp; Work. Now Hike \u0026amp; Work.\nIntroduction: About hiking # It was the first time in my life that I\u0026rsquo;ve ever undertaken a multi-day hike. Accordingly, several insights were mixed in here.\nThe first big realization for me was that you have a much more limited radius of action when hiking than when cycling, for example. This comes to bear negatively when it comes to finding opportunities to sleep but also to fill up water or shopping. A detour of 4 km is considerable if you walk only 24 km a day (which isn\u0026rsquo;t a bad average if you carry a lot of luggage). So depending on the distance you run, you have to be very flexible or carry an extra portion of food and water.\nI don\u0026rsquo;t know about such problems from the bike tours. A detour of 10 km doesn\u0026rsquo;t really matter.\nI chose hiking boots to protect my ankles. Once you twist your ankle, the fun of hiking can be over.\nBut back to the beginning:\nRoute and equipment # Route # As a route, I\u0026rsquo;ve chosen the Hermannsweg in the Teutoburger Forest. A big plus for me is the closeness: only 30 minutes by train. Even if the first part is a bit boring, the entire route is very varied and quite demanding due to the many meters of altitude (of course, there are no big mountains to force, but the constant up and down also keeps you quite on your toes). For my first night, I found a nice place via 1nitetent.\nUnfortunately, the Herrmansweg isn\u0026rsquo;t particularly well equipped in terms of accommodation, refreshments, and shopping. Especially when staying overnight, I\u0026rsquo;ve had to plan for quite a long time until I\u0026rsquo;ve had a reasonable stage planning (remember, I\u0026rsquo;d my bedroom with me, so wanted to spend the night in the tent). More about this is in the third part of this article.\nEquipment # My office # When it came to equipment, the biggest challenge was the office, and by that I don\u0026rsquo;t just mean the notebook (I opted for an old MacBook Air here because it\u0026rsquo;s significantly lighter than my current MacBook Pro). But you also need a certain independency from electricity as well as from common office workspaces. An ultralight chair is an excellent advantage as the internet coverage isn\u0026rsquo;t mapped to park benches.\nAccordingly, I took a large powerbank with me, as well as a multi-charger. And instead of the office chair, I packed an ultralight chair — it has already proven to be very practical during bicycle tours: Because, unfortunately, park benches and the like are not necessarily in places where there\u0026rsquo;s good Internet reception. The chair, which can be placed anywhere, eases the situation considerably. Speaking of Internet coverage, a good mobile router is of course also a must. I opted for a Nighthawk from Netgear M1. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t have 5G, but the price-performance ratio is reasonable. I\u0026rsquo;d estimate that the entire office equipment weighs 3 1/2 to 4 kg.\nBedroom and kitchen # As I said, I’ve not only had my office with me, but also my bedroom (ultralight tent with also very light air mattress, sleeping bag, and so on) and the kitchen. In addition, the water supply is a not to be underestimated. On the hike in summer temperatures (up to 30 ° C), the 2 l in the Camel Bak were used up very quickly, so I had to access my reserve (0.5 l) several times.\nThe clothes took the smallest share of my luggage. It was basically a change of clothes for the night and a rain jacket, because other than that I\u0026rsquo;d merino wool-based clothes with me, which I aired overnight. The ultralight tent is just big enough for me to fit in. Even for the backpack and the shoes are — if you\u0026rsquo;re smart — still enough space.\nAnd the only luxury I allowed myself was the lightweight biwak sandals. Since I opted for high hiking boots (once twisted, all the fun is over), it was a relief to take off the boots at some times and wear the sandals instead. Mainly in the evening or morning, of course.\nOtherwise, there isn\u0026rsquo;t much more to say about the equipment. As a backpack has served me an Ortofox touring backpack. The 45 l were well-sized. I also had trekking poles that have done very good service especially when it went steeply downhill. But otherwise, I find it very pleasant to go with sticks. The only thing that bothered me was the constant clicking of the sticks.\nSurprised me that I\u0026rsquo;m able to carry 14kg with a good backpack. Of course, I was exhausted at the end of the day but I\u0026rsquo;d no back ache or anything like that.\nProbably only someone who has ever hiked with a full load can understand that these sandals are luxury.\nHike and work # Some stumble stones # To come straight to the point: The thing that stood in the way of the successful experiment the most was my chattiness. But what can you do: When you\u0026rsquo;re sitting in the middle of the forest with your laptop and working, you catch people\u0026rsquo;s attention. And if you look friendly, a conversation starts very quickly.