Unforged
    Personal Brand / DFYBuild

    Unforged

    Own venture, Cyprus LTD, AI‑native

    über 45.000 €

    Cash Collected für die Klienten, in rund zwei Monaten

    Klienten live, mit vollständig aufgebauter und laufender Personal Brand

    Monate

    von den ersten Klienten bis zu diesem Ergebnis, ohne fertiges Produkt vorab

    Overview

    The idea for Unforged comes from a real need: companies, especially young ones and startups, increasingly cannot win on good product marketing or a company brand alone. The founders behind them need to become visible themselves, because people increasingly buy from people, not from anonymous organizations, and platform algorithms reward people, not portfolios. Personal branding is becoming infrastructure, not a nice-to-have. Unforged is the attempt to build exactly that AI-native from the ground up, with Caspar Kjaer as co-founder.

    Voyage Digital's role

    Voyage Digital, with Andreas Hartenfels as founder, built Unforged out of its own work with AI, automation, marketing and software development, with Caspar Kjaer as the sole co-founder focused on sales, client success and distribution, with its own capital and time invested, not as a vendor working for a fee.

    Stations

    The stations

    1. 01 Product build "The Forge"

      Brand Audit (v0 live), Content Engine (v2.0 in progress, phase 6 of 9), Identity Builder and Landing Page Builder in planning, Hub (v0 live).

    2. 02 Per-client infrastructure

      A dedicated Supabase project per client, client sites as Astro builds on Netlify, a self-hosted knowledge-base stack.

    3. 03 Pilot clients & go-to-market

      Four paying pilot clients live with their own landing pages, over €45,000 cash collected for the clients within about two months through the funnels.

    Starting point

    What was blocked

    • Visibility increasingly beats expertise when the person behind it stays invisible
    • Personal branding is usually treated as a nice-to-have, not as systematic infrastructure
    • No end-to-end system connects the authentic personal brand with the technology that makes it plannable and durable
    Approach

    How we thought about it

    • 01Distribution first, then product: work highly individually with real clients and validate against real demand before it becomes a product
    • 02The full growth infrastructure around the person: brand and voice, a content engine, acquisition and funnels, a sales system and AI-run operations, all from one hand
    • 03The client owns their data: the system, generated leads and knowledge are set up so the client can access them at any time and take everything with them on exit
    • 04AI-native at the core: AI-first through the entire DNA instead of a tool bolted on top, for a fraction of the time per client at scaling quality
    • 05Services become a product: The Forge systematizes the recurring work as its own intellectual property
    Execution

    What was built

    Unforged is built distribution-first: work starts highly individually with real pilot clients, like an agency, to validate against real demand what is actually needed. From the validated services grows The Forge, the own model that systematizes the recurring work and that clients can eventually use themselves.

    Impact

    What it produced

    Four clients live, each with a fully built and running personal brand: lead-acquisition funnels, a content strategy and a reworked Instagram channel
    Over €45,000 cash collected for the clients within about two months, without a finished product in place beforehand
    The Forge set up as its own product and model, systematizing the work and carrying Unforged from service to scalable product
    Image series

    Images from the project

    Instagram-Startbildschirme mit Bio, Profilbild und Story-Highlights, vor allem von Jonny und Sarah
    Content von Jonny plus der Content-Plan mit den Content-Pillars
    Link-in-Bio-Seiten von Christian und Jonny, im iPhone-Mockup, farbig

    Voices

    What the collaboration says

    Alicia Brandt — Portrait
    “Anyone who wants to bring order into complex topics and take their marketing to the next level needs you on the team. You gave my team essential support in setting up a well thought through CRM strategy, building automated lifecycle journeys and establishing the right processes. Together with you we made the leap from simple newsletter sending to real, working CRM. You are extremely clear, structured and honest, you combine strategic foresight with pragmatic solutions, you think along actively and you stay reliably on top of the projects. Throughout the whole time you were a firm part of the team for us and a great sparring partner on equal footing. Thank you for your outstanding commitment!”
    Alicia Brandt — Marketing Lead VAN RYSEL, Decathlon Germany
    Joshua Wenzel — Portrait
    “Together we developed a solid CRM strategy, built a lifecycle system with automated journeys and designed and rolled out the processes that go with it. That is how our classic newsletter turned into real CRM. What makes the collaboration so valuable beyond that: alongside his pragmatic and structured way of working, we also value him enormously on a personal level. With his genuine interest in the projects and his consistently open, helpful manner he is a real asset you can rely on 100 % at any time.”
    Joshua Wenzel — CRM Project Manager, Decathlon Germany
    Tristan Hain — Portrait
    “With Andy we built and automated our entire lifecycle system, among other things. Working with him was always clear and structured, we could rely on him, and we never lost the fun on the way to the goal.”
    Tristan Hain — CRM Project Manager, Decathlon Germany
    Merle Walter — Portrait
    “Over the past five years or so you have always been a constant and reliable point of contact for me across different stations and for the most varied projects. From process development and optimisation through coding and technical topics, the holistic view and consolidation of the CRM area, all the way to strategic direction and the implementation of a wide range of subject areas, I could always count on you. With your way of working you were able to give us, and me, structure and guidance. Setting up the automated post purchase strategy was, I think, our most intensive collaboration. I was able to benefit and learn an incredible amount from you, and for that I am immensely grateful. Working with you throughout was always great fun, and I really valued that we could talk about more than just work while keeping productivity high. I will definitely miss our regular exchanges.”
    Merle Walter — Loyalty Manager, Decathlon Germany
    Sebastian Schermer — Portrait
    “Andreas is the structuring element most teams are missing. Focused, targeted execution. Maximum ownership. Ruthless prioritisation. He takes topics that look difficult and complex at first and brings them to the finish line. If need be, he takes them over himself. Anyone looking for someone who takes ownership instead of just advising is in the right place with him.”
    Sebastian Schermer — Founder & CEO, digitalforce
    Johannes Auffermann — Portrait
    “Andi held our delivery together. Projects, infrastructure, coordination, that was on him. Weeklies and dailies ran without me, and for me that was the real proof. I never had to ask whether the status was accurate. On the bigger calls, offers, partners, budgets, he was my counterweight, even when that was not comfortable for him. No agency speak, straight answers.”
    Johannes Auffermann — Founder & Managing Director, Astral
    Jonny Crawford — Portrait
    “Andy and the team rebuilt my whole online presence from the ground up. What changed is who shows up: every qualification call I took in the first month closed. Three out of three. Anyone landing on my page now can see straight away that I'm an exclusive high ticket coach. So impressed with you lads and what you've built, this is phenomenal.”
    Jonny Crawford — Founder & Coach, Project Knight
    Eric Lehmann — Portrait
    “Andreas kept the overview in a complex project, including when things around it got chaotic. Thank you for your commitment and your overview in the shared chaos. Without him a lot would have been lost on the agency side. I very much hope we work together again.”
    Eric Lehmann — CTO, Constantin Film
    Cihan Erben — Portrait
    “In Andreas I have a professional partner who is able to think across industries and to look at my business model afresh from his perspective. That lets me steer my company toward the future with more confidence and keep challenging it.”
    Cihan Erben — Founder & CEO, Erben Bau
    Konstantin Doerr — Portrait
    “Andreas stands out through an exceptional strategic understanding and the ability to consistently think from the outcome backwards. He reliably supported our CRM team in structuring processes and prioritising projects efficiently. Beyond strategy development, his strengths include leading workshops and producing concise management presentations. With his direct communication he is a valued sparring partner on equal footing.”
    Konstantin Doerr — CRM Team Lead, Decathlon Germany
    Sarah Krone — Portrait
    “Andy built the whole thing for me in like no time, and it was a banger. What amazed me most is that he got my tone of voice right straight from my instagram, I didn't even have to explain it. Changes I asked for were often live the same day. And he kept delivering even when things got messy on my side. I'm really grateful for all he's doing, it means a lot.”
    Sarah Krone — Tattoo Artist, Kroneink
    David Solk — Portrait
    “Thank you for everything you did for us. It was genuinely seen and appreciated. You worked closely with both our team and the people doing the work, helping to keep things moving and well coordinated.”
    David Solk — CEO & Co-Founder, SOLK
    Marvin Burmester — Portrait
    “Andy and I have exchanged regularly on product, data and strategy for years. Beyond his technical expertise, I value his entrepreneurial drive: he meets challenges with vision and openness. He sees opportunity where others fear complexity. What makes him stand out for me is that he doesn't just develop concepts, he digs rigorously into the details of digital products, as his own online shop shows. Andy never shies away from conflict and always gives a direct, honest picture. A fearless sparring partner you'd want at your side.”
    Marvin Burmester — Founder & CEO, Growing Forward
    Solveig Schmerer — Portrait
    “With Andreas we were able to run a highly successful AI workshop and develop a well-founded AI roadmap for our team. He did an excellent job of making the opportunities and possibilities of AI tangible – without stoking fears, but with a clear focus on real potential. Together we developed AI solutions that took our work in Customer & Market Research to a new level. Andreas supported us perfectly with his expertise, his neutral perspective and enormous solution orientation. He was a sparring partner and a reliable advisor at once – always honest, structured, pragmatic and to the point. The partnership was consistently on equal footing. What I particularly value is that it did not stay in grey theory, but created real, lasting value for our everyday work. The result has a noticeable impact on my daily work and my professional development. Thank you so much for your outstanding support!”
    Solveig Schmerer — Insight Analyst, Decathlon Germany
    Deni Panknin — Portrait
    “Andreas and I kept overlapping over the years: me deep in the technical implementation, him in the strategy and the process above it. That fit together cleanly. He operates more strategically than most people you deal with on projects like these. Strictly speaking he is only half a service provider, at his core he builds business models.”
    Deni Panknin — Salesforce Architect, Aviando
    Michael Bauer — Portrait
    “My collaboration with Andreas has been with me and Decathlon since 2023. What started back then in CRM with automating customer journeys in email marketing and support in day-to-day operations has grown over the years into a genuinely strong partnership. As head of the Customer & Market Insights team it was clear to me that I wanted Andreas at my side again in 2025. He was instrumental in developing the strategy for our team and the project. His AI expertise was a huge gain: through his hands-on training and the implementation of deep-research projects he moved the team forward enormously. But what truly sets Andreas apart for me goes far beyond the technical side: over the years the purely business relationship has grown into a real, trusting foundation – and a friendship. Andreas is both a sparring partner and a coach to me. He knows how to motivate me again and again, to see things from a new angle and to push my own projects forward boldly. What I value enormously: he is never too proud for anything. He acts lightning-fast, helps me sort topics correctly and shares his wealth of experience completely without fuss. For me Andreas brings exactly that rare mix of deep expertise, real hands-on mentality and human class that you wish for in a partner. Thank you for the great support over all these years!”
    Michael Bauer — Insight Team Lead, Decathlon Germany

    Conversation, not pitch

    Understand first, then decide. We take time for an initial conversation, without sales pressure, without obligation.

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