Non-Linear

About Non-Linear

Insights into early-career entrepreneurs building their first companies in the age of AI.

Publisher

Christian Abt

Category

business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Oct 2023

Latest episode

30 Oct 2024

Latest episodes

17 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Oct 2024

   from growth hacking consumer social apps to launching an AI Wearable I Zach Eisenhauer I Compass

   Imagine this: You're lining up for an event and have a casual conversation with the guy next to you...when you notice that his necklace is recording and transcribing every word into an app. How would you feel? ___ This is what I experienced a couple of weeks back in San Francisco, when lining up for a Replit event. Zach Eisenhauer was the person next to me. I've rarely felt this mix of excitement, fear, and awe, as it feels like this is behavior-shifting tech+hardware combination will inevitably make its way into our lives in one form or another. This is Non-Linear with Zach Eisenhauer, Founder of Compass Wearables. Show notes: (01:22 - 04:57): Meeting Zach in SF (04:57 - 12:55): Zach's journey until building Compass (12:55 - 19:18): Growth Engineering at NGL (19:18 - 24:00): Building consumer social apps (24:00 - 30:00): Founding Compass (30:00 - 35:00): Use Cases and Target Users for Compass (35:00 - 39:00): Compass in 3-5 Years (39:00 - 42:20): AI Hardware Products (42:20 - 47:10): Launching a hardware Product (47:10 - 50:57): Fundraising and Team Expansion (50:57 - End): Conclusion and Final Thoughts ___ Twitter Zach: https://x.com/hackwithzach Linkedin Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacheisenhauer/ Twitter Chris: https://x.com/iamchrischi3 Linkedin Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

2. 

   7 Jan 2024

   from Strategy Consultant to 6-figure Bootstrapper I Axel Grubba I Serial Founder

   How to grow a six-figure-business while working in Strategy Consulting? _ Going from a 70-hour week to a self-imposed 100-hour week in order to bootstrap an online business on the side. Axel Grubba began this journey at the end of his Masters, continuing it while working at L.E.K Consulting (Warsaw/Munich/London), and beyond. How did he do it? What was his first venture, his second and what is he doing now? In this episode Axel leads us through his past years in which he - built his first six-figure business - created his second venture with >150,000 monthly visitors - learned to code - has been looking for bootstrapper colleagues - and how he boosts his lifestyle ___ Show notes: (0:00 - 14:00): Axel’s Background (14:00 - 17:20): Taking his first steps (17:20 - 24:50): Building an affiliate platform (24:50 - 27:10): Strategy consulting + Building (27:10 - 33:00): Managing himself & Product Building (33:00 - 39:20): The role of community for him (39:20 - 40:20 ): Learning to code (40:20 - 44:40): Niche Picking (44:40 - 46:20): Accelerating Personal Develoopment (46:20 - end): Hacks, GPTs, Axel’s Question ___ Linkedin Axel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axelgrubba/ Linkedin Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

3. 

   28 Dec 2023

   How to get to +1m Youtube Subscribers I Kojo Boison I Ex-Youtuber turned Youtube Coach

   How to get to +1m Youtube Subscribers? ___ If you ask the new generation what they want to be doing once they're grown up, you will likely hear "Influencer" more than anything else. Producing content for a living is the golden goose for many out there. At the same time, it seems unattainable. One who made a living with Youtube is Kojo Boison. In his early 20s, in 2017, he had already amassed 1 millions subscribers on his Youtube Channel. How did he do it? This is what Kojo tells us in this episode: - how to figure out what to focus on and when to leave - how to decipher the youtube algorithm - how to become resilient ...and more ___ Show Notes: 0:00 - 3:20: Intro 3:20 - 7:20: Bitcoin & educating himself 7:20 - 13:20: Quitting a successful venture 13:20 - 22:00: Youtube vs. TikTok vs. Instagram 22:00 - 43:00: Beating the Youtube algorithm 43:00 - 54:00: Picking a battle 54:00 - 1:05:00: How to solopreneur 1:05:00 - end: End

4. 

