#24 New Chapter, New Life.

How distance, boredom, and honesty led me to my next (honest) chapter.

Jan 06, 2026

Hi there,

and happy new year to all of you! I’m genuinely excited for 2026! A lot of new challenges ahead.

The year is starting with a big lift in energy, and I needed that. The past months were intense. Since starting The Honest Founder, I did take some time off here and there, but if I’m honest, I wasn’t really present during those breaks. My body was away, but my mind was still working.

Stepping into the sun in Cape Town and a completely different environment always helps me reset.

Enjoy the rest of your holidays,

Xaver

PS: I’ve been thinking a lot about what to do (more) of in 2026. Your opinion would be highly valuable and genuinely matters to me!

If you missed my last article, feel free to read it here.

After five months in Africa, I was ready to go back, and surprisingly, I was excited to return to Munich.

It felt like coming home and I missed my friends and family.

The time in Africa reminded me that I had made exactly the right decision to leave the company. I didn’t know it at the time, but after spending a few months in freedom again, it felt like I was exactly where I needed to be.

But something else became clear too: I was getting bored.

For the past months I woke up whenever I wanted, did whatever I wanted, and had no goals or structure.

At first, that felt like freedom. Over time, I felt a little empty.

I knew I wanted to work on something again. Of course, something completely different this time: less stressful, but not any less meaningful.

Back in Munich, I sat down and created a simple matrix.

In the left column, I wrote down everything I could possibly do, without any thinking limitations:

Building another startup
Purely investing and building a Solo VC fund
Writing a book about my story
Working as a VC partner
Coaching startups
Working as a CEO
Buying real estate full-time
PE software buy-and-build
and more.

Across the top, I wrote down what I actually needed and wanted from my next chapter:

Freedom to work from anywhere
No dependencies on co-founders, investors, or employees
A sense of accomplishment
Helping other people
Health, as I experience burnout
Money. I knew I wanted something which is helpful for other people and if people keep paying for something it most likely is.

I then scored each option from 0 to 10 based on how well the job descriptions matched those criteria. I uploaded the matrix into ChatGPT and asked which option scored highest overall.

The result surprised me: writing a book.

At first, it made sense. It offered freedom, felt healthier, and clearly had meaning.

But when I thought about it more deeply, something felt off.

Writing a book for the next two years felt heavy and lonely. No feedback, just writing and writing.

I didn’t feel excited, and I’ve learned to trust that signal.

So I didn’t force it. I let it sit.

A few weeks later, I was sitting in a café in Munich when I stumbled across Substack by accident.

I had never heard of it before, but instantly something shifted.

I felt excited. My heart was racing. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, even after closing my laptop.

And I thought: what if I start a newsletter instead?

Less pressure than a book, immediate feedback, room to evolve. And who knows where it could lead…

That’s how this started. Not as a big plan, but as the next step.

At first, it felt scary to write down my story. Everyone carries parts of their journey that are uncomfortable to share.

And of course, the question came up: what would people think of me? What if nobody liked my story? What if people judged me for writing a newsletter?

All of that crossed my mind.

But in the end, I thought: screw it.

I can stop anytime if it no longer feels right.

And what other people think is not something I can control anyway.

Surprisingly, writing felt easy from the very first attempt.

It was a way to let go and put my thoughts on paper so they wouldn’t keep circling in my head.

Publishing the first piece, however, took longer.

Even though it was ready, it sat there for a few days.

Doubts crept in: Was this the right thing to do? What if people didn’t like it?

After a while, I published it anyway and it blew my mind.

The first article reached more than 1,000 views.

Within days, I received over 30 messages from friends, founders, and people I hadn’t spoken to in years, telling me how much they resonated with it and that they were looking forward to the next one.

That feedback made the decision easy.

So I kept going and published piece after piece.

It felt good. Not just because I was finally getting thoughts out of my head and onto paper, but because of the feedback.

People told me these stories actually helped them along the way.

So much of the content out there is generic or superficial. It talks about founding and exits as if they’re clean, linear success stories. Big wins, big numbers, big headlines.

What’s usually missing are the messy parts noone really talks about.

The doubts. The setbacks. The moments in between that actually shape you.

That’s the part I wanted to write about.

Checkout my next article here: