Not on the Backs of the Young

Becoming active not with appeals, but with action. By giving something back and passing something on. By standing more clearly alongside the younger generation in crazy times like these, by helping to tackle their small and large problems – and by not thoughtlessly settling into retirement on the backs of the young wherever it can be avoided.

As the largest generation of older people in history, with a longer life expectancy than ever before, it is only fair that we should be willing to help carry the consequences of this wave of ageing.

No Obligation to Keep Working

What I have in mind is voluntary participation, not a morally enforced postponement of retirement. No one should have their retirement taken away. But those who can and want to contribute something should find suitable opportunities to do so.

With the Younger Generation, Not Just for Them

Young people should be involved in the development and testing of the platform from the very beginning. Otherwise, we older people will end up defining what kind of experience others supposedly need. The demand side formulates its own tasks – and judges for itself what has actually been helpful.

Who I Am

Born in Amsterdam, grew up in Basel. Married to Geli, three grown-up children. Formerly a creative and advertiser, then founder and head of the powerAge Foundation. Today, as a résumé drawn from all of that, working to launch the first platform with exclusive job services for people with extensive experience.

I want to make our responsibility for generational fairness simpler, more attractive and more effective. That is what the project stands for – and what I stand for.

What I Want

We don't need to build the entire platform first in order to know whether the offer really helps people. We need to make a small part of it real first. In a preliminary project, I therefore want to test the theses behind this venture along clearly defined validation paths.

Four theses are being put to the test – for those seeking support as well as those offering it:

1. Experience becomes visible – Assessment for Experience
Hypothesis: Our threefold view of experience makes task-relevant strengths visible that a conventional short profile does not sufficiently reveal.

2. Experience becomes accessible – Tinder for Experience
Hypothesis: People with experience and people with a task can, with comparatively little effort, formulate a clear offer or a clear request.

3. Experience fits – Matching for Experience
Hypothesis: Our matching approach leads to suitable collaborations more often than a simple assignment based on profession, availability and task description.

4. Experience has impact – Impact for Experience
Hypothesis: A well-matched assignment creates concrete value for the person requesting it and an individually relevant benefit for the person contributing their experience.

Timeline from January 2027

My idea is a twelve-week preliminary project from January to March 2027. In 14–16 weeks, the four theses can be robustly tested:

Weeks 1–4: Setup, recruitment of the pilot cohort, assessment prototype
Weeks 5–10: Live matches, support, ongoing benefit log
Weeks 11–13: Evaluation, interviews, practical matters, costs (with a monthly member subscription for boomers – CHF 7 or 14 – we are probably the most affordable on the market)
Weeks 14–16: Validation report, hypothesis review, go/no-go decision for the main project

What I Am Looking For

For this first step, I specifically need two things: a small, reliable core team and the financial basis to carry out the preliminary project properly. Together, these will determine whether a good idea turns into a viable prototype.

On the one hand, allies and fellow campaigners: impact investors, partner organisations, critical minds. Courageous and innovative, undaunted and able to assert themselves – also in order to overcome resistance and indifference. Some demographic forces of inertia should not be underestimated. Together, moving, achieving and making possible something truly meaningful.

On the other hand, funding for the preliminary project – as the first step towards what is meant to emerge in the medium term: the most popular, most affordable and most sought-after platform for people who still have something in mind for their later years. A place where experience is not administered but put to use.

Here is a first budget estimate, deliberately offered as a basis for discussion rather than as a fixed price: for a lean but viable preliminary project in Switzerland, I would estimate a range between CHF 130,000 and 160,000. That is tightly calculated but realistic, provided some services are offered pro bono or at reduced rates for this mission.

This would cover project management and support of the pilot cohort, a functional assessment prototype, recruiting and interviews, evaluation and validation report, as well as a reserve for unforeseen costs. This figure is deliberately a first orientation; the precise calculation will emerge from the conversations of the coming weeks.

Not yet conclusively clarified at this point are: scaling, the detailed pricing model, and the partner structure across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. That is reserved for the main project.

What I Offer

I bring the preparatory work, my knowledge and my experience from previous developments. I want to kick off the founding, support the first team and pass on my know-how in full.

In doing so, I am not looking for successors to carry out a finished plan, but for coentrepreneurs who will help shape the venture and take on responsibility. A share in the future company – and later also a majority takeover by the leading team – is something I can explicitly envisage. The conditions for this we will develop together.

My goal is not to run everything myself in the long term. I want to help build something that will endure beyond my own role: socially binding and economically viable.