I mean that seriously - not as criticism. If you’re designing a curriculum right now, the world is telling you that every job is about to change fundamentally. So you gather smart people in a room and try to produce something that will still make sense in four years, when your students graduate and walk into whatever comes next.

That’s an almost impossible task.

And yet the argument for teaching fundamentals has never been stronger - just for a different reason than before.

It used to be: you need to know how to do the work. Now it’s: you need to know enough to supervise the work. Those sound similar. They’re not. But they both require the same foundation.

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A student who never learned to write code can’t tell an agent why its architecture is wrong. They can ask it to try again, sure. But they can’t steer it. A medical student who skipped the hard parts can’t catch a hallucinated drug interaction.

Domain knowledge is now the error-detection layer. Without it, you’re not really using AI. You’re just accepting what it gives you.

There’s a harder problem that most people don’t want to say out loud: if AI can pass most exams, how do you verify that any learning actually happened? You can ban the tools, but that’s just fighting reality. The entire assessment model needs rethinking.

The direction probably isn’t banning the tools. It’s making the reasoning visible - not “here is your answer” but “here is what I accepted, what I rejected, and why.” That requires domain knowledge to function. And it reveals quickly who has it.

That’s incredibly hard for a system that has functioned the same way for decades and has strong incentives to keep doing so.

What survives all of this is judgment. Not the word people use loosely - the actual thing.

Knowing which question to ask before you know the answer. Recognizing that something is wrong before you can prove it. Developing taste through years of exposure to good and bad work. Being wrong in low-stakes environments often enough that it starts to mean something.

That kind of judgment can be learned, but not really taught - not in the classical sense. It’s slow. It can’t be compressed or prompted or shortcut. It requires time, friction, repetition, and failure.

Which is, if universities are honest about it, probably what they were largely for in the first place.

Most of what they do is changing. That part doesn’t.

🙏

Be kind,

Manuel

Went for two walks. Cooked for myself. Listened to a few podcasts while doing some chores. The rest - the majority of the time, honestly - I just tinkered. I tried new tools and built small things. I went down rabbit holes that led nowhere and a few that surprised me.

The most important part: I loved every minute of it. I got completely lost in time.

The Case for Exploration

The tools are changing fast enough that what seemed like a toy three months ago is starting to look like infrastructure. Things that were firmly in demo territory are becoming genuinely useful.

If you don’t understand what’s actually possible, you can’t make good decisions about where to go and what to build. The tinkering isn’t just fun - it’s research.

At least that’s what I tell myself. And I do believe it. Mostly.

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But here’s what I also notice.

AI creates infinite surface area. You can write, design, code, research, automate - all in the same afternoon. So you do. And slowly, without noticing, you’re producing more than before.

But the process of work feels thinner.

The outputs have enough polish that you can convince yourself something real happened. The friction that used to tell you whether something was worth pursuing is gone. And friction, it turns out, was doing more work than you realized.

There’s a concept from learning science called desirable difficulty. The idea is that resistance - the friction that makes something hard - is often what makes it worth doing. It’s not just an obstacle. It’s a signal. When something costs you effort, your brain flags it as important.

AI is quietly removing that signal.

The thing that used to take you three days now takes twenty minutes - and it looks the same. You end the day feeling spent but not invested. Tired but not proud. Your brain ran hard, but on a treadmill. The scary part isn't that you wasted time. It's that you can't tell you wasted it.

That’s not a productivity problem. That’s a judgment problem.

Depth vs. Surface

I don’t want to be a butterfly. Touching things, moving on before anything gets hard, leaving a trail of half-built ideas.

Depth creates force. Breadth mostly creates surface. Some people argue the future belongs to those who synthesize widely and move fast - maybe. I just don’t think that’s where the work that actually matters comes from.

I’m a builder. AI has given that part of me an infinitely compliant environment. Every idea works. Every prototype looks good. Nothing pushes back. And when nothing pushes back, you stop finding out which ideas are actually yours. The friction that used to frustrate you was also telling you what you cared about enough to push through.

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What’s Actually Hard

The part I keep coming back to isn’t whether to tinker or commit. It’s that AI has made those two things look identical.

In the past, if you were just tinkering, you knew it. The output was rough. There was a natural moment where the discomfort of having nothing real to show forced a decision: go deeper, or move on.

That moment is getting harder to find.

Because the output is always polished. The session always feels full. The afternoon always looks productive. The low-grade anxiety that used to push you toward commitment - it’s being smoothed over by a stream of outputs that look real enough.

The discipline that matters most right now isn’t time management or focus. It’s the discipline to occasionally stop and ask: does this actually matter, or does it just look like it does? Focus has always mattered, but - ironically - in a world of abundance, it does even more so.

What I actually want to protect isn’t the productivity. It’s the craft. The actual work. The kind that carries something in it that only you could have made. When everyone’s using the same tools, when everything comes out polished, the average is the default output. And if you’re not careful, you’re producing at the average. Technically fine. Completely forgettable.

That’s what I don’t want. Not for strategic reasons. Just because making something real still matters to me.

And I don’t want to lose the ability to tell the difference.

🙏

Be kind,

Manuel

I’m slightly changing how I write here. Shorter pieces, more often. More of what I’m actually thinking about as it happens, less waiting until I have something fully formed.

Some context on where I’m coming from: I’ve been vibe coding for more than three months now. It started with building things in an IDE, watching ideas become real faster than I ever thought possible. By now, much of my work has moved into the IDE, triggering skills and workflows for non-coding tasks.

