sharp10 Global Trends by Andrea Anderheggen

The Cost of War: The 20 Trillion Dollar Choice

The Cost of War Welcome to a new episode of the sharp 10 Global Trends Podcast. My name is Andrea, and today we are talking about the cost of wars, not just in lives, which we already know is unbearable, but in money, in opportunity costs, in the futures we are quietly choosing not to build. Here is the number that started this episode for me. Between the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran, and the planned military budgets of the US, China, and Europe through 2030, humanity is on track to spend roughly $20 trillion on weapons and military. That's more than $10 billion per day. 10,000 million dollars every single day. That same $20 trillion could do all at once, lift a billion people out of poverty, stabilize the climate, and for you personally, cure diseases, diseases that kill you and the people you love, and put serious science behind longer, healthier lives and all sorts of civilization-changing progress. The price for wars and for such an alternative future is the same. What we get for it is not. So today, I want to do something most podcasts do not. I want to challenge where the entire world is heading and question if what we're doing is even remotely smart. With me is Claude, the AI from Anthropic. Claude's responses will be voiced by Charles and my comments by Daniel. Together we will look at exactly where the 20 trillion is going, what it could be building instead, and why we keep making the choices we are making. If you have ever wondered why your government can find money for war, but never for a much better future, this episode is for you. ---------------------------------------- All sources for this podcast episode can be found in the sharp10 app under https://sharp10.com/app [https://sharp10.com/app]. © sharp10, a brand owned by Fliegenglas Verlag GmbH, Switzerland | All Rights Reserved

Values Under Pressure: What Europe Stands For

EU Values: What Europe Stands For Welcome to a new episode of the sharp10 Global Trends podcast, first available on the sharp10.com app. Today we’re diving into something that might sound a bit abstract at first, the values of the European Union. Now, you might be thinking, “Values? That sounds a little dry, maybe even boring.” But stay with me, because by the end of this episode, I think you’ll see this very differently. What struck me while preparing this episode is how few people actually know what the EU has defined as its core values and what the challenges are, and I have to include myself in that. Before working on this, my own understanding was pretty basic, and it reminds me of something I often say when talking with friends about the EU. The ideas, the values, the achievements are actually quite remarkable, but there’s almost no storytelling around them, no real marketing, if you will. So the EU ends up feeling like a hidden champion, or worse, it gets criticized for things that are often the exact opposite of what it actually stands for. I’m not a politician, and I don’t work for a political party or institution. But as a citizen living in Europe, I believe it’s important to know our origins and what is really meant when talking about Western, or more precisely, European values. And this seemed to me even more important considering the fact that we’re living in a time where geopolitics is shifting dramatically. The United States is no longer acting as the global moral leader or police it once was. As a consequence, in Europe, most people stop to consider the United States the leader of the free world. At least it’s safe to say that parts of the current US administration doesn’t align anymore with the values Europe has defined for itself. And other superpowers like China or India have another historical, cultural, and political background, and hence don’t share European values either, or only apply them selectively where it fits their own agenda. We touched on this changing global landscape in our last episode, where we explored different scenarios for the future, looking at current geopolitics. But here’s the key point for today: If we as Europeans want to make smart decisions about partnerships, alliances, and business relationships, we need to be crystal clear about our own values first. Otherwise, we risk drifting into contradictions, and over time, that weakens everything we stand for. At least we need to know when we contradict ourselves on purpose. And besides the comparison to other regions of the world, there is also an internal European consideration to take. On paper, European values are quite clearly defined, as you will see. However, in reality, we still have a lot of work to do. There’s often a gap between what we say we value and how we actually behave, and some of these values can even clash with each other. Take freedom and democracy, for example. What happens when people in a democratic system freely vote for a government that then limits freedom? That’s a real tension, and it’s not the only one we’ll explore today. Anyway, I truly believe that the values of the European Union are not just political ideals. They’re a foundation for Europe’s future, including its economic and business success. ‘Cause if we start following the paths promoted by other global powers, our own history suggests we could drift back into darker times that may benefit only a few in the short term, but never our community as a whole. As Europeans, we know all too well what that can look like whenever we remember our war-torn history. ---------------------------------------- All sources for this podcast episode can be found in the sharp10 app under https://sharp10.com/app [https://sharp10.com/app]. © sharp10, a brand owned by Fliegenglas Verlag GmbH, Switzerland | All Rights Reserved