\nAnd in fact, I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t want to miss any of these conversations. Nevertheless, if you spend 1-2 hours a day chatting with other people, the time you have left to work becomes scarce.\nWho\u0026rsquo;s this person sitting in the forest typing on his MacBook?\nOther than that, I really liked the combination of work and physical activity. I had already written at the beginning that it is essentially important that you are able to do your work very asynchronously. Accordingly, of the two hours a day that we normally reserve to exchange synchronously, I had left only the hour in the afternoon from 15:00 - 16:00 in the calendar.\nBut even this one hour means stress. Because you have to ensure that you have perfect Internet coverage at that time (for video conferencing, you need much more stable coverage than just for web applications). And since I want to act as a role model, it was important to me that no one would suffer from my experiment and have to accept losses in call quality).\nAnyway, finding the perfect place on time at 15:00 means, in practice, that you start looking for suitable places as early as 14:00.\nSometimes, I’ve found great places to work.\nIt would be much easier if you could do without such obligations entirely or if you agreed to call when it fits — but that would require increased flexibility on the other side. From my point of view — and that\u0026rsquo;s why I\u0026rsquo;ve not implemented it this way — this would be unfair since it\u0026rsquo;s me who\u0026rsquo;s stepping out and doing this Hike \u0026amp; Work activity.\nWalkarounds # The best solution is to have topics that you can work on asynchronously — with full focus. Because what I\u0026rsquo;ve learned to appreciate most in such activities is the focus.\nEven, or especially when I\u0026rsquo;m walking or cycling, I can think very well. And thanks to the smartphone, I can also quickly record such thoughts as a voice memo without having to get out my laptop every time.\nFocus # From my point of view, many people lack focus. Communication has become faster and faster, but has performance increased at the same time? Has the fact that we are always and everywhere reachable via smartphone and can constantly respond to messages increased productivity?\nI haven\u0026rsquo;t read any studies on this. But my perception is that our outcome has not increased. By constantly jumping from one topic to the next, we often lack the time to think about a matter in a concentrated way from all sides, to consider alternatives and so on.\nI learned that not everybody could work at a place with a stunning view. Foremost, it’s about motivation.\nI am a big fan of not staying in theory for ages, but to take the first step quickly. We solve the details as we go, one step at a time. But we have to take the time to decide the direction and constantly take the time in between to rethink the direction.\nAnd for such issues, a Hike \u0026amp; Work can be the perfect setting. Or when you want to work on a new presentation or a new sales strategy or a concept to draft a book.\nA Typical Daily Routine # Since I\u0026rsquo;m an early riser, my day usually starts around 6:00 am. At 7:00 am I\u0026rsquo;m usually done with the shower and so on and breakfast and start - depending on the temperature - with an hour of work or hiking. On very hot days, I prefer to start earlier in the morning.\nEvery 1-2 hours, I looked for a nice, quiet place with internet reception (4G or better) and worked there for 1 - 1.5h. Then again 1-2h hiking and so on.\nA quick break and work session.\nIn detail that was then often, as already mentioned, somewhat stressful with the synchronous communications hour at 15:00. In the evening, so from about 17:00/18:00 I then still had a larger block of time for work before I went to bed at about 22h.\nThe calculation I mentioned at the beginning has proven itself in practice: 24h - 7h sleep - 3h eat, wash, organize = 14h. 14h - 8h work = 6h rest for activities. If you hike at an average of 5km/h, you can manage a few kilometers.\nA work session in the evening. The food wasn’t delicious but after a long hike, it tasted great.\nConclusion # For me, the Hike \u0026amp; Work experiment was a success. I learned a lot: In particular, how important it is to be flexible.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s a little anecdote about that. Actually, I had planned the hike in such a way that I had a place for my tent every night (in Germany you are not allowed to camp wild). But because I made such good progress on the third day that I would have arrived at my destination shortly after noon, I spontaneously decided to continue hiking.\nFocussing on the next step helps to focus on your thoughts.\nOnly unfortunately there was no place to spend the night with a tent afterward. And so I stayed in a wellness hotel of emergency. That was not so bad. And the next day the same problem. The solution was this night a pension for long-distance drivers or mechanics. Not so luxurious but very cordial.