At the same time my main job is to help each of the PIRATE companies be better off six, twelve, eighteen months from now. That means thinking about AI constantly. What it means for the businesses. For the people in them. For our clients.

It keeps me up at night, honestly. Not because I think it’s bad - but because I think it’s the biggest change I’ve faced in my working life, and I’m still figuring out what that means. Some days I look at all of this and feel genuine excitement. Other days the lens clouds over - not with fear, but with the quiet pressure of knowing this actually matters and not yet having all the answers. Usually both.

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I read a lot, build a lot, have a lot of conversations - founders, leaders, people who keep calling and asking where this is headed and what it means for their business. I don’t have clean answers. I have a perspective, some useful frameworks, and a lot of honest uncertainty.

That’s what I want to share more of here.

I write in three areas now: longer essays on making business more human, shorter pieces on AI and the human organization, and a founder’s lens on building. What follows is one of the shorter ones. Would love to hear what you think.

AI doesn’t help or hurt companies. It helps or hurts specific people inside them. Those two things are not the same, and the distinction matters.

The efficiency gains from AI tend to flow upward. They show up as faster output, leaner headcount, or compressed timelines. And they eventually show up in margins and board decks. The person whose tasks just got automated doesn’t usually capture those gains. That’s not a controversial observation. It’s how value has been distributed through most technology shifts so far.

But there’s something less discussed happening underneath that.

But this assumes companies have a clear direction that AI simply speeds up. Most don’t. What AI amplifies isn’t a company’s strategy - it’s its current behavior, including the politics, inertia, and confused incentives that strategy documents tend to paper over.

More precisely: AI accelerates exposure.

The manager who seemed valuable because they processed information quickly and produced polished decks has lost that specific edge. What’s now visible is whether there was any actual judgment underneath. AI doesn’t create judgment. It just removes the cover that hid the absence of it.

This plays out differently depending on where your edge actually lives.

If your edge was execution speed, AI compresses it - your competitors get the same tools. If your edge was taste, relationships, domain knowledge built over years, or data nobody else has, AI becomes amplification. The gap between you and others tends to widen, not close.

The engineer who knows where all the bodies are buried. The salesperson whose relationships run deep. The designer with genuine taste. These people tend to get more powerful. Meanwhile, roles built around executing well-defined tasks quickly are under real pressure.

Same technology. Same company. Very different experiences depending on where you sit.

The question worth asking isn’t whether AI helps your company. It’s who inside it actually benefits - and who is quietly absorbing the cost.

It’s an uncomfortable question. Which is probably why it doesn’t come up enough.

🙏

Be kind,

Manuel

PS: Do you prefer shorter posts or longer posts? What would you want me to write about more? Would love to know. Just send me a quick message.

Think of two axes.

The first: how rule-based is the work? At one end, strict rules written down somewhere. At the other, judgment calls that depend on reading a room, a person, a situation that’s never quite the same twice. The second: how physical is the environment? Purely digital at one end, purely physical at the other.

Work that’s digital and rule-based is going first. Tax prep. Compliance checks. Data routing. The rules are already written, the feedback is immediate, the environment is perfectly readable. AI just executes it faster and cheaper.

Work that’s physical and ambiguous is last. Maybe never. A trauma nurse reading a patient’s face for pain they can’t articulate. A plumber diagnosing a leak in a 100-year-old house where nothing is where the blueprint says it should be. A founder sitting across from a furious investor, trying to hold the relationship together without saying the wrong thing.

AI can draft a perfect legal contract in three seconds. It can’t sit across from someone who’s about to walk out and talk them back in.

A useful test: could a brilliant intern do this task with the right instructions? Not mediocre - brilliant. One who never sleeps, never gets frustrated, processes information faster than any human alive. If yes, the task is exposed. If the instructions themselves are the hard part - if there’s no way to write down what “good” looks like -you’re probably okay.

For now. That part matters more than people want it to.

The physical, ambiguous quadrant is shrinking. Slowly, but it’s shrinking. Surgical robots handle procedures considered too delicate for machines a decade ago. Autonomous vehicles navigate ambiguity that seemed permanently human.

Most people, if they’re honest about how they actually spend their week, find they’re more exposed than their job title suggests.

The useful exercise: write down the 10 tasks that consume most of your time. Ask the intern question for each one. Map it honestly.

The corners aren’t safe. They’re moving.

Know where you stand before someone else shows you.

🙏

Be kind,

Manuel

Most companies want software they don’t have. Not because they chose spreadsheets and manual processes. Because building software was expensive, slow, and required talent they couldn’t find. The CIO who wants to automate fifteen internal workflows isn’t waiting by choice. They’re waiting because they can’t get it done.

AI changes that. Work that needed a team of eight needs two people. Six months becomes six weeks. That unlocks a backlog of building that was always wanted and never started.

So the people saying AI creates more software jobs have a point. Demand for software has always outrun supply. That doesn’t go away - it finally gets addressed.

The catch is that the engineers who capture that demand aren’t average engineers. They’re the ones who think in systems, write clean specs, and know when the output is wrong even when it looks right. Maybe 10% of the current workforce. Probably less.

So you get a split. The top tier gets more valuable - more leverage, more output, more demand than ever. Everyone below that line becomes, quietly, optional. Not fired on Tuesday. Just not hired next year.

The CIO sees a flood of projects they can finally build. They need people to run them. More demand, not less.

The mid-level developer sees their daily work getting absorbed by tools they don’t fully control. Their output looks the same. Their footing isn’t.

Both are looking at the same thing.