The New Rules of Power: Making Sense of the Geopolitical Shift

Making Sense of the Geopolitical Shift Today we're diving into geopolitical tensions. It's a big topic and a hot one. It deserves more context than usual, especially for a podcast focused on business insights for executives and founders. Something has changed. The world feels different now. Think back 10, maybe 15 years. Yes, we had major crises between 2000 and 2016. The September 11th attacks, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the global financial crisis in 2008, the Arab Spring, which brought down regimes and contributed to the migration crisis in Europe. And in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, although at the time that didn't dominate headlines in Western Europe or the US the way it might today, and maybe that's the reason for the later disaster. However, for most people in Europe or the United States, those events felt somewhat distant. Disruptive, yes, but not destabilizing to everyday life. That's changed. Over the past 7 years, the sense of stability has really started to erode. It began with the COVID pandemic in 2020, then Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the election of President Trump in 2024, a vote for the distrust in politics. A heavy distrust, almost like a rebellion by large parts of American society, completely ignoring the lack of morality and long term implications of their own alternative. The unbelievable global sex traffic scandal around Epstein, which seems to give a signal that the rich and influential define their status by staying immune to accountability when disobeying the rules and the law. And as we record this, an unprecedented, certainly illegal military attack by the United States and Israel against Iran, which as of now has not triggered the kind of global protest you might have expected, and which seems to emerge out of increasingly unchecked power by the US administration. So the self-inflicted geopolitical tensions now feel almost absurd and certainly less predictable, less stable, and in many ways more fragile than at any point in the more recent memory. And this isn't just my feeling. In January 2026, the World Economic Forum ranked geopolitical tensions as the top global risk. That was before the recent escalation involving Iran. And surveys reported by Reuters a few days ago, this April 2026, show that central banks are more concerned about geopolitical risks than they've been in years. In this episode, we'll explore what that all means for businesses, for startups, for innovation, and for the people building the future. I'm discussing this with Claude, the AI from Anthropic. Claude's responses will be read by Charles and my parts by Daniel. All right, let's get into it. ---------------------------------------- All sources use from the World Economic Forum, Reuters, BCG and others can be found in the sharp10 app under https://sharp10.com/app [https://sharp10.com/app].

Where are the Shovels? Opportunities in the AI Economy.

Opportunities in the AI Economy It's April 2026, and everyone is talking about AI, your colleagues, your LinkedIn feed, probably even your dentist. But very few are asking the question that actually matters: Where are the opportunities right now and in the next 10 years? Because this shift is not just about better technology, it is changing who wins, who falls behind, and where real value is created. For entrepreneurs and job seekers, it opens up entirely new career paths and business models. For investors, it creates a chance to move early before the market fully catches on. And for policymakers, it raises a fundamental question, how do you stay competitive when everything is evolving faster than institutions can keep up? In this episode, we take a closer look at the opportunities emerging from this shift. Not the obvious ones, but the ones that are still early, still underestimated, and still within reach. ---------------------------------------- Sources: **Find all other sources in the sharp10 app: **https://www.sharp10.com/app [https://www.sharp10.com/app] or https://www.sharp10.com [https://www.sharp10.com]

Holes in Walls: How to Start a Company

From Idea to Company Imagine this: You’re sitting with friends and someone says, “You know what someone should build?” Ideas start flying. Everyone has one. Everyone feels like discovering the next big thing. And the next day, nothing happens. The idea that felt so obvious at midnight looks a lot less revolutionary over breakfast. Because having an idea is easy. It’s exciting. It’s safe. But building a company, that’s where most people stop. And here’s the twist: Somewhere else, someone has the same idea, and they actually start. They build. They struggle. They figure it out. And over time, they create something real. That’s how companies are born, and that’s how economies move forward because without people who build, nothing really changes. So the question isn’t, do you have a good idea? It’s: Will you actually do something with it? In this episode, we’ll show you how to go from an idea to a real company. Let’s go! ---------------------------------------- Sources: **Venture Capital: 14 Untold Lessons After Raising $45m (Guide) **https://www.salesgrowth.io/vc [https://www.salesgrowth.io/vc] **Find all other sources in the sharp10 app: **https://www.sharp10.com/app [https://www.sharp10.com/app] or https://www.sharp10.com [https://www.sharp10.com]