Founder @ Setting HQ | Building workspaces that feel like home | Making the Office Search Simple

I’ve lived and worked across five continents - Malaysia, Australia, the US, Eastern Europe, and now Germany. 
Every time I moved, I had to start from scratch, trying to find a space, meet people, and begin again. 

That’s what led me to build Setting HQ - not just offices, but spaces where teams feel like they belong.

Today, we help hundreds of startups and scaleups build their homes in Germany, through offices that reflect their identity, support their growth, and make the chaos of scaling a little more human. My work lives where real estate meets momentum, helping founders turn blank space into something that actually works. 

I care about how teams grow, how culture shows up physically, and why the office still matters (especially when you’re building across borders). 
If you’re expanding into Germany, or just tired of offices that don’t reflect who you are, let’s talk.

Germany is now the #5 country in the world for unicorns.
Wait, what?
Yes. Germany. 
The land of paperwork, punctuality, and “please send a fax.”

More unicorns than France. More than Canada, Singapore, and everyone’s favourite startup playground, Estonia.
And somehow, nobody talks about it, because German success doesn’t scream. It simmers.

It’s not “blitzscale,” it’s engineer, iterate, dominate.
And here’s what makes it even more ridiculous:
– Most of these unicorns don’t come from fancy programs.
– They aren’t pitching with smoke machines in San Francisco.
– Half the time, they’re running meetings in buildings older than your VC fund.

But they’re building real stuff.
Deep tech. Logistics. Enterprise software.
Not “Tinder for pets.” Not “AI for vibes.”

It’s easy to joke about Germany being slow. Or too traditional.
But you know what’s slower? A market that never reaches scale.
Meanwhile, Berlin alone has over 25 unicorns. Munich’s catching up fast.
And Hamburg? Quietly stacking exits.

So if you’re a foreign founder trying to break into Europe, let me say this:
Ignore Germany at your own risk.
Because while everyone’s chasing hype in Paris or Lisbon, there’s real money and serious momentum happening right here.
And yeah, you’ll probably need a tax ID and six types of insurance before you open a bank account.
But once you’re in? 
You’re building in a place that rewards substance, not just sizzle.

Germany is not trying to be.
But somehow, it still landed top 5 in the world.
And that tells you everything.

Johnathan Teh

I'm an experienced entrepreneur, start-up strategist, and management executive at the intersection of real estate and technology. I am seen as a value-add to start-ups, growth companies and traditional real-estate firms in Europe, East Asia, and Australia.  

Spoken and panelled on the topic of Future of Work, Startups & Scaleups, and Commercial Real-Estate. Active contributor to the commercial real-estate transformation for modern needs.  

I'm an holder of a Master and Bachelor degree in business from University of New South Wales and Curtin University focused in Business Strategy and Strategic Value Management. Avid fan of food, adventure and human history.  

Fluent in 5 languages with an understanding of both East Asian and Western culture. Live in Germany, schooled in Australia, born in Malaysia. Chinese ethnic. 

Connect with me if you're interested in Future of Work, Startups & Scaleups, and Commercial Real-Estate.

Markus Gammert

€43M raised by a Berlin startup to ease nurse burnout. 

That’s the kind of news I actually pause for.

voize is building AI tools that reduce admin load for care workers.
Building a company like this out of Germany isn’t easy. Healthcare is heavily regulated, trust is hard to earn, and the margin for error is low.
But if you can make something work here, it usually means the fundamentals are strong.

Berlin gets dismissed sometimes as “still emerging.” But more and more, I see real businesses getting built here. Products that don’t just pitch well, but actually land. Founders who are comfortable moving slower, because they know they’re building something that has to last.

voize is a good reminder that not all innovation needs to come with a big launch. Sometimes it just shows up in the work.
And Berlin is quietly becoming a place where that work can thrive.

Google just committed €5.5 billion to Germany.

Not for PR. Not for press tours. For infrastructure.
A new data centre in Dietzenbach. A bigger footprint in Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt. Heat systems for thousands of homes. Long-term energy partnerships. Quietly building the kind of backbone that makes a market work.

These aren’t symbolic gestures. They’re operational ones.
Because even the biggest tech companies still care about where they build and how stable, credible, and connected that location is.

I’ve been seeing this up close too.
Companies aren’t treating Germany like a “test market” anymore. They’re setting up shop, hiring locally, and thinking long term.

Why?
Because despite the complexity, this country still delivers on three things that matter: talent, infrastructure, and trust.

Google knows it.
And if you’re building in Europe, you should too.

“Berlin is slow.”
“Berlin is unprofessional.”
“Berlin isn’t serious about startups.”

I’ve heard it all.
Usually from people who never had to fight to build something here.
Because Berlin isn’t spoon-fed. It’s not polished. And it sure as hell doesn’t roll out the red carpet.

But you know what it is?
It’s accessible. It’s international. It’s full of builders, weirdos, risk-takers, and people who actually reply when you cold-message them.

It’s a place where an immigrant with no last name advantage (hi 👋🏼) can still sign a lease, hire a team, and build a brand that lasts.

Berlin might not give you everything. But it gives you enough, if you’re ready to earn the rest.

→ If you’re thinking of building here, do it. Just don’t expect anyone to carry you.