Nobody knows yet what the expert engineer in an agent world actually looks like. Not the companies hiring for it. Not the engineers trying to become it. What seems clear is that the people who land well are the ones who can hold the whole picture - who understand what needs to be built, why, and whether what came out is actually right.

Judgment. Clarity. Taste.

Every AI consultant has put those three words on a slide. Usually as reassurance. But they were always the scarce things - and scarcity compounds.

The engineers who had them before any of this started are about to find out just how much they’re worth.

🙏

Be kind,

Manuel

That felt fine when agents were doing simple tasks under close watch. It doesn’t feel fine anymore.

Think about hiring someone new. You don’t hand them the master key on day one. They get access to what their job needs. A marketing hire doesn’t touch the financial accounts. A contractor fixing your website doesn’t get your customer database. Not because you distrust them. Because it’s just sensible.

We haven’t done this with AI agents.

It mostly didn’t matter when agents were small and supervised. But agents now run for hours. Days. They spawn other agents. One agent hands work to another agent you’ve never reviewed. Suddenly “it has my permissions” stops feeling convenient. It starts feeling like a problem.

A human assistant self-limits. They don’t read every email they technically can access. They use judgment. An agent doesn’t do that. It touches everything it can reach, because that’s what it’s built to do. Give it access to your inbox to help with scheduling, and it might quietly read three years of sensitive conversations. Not maliciously. Just because nothing stopped it.

That’s what people mean by blast radius. It’s not paranoia. It’s a new kind of exposure that didn’t exist before.

There’s a second problem. When an agent makes a bad call, your logs say “user did X.” You can’t tell what the agent decided versus what you decided. You can’t audit it. You can’t explain it to a regulator or a lawyer. That matters when agents start touching contracts, finances, or health records.

So where does this go? Somewhere unglamorous. We’ll treat agents like employees. Give them their own identities. Scoped access. Audit trails. Some people are already doing this by hand - creating separate accounts, managing agents like contractors. It’s clunky. But it works, because the underlying infrastructure already exists.

What needs to be built is the layer that makes it automatic. Something that lets you say: this agent can read these folders, email these people, and nothing else. And if it reaches beyond that, it simply can’t.

Not because someone is watching. Because the permission isn’t there.

That’s not a moonshot. It’s identity and access management, adapted for agents. Unglamorous infrastructure that suddenly becomes load-bearing.

The internet didn’t get adopted by businesses when it got faster. It got adopted when it got secure enough to trust with real work. Agents are at that same moment right now.

The agents that get trusted with real work won’t necessarily be the most powerful. They’ll be the ones with clear boundaries. Because boundaries are what let an organization say yes.

🙏

Be kind,

Manuel

That “inner circle” can schedule time with me whenever they feel they are stuck, need a fresh perspective, or just want to talk something through.

I am opening up two additional spots in that inner circle.

You can read everything about it below.

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A typical week

Last week I was on 14 calls with entrepreneurs. 

They asked me for support, or feedback, or just wanted to talk through an issue.

These were some of the questions that came my way:

• “An international customer didn’t pay and isn’t responding anymore. Should we litigate or not?”

• “Somebody applied that we would love to hire. However, we aren’t sure whether it’s the right time and whether we can afford her.”

• “I have a personal issue in my relationship. It affects my work, as I cannot focus and don’t get a lot done. We have some tight deadlines and I cannot take time off. Any advice?”

• “We need to let go of a person. I want to do this right. Can you help me talk through the process?”

• “My co-founder and I are in constant conflict. Can we talk through some potential solutions?”

• “I have a hard time defining the right KPIs for my business. I am stuck and could use some feedback.”

• “I am not doing well. The business isn’t going anywhere. Should I quit?”

• “I spend way too much time managing our liquidity. Any ideas on how to handle this better?”

• “We have the option to work with a bigger customer. It would be great for revenue, but isn’t our focus and has little strategic value. Should we take the money or stick to the strategy?”

• “We just raised a round of funding. I know I should be happy and pumped. In reality, I am scared. It seems all so much. I am not sure whether we can hit the targets we promised. What to do?”

This is a pretty typical week for me. Just as typical as the challenges are for entrepreneurs.

It helps to not be going through the challenges alone and knowing that there is somebody at your side. No matter what.

That’s what the “inner circle” is for.

Being close to ‘my crowd’

Naturally, all entrepreneurs from companies in the PIRATE family are in the inner circle. However, I have been letting in non-PIRATEs for over a decade as well.

A few years ago, I put up a website, but I have been pretty low-key about this part of my work. This isn’t a scalable activity, and “renting” out time never seemed particularly smart.

And yet, it’s the most fulfilling work that I do. 

I get to be close to ‘my crowd’ - entrepreneurs who have the will to change the world for the better. People I enjoy spending time with.

Delving into their world, understanding their challenges, and helping them navigate requires me to think and connect deeply. 

It's about grasping their motivations, connecting with their needs, understanding the context, and helping them reveal their path.

The beauty? My questions, feedback, and insights have an immediate impact on people’s journeys. At the same time, it helps me reflect and grow.

Doing something useful, being good at it, and genuinely enjoying the process?

That feels like the Ikigai sweet spot. 

A pretty good place to be in, to be honest.

Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey

I started my first company in 2003, more than 20 years ago. Most of the challenges that an entrepreneur faces, I can deeply relate to. 

The tough conversation, the hard decisions, the setbacks, the personal sacrifices, the feelings of isolation, the mental exhaustion, the anxiety.

Being the leader of a company means that persistent problems eventually end up in your lab. And as a founder, those problems are everywhere. When mud hits the fan, guess who everyone is looking at for answers?