   22 Dec 2023

   How to thrive in Uncertainty I Michela Andreolli I Stealth Founder

   How to thrive in Uncertainty? ___ What sounds like just another whacky course at business school to gather some credits towards your MBA probably is one of the most important skills in today's work landscape which is shook up by technology, viruses or wars in monthly intervals. But how do you actually learn such a skill? This is what Michela Andreolli tells us in this episodes. She leads us through her past years in which she - quit her well-paying job at Google without knowing what to do next - visited all Ivy's in the US speaking to profs and VCs - built out her own community of students - built followings on Linkedin and TikTok, - and most importantly, in which she learned to master navigating uncertain situations. ___ Show notes: (0:00 - 2:00): Intro (2:00 - 8:00): Michela’s Story (8:00 - 19:50): Leaving Google (19:50 - 33:30): Traveling to the US (33:30 - 43:15): Thriving in Uncertainty (43:15 - 52:00): Creating Content (52:00 - End): Business ___ Linkedin Michela: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelaandreolli/ Linkedin Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

5. 

   14 Dec 2023

   How to secure Dream Roles that aren't even listed I Krishan Allen I Growth Lead at Babbel Live

   How to move from investing into startups in Europe to becoming growth lead at Babbel Live in NYC? Krishan Allen is the Growth Lead of Babbel Live in NYC and a great example to what fluid and iterative career design looks like after a couple of years. Starting out in the heart of the startup ecosystem, San Francisco, he decided to move to Rotterdam for his Master’s to delve deeper into Behavioral Economics. This in turn brought him to work for Speedinvest and co-open their Berlin residence. What followed were happy years as an early-stage investor and Chief of Staff for a consumer social company. Now Krish moved back and makes Babbel Live's growth marketing work. ___ Show Notes: (01:43-05:33): Background of our friendship (05:33-11:44): High-level View on Jobs (11:44-23:26): Krish’s Background (23:26-27:34): Interest based Career Design (27:34-30:10): From Venture Capital to Operations (30:10-43:06): Growth Marketing and Scaleup Work (43:06-47:08): Closing Remarks ___ Krish Allen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishan-allen/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishan-allen/Christian)Christian Abt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/)

6. 

   7 Dec 2023

   How to become a Remote-Only operating Marketeer I Julian Wagner I CEO of Skillsfaster

   How to become a purely remote operating Marketeer / while playing 2nd Bundesliga in Padel tennis? Julian Wagner is the CEO of Skillsfaster, a purely remote operating, bootstrapped edtech startup based in London, providing expert online courses on niches such as fitness to makeup, and photography. Having done his high school degrees already remotely, Julian is a true frontrunner of digital nomading, has officially been operating outside of Germany since more than 5 years, and thus, is an expert on working on one’s own. The depth of his experience and knowledge in and around online business is stunning and he shares an abundance of tipps and tricks around productivity, making one’s first steps in becoming entrepreneurial, and more. ___ Show Notes: (0:00 - 2:10): Intro (2:10 - 7:30): Julian’s Background & Characteristics (7:30 - 9:10): First Entrepreneurial Steps (9:10 - 12:50): Getting into Poker (12:50 - 20:00): Successful People Mindset (20:00 - 27:45): Online Education & Online Business (27:45 - 31:30): Understanding How Systems Work (31:30 - 32:30): How to market (32:30 - 40:20): Work Ethics (40:20 - 45:30): Effectiveness (45:30 - 48:00): Social Aspect of Solopreneurship (48:00 - 50:00): Personal Vision Creation (50:00 - 53:30): VC vs Bootstrap (53:30 - End): Rapid Fire ___ Jirove's episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkNUPOM7fL8 Linkedin Julian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianmwagner/ Linkedin Christian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

7. 