\nAnd to have this flexibility, next time I would try to avoid synchronous times. I am convinced that we can be very productive also asynchronously.\nAppendix # Basic facts # Date 01. - 04. August 22 Distance 86 km Altitude meters 1.400 m Backpack weight 14 kg Etappe 1: Von Rheine nach Hörstel | Wanderung | Komoot\nEtappe 2: von Bevergern nach Tecklenburg | Wanderung | Komoot\nEtappe 3: Von Tecklenburg nach Lienen | Wanderung | Komoot\nEtappe 4: Von Bad Iburg nach Borgholzhausen | Wanderung | Komoot\nPack my bag # Office # MacBook Air AirPod Pro Powerbank (25,600mAh) 100W multi-charger (3x USB-C 1x USB A) USB-C to Apple Watch USB-C to Lightning Ultralight chair (decathlon) Seat cushion LTE router Sleeping room # Ultralight One-person tent Footprint Air mattress Pillow Summer sleeping bag Earplugs Sleep mask Kitchen # Ultralight stove Coffee Cereal bar Dry food Pocket knife Drinking tube 2l Drinking bottle 0,5l (Backup) Wearing # Trekking boots Zip-Off pants Wool shirt (short) Hiking socks Wool underpants Hiking poles Wardrobe # Peaked cap Ultralight Sandals Ortovox fleece Rain jacket Wool undershirt Sweatshorts Wool shirt (long) Towel Hiking socks Bathroom # Toilet paper Sunscreen Mosquito repellent Dry toothpaste Toothbrush Solid shower gel Cream Hair Wax Nail clip Rest # Money Paper tissues Headlamp Related\nReport: Ski \u0026amp; Work\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/report-hike-work/","section":"Blog","summary":"A field report on combining a multi-day hike along the Hermannsweg with asynchronous remote work — equipment, daily routine, and lessons learned.","title":"Report: Hike \u0026 Work","type":"blog"},{"content":"Tags: Workation Pillar: remote Startup Tips Tools Tricks\nSki-and-work in a sentence, what\u0026rsquo;s it? Skiing in the morning, working in the afternoon, then cooking together, discussing, and having fun afterward. What\u0026rsquo;s the idea? # The origin was actually a bike-and-work I did a few years ago. I was on my own, and I set off with my bike and tent, looked for a bench in between, chewed on a problem, and when I couldn\u0026rsquo;t get any further, I swung on my bike and rode on for a while. After some time, I automatically found the solution, looked for a bench again, and continued working.\nLater, after the founding of Frontastic, I took the idea further, and with my Co-founder Thomas we did the first ski-and-work.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve to say that as a Senior Founder, half-day skiing suits me well with regard to my physical condition. After all, we averaged over 20 km of skiing every day. That\u0026rsquo;s quite respectable, I think. And the muscular ache was kept within limits.\nHow did this work out? # One of our core values at Frontastic is learning. Well, and so it was here. What we have learned is that the event for families basically works very well. In our case, it would\u0026rsquo;ve been very helpful, for example, if we had at least 2 living rooms: 1 for the families and 1 for work. But for me, it’s always exciting how to deal with such situations: On the one hand in communication and on the other hand in finding solutions. Both are essential skills for a company. I think we have solved everything very well. Both parties took very good care of each other. For example, we sometimes went to a café to work or the families used the planned group times to go on excursions or walks.\nThe families had to accept restrictions since they\u0026rsquo;d to balance sport and work but also family time. But from the beginning, there was a commitment that family time shouldn’t be at the expense of working hours. That was important, of course, because it was a company event.\nLocation, accommodation, and how we planed our journey # When selecting the skiing area, the possibility of arriving by train was a significant factor. Skiing is ecologically difficult to represent, but we wanted to have at least 1 ecologically sensible way to get there. Moreover, time spent on the train is much more productive.\nAs an accommodation, it should be a mountain chalet with self-catering. Not just because it\u0026rsquo;s cheaper but above all, it promotes team spirit. We ended up in a beautiful, large wooden chalet with 5 bedrooms in the Zillertal.\nDaily routine # As we were fortunate with the weather, it looked the same almost every day: mostly it was Thomas or me who made the 1st coffee at about 6 AM. Until 7 AM we had a 1st session to work off the daily business — because it doesn\u0026rsquo;t stop, of course.\nEverybody gathered for breakfast until about 7:15 and at 8:00 we started on the slopes. 8 AM— that sounds pretty incredible, huh? But it actually worked every day.\nThe advantage is that A) you have a lot of the day and B) the slopes are in pristine condition.\nAround 11:30 we had a break, and whoever wanted to had an early lunch at the hut or just had a drink. Afterward, we did some skiing, and at 14:00 we were mostly back in the valley and ready for work.