Mathias Klenk

Tech Founder by day, DJ by night

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

@FerdiDabitz Congrats @FerdiDabitz! Looking forward to see what's up next!

[Ferdinand Dabitz @FerdiDabitz]

Augustus has raised 180M$ on 1B$ to build the Global Dollar Bank.

The dollar is the best product in the history of the world - with infinite global demand.
But International Fintechs and non-US banks are left with two unsatisfying options to access it: Either they build on legacy clearing banks that are slow and unreliable, or they interface with middleware providers that don’t move and hold dollars directly, but themselves rely on underlying legacy banks.

@augustus_bank collapses this stack by combining two things: direct dollar access and Marble, our proprietary bank core, built around intelligence and made of code.

If you’re looking to build on the dollar - message me directly or check us out at https://t.co/jz3rVcCu7H.

[Neel Popat @theneelpopat]

🚨 BREAKING NEWS

@popcorn just shipped Passport

Every country you visit unlocks a special stamp

I asked strangers their favorite 👇

[bryce 💀 @sadbryce]

Excited to welcome Archetype and Circle Ventures as strategic investors, with continued support from our long-term backers.

The next generation of finance will be programmable. Software, agents, and onchain systems will move value globally at machine speed, and they’ll need infrastructure built for verifiable execution and programmable control.

That’s the future we’re building for at Turnkey: scalable, API-first wallets and verifiable computing infrastructure designed for a world of programmable money and agent-driven transactions.

Grateful for the continued conviction from Sequoia, Bain Capital Crypto, Lightspeed Faction, Galaxy Ventures, and Variant. Thank you to our customers for the trust you put in us, and a huge shoutout to the Turnkey team for grinding against this vision.

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

@MSchwaibold Very cool. I'm currently building the same as an open source project https://t.co/znk221vvBX
It is also exposed via a Slack app.

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

@tobi Hey @tobi, I'm currently building the same as open source project for everyone to use: https://t.co/znk221vvBX

[UC Berkeley SCET @SutardjaCenter]

What does it take to become a CTO?
“Most technical leaders are forced to figure out the CTO role on the fly, which often leads to expensive mistakes in hiring and architecture.”

Learn more about "Becoming a CTO" from #UCBerkeley Engineering https://t.co/Jwet7Z4GvZ @Cal_Engineer

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

https://t.co/vwABCKtR2O

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

Early-stage product management isn’t about roadmaps. It’s about learning fast, shipping fast, and staying close to users.

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

Startups don’t die from one dramatic mistake. They die slowly from losing focus, slowing their learning, and avoiding the hard truths that keep them aligned and moving forward.

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

Startups rarely die from competition.
They die from internal gravity:
too many projects, too much noise, not enough truth.
Focus is oxygen.
https://t.co/l0jLNfydDD

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

The most valuable engineers today aren’t the best coders. They’re the ones who think in systems, understand users, and ship fast with AI.

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

AI is turning “I have an idea” into “I built a prototype” in minutes.
The real differentiator isn’t execution anymore -> it’s taste, insight, and iteration speed.

Link to full article: https://t.co/SmRNQQ6vtn

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

AI is dissolving old product development roles.
Designers ship. Engineers design. PMs shift to strategy.
The future team? A small group of “builders” using AI as leverage.
Speed is the new moat.
https://t.co/idjUctqj2H

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

Direct network effects (Slack, WhatsApp), cross-side marketplace effects (Airbnb, Uber), and data network effects (Google, Figma) all create defensibility. The strongest companies though compound multiple layers. These moats aren’t built, they emerge as users connect.

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

In a booming market, even a ‘good-enough’ product + decent team can win. The market does the heavy lifting.

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

Product-market fit starts with the market. Find the fast-moving water first, then build the boat.

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

I dive deeper into this in my new post.
https://t.co/fiVpo4O4Vr

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

The key isn’t to ban debt. That’s impossible.
It’s to make deliberate trade-offs:
Is this shortcut necessary to hit a critical milestone?
Do we have a plan for when to clean it up?

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

Great teams don’t fear debt. They manage it.
They borrow against the future strategically.
They repay when the costs outweigh the benefits.

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

But technical debt compounds.
Features take longer.
Bugs multiply.
Engineers avoid touching parts of the code.Suddenly, speed has become fragility.

[Mathias Klenk @maaklen]

Every founder faces the same question:
⚡ Should we take the shortcut and ship fast?
🛠️ Or slow down and build it right?

Here’s what I’ve learned about balancing technical debt with product speed 🧵