The issues often seem to have obvious solutions in isolation, but they are less so when put in the context of the specific business, team, and stakeholder environment. 

And they usually come with decisions. Real decisions are hard because “something’s gotta give”.

That stream of constant problems and decisions can be exhausting. Eventually, it will reveal personal questions that were nagging below the surface. Questions closely related to our hopes, desires, fears, needs, or beliefs.

“Why am I doing this and what for?”

“The initial passion is gone, by now it feels like a constant rat race to hit milestones.”

“Is this what I want to be doing in the next few years?”

“How do I grow, transform, and build a life of meaning?”

On that lonely journey, it is hard to find somebody to trust and to speak with openly. 

And yet there is hardly anything more effective than taking moments of reflection, structuring the challenges, and prioritizing well. 

For the business, but also the personal journey.

Join my “inner circle”

I am accepting two more ambitious entrepreneurs into my “inner circle”. 

This is what to expect.

Working together is going to be a no-BS relationship. No BS because it will only work if we are radically honest with each other and ourselves. Relationship, because this shouldn’t be a one-time transaction, but something meaningful that grows over time. 

I will make it a priority to help you get to wherever you want to go. The only thing I expect of you is that you are sincere. Sincere about being radically honest. Sincere about putting in the work. Sincere about genuinely wanting to grow into your best self.

We will agree on one or two fixed time slots every month. This is our regular heartbeat. It keeps us on track and moving forward. You will decide on the topics. It’s your journey, after all. 

What I have to say will be hands-on and straightforward, but always from the heart and with your interest in mind. Whatever happens, you can count on me. I am relentlessly in your corner. 

When there is anything you need to discuss between the regular meetings, you get priority links to book time in my calendar. That way, we can address unexpected or urgent matters.

If I can help with my PIRATE network, I will gladly do so.

I am comfortable working with you in English, German, or Dutch. 

You pay a monthly retainer. But it's not for my time; it's for my support and having your back. Cancel whenever - no strings attached.

Curious? Send me a message and let’s get to know each other.

🏴‍☠️

Be kind,

Manuel

It’s called AtlasZero and its mission is to make it easier for companies to be more sustainable. Read all about it in this edition.

Share 🏴‍☠️ Making Business More Human

🏴‍☠️

Before I share the story and what we are up to, here are a few highlights from what has been happening in the PIRATE family lately:

• Division5 is extending its 3D offering beyond its core developer outstaffing services. We are very bullish about in-browser 3D experiences and expect substantial market growth in the next 2-3 years. Check out the 3D animation on the division5 website to see what I mean.

• VisualMakers has extended its offering beyond NoCode courses and masterclasses. The team will now also build NoCode applications and websites and will help you maintain them yourself afterward. They are not only selling fish but teaching you how to catch it as well. 

• I have published the Last Burn speech, including the full transcript. It was an emotional ending to the PIRATE Summit series. A moment I will treasure for the rest of my life.

🏴‍☠️

How it started - Joining the ship

Sometimes a simple cold email can be the start of a venture. Daniel’s mail in July 2021 was just that.

Daniel had seen one of my keynotes at a university. I spoke about how I see the world and how PIRATE operates. He immediately reached out and inquired about becoming an Entrepreneur in Residence. After two interviews, I hired him. 

Daniel is a hands-on guy. Before joining PIRATE, he tried a few startup ideas. One of his ideas, 'One Minute For Nature,' was started with a friend who now works at VisualMakers, another company in the PIRATE family. The idea was to educate about sustainability and use the advertising revenue to plant mangroves in Madagascar. 

The idea didn’t take off, but was a great breeding ground for learning marketing and storytelling. Combined with the getting things done attitude of starting a company, those skills came in handy at PIRATE.

He took over several smaller projects that were lingering due to lack of attention, such as StartupJoblist and PIRATE.style.

Also, he supported me with our communication and marketing efforts. 

Daniel was vital to bringing back PIRATE Summit in 2022. He had no event experience and didn’t know what he was getting himself into.

Lucky for me.

When the event approached, he quickly took ownership of performance marketing, communications, and general growth hacking.

He did whatever was needed and then some. 

Who can take care of the pitch competition? Daniel raised his hand. Who can organize and facilitate the founder-investor match-making? Don’t worry, Daniel will take care of it.

And he did.

Watching the Burn together at PIRATE Summit 2022. A highlight after months of working until exhaustion.

A training ground for aspiring entrepreneurs

Usually, companies try to retain talent as long as possible. At PIRATE, we celebrate if people leave us after some time and start something of their own.

We need more entrepreneurs in the world, and we are happy if we can inspire some to choose that path.

When I hired Daniel, I told him exactly that. 

And that’s what he did. From the start, the relationship wasn’t like that of an employer and an employee. 

He took ownership naturally. With a willingness and thirst to learn as much as possible to eventually start something by himself.

The time working on the two PIRATE Summits was a great way for him to explore opportunities.

As he was responsible for the Walk-The-Plank pitch competitions, he gained a lot of insights into the world of sustainability solutions.

He was drawn to the topic naturally. With PIRATE Summit, he got to interact and meet with the founders. He got to study their solutions, got to ask questions, and became an expert in this nascent but quickly growing market.

Something with sustainability. But what?

Daniel’s passion is for sustainability. Looking into a business that addresses the climate crisis was a logical step. 

Solving Real Problems has always been something PIRATE wants to advocate.

I was immediately on board when he told me about his initial plans to start something in the sustainability space. But what?