\nWe defined a list of points that we wanted to work on during ski-and-work in advance. Depending on the topic, different people were required. Accordingly, different groups were formed in the afternoons to deal either with these topics or with day-to-day business.\nFrom about 18:00 we turned to cook together, and from about 20:00 we finally slipped over to the evening discussions. These were also extremely valuable and important. Partly because we even managed to crack topics in the evening on which we only chewed around unsuccessfully during the day.\nBetween 22:00 and 23:00 everybody went to bed — the next day, we started early again.\nThat sounds rather exhausting, doesn\u0026rsquo;t it? # Yeah, when we got back home after 8 days, we were all pretty exhausted. When you think about the program, it\u0026rsquo;s no wonder. But we had a lot of fun and are very proud of what we achieved.\nAn essential point is that there\u0026rsquo;s a common understanding in advance. How much time is spent on spare time and how much on work. But also, a concrete picture of the daily routine helps to avoid frustration later on.\nSuch events are always an opportunity to create something new and extraordinary. Of course, you can also cooperate excellently, but that\u0026rsquo;s not where the most significant potential lies.\nSo, the second essential point is that one succeeds in reducing the daily business as much as possible. Especially external, fixed appointments quickly disrupt the overall workflow. I don\u0026rsquo;t know how to explain it exactly: if things go well, you manage to get all participants into a flow. If individual team members are under pressure from external deadlines, it can be very disruptive.\nHow did you arrange the financial and holiday expenses? # The company paid for the travel and accommodation costs. The employees paid for their own meals and the costs of leisure activities. Since everyone — on a voluntary basis, of course — also worked at weekends, and all in all, we didn\u0026rsquo;t work so much less per day than usual, we said that employees had to invest a maximum of 1 day\u0026rsquo;s vacation.\nWhen I look at how much we achieved during the week, on the one hand in terms of content, but above all in terms of getting to know each other personally and team building, it was an incredibly efficient event. I really appreciate that employees are willing to invest a week for the company. But maybe some people didn\u0026rsquo;t realize in advance how hard it would be.\nYou\u0026rsquo;re now a few more employees and plan to grow further. How does the whole thing scale? # This is indeed not an easy question. The ski-and-work was not an official retreat; participation was purely voluntary. Work results only had the status of interim results and were only decided upon afterward, online, with all stakeholders. As a remote company, we\u0026rsquo;re used to acting in this way. The exception was when all the necessary people were already present at ski-and-work.\nAccordingly, the idea can be thought further, and one can imagine that there are many such smaller events spread over the year. This would\u0026rsquo;ve the advantage that not only ski enthusiasts would be addressed.\nSince we\u0026rsquo;re a 100% distributed team, we have naturally included the cost of such a thing in the budget. As an ordinary company, we\u0026rsquo;d have already spent a lot of money on office rent and above all — as a rapidly growing company — a lot of time looking for new, larger office space.\nBut a ski event can also grow: there are larger mountain chalets and as well as chalet villages. It would be a pity if we had to go to a hotel sometime. From my point of view, self-catering in the sense of self-organization and communication is an essential element.\nDisclaimer: Ski-and-work took place in February 2020. Only about 10 days after our return did we learn that Tyrol in Austria has also been declared a risk area by the RKI. We\u0026rsquo;re all symptom-free, and as a remote company, we hopefully didn\u0026rsquo;t contribute to a spread. After the recommendation became known, we went into domestic quarantine for the rest of the time.\nRelated\nReport: Hike \u0026amp; Work\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/report-ski-work/","section":"Blog","summary":"A team workation report: skiing in the morning, working in the afternoon, cooking and discussing in the evening — how it scaled at Frontastic.","title":"Report: Ski \u0026 Work","type":"blog"},{"content":"Tags: Cornerstones Pillar: frictionless OS\nTo run a business efficiently, you need a few basic things. In the following, I would like to focus on the what, the why, and the how. The Why, What, and How # Probably most companies start with the “why.” So ultimately, with the problem that the company wants to solve.