For the first time I am launching a physical product. @getblock.shop ! And you can buy it now with a 20% discount code as an early Blocker...
Block, is a physical device that blocks distracting apps with one simple tap.
Activate the Block app on your phone, tap your Block to block your distracting apps, place your Block out of reach, and experience what a phone without distractions feels like.
The idea is simple, yet it took my Co-Founder, @olivierponsioen and I over a year to go from idea to the actual product.
We spend many nights and weekends designing, iterating and going through endless prototypes before we were 100% satisfied.
But the results have been amazing. The key?
The physical separation of your Block from your phone. For the first time in a long time my phone doesn’t distract me during work.
Even my 15-year-old stepdaughter now uses Block to focus on her homework and thinks I am cool again!
👉 Buy Block through the link in my bio and use this discount code for 20% off.
Discount code: GSYAS7HKZN9B
🇪🇺 We only ship across Europe for now.
Block. Keep The Best. Block The Rest.
Ps. Tell me what you think!
#productivity #focus #block #phone #work
@olyaschechter ‘s documentary“Love Unscripted” is accepted into two New York film festivals! 🤩 Please come and see her work ❤️ and spread the word 🙏🏻 .
Official World Premiere
May 23rd at 3pm
/films/663e60000eee6200a501a68b
Second screening:
June 6th at 7:30pm
/films/love-unscripted/
You might have a chance for a meet and greet with the incredible main characters ;)
Join the most energizing fundraiser for climate change @24theplanet in New York on the 26th of September.
Walk for 6, 10 or 24 hours in Central Park and be part of an incredible community!
Do you have what it takes?
Sign up via the link in my bio.
@anais_marolayne@kellejacob
Most founders underestimate how much people's decisions shape their company.
Until it’s too late.
That’s why this conversation felt full circle for me.
I sat down with Anna Brandt, someone who’s been part of my journey since the very beginning.
Back in 2018, when we were still figuring things out at Matchr, Anna flew from the Netherlands to Kyiv to train our first recruitment team.
Fast forward a few years:
Anna is now the co-founder of Invested, a former senior talent leader at Uber, TomTom, and Mollie, and an advisor & investor to 55+ scale-ups across Europe and the US.
In this episode, we go deep on:
• Why founders swing too far between data-driven hiring and gut feeling
• The biggest mistakes leaders make when building leadership teams
• How to design org structures around strategy (not opinions)
• What great executive onboarding actually looks like
• Why productivity, not hypergrowth, will define the next 12 months
• How skills, AI, and workforce planning are starting to collide
Anna shares what she sees behind the scenes with scaling companies every day and what separates the ones that win from the ones that stall.
If you’re a founder, talent leader, or executive building teams in uncertain times, this one’s worth your time.
Listen here: /podcasts
Let me know what resonates most once you’ve listened.
Yesterday my friend @markmanson asked me to take a video of his billboard on Times Square, not knowing a blizzard just hit New York.
I sent him a photo of New York completely covered in snow and declared it impossible. ❄️
Hours later, @olyaschechter and I ignored all logic and set off on a heroic mission through snowy NYC to find Mark’s billboard…
A journey so epic it makes Columbus’ discovery of America seem small…
🎥&🎞️ by: @olyaschechter
The last 4 years have been brutal for recruiters.
Mass layoffs and then the biggest hiring spree we’ve ever seen.
Recruiting became the “most wanted job” on LinkedIn.
And then… entire teams were wiped out.
Now recruiters are expected to do more than ever with less than ever.
Inbound applications are flooding in.
AI increased volume, but quality is dropping fast.
Everything is “urgent” until you ask for a budget.
Then suddenly, nothing is possible.
Recruiters worked nights and weekends to hire fast and got a pat on the back.
Only to be laid off 6 months later, often first, when restructuring hit.
If the last four years proved anything, it’s this:
Recruiting is one of the hardest jobs on the planet.
But it also proved something else.
The recruiters who are still standing today are the most resilient professionals I know.
If you survived:
• hiring freezes
• hiring frenzies
• layoffs
• restructures
• and now AI disruption
You can survive anything.
AI isn’t the end.