PS: There are great accelerators here. Check out the full list below👇

“Johnathan, you’re my best boss ever.”

And no, I didn’t pay her.
No, we weren’t doing performance reviews.

She said it years after we’d worked together. Out of nowhere. I thought she was joking.

I asked if she wanted a reference. Or money. Or the last slice of cake. She just laughed.

We hadn’t spoken in a while. But it still felt familiar.

The truth is, the best teams don’t dissolve just because the contracts end. The good ones leave a mark. They show up later, sometimes when you need them most.
It’s easy to talk about culture when things are going well. But the stuff that lasts usually comes from the weird in-between moments. The offhand jokes. The small kindnesses. The way you solve problems without making each other feel small.

You don’t need to be someone’s “best boss.” But if people can leave your team and still feel like they can come back - ask, share, laugh, reconnect - then you built something that matters.

And chances are, they’ll go and build that for someone else too.

Something big happened in Germany in 2024.
Everyone saw the headline.
Almost no one caught what it actually changed.

Yes, dual citizenship became legal.
That’s not the story.
What didn’t make headlines?
How that single law just shifted the future of its startup ecosystem.

You can now become German in 5 years.
You don’t have to give up your original passport.
And that’s not just good PR.
It changes who builds here, and who stays.

Before this, the game was short-term.
Founders came to raise. Operators came to scale.
And most left once the visa ran out or the startup folded.
Now?
Germany isn’t just somewhere you work. It’s somewhere you can root.
And here’s the part most people miss: 
This isn’t just about founders.
It’s about the engineers from Lagos, the marketers from São Paulo, the operators from Mumbai.
The ones who kept startups running, but were always one visa renewal away from goodbye.

There are over 14M people in Germany with foreign passports.
Many of them work in tech.
Most of them weren’t allowed to truly belong. Until now.
This is less about identity. More about infrastructure.
Because when people stop feeling replaceable, they commit differently.
They hire smarter.
They plan further.
They build things that last.

The law changed last year.
The impact will show up in headcount, retention, IP, exits.
Not today. But soon.
And if you’re not watching what happens next, you’ll miss the real story.

We’re looking for a Chief of Staff 🔥
(Think: operator, integrator, un-blocker of chaos.)

I'm looking for my future right-hand!

You’ll:
– Help drive the company forward - across sales, ops, finance, product, and people
– Connect dots most people don’t even see
– Keep me (and the team) focused, sane, and shipping
– Make things real-fast

You:
– Live in Berlin
– Can write, speak, and think like a founder (even if you aren’t one… yet)
– Thrive on context-switching without losing the plot
– Have strong instincts and stronger follow-through
– Are either a technical generalist or a brilliant strategic operator

This is not a remote role. This is in the room, sleeves rolled up, decisions made in real-time.

DM me. Tell me why you’re the one.
If you’ve ever dreamed of being the “#2 who gets sh*t done”, this might be it.

PS: Tag someone who should see this. Or send it to someone who’s secretly been ready to run the show.

You ever walk into an office and feel like you’re about to get a root canal?

That’s the problem.
It’s not desks or meetings or even the commute.
It’s the feeling that this place wasn’t made for actual humans.
Too quiet to talk. Too beige to breathe. Too many chairs that feel like they were designed to punish posture.

But then you walk into a space that gets it. 
Where the light’s a little warmer. 
The couch has actually been sat on. 
The plants are alive and not just for show.
And suddenly, people show up different.
They stay longer. Smile more. Not because someone gave them free lunch. But because they feel like they can exhale.

We don’t design “cool” offices.
We design offices where people feel okay being themselves.
That’s when the good stuff happens. The real conversations. The unexpected ideas. The actual collaboration.

Turns out, you don’t need a ping-pong table for that.
Just a space that doesn’t feel like a punishment.

PS: Leave the root canals to your dentist 😆

You don’t Google things anymore. You ask ChatGPT.
Berlin’s already building for that.

Peec AI just raised $21 million to help brands figure out what these new search engines are saying about them, and what to do about it.
It’s a big win. But it also says something bigger.

AI isn’t just a buzzword here. It’s a business. Real clients. Real revenue. Real teams scaling fast.
Berlin is where a lot of the next chapter is getting written.

Congrats to Daniel, Tobias, and Marius. Solid work.

The great office comeback isn’t coming. It’s already here.
And no, it’s not because CEOs “miss watercooler chats.”
It’s because remote stopped working for a bunch of companies.

Quietly, over the last 6 months, I’ve seen the pattern:
– Investors are nudging teams back in.
– Founders are tired of leading over Slack.
– Teams want to feel like… teams again.

You know what actually works?
Momentum. 
You walk into a good office, you feel the company’s heartbeat.
It’s messy. It’s alive.

Remote is controlled. Comfortable.
But most great businesses aren’t built in comfort.
They’re built in rooms full of post-it notes, last-minute deck edits, “I’ve got 5 minutes” convos.
And no, I’m not anti-flexibility.
But there’s a difference between flexibility and ghost-town culture.
If your team can’t remember the last time they saw each other in person?
You don’t have flexibility. You have drift.

The companies getting back in-office now?
They’re not regressing. They’re resetting.
Because culture isn’t a Notion doc.
It’s the energy you walk into on a Tuesday morning.

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