Slowly, an idea started to form for Daniel: “What if I could combine my knowledge of the climate solution market with my passion for sustainability?”

He started exploring some ideas. First as a side activity, later in more seriousness. After the Last Burn, there was a natural transition to work on his own thing in earnest.

PIRATE would fund the business. Provide financing, network, and know-how. But he needed to find his own idea. Something he really wanted to do. An activity and a purpose that he gets out of bed for every day, even when times are tough.

He found it in AtlasZero.

Making the market of sustainability solutions more transparent

The mission of AtlasZero is simple: We make it easier for companies to be more sustainable. As a first step, we do that by making the market of sustainability solutions more transparent.

Currently, we have over 700 solutions in our database. Most with detailed data. Some even with pricing info, which turns out to be hard to get as solutions are still figuring out their pricing strategies.

For the time being, we are focusing on CSRD and DMA solutions. You don’t know what that is? I didn’t either.

CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) is a reporting standard that is - from this year on - mandatory for all companies with 500 or more employees. These companies will have to report for the first time in 2025, covering the year 2024. 

Fundamentally, with CSRD, the companies report on how sustainable they are. In a sense, it is similar to financial reporting. Imagine companies making decisions based not only on financial but also on sustainability criteria.

DMA (Double Materiality Assessment) is a process for identifying and prioritizing the sustainability topics that the company should report on for the CSRD.

What began as an initial project, AtlasZero transformed into a company as soon as we gained enough confidence in its potential. Since Daniel has been a digital nomad, traveling the world for over two years and planning to continue doing so for the foreseeable future, we chose to establish the company in Estonia.

The moment we officially founded AtlasZero. Daniel was in the Azores.

Testing assumptions and ‘hardening’ the idea

My favorite part of building a startup is its starting phase - the initial metamorphosis; the process of transforming an idea into a product and then into a solution that people are genuinely willing to pay for.

It's like riding a roller coaster that's both thrilling and terrifying – and you're the one building the tracks. One day you are on top of the world, the other day the mountain to climb feels insurmountable. With AtlasZero we are still in that roller coaster phase. But we have made some progress.

Over the past six months, we explored the market, tested our initial assumptions, and iteratively adapted and tweaked them. Following numerous customer interviews and refinement of both the website and its offerings, things began to fall into place last October.

By now, AtlasZero has 

• Built the most comprehensive database of sustainability solutions 

• Launched a free CSRD guide that has been downloaded hundreds of times

• Started a niche YouTube channel with more than 20 videos and thousands of views

• More than 700 profiles of sustainability solutions freely available on our website.

• Over 1 million LinkedIn views of Daniel’s posts on LinkedIn in 2023.

• Supported various large companies in their sustainability journey.

Announcing the CSRD Solution Finder

As of this morning, we have published our first digital product: “The CSRD Solution Finder”.

We make months of research available in the most practical way that we can think of.

With this guide, you get access to our database of CSRD solutions and will be able to narrow down to those solutions that are a good fit for your company. For customers, we cut down weeks of research to a few minutes. 

And this is just the start.

Welcome to the PIRATE family, AtlasZero! I am looking forward to seeing you grow up. 

Let’s make businesses more sustainable!

🏴‍☠️

Be safe, be healthy, and be kind. 🙏🏽

Manuel

For the third day of PIRATE Summit, we want to do something new: 

A retreat for 150 founders with intense discussion groups and new experiences. We call it PIRATE Circle. More on the idea below. Tell me what you like or how it could be improved. If there is enough interest, we will make it happen.

Tell us what you think about it

🏴‍☠️

🔥 Quick PIRATE Summit update! 🔥

Last week, we closed applications for the Walk-the-Plank competition. We will announce the pitch startups soon. 

The first 30+ speakers are on our website. We publish 8+ new speakers every week now. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram for details.

Exhibition Day is filling up nicely. If you want to showcase your startup, get a booth.

Get a booth at Exhibition Day

🏴‍☠️

When we started in 2010 we wanted to create a space to connect founders. To give them a safe space to have meaningful connections, honest conversations and help each other on their journeys. 

That idea turned into PIRATE Summit you know today. 🏴‍☠️

This year on the third day we want to do something new. A different manifestation of the same idea. One that fits the current Zeitgeist.

I would love your feedback on it! 🙏

If there is enough interest, we will make it happen.

The power of P2P learning

In 2009, I was part of a small group of entrepreneurs facing similar challenges in their businesses. We met every other month for a few hours and had “real talk”.

It was extremely valuable.

Especially, because I felt like I had no clue how to run a business, and the world was in a financial crisis.

Three things stood out from that experience: 

1. The best learning is from those going through a similar situation and are a few steps ahead of you.

2. Being part of a group of like-minded people helped me navigate the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship better.

3. It really helped to bond and create deep connections.

Over the years I have been part of several similar settings and groups. Every time the outcome was valuable.

I am so convinced that I want to bring that idea to PIRATE Summit this year. 

Designed for entrepreneurs

This is what the day could look like: On June 29th we organize a one-day retreat specifically designed for entrepreneurs, builders, and leaders.

We create a safe space to learn, dive into new experiences and connect with each other. A space that combines deep conversations with hands-on experiences to gain deeper insights, see different perspectives, and take more deliberate action.

The participants will be curated to ensure a good fit. 

The agenda will consist of two main elements: High-quality, hands-on workshops and Circle groups.

Workshops will be new experiences. Things you don’t usually do. With experienced instructors.

Circle groups are intense peer-to-peer exchange groups, curated based on the most effective learning experience for each participant.

Content in those groups is structured around a tried and tested agenda. You'll be able to learn from and connect with other entrepreneurs, builders, and leaders in your Circle, and gain valuable insights that you can apply to your own work.

There will also be plenty of moments for networking and community building, so you can connect with others who share your passion for entrepreneurship.

Let me know: What do you think of it?

What do you think of the idea? Would this be valuable for you? Would you join? How could we improve it? What would you want to get out of it?

Let me know by replying to this mail. I read them all and answer every reply. 

The more responses I get, the more likely it is that this is going to happen. 😉

You can also participate in the discussion on LinkedIn.

🏴‍☠️

Be safe, be healthy, and be kind. 🙏🏽

Manuel

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At a glance

• Albania faces the challenges of brain drain, corruption, lack of capital, and entrepreneurial skills.

• PIRATE still invested because there is ample opportunity and potential as well.

• The PIRATE “Master Plan” from 2019 - the investment thesis if you will - was to build a profitable service business and then create product spin-offs with a global ambition.

• BEEZ.games - Albania's first indie game studio - is the first division5 spin-off.

• We are doubling down and want to invest in more entrepreneurs from Albania.

🏴‍☠️

🔥🔥 PIRATE Summit updates! 🔥🔥

Last week we started announcing our lineup of speakers around our theme #BurnToRelearn. Many more to come. Follow us on LinkedIn to find out more about each one.

📢 Walk-The-Plank applications are still open! The deadline to apply is next week.

Applications for the Female Founders Program and our Entrepreneurship Scholarship Program are still open as well.

Let’s make this the most female and international PIRATE Summit ever. 🚀

🏴‍☠️

I took a week off to travel with my kids through Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. The days were filled with adventure, surprises, lots of laughter, and spending some quality time with family. It went by in a flash, just as good times do!

The week before, I spent a few days in Albania, meeting colleagues and people from the local startup ecosystem. 🇦🇱

Every time I visit Albania, I learn something new about the country, its history and its people. I am most interested in the latter.

This visit was filled with polarities. A pendulum that swung between pessimism and hope. 

In this edition, I share some thoughts and observations from that trip. I will also give some insight into why PIRATE invested in Albania, the “Master Plan”, and our next steps…

The Albanian Startup Ecosystem

At the second day of my Tirana visit, I organized a spontaneous PIRATE meetup to bring together some of the local startup ecosystem players. 

Arlind - founder of co-working space Coolab and our host for the meetup - told me that there haven’t been many gatherings in the last months. So this was an excellent opportunity to bring people together again.

In the end, 25 people showed up. That’s not bad. After all, the Albanian startup ecosystem is pretty small. 

There is plenty of tech talent and yet only very few startups with scalable products. At least not many that stay in the country.

Why is that? 

The young and educated are leaving

Albania has one of the highest emigration rates in the world.

In the chart below, published by Global Economy in the human flight and brain drain index, Albania is ranked the first country in Europe suffering brain drain and the 8th country in the world. 😱

That’s not good. Unfortunately, it’s very much in line with what I gathered anecdotally during conversations with individuals in the last years. 

Brain drain is a palpable issue that comes up repeatedly. And I find it pretty depressing, to be honest.

You can feel a sense of disillusionment and disengagement, particularly among young and educated people who feel that their prospects for a better future are limited. And it creates an infectious vicious cycle. As more people leave, others want to follow their example.

The main reasons why people leave seem to be better economic opportunities elsewhere, a lack of progress, and a lack of trust in the political system and its institutions. 

Money over merit

One of the key factors driving Albania’s brain drain and hindering the country's economic development is corruption. 

According to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2022 by Transparency International, Albania scored 36 out of 100, which indicates a high level of perceived corruption in the country. This score has been relatively consistent over the past 10 years.

The European Commission's 2020 Report on Albania states the same. Corruption remains a serious issue, especially in public procurement, judiciary, and law enforcement.

It is a pervasive problem that affects people's daily lives. For instance, corruption can make it challenging to access public services, such as healthcare or education, without paying a bribe or - how the locals call it - “speed money”. 

Individuals are forced to pay public officials to speed up bureaucratic procedures or receive favorable treatment. This can be anything from getting a driver's license to registering a business. I have been told that this is something deeply rooted in society and thus hard to change. People resort to bribery to solve problems. It’s just “how things are done”.

Corruption also affects the startup ecosystem by creating uncertainty and instability. It can make it harder for startups to get the necessary licenses, permits, or contracts they need to operate. Businesses that refuse to engage in corrupt practices may face retaliation from officials or competitors.

This doesn’t sound like an environment that attracts investments. And it doesn’t.

Share 🏴‍☠️ Making Business More Human

Lack of capital

There is no real venture capital in Albania. Also, there aren’t any active angel investors. At least I haven’t met them yet, and nobody could introduce me to any. 

There seem to be a few businessmen from the Albanian diaspora willing to invest in (traditional) Albanian businesses. Most of them don’t have an angel investor or startup mindset, though.

The few business angels or VCs that might invest, wouldn’t do so directly in an Albanian legal entity. They make it compulsory to incorporate abroad e.g. in Estonia, the UK, or the US.

Consequently, most people with serious entrepreneurial ambitions leave.

Lack of entrepreneurial talent

I generally believe entrepreneurial talent is evenly distributed. However, the surroundings heavily influence whether it will emerge and blossom or not. 

To push Albanian businesses - or startups - forward, plenty of economic development programs have been put forward in the last years. Many of them involve giving out grants to businesses or organizations. 