\nEvery successful company has this “why,” but not every company communicates the why clearly and understandably to its employees. From the “why” follows the “what” - the mission and the vision. In other words, what the company wants to achieve or change.\nThis “what” must exist in various degrees of detail. Even very experienced employees don\u0026rsquo;t find the general company mission sufficient (or better efficient) to make the appropriate decisions in day-to-day business. What is needed for smooth operation are coordinated goals, for example, for each quarter: “What\u0026rsquo;s most important right now?”\nAnd last but not least, a company also needs an agreed framework for effective operations — the how. That means shared values and defined ways of working.\nAll this isn\u0026rsquo;t forever. On the contrary, an essential part of the corporate culture must be constant goal-oriented reflection. Of course, one must not constantly change the big objectives and values — but they, too, must be examined again and again, just like the ways of working.\nRetrospectives must therefore be an integral part of all organizational levels.\nWhy do we need a “why”? # Before I get into the specifics, I want to take a step back and reflect on why we do this. Of course, most modern companies have a vision, mission, values, and so on written on their website. But what\u0026rsquo;s the goal? What\u0026rsquo;s the purpose?\nWhat\u0026rsquo;s the added value from the point of view of the Company Operating System?\nI want all employees to behave like entrepreneurs as if this were their own company. That\u0026rsquo;s a nice way of putting it. But what does an employee need to be able to act in precisely this way?\nExactly, they need to know the goal and the conditions — or the rules of the game — under which we\u0026rsquo;re trying to achieve the goal.\nEmployees need different levels of detail. # But this is still much too abstract to really help in the daily work. That\u0026rsquo;s why it\u0026rsquo;s crucial that the overarching goals are broken down into concrete targets for a quarter, for example, not as tasks but as objectives. To be more precise: As coordinated objectives that count for the whole company. By that, departments can align for sensible prioritization.\nThe same applies to the framework conditions: the values and ways of working, but also to decision-making scope and budget.\nPsychology Safety and non-blaming culture # And, of course, the most important thing is to create a corporate culture in which it\u0026rsquo;s permissible to make mistakes. Because entrepreneurs make mistakes, too, and so entrepreneurial employees must also be allowed to make mistakes.\nFrom my point of view, it\u0026rsquo;s very healthy to think that if an employee has made the wrong decision (from the leader\u0026rsquo;s point of view), the leader should be blamed for the problem: What information did the leader forget to tell the employee, what skill did they miss to train the employee?\nI think it was Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, who said that he’d explored that when it comes to decisions, 70% doesn’t matter whether they’re made by a team member or a leader. 20% of the decisions made by team members are even better (as they might have more knowledge of the details and so on).\nBut in 10% of the decisions, the leader is better (as they might have more strategic knowledge or a better overview of the overall situation.). And this isn\u0026rsquo;t something the leader can be proud of, but they must work continuously to make this number smaller.\nThe how – rules of working together and tools that we use # From my experience, it is very effective if a company agrees on certain rules that are much more concrete than the values. What these are depends very much on the company in question. In the past, for example, I found it very conflict-avoiding if you clearly regulated what response times you expected to a message in Slack or Teams that address you personally. At Frontastic, we\u0026rsquo;ve defined that Slack is asynchronous. So I encouraged turning off all notifications to be able to focus on work. But we also defined that you have to respond within 4 hours. If that response time isn\u0026rsquo;t enough, you must pick up the phone.\nAnother example is decisions. When can decisions be made by the employees themselves, when can the team make them, and when must the leadership be called in? Here, the image of the decision tree was very helpful:\nSimply put, a tree consists of leaves, branches, a trunk, and roots. When there is something to decide, you think about where on the tree the decision lies. Example: New values or a new vision would definitely be compared to the roots or the trunk. Here the founders or the leadership are to be included. If, on the other hand, it is a question of a single leaf, for example, the purchase of a keyboard, then it’s more of a leave-level decision, isn’t it? And when it’s about your team’s ways of working, it’s on the branches’ level. With this picture in mind, it’s much easier to decide who needs to be included in the decision-making process.