About

Hey all,

I'm Norbert. This is where I share my thoughts on building internet companies, my gear obsessions, and whatever else catches my interest.

If you want to learn more about me then read below:

Name: My last name is Hungarian, so it’s pronounced ‘Kish’ /kiʃ/ with an ‘sh’ sound at the end (or alternatively fish with a "k" or quiche but with a short “i” sound).

Email: norbert.kiss@unibas.ch

• I grew up in Szarvas and went to high school at RMG in Szeged, Hungary. I met my wife there.
• During high-school I spent 3 summers in the fields, detasseling maize and looking after the animals at our farm. Hard work, low pay, but some of the best times of my teens. 4AM to 2PM work, then swimming, BBQing, and archery with friends until dark.
• After graduating, I moved to Budapest to go to ELTE and study applied economics.
• During the first two years I interned at CEU as a research assistant and later at Morgan Stanley as a finance intern. After seeing what my boss's boss's boss did for work every day, I decided to leave MS.
• At the end of my bachelor's I "dropped out" and co-founded an agri-tech startup with friends, focused on smart weather and insect sensors, called Byome. It was my first step into entrepreneurship and I messed it up big time. It eventually got acquired in the smallest exit in Hungarian startup history.
• Not knowing what to do after, I ended up writing my thesis and finishing my BSc.
• During this time my startup's mentor hired me as project manager for his software development agency, Wozify.
• Before going full-time at Wozify I planned to spend a month volunteering at a children's hospital in Budapest. They never returned my calls for volunteering, so I ended up applying to a job at a neurosurgery operating room as a support-worker. They were so understaffed that they hired me instantly. Over the next month I assisted in roughly 60 brain and spinal surgeries - without any medical qualifications.
• At Wozify I managed about 12 projects so far, including multiple web development projects for US and UK startups, a complex logistics project for a deep sea exploration logistics company, and a feasibility study for the European Space Agency.
• In 2023 we moved to Basel, Switzerland and I decided to do a master's in Data Science and Computational Economics. At the University of Basel I also worked as a part-time research assistant, on topics like machine learning and optimization.
• In 2024 I finally learned to code (properly).
• I got married in May 2025!
• Now, I am starting a new challenge: 12 tiny internet companies in 12 months. The first things I've created are the online resource Esküvőlista.hu (launching soon): a DIY wedding planning guide designed specifically for Hungarian couples, and Fogászlista.hu: a site for finding good dentists near you.

And that, in a nutshell, is where I am now.

A few more notes:

• I'm always on the lookout for interesting startup ideas, especially ones involving AI, tiny SaaS, and sweaty startups. If you're working on something cool, let me know!
• You can connect with me on Twitter or in email - I'm always happy to chat.

Links:

• Esküvőlista.hu - literally the best resource and guide to wedding planning
• Fogászlista.hu - a directory of great hungarian denstist
• Our riverside AirBnB in Szarvas

Personal stuff:

Wow, still here? Ok, time for the fun stuff.

• I'm a big fan of manual typewriters, especially the Erika brand from East-Germany. Very hipster, I know.
• I was a truly terrible kid until 16. My wife tamed me. Now I'm mostly a gentleman. (My mom still thanks my wife occasionally for this.)
• Love the outdoors: hiking, mountain biking, fishing, hunting, archery, kayaking. Started running in 2025.

Find me elsewhere:
norbertlkiss on Twitter, norbertlkiss on Instagram, norbertlevente on GitHub, Norbert Levente Kiss on LinkedIn, norbertleventekiss on YouTube.

Thanks for stopping by!