It’s just the next bumpy, but beautiful stretch of the road.
So to every recruiter still here:
I hear you.
I see you.
And you’ve earned every ounce of respect!
Most companies don’t have a hiring problem.
They have a planning problem.
That’s why we use a simple framework for strategic workforce planning called MAPS.
Here’s how it works:
M - Model business demand
Start top-down.
Align with your CEO and CFO.
What does the business need now, in 6 months, and in 12?
If you don’t know the destination, every hire feels urgent.
A - Assess your current workforce
Who can you promote internally?
Where do you truly need to hire externally?
The fastest hire is often already on your payroll.
P - Plan for scenarios
What if funding is delayed?
What if it comes in faster than expected?
Good plans don’t predict the future. They prepare multiple versions of it.
S - Synchronize with the business
Make sure everyone understands why hiring demand looks the way it does.
Clarity reduces resistance. Alignment increases speed.
M.A.P.S. Is a simple framework, that can have a big impact.
If your hiring feels reactive, you probably don’t need more recruiters.
You need a better hiring plan.
How do you create your hiring plan?
Your network isn't a "nice-to-have" asset.
In large, complex organizations, it is your only way to build an "Emotional Moat" that actually protects your career.
I recently sat down with Lucy O’Brien, who has spent two decades at places like Meta and Nestlé.
She dropped a hard truth: "If you don’t deliver value, you will very quickly be forgotten."
Most people wait for a formal process to tell them how to get things done.
They wait for a seat at the table to be handed to them.
But real influence doesn’t care about your job title.
You have to build "Organizational Muscle" by doing three things:
1. Map the World
Stop looking at org charts. Figure out who actually makes the decisions.
2. Action Breeds Anything
Don't wait for permission to help. Deliver value first and the network follows.
3. Unreasonable Hospitality
Treat every internal stakeholder like a premium client. Surprise and delight them.
In a world obsessed with automation, the "Deep Human Connection" is your only real lever.
Business is a people-first endeavor. Period.
If you want to move faster, stop making PowerPoints and start building relationships.
The goal isn't just to have a big network. It's to have the influence to execute.
Listen to the Episode here: /podcasts
How intentional are you today about the value you provide to your network?
Only in New York you get to see @melseme play in Buena Vista Social Club in front of hundreds of people to then see him and his wife @marta_cascales_alimbau perform live in our living room “Xposed” a few hours later.
Eight years ago,my love @olyaschechter transformed our living room into a platform for artists, creatives and performers to show their talents. Most of the times for anonymous by-passers on the high line. But once in a while we invite our friends into the intimacy of our home to enjoy incredible performers like Mel and Marta.
I cannot be more grateful ❤️.
Most podcast conversations stay at the surface.
This one did not.
I sat down with Kat Steinmetz, and very quickly it became clear that this would be a conversation about work, leadership, and companies that felt a lot more human than most.
Kat spent ten years building the people infrastructure behind Burning Man, helping an organization grow from a small, loosely structured group into a complex ecosystem of thousands of staff, volunteers, and participants, all while protecting the culture that made it special in the first place.
What we explored together was not Burning Man as an event, but Burning Man as a leadership and organizational model.
A few ideas stayed with me.
Peak experiences are not accidents.
They are intentionally designed, whether in the desert or inside a company.
Structure is not the opposite of freedom.
When done right, it is what makes freedom possible.
Leadership is not about having all the answers.
It is about being able to hold ambiguity, show humanity, and still create safety for others.
We talked about frameworks Kat has used throughout her career, from designing “rehire moments” that reconnect people to purpose, to creating just enough structure so teams feel agency rather than chaos, to why coachability is often the single most important signal when hiring leaders or investing in founders.
We also went deeper into what companies are really responsible for today, beyond profit, and why taking the work seriously but not ourselves might be one of the most underrated leadership principles there is.
If you care about culture, leadership, future of work, or how to build organizations where people can do meaningful work without losing themselves in the process, this episode is worth your time.
Listen to the Episode here: /podcast/transformational-leadership-and-culture-at-burning-man-and-beyond
What kind of company are you trying to help build right now?