While I understand the motive behind this kind of development work, it comes with side effects. 

One of which is that people don’t become good at building businesses that earn money. Instead, they become good at getting grants. A friend calls them “grant hoppers”.

Consequently, once the grants are gone, many businesses fade away.

Ok, enough with the pessimism. There must be something good there. After all, PIRATE invested.

Let’s explore the opportunities. 💪

Why did PIRATE invest in Albania?

PIRATE invested in 2019. A lot has happened since. Especially, the pandemic has stirred things up.

Would I do the investment again? Yes, I would. Not only because I have found wonderful new colleagues and friends there, but - even though there is substantial risk - the investment is financially sound. 

And there are quite a few things to be optimistic about. I still believe in the major trends and a huge midterm opportunity in Albania:

1. Tech talent: Tech talent will continue to flourish, as it has in the last years. Albeit the brain drain, the IT industry is growing. This trend will further accelerate as people will increasingly self-educate around tech and entrepreneurship. The rise of NoCode and AI assistants certainly helps.

2. Tax policies: The country offers favorable tax policies for IT companies. As long, as you navigate the administration well, that’s a plus.

3. High effectiveness: You still can have significant impact with small investments especially because of lower labor costs than many other European countries. However, the advantage is shrinking as salaries have been rising steadily in recent years (most notably in the IT sector). 

4. Location: Albania is located in Southeast Europe in the Central European Time Zone with easy access to neighboring markets in the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and beyond. 

5. Cultural similarities: Young people usually speak either English or Italian as a second language. Collaboration has always been very easy. Especially also as there aren’t any big cultural differences.

6. EU membership: If Albania manages to significantly reduce corruption, it might join the EU in the next decade.

All these were also considerations back in 2019. In the end, one factor stood out:

There is opportunity when nearly no-one else is paying attention. Especially if you

• have a trusted partner (thanks Engjell 🙏) and

• build a business with international customers.

The partner lets you navigate the administrative side better. International customers (esp. in combination with a digital business) reduce dependency on local politics. After all, you could leave the country with little effort.

That doesn’t make Albania such a bad place to invest in.

All that is missing for Albanian entrepreneurs to thrive are role models, a network, know-how, and capital. Something that PIRATE can bring in.

PIRATE Master Plan in Albania

If Elon can publish a master plan for Tesla, I can do the same for PIRATE in Albania. 😂

Here is the plan from 2019:

Step 1: Build a profitable service business in Albania that educates Albanian talent on building tech products. Provide enough salary to keep them in the country.

Step 2: Inspire some of those people to start their own products and establish an  entrepreneurial mindset.

Step 3: Provide capital, know-how and network to those people and help them build a durable business.

This was set as a 10+ year plan. There is a high probability it will fail (what can a small organization like PIRATE do anyway!?). Chances are it will go sideways (meaning step 1 works but step 2 or 3 fail).

If it succeeds, then we may see a generation of entrepreneurs in Albania who will build their own companies. Many of which may inspire others to do the same. 

That was the plan. Let’s do the reality check.

Division5 - IT developers as a service

With division5, we are providing our customers in the EU and the US with top IT talent to augment their engineering teams. 

It’s a tried and proven business model that you can find in many emerging countries with tech talent. It has gotten a bad rep because of the many cold outreach messages that people send on platforms like LinkedIn.

The division5 pitch is simple and straightforward:

We recruit, train and coach top IT talent that work fully integrated with the customer in exchange for a fixed monthly retainer.

The key ingredients for successful value delivery are: Great tech talent + clear processes + quality control. 

If you manage those well, then there will be a win-win-win setting. For customers, employees and the business.

COVID has changed the game as remote work has become more common and businesses get more used to remote hiring. However, for nimble, quality-driven offerings there still is a huge market. That’s the niche we will continue to fill.

If you are looking to extend your team, reach out to me and I’ll gladly do the intro. You will not only get top dev talent, but you may also enable the next generation of entrepreneurs in Albania.

Entrepreneurs that build companies like BEEZ games.

Check out division5.co

BEEZ games - Albania's first indie game studio

BEEZ games started as a spin-off last year by a dedicated team of division5 colleagues. 

It’s the first gaming studio in Albania and build by a strong and passionate founding team with excellent know-how in building games and 3D environments.

It’s a tough market but the team is confident that they can pull it off. As am I.

The idea is to build classic game formats with a modern twist to unite players of every generation. 

The first game is an evolution of the iconic arcade racer. A multiplayer desktop game called Seven Seas. A name that incidentally fits perfectly to the pirate theme. 🏴‍☠️

Seven Seas is a race and battle set in an underwater environment. A mix of Mario Kart and Pixar. Imagine if Finding Nemo was a Mad Max battle to the finish line.

Here is me trying out the demo. 

I am not a serious gamer. But it was a fun and intuitive experience even for a noob like me. 

The team has a playable demo with finished graphics and gameplay ready. Currently, they are doing test runs with selected people to fine-tune and eliminate bugs. 

The goal is to have the Beta version this summer. The first release version will be available later this year.

Pretty exciting!

Check out BEEZ.games

What’s next for PIRATE in Albania?

Even though Albania faces many challenges, we believe in the region and its potential. 

In fact, we are doubling down. 💪

division5 is our nucleus to inspire entrepreneurs to take the leap and start a business. We support with know-how, our network, and of course capital.

Formally, we invest in companies, but we’re actually backing people. We aim to write the first check, in businesses founded by entrepreneurs located in Albania. With business ideas that serve international – preferably global – customers.

