Ep 85 | Having A Company Is Maybe The Hardest Way To Get Rich (w/ Maximilian Schilling)

Maximilian Schilling, co-founder and CEO of warmwind, is building a new kind of browser where AI works like a digital employee: clicking, typing, and navigating apps visually instead of through APIs.

In this episode, we talk about his mission to make automation transparent, reliable, and accessible for every business, and how he’s building one of Europe’s most ambitious AI startups from Jena, Germany.

We dive into Max’s story, from growing up in a family that both inspired and warned him against entrepreneurship, to starting his first business at 14, and selling his second before launching Warmwind. He shares how financial independence as a teenager shaped his drive, why failure never felt like a real risk, and how curiosity (not comfort) has guided every decision he’s made.

Max also explains Warmwind’s approach to building Warmwind OS, a browser-based system where AI agents automate workflows for small and medium businesses by acting on the screen instead of behind closed APIs. We talk about building reliable software, hiring in Europe, retraining vision-first AI models, and why he believes European founders should channel their “rage to compete” into world-class products.

If you’re interested in AI, automation, or the mindset behind building bold companies from scratch, you’ll love this conversation with Max.