   7 Dec 2023

   Non-Linear Season 2: Bootstrappers, Marketeers & Community Builders

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

8. 

   30 Nov 2023

   How to become a self-taught Multipreneur I Thomas Kohler I Founder PPlwise and Remove.tech

   How to become a self-taught multipreneur? Thomas Kohler is not only a super quick learner and fun guy to hang around, but also the embodiement of output focus and execution. Without studying he started working for a startup in Vienna and was able to rapidly build up responsibity. This he then used as leverage to start a side-hustle in recruiting which soon turned out to work quite well. Today, Thomas leads two businesses, PPLwise + Remove.tech, hosts plenty of dinners, and shares with us how he regulates himself, a handful of actionable tips for approaching work, and more. Show notes: 0:00 - 5:30: Personal Story 5:30 - 11:40 : First Job without a Degree 11:40 - 17:40 : First Business (Youtube) and Way of Working 17:40 - 23:10: Way of Working 23:40 - 32:40: Remove.tech 32:40 - 34:00: Leading two businesses 34:00 - End: Personal Operating System Linkedin Thomas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/ Linkedin Christian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

9. 

   23 Nov 2023

   How to build a Coaching Business I David Döbele & Jonas Stegh I Founders of PumpkinCareers

   How to build a Coaching Business? ___ Jonas Stegh and David Döbele are the founders of Pumpkincareers, a coaching program for highly ambitious young professionals, aiming to break into top tier consulting or banking. Their journey is amazing and full of anecdotes, some funny such as David’s unintended TikTok virality and some educational such as Jonas’ explanation on how they gamify their members’ intangible achievements during their time at uni. The two of them are highly sympathetic and very compelling to listen to. ___ Show Notes: Starting Pumpkin: 0:00 - 05:35 Career Tipps: 05:35 - 08:50 Community Successes: 08:50 - 11:05 Moritz Baier Lentz: 11:05 - 14:40 Pumpkin Application: 14:14 - 16:35 Gamifying Decision Taking: 16:35 - 19:10 Person Career Fit: 19:10 - 23:30 Mindset & Routines: 23:30 - 28:50 Building Pumpkin: 28:50 - 32:20 TikTok Viral: 32:20 - 38:50 Community Business: 38:50 - 45:12 Own Career: 45:12 - End ___ PumpkinCareers: https://pumpkincareers.com/ David Döbele: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-doebele/ Jonas Stegh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stegh-jonas/ Christian (host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iamchrischi3/videos

10. 

    17 Nov 2023

    How to Build a €350k Run-Rate Agency at Age 21 I Nick Raziborsky I Co-Founder Sonoma

    How to build an agency with a €350k run-rate at age 21 and more importantly, why quit it and move on to do something else. And what is that “something else”? Nick Raziborsky is only 24 years young and just moved from Berlin to San Francisco to, now officially, start his first tech company. His story up until now is immensely inspiring and provides plenty of tangible takeaways for anyone starting up at any age or in any life-stage, such as gamifying boring tasks, always nurturing a passion project, and leaning into bold moves. This is the longest episode so far and I am sure one we will look back at often in a couple of months or even years. Links are in the comments :) Show Notes: Intro: 1:30 -5:12 School: 5:12 - 14:40 Coding: 14:40 - 18:30 Publishing Code: 18:30 - 22:20 Freelancing: 22:20 - 27:07 First Entrepreneurial Years: 27:07 - 38:00 Failing his first venture: 38:00 - 49:30 Agency Work: 49:30 - 60:00 Entrepreneur First: 1:00:00 - 1:18:00 US Exploration: 1:18:00 - 01:28:36 Software Ideation: 01:28:36 - 01:40:00 Nick’s OS: 01:40:00 - 01:47:00 Starting up: 01:47:00 - 01:51:10 Future of Work: 01:51:10 - 02:02:35 Closing: 02:02:35 - End Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-raziborsky/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-raziborsky/overlay/photo/Chris:)Chris: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-raziborsky/overlay/photo/Chris:) https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

11. 