\nIn the next step, however, it must also be clear where decisions are recorded and how they are communicated. For me, e-mail is the wrong medium. Decisions belong in a decision database. In our case, this was in Notion. Here it is also recorded to whom the decision applies (for example, an agreement that a team makes). And the link to it is then simply shared automatically or manually in Slack (in the appropriate group).\nStreamline the spoken language # What probably isn\u0026rsquo;t common is that our \u0026ldquo;tone of voice“ was defined.\nHowever, language is very important and defines a large part of how we give ourselves. Both externally and internally. For example, since our team members came from more than 20 cultures, we defined that we use language very explicitly and talk about things as concretely as possible. In some cultures, this is perceived as impolite; in others, a request formulated too politely is not perceived as such. Therefore, it made a lot of sense for us to define how we communicate internally.\nThe software stack — keep it simple # In addition to these \u0026ldquo;soft\u0026rdquo; things, we also need a solid framework of software. I am a big fan of the following products:\nGoogle Workspace (for all the basics) Help Scout (for external communication, team mailboxes are much more scalable for all departments than personal inboxes — using Help Scout, it still feels human to the other party) Slack (the easiest way to communicate, many integrations, so it’s much more than an asynchronous chat) Notion (the one and only, far more than a Wiki, it offers many different kinds of databases, too). Zapier (to combine the data and information of all the above systems and automate everything) Pleo (if you want mature team members, having their own credit cards helps a lot. And you don’t have to chase the invoices) Streak (I\u0026rsquo;m still not sure about CRM. I find Streak great for small companies because it is very well integrated with Gmail. For large companies, then Hubspot or Salesforce. But there are certainly smarter solutions) I will go into more detail about the tools in a later article.\nFrom my point of view, it’s important to define the following:\nIf possible, communicate to the outside via Help Scout and not via private e-mail addresses. Internal communication is exclusively done via Slack (how to use Slack more efficiently, you can read in this blog post). All internal documentation etc., go in Notion. All payments are made via Pleo. Anything that can be automated in any meaningful way is automated with Zapier (documented in Notion). …and so on. Start quickly with the big picture in mind # Again, keep the big picture in mind and just start with the first step. The important thing is to keep moving forward and to check regularly if you are still on the right track.\nEspecially when you are growing fast, the framework conditions often change rapidly, and you must revise the structures and rules. This is quite normal and should not stop you from simply getting started.\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/the-company-operating-system/","section":"Blog","summary":"How to build an efficient company OS: defining the why, what, and how through vision, mission, values, ways of working, and the right software stack.","title":"The Company Operating System","type":"blog"},{"content":"Tags: Slack, Ways of Working Pillar: remote Startup Tips Tools Tricks\nSummary # I avoid direct messages. Instead, I use channels wherever it\u0026rsquo;s possible. I use Slack asynchronously. I put everything in one message and hit enter once I\u0026rsquo;m done (and give as much context as needed/possible). I\u0026rsquo;ve turned off all notifications, but I respond to all posts in my main channels and where I\u0026rsquo;m mentioned within 4 working hours. I never use @here and @channel — instead, I try to mention as few people as possible. I always reply in a thread. Only by this can I use the thread view to follow up on all of my current talks/discussions. Active (writing) # I always use a (public) channel. I try to avoid hidden communication via direct messages.\nImagine you\u0026rsquo;re in a physical office. But you never see people talking to each other. You never hear how they talk to each other. Wouldn\u0026rsquo;t this be odd? But this is exactly what our team\u0026rsquo;s communication currently looks like: too much is happening in private chats!\nDistributed teams need to communicate very transparently in Slack to stay healthy because this is our most common way of communication.\nI use Slack asynchronously.\nI put everything in one message and don’t hit enter like in a chat. I don’t use Slack like a chat and don’t expect other people to do it this way.\nI try to give as much context as possible.\nI try to be aware of the fact that people will spend more time reading my message than I’ve spent writing it.\n@mentioning with care.