How do you meet business people in Berlin when you know nobody?
Berlin is one of the easiest cities in Europe to arrive in as an English speaker. Much of its startup and tech world works in English, there is an event most evenings, and nobody minds if your German is still at the menu stage.
That is exactly why it can take a year to meet anyone who matters.
Why are there two Berlins?
There is the international Berlin of startups, agencies and coworking spaces, where English is the default and everyone is new. And there is the German business world of established firms, family businesses, professional services and public institutions, where German is the default and relationships go back years.
Most newcomers find the first one in a week and never quite reach the second. Yet the second is where many of the buyers, partners and long-term clients are.
What changes when you cross into German business?
Formality and pace. Expect Sie rather than du, surnames rather than first names, and an agenda for a meeting that would be a coffee in London. A first meeting is often about establishing whether you are reliable, not about doing a deal.
None of that is a barrier if you know it is coming. Turn up on time, confirm what was agreed in writing, and do the small things you promised. In German business, being dependable in small things is how you get trusted with large ones.
Are meetups worth it?
For learning the city, yes. For finding clients, rarely. A room of people who are all new and all selling is a pleasant evening and a thin pipeline. One person who has worked in Berlin for years and is willing to introduce you is worth more than a season of name badges.
How the Germany-UK Business Bridge helps
The Germany-UK Business Bridge is part of My Most Trusted, a professional super-community built on referrals: you meet people through a personal introduction from someone who knows you both.
The German end is held by Leoni Parkinson in Berlin, who has spent her career in marketing and go-to-market strategy. Tell the Bridge who you want to meet, and if the right person exists in the network, you are introduced properly, in writing, with a reason. If not, nobody wastes your time.
The Germany-UK Business Bridge
An old German word for a company of merchants. The merchants of the Hanseatic League kept their own trading house in London, the Steelyard, for more than three centuries.
Take a tour of the Germany-UK Bridge