Welcome to Mayhem & Masterplans, the podcast where Max, Simon, and Andreas test the boundaries of strategy, branding, and WiFi stability—sometimes all at once. This week, we explore how small tweaks in AI, branding, and sports fandom can spark big conversations… or at least derail them entirely.

In this episode, we:

🔹 Follow Andreas on a two-week sprint through Germany — conferences, meetings, tea, and a heroic battle against the sniffles. Spoiler: ginger didn’t win.

🔹 Break down the Mittelstand mindset — What’s the vibe in German SME-land? Andreas gives us the scoop from the "Zukunftstag" and we talk bureaucracy, jumbo depreciation (yes, it’s a thing), and why fax machines are apparently still living their best lives.

🔹 Debate vision vs. execution — Max argues startups should think more like companies. Andreas says companies should think more like startups. Simon just wants us all to think.

🔹 Get real about AI — From city government chatbots to hotel transfer disasters, we look at how AI isn’t always ChatGPT and robot overlords. Sometimes it’s just a smarter helpdesk or better audio cleanup.

🔹 Accidentally turn it into an AI episode (again) — Seriously, we tried not to. There was even a moment where Simon almost stopped us. Almost.

🔹 Tease a future episode on branding in sports — Monuments of cycling, the Masters, the Triple Crown… and why your startup’s brand is probably less iconic than Paris–Roubaix.

🔹 Discover Max’s secret to hacking the Instagram algorithm — Apparently it’s all about startup memes, SEO reels, and refusing to like anything your weird uncle posts.

🔹 End with what really matters — Music, of course. Because all good strategy sessions deserve a killer soundtrack.

🎵 The Four Horsemen – Metallica (Andreas going full thrash)

🎵 Gone Away – The Offspring (Max staying in his desert rock era)

🎵 Jetzt kommt die Osterzeit – Rolf Zuckowski (Simon’s playlist is still sponsored by fatherhood)

🎧 Subscribe to Mayhem & Masterplans wherever you get your podcasts—and follow us for unruly branding debates, startup therapy, and questionable sports analogies:

📍 Max on LinkedIn

📍 Simon on LinkedIn

📍 Andreas on LinkedIn

📰 Sign up for our newsletter: The Mic Drop

🎙️ Produced by: Hypecast

#MayhemAndMasterplans #AIBreakdowns #StartupMindset #SMEvsStartup #VisionMeetsReality #Zukunftstag #MittelstandMoves #ConferenceChaos #HypecastProductions

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Welcome back to Mayhem & Masterplans, your weekly chaos therapy session on business, branding, and all the mayhem in between. In this episode, Max, Simon, and Andreas finally tackle the topic they teased last time: BRANDING.

But since this is Mayhem & Masterplans, we didn’t stop at theory—we went all the way from the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones to Nike’s brand crisis and the rise of hipster cycling subcultures.

Here’s what’s on the branding menu this week:

🔹 Sports, symbols & storytelling – Simon kicks off with a quiz on iconic sports branding. From Augusta’s green jacket to the Hell of the North—how symbols become cultural shortcuts.

🔹 Cycling’s underground glow-up – How cycling transformed from utility transport to street-style culture—and why this matters for brands in sports and beyond.

🔹 Bottom-up vs. top-down branding – The crew debates the difference between league-driven brands (NFL, F1) and community-rooted cultures (cycling, surfing, running). Andreas drops the theory: It’s all about people.

🔹 What is a brand anyway? – Max introduces Kevin Russell’s viral post "This is not a brand". Key takeaways? A logo is not a brand. A brand is the emotional connection you create—and the promise you actually keep.

🔹 Can corporate software have soul? – The trio debates why Microsoft Teams is meme-fodder, why Nike needs to rethink their digital brand experiences, and how small brands (like Andreas’ favorite guitar brand Aristides Guitars) can punch way above their weight with authenticity and excitement.

🔹 Culture vs. point of view – Why writing down values is worthless if your actions don’t follow—and why even small teams like Hypecast need a point of view, not just a branding guide.

And of course, we closed on our signature playlist:

🎵 Trinity of Heresy – Cradle of Filth (Andreas going full metal mode)

🎵 LU (Mixed) – Pianika (Simon fueling up with his Juicy Large playlist)

🎵 Guerrilla Radio – Rage Against The Machine (Max keeping the rage alive)

🎧 Subscribe to Mayhem & Masterplans wherever you get your podcasts—and follow us for unruly branding debates, startup therapy, and questionable sports analogies:

📍 Max on LinkedIn

📍 Simon on LinkedIn

📍 Andreas on LinkedIn

📰 Sign up for our newsletter: The Mic Drop

🎙️ Produced by: Hypecast

#MayhemAndMasterplans #BrandingMayhem #EmotionalConnection #CyclingCulture #HypecastProductions #CorporateBrandingDoneRight #GuerrillaMarketing #SubcultureBranding

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

🎙 Welcome back to Mayhem & Masterplans, the podcast where Max, Simon, and Andreas prove once again that strategy, AI, and business life are never as smooth as your favorite startup slide deck. This week, we go full AI in everyday life, get lost in Mittelstand nostalgia, and Simon tries (and fails) to talk about cycling.

In this episode, we:

🔹 Chased Andreas across Germany – From Berlin to the West and back, while fighting off the sniffles, Andreas gives us a crash course in how to do conference hopping, sick mode included.

🔹 Debated Mittelstand vs. startup mindset – Andreas shares impressions from the Zukunftstag Deutscher Mittelstand and why SMEs still struggle with vision. Max and Simon argue that startups could learn a thing or two from German SMEs about profitability—and vice versa.

🔹 Talked subtle AI – Forget ChatGPT and robot overlords. We dive into the quiet side of AI: smarter customer service bots, auto-improved audio, and the kind of small automations that make life just a bit smoother (and less bureaucratic).

🔹 Roasted AI hype – Are we falling for the same old tech hype cycle? Max argues we’re overestimating the short term and underestimating the long term—again.

🔹 Fought about branding and sports – Simon tried (and failed) to steer the show into cycling’s five monuments and the power of sports branding. Max pulled the emergency brake, promising a dedicated episode (eventually).

🔹 Shared social media hacks – Max breaks down how he trained his Instagram algorithm to show more useful, entertaining, and business-relevant content—without falling into the influencer rabbit hole.

🔹 Closed with an AI should be invisible but delightful rant – Software should be forgettable and still make you smile. That’s the Hypecast way.

And of course, we wrapped with our musical picks:

🎵 The Four Horsemen – Metallica (Andreas keeping it old-school heavy)

🎵 Gone Away – The Offspring (Max going full 90s heartbreak punk)

🎵 Jetzt kommt die Osterzeit – Rolf Zuckowski (Simon... well... kids music wins again)

🎧 Subscribe to Mayhem & Masterplans wherever you get your podcasts—and follow us for chaotic strategy debates, AI skepticism, and the occasional off-topic cycling chat:

📍 Max on LinkedIn

📍 Simon on LinkedIn

📍 Andreas on LinkedIn

📰 Sign up for our newsletter: The Mic Drop

🎙️ Produced by: Hypecast

#MayhemAndMasterplans #MittelstandMeetsAI #SmallStepsBigImpact #CorporateChaos #PodcastingInTunisia #AIShouldJustWork #HypecastProductions

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.