Hello, I’m Joël
Media 
ntrepreneur — and curious about the whole 
erson.
At home in the digital economy since 2009. With digital kompakt I help people grow – in their wealth, their personality and their health.
In short
Who I am
I build media as a business – with an editorial team, formats and entrepreneurial risk. The podcast is my most important product, not my job title. I started out as editor-in-chief and co-shareholder of Gründerszene, one of Germany’s largest business magazines covering the digital economy – right in the middle of the scene it reported on. That closeness has stayed – and with it a network I still draw on today.
What drives me is growth, and curiosity is what fuels it: getting a little better than yesterday while staying kind to yourself along the way. I need more than one drawer to fit in, so I work on all three axes at once – business, personality and health.
How I got here
From observer to m
ker
At Gründerszene I spent more than four years not just describing the digital economy but helping build it as a co-shareholder – a blog became a magazine, then a publishing house, which we went on to sell successfully to Axel Springer for a seven-figure sum. In 2014 my book “Die Paten des Internets” came out, the first major biography of the Samwer brothers – still a standard work today, and my most visible reference point.
2015 was the moment I stopped only watching: “If nobody takes this on, I will do it myself.” That is how digital kompakt started. More than ten years on, it has grown into 800+ episodes and around 595 hours of conversation with the sharpest minds in business, science and health.
I also built things in that time that did not work – a startup of my own, a business club, investments that failed. I do not leave that out. It is the most honest reason why I take a format about learning and development seriously.
Values
here you stand with me
Honest and direct
I say what is. The mistake is not the problem – covering it up is.
Reliable
I do what I say. My word carries weight – even when that gets uncomfortable.
Be kind
Performance, yes, but never at anyone else’s expense. Hard on the issue, warm with the people.
Holistic
I do not fit in one drawer – I need a whole chest. Head and body belong together.
A whole chest of drawers
rowth happens on three levels
Business, personality and health belong together for me. That is exactly what digital kompakt is about – every week, in three formats. Standards instead of self-optimisation mania.
Wealth
How you make money in a digital world – and what you really have to understand to do it.
Personality
What inspiring people wish they had known earlier – and what success actually costs.
Health
How you stay strong enough, in body and mind, to keep all of it up.
What I bring
Depth, reach, 
etwork
What sets me apart is rarely a single topic. It is the combination: analytical depth, a network grown over years – and people who tune in because they trust me.
- 800+Episodes
- 500+Guests
- 10Years digital kompakt
Tens of thousands listen month after month. Guests range from founders and board members to athletes, artists and people with unusual stories – people you rarely get to hear this openly. I have even hosted the German government’s podcast – proof that my way of asking questions carries well beyond business.
See every guest so far →Let’s work together
How we come together
Brand, stage or personal sparring – pick whatever fits.
Podcast advertising
Advertise where decision-makers actually listen.
Learn more →Content partnership
Tell your story in a format with a point of view and reach.
Learn more →Book a speaker
A talk about the digital economy, growth and the whole person.
Learn more →Advisory board
Someone on your board who asks the right questions.
Learn more →Sparring & coaching
One-to-one sparring – with access to depth, experience and network.
Learn more →Newsletter
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ouch
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