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- What keeps you up at night? We’re bringing it to Season 3.
What keeps you up at night? We’re bringing it to Season 3.
🎙️What do you wish someone would finally talk about?
Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,
We’ve been on podcast pause for a few weeks – and yes, some of you noticed (we missed you too!). But the wait is over: Season 3 of our podcast drops next Thursday, May 29.
—» New here? Quick heads-up:
Every Tuesday morning, we break down the latest tech and startup news, share food for thought you won’t get anywhere else, highlight open positions at top European startups, and – of course – drop one meme that says it all.
Every Thursday morning, we share exclusive insights from our podcast guest – the things they didn’t say on air, but that you definitely don’t want to miss.
We’re coming back with founder-tested tactics on implementing OKRs that work, scaling with AI, why GTM engineers matter, how to survive org charts and toddlers, and much more.
Before we hit record again, we’d love to hear from you:
→ What questions are keeping you up at night?
→ What topics should we dive into this season?
→ Who are the guests you’d love to hear from?
Just hit reply! We want to make the best season we ever had!
In the meantime: Follow the Gradient and stay tuned!
PS: Who are we again?
Just two humans - Melanie & Christian running this newsletter and podcast as a nights-and-weekends side hustle, while building businesses by day and juggling everything else life throws at us (yes, including small humans, partners, and precious off-screen moments working on this last point tbh)
Thanks for being on this journey with us - it means the world! 💚
And if you're wondering how you could help us… we’ve got some ideas 👀
Know someone who’d benefit from our newsletter or podcast? Send them our way: followthegradient.io
Did anything we wrote, said, or shared resonate with you — enough to post about it? Please do. A mention on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, Bluesky, YouTube, TikTok, or Threads helps us tremendously. And honestly? Even just a repost, a comment, or a like makes a difference.
Didn’t know we’re on all those platforms? We are — and the quiet ones will definitely get louder over the next few months
And if you have feedback, ideas, guest tips, or thoughts on how we can reach more European founders and operators — we’re all ears. Just hit reply. We’d love to hear from you.
Looking back at Season 2: Founders’ perspective
Missed an episode? Here's the full Season 2 lineup – plus exclusive written insights and curated extras for each one, available only to newsletter subscribers:
Stop Dreaming, Start Doing: Bootstrapping a D2C brand - Insights from AMELI Co-Founder Christina Stahl (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
Go-to-Market Strategies and Scaling Lessons from Brite Payments Founder Lena Hackelöer (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
Navigating uncertainty: Lessons from solo founder Leoni Runge (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
Turning Underestimation Into an Advantage: Startup Lessons from 24-Year-Old Founder Nils Feigenwinter (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
Pivoting, Exiting & Starting Over – Hard Truths from Jessica Holzbach (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
The Hidden Cost of Success: Burnout, Mental Health & Building a Life That Works – with Adrian Locher (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
The VC Trap, Failure Myths & The Power of Bootstrapping with Lea von Bidder (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
Scaling Tech Teams: OKRs, Hiring Right & Avoiding Startup Pitfalls with Christof Roduner, Co-founder of Scandit (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
Scaling Without Breaking: Hard Lessons from Kai Eberhardt, CEO & Co-founder of Healthtech Oviva (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
How to Build and Manage a Successful Startup Board with Nicole Herzog (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
From Zero to 100K Users in 8 Months: Vivid Money's Blueprint for Fintech Disruption with Alex Emeshev (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
The Ultimate Growth Unlock - Frontify Founder and CEO Roger Dudler on building brands and culture (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
What It Takes to Build a Hardware Startup: Vincent Martinez on Scaling Real Tech (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
Robots, Grit, and One Really Dark Night in 2012 – with Roman Hölzl, Founder of RobCo (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
From Acquisition to Reinvention: Tuomas Toivonen on Leading Holvi Through Crisis (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
Go big or go home: Lessons from SumUp’s Early Days – with Petter Made (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
How to End a Startup and What Comes After – Tobias Gunzenhauser, Co-Founder and former CEO of Yamo (Spotify | Apple | Extra insights)
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Follow the Gradient is a weekly newsletter and podcast by the serial founders Melanie Gabriel & Christian Woese about how to build a business in Europe while staying sane.
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