\nThere are only a few dedicated channels where @channel might make sense (they mostly have a closed group of members). I try to ping as few people as possible keeping in mind that every ping/mention costs time and will disrupt other people\u0026rsquo;s work.\nI try to include in my message what kind of reaction I\u0026rsquo;d like to get.\nA leading emoji can be so helpful. For example, I use the ℹ️ if a message is for information only. If I’d like people to do something, a message can start with a ✅. People should react with the given emoji so that the writer knows that they have a) received the information and b) acted like wanted.\nUse the most explizit emojis\nWhen writing messages, we should always keep in mind that most likely, more time is spent reading the message (by different people) than we spend writing it. So we should strive to be as clear as possible and give as much context as possible (did you know that you can put a hyperlink after a word simply by highlighting the word and then inserting the hyperlink using CMD+V?). However, this doesn\u0026rsquo;t just apply to speech but also to the use of emojis. Emojis can be very helpful in adding additional information to a text, such as emotions. What we should avoid at all costs is substituting emojis. This turns a text into a riddle rather than helping to understand.\nAlso, we should always consider whether an emoji is really easy to understand and unambiguous. If available, short words from English should be used instead of using a corresponding character/hand gesture. Unfortunately, signs/gestures have different meanings in different cultures. So instead of an 👍 rather use a +1 if you want to agree to content or if you want to show that you have read or taken note of something rather use the ACK. Instead of 🙏, you can also use THANKS to saying thank you. Or not use👌 but NICE Of course, casual talks on social channels are something different. In the social area, of course, you can be a little freer with emojis.\nPassive (reading) # Notifications # I\u0026rsquo;ve turned all notifications off\nTo be able to focus on my work I’ve turned all notifications off. I don’t turn off those numbers indicating how many unread mentions there are. But I decide when to read them.\nSlack is asynchronous communication\nWhen I’m doing a break, I will check all mentions and threads (talks that I’m in).\nWhy? If we’d expect everyone to react to Slack messages immediately, we wouldn’t find time to focus on our actual work at all. There might be some roles that require an immediate response. In that case, I’d suggest finding a solution other than Slack.\nI try to respond to all messages where I\u0026rsquo;m mentioned within 4 working hours\nThe same goes for all of my team or project channels (not more than 4): I try to read all messages within 4 working hours.\nWhen I’m not able to respond within 4 working hours I change my Slack Display name accordingly. By this I try to set expectations.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve muted @here/@channel for many channels\nAs stated earlier, @here/@channel doesn’t make sense in channels with many people. They create a lot of noise and I try to avoid using this command. In channels like #general or #competition I’ve muted notifications for this. You can find those setting in the channel’s notification settings.\nI\u0026rsquo;m joining any channel of interest, and I don\u0026rsquo;t leave a channel\nBut my sidebar is ordered in sections. So there’s a section of those must-read channels. There’s a section for top priority and for team/project channels. And then there are channels to watch (like coffee chats and so on). And there’s the rest. I don’t look into those other channels actively (see right).\nWhen I take a coffee somedays, I\u0026rsquo;ve some newspaper-style reading\nFrom time to time I take a coffee and use the unreads view to look at what’s happening in other channels. It’s like reading a newspaper. You just skim it quickly and it might happen that something attracts your attention (see right).\nI use the thread view to stay on top of my current discussions\nOne of the most important views is the thread view. I need to rely on this to stay on top of the various discussions I’m in. That’s why it’s so important that every talk is happening in a thread — even though it’s a direct message (see right).\n“read later” saves my life.\nI’ve no idea how to survive without this “remind me about this” function provided by Slack in the context menu of every message/thread. It happens very often that I need to remind myself either to respond to a thread at a later time or that I need to watch a message to check the reactions/answers to my post. Part of my daily routine is to open the Slackbot app and to type /remind list. This command will show all of your reminders.