    27 Oct 2023

    How to Upgrade Your Personal OS I Alexej Habinski I CMO-as-a-Service

    In this episode I speak with Alexej Habinski, who builds a bootstrapped service offering around his CMO skillset, think CMO-as-a-Service. When Alexej was 22 years young, he started his career in Rocket Internet’s growth manager program, building the acquisition engine for foodora’s consumer- and courier-side (acquired by Delivery Hero). He then went on a roller-coaster ride of a myriad of projects from writing angel tickets, to freelancing, raising a fund, and starting his own company. After a while he then realised that he needs to update his personal Operating System and openly shares his struggles and how overcame them. This conversation was fantastic and I have been listening to it quite a couple of times now. Feels like an iteration on Ben’s conversation. 0:00 - 1:20: Intro 1:20 - 13:10: Alexej’s career journey & design 13:10 - 17:30: Personal OS 17:30 - 23:40: Top 3 takeaways 23:40 - 31:00: 7 steps of marketing 31:00 - 32:30: Fractional CMO 32:30 - 36:50: Critical change factors 36:50 - End: Rapid fire Alexej ___ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexejhabinski/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexejhabinski/) Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7)Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamchrischi3 (https://twitter.com/iamchrischi3)

12. 

    24 Oct 2023

    How to get into YC 3-Months after Quitting their Jobs I Emil & Finn I Founders of Kapa.ai

    Finn & Emil are the founders of Kapa.ai (http://Kapa.ai), recently finished YC in San Francisco, and in this episode lead us through their journey. Considering that they have been formally out of their jobs since January ‘23, their trajectory has been stunning and - at least from the outside in - partially peaked when they were invited to meet Paul Graham. We cover their respective journeys, top learnings from YC, and follow through their most significant career decisions. This is an insane episode. 0 - 1:10: Intro 1:10 - 3:20: Core YC learnings 3:20 - 7:45: Starting out 7:45 - 11:45 : Ideation 11:45 - : 16:30 Getting into YC 16:30 - 30:00 : YC IRL 30:00 - 36:00: Meeting Paul Graham 36:00 - 41:00: Fundraising 41:00 - 52:50: Personal Stories Finn & Emil 52:50 - end: Rapid fire Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

13. 

    23 Oct 2023

    How to Bootstrap Software to €1m ARR I David Chevalier I Co-Founder of Surfe

    In this episode I speak with David Chevalier, CEO of the tech sales startup Surfe. David and his co-founder Romain bootstrapped the company for 1 year until they hit $1m ARR. In this episode you do not only get to know Surfe and understand how they won big clients, but also get to know David. When speaking to David you enter his bubble, which is a highly creative space characterized by authenticity, warmth, and playfulness. 0:00-3:10 Intro 3:10 - 4:50: Our personal connection 5:50 - 09:30: David’s background in finance 09:30 - 12:30: Getting into HEC 12:30 - 24:00: Bootstrapping Surfe to €1m ARR 24:00 - 30:00: Winning Google and other large clients 30:00 - 35:40: Company identity 35:40 - 40:00: Surfe’s international company culture and benefits 40:50 - 43:20: Collaboration with Romain, co-founder and CTO 44:50 - 50:40: David as a character 50:40 - end : Rapid fire questions Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamchrischi3

14. 

