Most people have never heard of companies like Tetra Pak, Amazon Web Services, or Vestas. And if they have, they probably file them under boring. They don’t sell sneakers or post clever reels on Instagram. They don’t cultivate love brands with millions of followers. Yet these companies quietly shape the world—and generate staggering amounts of money.

Entrepreneurship is often romanticized. From the outside, it looks like freedom, passion, and purpose — a life on your own terms. But the truth is far more complex. It is not just about building brands or creating beautiful spaces. It is about managing risk, facing confrontation, and navigating constant crises.

Everything today is designed to be short-lived. Phones that slow down after two years. Fast fashion that rips after a season. Startups that scale with speed but no foundation. Dates that feel like swipes on a menu. Even our conversations are getting shorter. We live in a culture of disposableness — and the irony is: we think this is normal.

We often believe that reaching our goals will bring lasting peace, clarity, or fulfillment. But in reality, “making it” is an illusion. In this reflective article, Till Constantin Lagemann explores why success keeps shifting, how to navigate life with a compass instead of a map, and why your direction matters more than any destination.

Failure. It’s not just feared — it’s forbidden.

From a young age, we’re taught how to succeed: get good grades, get into the right university, land the right job. We’re handed a script for how to climb — but no one teaches us how to fall.

Failure isn’t part of the curriculum. It’s not modeled. It’s not spoken about. So when it happens, we hide it. We lie about it. We feel shame. We don’t think “this didn’t work.” We think “I didn’t work.”

We often believe that reaching our goals will bring lasting peace, clarity, or fulfillment. But in reality, “making it” is an illusion. In this reflective article, Till Constantin Lagemann explores why success keeps shifting, how to navigate life with a compass instead of a map, and why your direction matters more than any destination.

Too many founders become trapped in the very businesses they created. In this episode of building & being, Till explores why your business should serve your life—not consume it. Learn how stepping back can reveal what’s broken, why delegation is key to sustainability, and how to turn your business into a tool for freedom, not a source of burnout.

At first, I thought I had built the perfect brand—clean design, inspiring story, great vibe. But then I asked myself: if it’s so perfect, why aren’t people coming back? That’s when it hit me—maybe I didn’t build it for them. Maybe I built it for myself. For my ego. And that’s the trap so many founders fall into. We build brands that look good, but forget to make them truly useful. Business isn’t about being admired. It’s about being needed.

People think great business partnerships are built on skills, strategy, or vision.

But in my experience, none of that matters without trust. In this article, I reflect on why trust is more important than contracts—and why it’s the invisible glue that holds everything together. From banks and suppliers to co-founders and franchisees, trust isn’t a bonus—it’s the baseline.

We’re told to never quit. But sometimes, quitting is exactly what sets you free.
In this episode, I share what I’ve learned about letting go—from sticking with the wrong business decisions to ignoring what customers were clearly telling me. I talk about the sunk cost trap, the danger of clinging to ego, and why walking away isn’t failure—it’s the first step toward something better.

In this episode, I open up about how råbowls wasn’t just a company—it became my reflection. I share the emotional cost of tying your self-worth to your work, and what happens when the façade cracks. This is a story about perfectionism, identity, and learning to be more than what you build.

The Stoics say: Some things are in your control. Most are not. We like to believe we’re in control especially when things go well.

When the economy grows under a president, they proudly say, “Look what I did.” But when it crashes? Suddenly it’s the fault of “global market forces.” It’s Russia. Or China. Or the last administration. Anything but them.

And you know what? It’s not just politicians. We all do this. I did it too.