If you know of any Albanian entrepreneur - or are one yourself - that could see us as their partners, please reach out to me. Would love to chat.

🏴‍☠️

Be safe, be healthy, and be kind. 🙏🏽

Manuel

At a glance

• Relationships over Transactions

• Check the PIRATE Summit 2022 video and tell us about your highlights of the event

•  Nobody likes to connect with fake - the secret ingredient to creating meaningful connections

Share 🏴‍☠️ Making Business More Human

Relationships over Transactions

Naïveté can be an incredible enabler of action. It certainly was for PIRATE Summit.

When we first started Pirate Summit in 2010, we didn’t have any event experience. Because there were no cool startup events to attend at the time, we decided that we’d just create the one we wanted to exist. If we had known what we were getting ourselves into, we would never have started in the first place.

We just did what seemed the right thing to do at the time. How naive. 

More than twelve years later, we still do what we set out to do. We create a space that is designed for building lasting relationships, not just transactions. It’s a place to reconnect with old friends and make new ones.

Meaningful connections that become a part of your journey and help you navigate the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship. Knowing that although it’s often a lonely journey, you are not alone.

This message I received after the last PIRATE Summit sums up very well why we do what we do.

Thank you once again for this amazing event, it was without any doubt very motivational for me, as during the pandemic and after it, my company has been inactive and its barely surviving, so I’ve been thinking to stop this “torture” of myself and my finances; so Pirate Summit was kind of a “last voyage” for me as a representative of my company, but honestly attending it fulfilled me with such positive energies that I changed my mind, I don’t want to stop building what I started and I don’t want to leave the purpose, why I started it; so I encourage you to keep on doing what you’re doing because it’s genius!

Your event is some kind of a statement that there are people around the world who are your “soulmates”, who feel and think the same way despite where they live and what they do and how much money they have, they all share the same thoughts and emotions and after all we are all the same equal human beings with the same ups and downs and everything is possible if we stand together and become one friendly business world of Pirates!

This is just one of many similar messages we receive after each edition. It’s good to know that what we do has impact.

You can read similar voices and stories on the PIRATE Summit website.

Relive PIRATE Summit 2022

One of our biggest misses over the years was that we only had very few recap videos of the events themselves.

One video we still share is the one from 2015. It’s made by our friends at Interactive Pioneers. It captures the atmosphere of the event well.

In 2022, it was time for an update. We asked Interactive Pioneers to once again capture the essence of PIRATE Summit. The people, experiences, venue and vibe of the event.

Luckily they agreed. The result speaks for itself.

The biggest of ARRRs to Interactive Pioneers. The digital brand studio has been developing digital brands and products for +25 years. They are known for creative innovations like their video chatbot. Make sure to check them out.

If you have been to PIRATE Summit 2022, now is the time to reminisce.

If you missed it, here is a glimpse of what to expect this year.

Does the video spark fond memories?

What was your highlight from PIRATE Summit 2022?

Anything you want us to bring back in 2023?

I’d love to know.

Share your highlight from 2022

Nobody likes to connect with fake

Our mission with PIRATE Summit since 2011 is to create meaningful connections.

These days, I read similar missions or value propositions from many events. It’s something that is easily said.

But how can you actually engineer meaningful connections?

The typical answer is matchmaking sessions, a good event app, etc. While these methods work to a certain extent, they have limitations.

Our take since the start has been to engineer the context. The assumption being: Pick an extraordinary venue and gather the right people with the right mindset. Magic will then happen almost by itself!

☑️ With Odonien we found an outstanding venue. 

☑️ The right people we found through our network and strong curation.

❓ The right mindset… 🤔

The last part is actually quite difficult. How can we make sure that participants have the right mindset for the experience we want to create?

The thing is, if you are serious about creating meaningful connections, you have to create a place where people are authentic and can be themselves. Nobody likes to connect with fake.

But you cannot just ask people to be authentic. That’s not actionable.

Our solution, and the (not so) secret ingredient of PIRATE Summit, are our house rules. They might seem trivial, but they are essential to set the tone and create a unique atmosphere.

The house rules have been guiding principles for us since our first edition in 2011. A few years later we made them explicit.

We had five house rules, but we have since reduced them to four as “First Name” was just too obvious. Here they are.

#1 Everyone is a VIP

For us, what you can contribute is more important than the title on your business card. Therefore, we don’t do VIP areas. After the door, we treat everyone the same.

#2 No BS

Everybody hates bullshit. We do, too. We value authenticity. Be real.

#3 Give Give Give Ask

The first question when meeting someone at PIRATE Summit should always be: “What can I do for you?” (it’s literally the first question right after the opening). The startup ecosystem has a strong pay-it-forward culture. That’s one of the main reasons why we love it. If you participate, we expect you to respect that culture and actively promote it. 

#4 ARRR!

For some, the infamous PIRATE Summit “ARRR” is just a war cry. For many, it’s a sign of unity and belonging. A code shared for entrepreneurs on their journey. For us, it stands for even more: A curious, independent and at times rebellious view of the world. A world with endless possibilities that we can and will actively create and shape. Whether you want to fully dress up like a pirate or just “ARRR” from time to time, we welcome you all. After all, PIRATE Summit is what you make of it.

That’s it for today. We hope you liked the video as much as we do and are looking forward to PIRATE Summit in June.

Please tell me: What are your fondest memories of PIRATE Summit 2022? What are you looking out for in 2023? Leave a comment on LinkedIn or reply to this mail.

🏴‍☠️

Be safe, be healthy, and be kind. 🙏🏽

Manuel