    19 Oct 2023

    How to move overachieve Google Sales Targets by 625% I Janis Strelnieks I Reddit

    Janis Strelnieks is a tech sales archetype by the book. He has worked for an array of multi-billion dollar companies in the sales divisions from finance, to crypto, and ads. He shares with us his journey which ranges from learning sales in through literally picking up a hot phone at BlackRock, taking the critical decision for him to move into the Tech world, and let’s us know his top 3 sales learnings. 0:00-9:20: Intro 9:10-13:46: Learning Sales at BlackRock for the first time 13:46-18:12: Janis on retail investing 18:12-24:00: Switching to Google 24:00-28:00 Accelerating sales learnings at Google 28:00 - 23:10 : Google’s sales machine 23:10-33:20: Janis Top 3 Sales Learnings 33:20-40:40: Switching to Fireblocks 40:40-42:45: Future of Crypto 42:45 - 46:00 Work at Reddit 46:00-48:20 : What if he could start over again 48:20-end: Non-linear career paths Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-abt-44b038b7/

15. 

    19 Oct 2023

    How to find your Passion I Thomas Klein I PowerUs

    Thomas Klein is the head of people at PowerUs. In this conversation we speak about how he discovered his passion for HR through being hyper engaged in the space, and amongst others launch Germany’s biggest New Work Meetup, prototyping lots, and challenging existing norms in the space. He also touches upon scaling an organization and hiring A-talent. 0:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=0s) - 2:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=150s): Intro 2:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=150s) - 5:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=330s) : Scaling PowerUs from an HR perspective 5:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=330s) - 10:15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=615s) : Scaling Culture 10:15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=615s) - 17:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=1020s): VCs and People as a factor 17:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=1020s) - 26:20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=1580s): hiring top talent 26:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=1590s) - 35:20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=2120s): Thomas’ Career Journey 35:20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=2120s) - 39:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=2350s) : Working with young, first time founders 39:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrwUQt0c-8&t=2350s) - Outro and future of work

16. 

    17 Oct 2023

    How to do Value-Based Career Design I Ben Valk I Founder of Q

    Ben made it in his mid-twenties already to Engagement Manager at McKinsey in LA, worked amongst others for Goldman Sachs, the UN in NYC and GFC in Berlin. and shares with us his playbook on value based career design, how he promoted so rapidly, and how mentoring boosted his journey. 0:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=0s) - 3:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=210s): Intro and briefly about his new Startup 3:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=210s) - 5:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=330s): Top down and bottom-up career framework 5:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=330s) - 10:09 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=609s): How Ben massively accelerated his career 10:09 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=609s) - 13:09 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=789s): Understanding his own values 13:09 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=789s) - 17:34 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=1054s): Value exercise 17:34 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=1054s) - 24:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=1440s): Chris’ understanding of his journey 24:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=1440s) - 27:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=1630s): Leaving McKinsey 27:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=1630s) - 31:40 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=1900s): Switching from being employed to being an entrepreneur 31:40 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=1900s) - 34:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=2050s): Ben’s Northstar 34:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=2050s) - 37:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=2270s): How Ben came up with his vision 38:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=2280s) - 41:15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=2475s): McKinsey Promotion Framework 41:15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=2475s) - 44:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=2670s): Active career design 44:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=2670s) - 49:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=2990s): New Work Landscape 49:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEQCnejA4f4&t=2990s) - end: Ben’s Framework today and Ikigai

17. 

    10 Oct 2023

    How to use Content to get hired via X by a Unicorn Founder I Ariel Renous I Founder Augment.org

    Ariel Renous, co-founder of Augment.org (http://Augment.org) In this episode he shares with us amongst other things his most valuable move on getting onto this journey, why VC wasn’t for him and the role mentorship played on his journey 0:00 - 2:34: Intro & Bloomberg Coverage 2:34 - 8:00 : Online Education disrupting traditional Education 8:00 - 9:25 : Northstar for Augment 9:25 - 10:45: Competing for the same VC internship 10:45 - 12:45: The power of content creation 12:45 - 14:40: Becoming an expert in a topic 14:40 - 20:11: Spark to get into content creation and working at Jellysmack 20:11 - 23:23: Quitting Jellysmack and starting up 23:23 - 26:30: Mentoring for Ariel 26:30 - 29:40: Augment’s full-office work setup 29:40 - end : Augment’s next 6 months and open positions

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