Hey there!

Ksenia and Barbara here :)

We often get asked: “So, how did you two start Pausify?” During the event, we usually manage two sentences in response, and then have to run away to check the chairs, or milk, or coffee... :) So we thought: why not share it here?

So many of you have been part of Pausify for a while now – so this isn’t just our story anymore, it’s yours too. 💛

When we moved to Berlin a few years ago, it was clear that there was no shortage of events. Clubs, workshops, concerts - you could attend five in one evening. And yet, something was missing: a place that offered consistency, a sense of community.

So, in 2022 we started a book club. The very traditional kind: one book a month, then a discussion. We would meet at Ksenia’s flat in Lichtenberg with lots of tea and cookies. 🫖🍪 It was very cozy and warm… but it had downsides: what if you don’t like the book? Or missed the meeting? Wait another month?

So we tried something else. We began meeting with friends in a coffee shop every week: get a drink, read for an hour and chat. At first, it was 5–6 of us. Soon, more wanted to join.

The early Pausify look. Coffee Fellows & Exclusive Coffee = our very first address 🙃

It worked perfectly – until it didn’t. Coffee shops weren’t thrilled with a group taking up space for hours - and there’s only so many lattes a human body can handle. 😜 Fair enough. The hunt for space began.

Next stop: Hotel lobbies. That worked a few times, but ended quickly: “Sorry, Sunday mornings are for hotel guests having breakfast, not book clubs.”

Eventually we found a neighborhood center in Moabit. It was old, small, with a broken window, but it was still great: our own little corner where familiar and new faces showed up every week, and conversations over coffee made it feel like home. 💛 We met there for about a year.

Neighborhood center in Moabit

Still, there were challenges. The room fit 20 people max, and soon, every week we answered many messages: “Can I please join, too?” with “No, sorry, we’re full 😟.”

Also, for Barbara and me it meant even more commitment every week: arriving early, unlocking and locking, cleaning, signing papers, coordinating with the managers…

Finally, while the space was technically free, we had to collect donations. One day the managers said: “Hey, the space is supported by the government, but it also really depends on donations. Can you please remind your guests to support more?” Fair enough – but it also meant that on top of everything else, we’d now have to play donation police. 😯

Neighborhood center in Moabit

And here’s a side note: many people assume the government just gives money if you’re “doing something good.” Sadly, it doesn’t work like that. Public funding is extremely limited and very competitive. You always compete with hundreds of other important initiatives. If you fill out 100 applications, you might get lucky and get a one-time grant - but there’s no magical check arriving every month.

So, I still remember one sunny afternoon when Barbara and I called each other and admitted out loud what we had both been thinking: “We love these events… but maybe we’ll have to stop.” After two years of volunteering and showing up every week, we had reached a point. Either we would shut it down, or find a way to make it sustainable.

That’s when the hard conversation began. Barbara, who studied social work and now works with kids from underprivileged families, said: “No, we can’t charge people for this. It doesn’t feel right.” Pricing strategies were not exactly part of her degree. 🙃

But shutting it down didn’t feel right either. So we sat down with notebooks. We started writing a business plan. And we asked experienced people what they thought. Almost everyone told us: “It’s sweet. But it will never work. Nobody will pay. And even if they do, it won’t cover your costs. Commercial rent and promotion are extremely expensive. If you want a real business, build an app – something scalable. Your idea isn’t.”

We listened and we nodded. And then we said: “No. The world doesn’t need another app. Let’s try anyway.”

To be continued here…

In the next edition, we’ll share what happened when we turned Pausify from a volunteer project into something bigger – the joys and struggles we face now, and what we dream of next. ✨

PS: Spoiler: those people were both right and wrong.