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Competition

For the past two years building Ken, I’ve been most worried about whether there is a real need for what I’m doing. Maybe it’s just what I need, while nobody else cares? A couple of weeks ago, I made a discovery that left me with a mix of excitement and discomfort — I’m not alone in this. Nicheless i…

Michael Aufreiter in Ken on Nov 2, 2022
I like to experience instead of believe

I don’t often consult astrology, but when I do… the result is unsettling. Let me backtrack. I’m in my pyjamas on my friend M’s couch, absorbed in the act of transporting my morning coffee into my sleepy face. She’s dressed in colourful robes, raving and ranting as she paces about the room. There’s …

Erik Jongbloed in Science on Sep 23, 2022
Marketing Ken?

“Where people leave an expression, not an impression.” That is how I want users to think of Ken. It leaves me with a challenge: I am not searching for many but the right people to join Ken in its early days. Who are the right people? People who want to share their minds with no agenda. I can only sp…

Michael Aufreiter in Ken on Sep 11, 2022
How to share my first story on Ken?

I’d like to share my experience with sharing my own stories on Ken. I hope you’ll find it helpful and inspiring. To find a new topic I usually take a couple of minutes to become aware of a question that’s been on my mind lately. Then I pick the question I’m most curious about. Sometimes not a questi…

Michael Aufreiter in Ken on Sep 5, 2022
Who are algorithms working for?

I joined Twitter in 2007. And I loved it. At that time there were around 5,000 tweets a day. On the entire platform! I followed a bunch of nerds that had more interesting things to say than my university professors. Back then, my Twitter timeline was easy to consume. There were about 5-20 new Tweets…

Michael Aufreiter in Ken on Sep 4, 2022
DJ software made progress while I was away

I learned to mix the old school way. As soon as I could afford it, I bought two Technics 1210 turntables and the Pioneer DJM 500 mixer. That’s been my setup since the early 2000s. I gave DJ software a try several times, but was never happy. I was frustrated with the crappy UX, and it wasn’t fun to c…

Michael Aufreiter in Music on Aug 31, 2022
A space to express, not impress?

A couple of weeks ago I talked with Valentin, who is supporting me while developing the next version of my writing platform. He asked me: “How do you measure success for Ken?” An excellent question, and one I’ve been pondering about in the past few weeks. While doing so, a more fundamental question …

Michael Aufreiter in Ken on Aug 28, 2022
How to get out of your head, and master emotional communication

Recently someone asked me how they could be less logical with their partner, and instead be more emotionally expressive. If you are as well on the less expressive side, you may know the pain of being considered distant or uninterested when you are actually just being yourself. Processing the life on…

Erik Jongbloed in Health on Mar 24, 2022
What is ADHD? My unconventional hypothesis

Recently, a nutritional therapist and fellow coach made these observations, which I found very interesting, and triggered me to write this: Some ADHD clients really benefit from nutrition therapy, and some do not. Some are in the camp that says ADHD is a disorder that can (or can not) be healed, and…

Erik Jongbloed in Health on Mar 10, 2022
Owning my content?

When I talked with Marius a few days ago, he told me that he wouldn’t trust any platform to host his writing. Because he could never be sure that they didn’t change their terms one day, affecting his work. I definitely share this desire, which to me boils down to these points: What I publish must be…

Michael Aufreiter in Ken on Jun 28, 2022
How to save my startup?

In mid 2020 I started pursuing a dream project of mine. I’ve always been fascinated by knowledge transfer through good writing. I’ve worked in academia for about a decade, but I was frustrated with how slow and bureaucratic the publishing process there was. As a small team we built Ken, an exchange …

Michael Aufreiter in Ken on Jan 23, 2022