\nStructured channels\nUnreads, Threads, and Mentions\nRemind me later\nBasic structure # Channels # Channels should have a common/consistent naming\nA common channel naming structure helps to put the channels in a sensible order (see above)\nFurthermore, it helps to group channels in a sensible way. And finally, it helps people to find a channel (as all channel names follow the same rule). We always have to keep in mind that we’re a fast growing company. More than 50% of our people are new. The easier it is to understand a system the better.\nThe channels name should help understand the purpose\nFor example if there is a must-read appendix to a teams’ channel, this indicates to the team that they must read all messages. A fixed set of appendixes it makes it even easier.\nThe channel name should be clear and easy to understand\nTry to avoid abbreviations. Use the given naming structure. Be precise.\nWhen would I create or archive a channel?\nWhenever there\u0026rsquo;s no parent channel, or it becomes too crowded, a new channel should be created. A channel should be archived as soon as the project or topic is done. Archiving means that it will still be found in the search when you search for topics. Also, if nothing is posted to a channel for more than 3 months, the channel should be archived.\nGroups # Why to us groups and not @here or @channel?\nGroups a perfect to address teams or other groups of people. You should never use @here or @channel in a channel with many people (like #competition). It can be used in channels with a small number of members united by a common goal.\nGroups should follow a naming structure, too.\nThe purpose of a groups should be clear. A prefix should indicate if it’s an organizational group (like a team) or an informational group.\nSlack vs. email # Internally, I don\u0026rsquo;t write any emails. Some people say they like to use email because they can archive decisions or similar. I think this is wrong. Those things go into a central decision database. It\u0026rsquo;s nothing that belongs to one person (to maybe prove something for later), but it should be kept in a neutral public space like a wiki. Some say they like to use email because it’s better to quote what others said when replying. I think it\u0026rsquo;s the wrong tool. If a topic is complex, it shouldn’t be in an email but in a wiki or Google doc. That\u0026rsquo;s the right tool to collaborate. It offers versioning, inline comments, and much more. Slack could be the better choice for communication with partners and customers. But we should be very careful with this. The purpose should be clear and we need to set expectations (response times, reliability, …). Often systems like Freshdesk offer better traceability, and they ensure that every request gets answered. Why (or when) to neither use personal email nor Slack # Whenever the major use case is about keeping track of something, it\u0026rsquo;s a bad idea to use Slack or private email. I recommend using a tool like Freshdesk or Help Scout for all kinds of group inboxes for two reasons: Accountability: it\u0026rsquo;s 100% clear who\u0026rsquo;s responsible for answering which message. You can have workflows to remind you when some message is waiting to be answered too long or for even more sophisticated tasks (automation, automation, automation). You won\u0026rsquo;t drop a single message. Transparency: it’s 100% transparent. Team members can learn from each other. And when they get sick or are on vacation, others can take over instantly. Conclusion # Initially, I wrote this document to record for myself what I think is right. It then grew more and more and became rules for my company. It resonated so well there that I felt it was time to share it publicly.\nI’d recommend continuing reading with How I use Slack — in Detail ","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/blog/ways-of-working-how-i-use-slack/","section":"Blog","summary":"How I use Slack as an asynchronous communication tool: public channels over DMs, threading, explicit emojis, and why Slack should replace internal email.","title":"Ways of Working: How I use Slack","type":"blog"},{"content":"Tags: entrepreneurs, first-time founders, innovation leaders Costs: 200€/hour\nreflect, challenge, inspire We either agree on fixed dates, or you choose a date from my calendar spontaneously and according to the situation.\nI\u0026rsquo;m available to you as an independent, experienced sparring partner.\nWe determine what you need: someone who challenges your point of view or ideas or reflects your attitude. Someone who supports you or someone who challenges you.\nBasically, I\u0026rsquo;m said to be very inspiring. I definitely find it easy to listen to you because I have a great interest in people and processes.\nDuration: 2 hours to infinity Cost: 200€/hour\n","date":"31 March 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/products-offerings/your-personal-sparring-partner/","section":"Products \u0026 Offerings","summary":"Reflect, challenge, inspire — an independent sparring partner for entrepreneurs and first-time founders. 200€/hour.","title":"Your personal sparring partner","type":"products-offerings"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"}]