guyslikeus

Paul Fattinger & Marc Winter

Two guys old enough to know better—but curious enough to keep asking. A former CEO and an undercover poet—from Vienna and New York, two longtime friends share (lightly) decanted reflections on life, work, and everything in between. Guys Like Us — home of champagne problems and existential questions. IG: https://www.instagram.com/guyslikeus.official/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulfattinger/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-winter-6138679/

  1. 1d ago

    The Failures We Refuse to Own | Ep 48

    We love the idea that failure teaches us more than success. But here's the uncomfortable truth: we hate looking at our failures so much that we usually just defend them instead of learning from them. This week, we dig into why admitting you got it wrong in your 40s feels like admitting you're out of time to fix it. We cover the brutal first step — just saying "I f****d up" without the excuses — and why the three catastrophic life buckets (career, relationships, kids) make failure feel impossible to recover from. Marc confesses to refusing accountability after a role change that didn't work out. Paul admits he's still defending decisions he knows were mistakes. And we wrestle with the question: do we actually learn from failure, or do we just get better at reframing it as a win? Along the way: the mindset trap that leads smart people to make terrible decisions, why Paul's suitcase now smells like Riesling, and the one famous quote that still holds up. Chapters:0:00 Introduction0:05 Navigating the Challenges of Travel and Fatigue0:05 Introduction to the Podcast and the Theme of Failure1:50 Personal Experiences with Failure and Learning4:45 The Dichotomy of Learning from Wins vs. Failures7:49 Accountability and Ownership in the Face of Failure12:30 Embracing Responsibility for Mistakes15:01 Learning from Others' Failures17:40 Mindset and Context in Failure22:57 The Weight of Life's Failures24:43 Terminator and Idiotic Thing of the Week26:00 Accountability and Leadership in Failure27:50 Expectations and the Pain of Failure | Ep 48

    33 min

  2. Jun 16

    Your Thoughts Are Already Telling You Everything | Ep 47

    We love to think therapy means lying on a couch excavating childhood trauma for years. Dr. Yasmine Saad (https://www.dryasminesaad.com) — one of New York's top psychologists says that's completely unnecessary. Your thoughts and emotions are already broadcasting exactly what you need to work on. You just need to learn how to decode them.  We sit down with Yasmine to talk about her Inner Message Approach: how one frustrated thought about dirty dishes can reveal whether your life is unbalanced toward work or your relationship lacks fairness. How anger and frustration are just unmet desires calling you toward action. And why awareness doesn't make you powerless — it gives you agency to change what's not working. We also get into what brings men in their 40s to therapy (relationships, career pivots, the question of "is this the right partner?"), why you don't need to unpack your entire childhood to make progress, and Yasmine's take on this cultural moment: COVID, political instability, and AI are systematically dismantling our external safety structures so we're forced to build strength from the inside out. It's bumpy because we're still clinging to the idea that security comes from the outside.  Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:45 Yasmine Saad's background and credentials 1:17 Reframing therapy: discovery over vulnerability 5:26 Awareness as a source of agency, not control 9:10 Decoding messages from thoughts and emotions 13:45 The role of body sensations in self-awareness 22:42 Common challenges for men in their 40s 34:58 The impact of technology and AI on identity 40:49 Building inner strength in uncertain times 41:52 Closing thoughts and future plans 43:27 Terminator and Idiotic Thing of the Week  | Ep 47

    46 min

  3. Jun 9

    We Thought We Knew Wine — We Were So Wrong | Ep 46

    We've opened enough bottles to think we know our way around wine. Turns out, we don't. At all. This week, we sit down with our friend Markus Purdue at his biodynamic vineyard in Wachau for a blind tasting that exposed just how little we actually know. But what started as a humbling lesson in terroir became a much deeper conversation about what it means to build something real — why Markus refuses to use shortcuts, how he thinks about pricing a wine that sat in his cellar for years, and why resilience matters more than yield when you're farming organically.  We cover the mechanics of winemaking without pretension, debate whether you can get a great organic bottle for €10 (you can), and hear Markus explain why he'd serve James Suckling his cheapest wine. Plus: why "summer fuel" should be an official wine category, Paul's spectacular failure to identify a Grüner, and the moment Marc realizes natural wine with a classic style is the move.  Chapters: 0:00 Exploring Wachau: The Heart of Austrian Wine 6:31 Organic and Biodynamic Wine Practices 13:19 Affordable Organic Wines: Quality and Accessibility 14:59 Wine Tasting Experience 16:13 Understanding Wine Pricing 20:57 The Wine Production Process 24:42 Old World vs New World Wines 28:20 Wine Preferences and Trends  | Ep 46

    31 min

  4. Jun 2

    Talk to Your Kids After You Die? | Ep 45

    We love the idea that technology can solve anything, but what if the smartest move is actually knowing when not to use it? This week, we sit down to talk about digital twins—AI versions of yourself that can schedule your life, handle meetings, and even talk to your kids after you're gone. Paul's actively building his work twin right now, complete with a personal CRM that nags him when he's neglecting friends. Marc floats a genuinely controversial idea: that creating a digital twin for your children might be a parent's responsibility, a way to preserve wisdom beyond death. Paul thinks it's one of the worst ideas he's ever heard. The debate gets heated, philosophical, and surprisingly emotional as we wrestle with what AI can never replicate: subconscious intuition, shared consciousness, and the difference between language and meaning. We also cover why Scott Galloway thinks young men are screwed by AI relationships, Paul's accidental butt-dial disaster, and Marc's $300 art shipping mistake in Bogotá. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:05 The Implications of Digital Twins in Personal Life 3:01 Building and Utilizing Your Digital Twin 11:56 Exploring Digital Twins in the Workplace 15:51 The Philosophical Implications of Digital Twins 19:51 The Impact of AI on Human Relationships 20:49 Digital Twins and the Concept of Mortality 27:36 The Role of AI in Capturing Human Experience 30:28 Reflections on Legacy and Memory 32:51 Terminator and Idiotic Thing of the Week | Ep 45

    37 min

  5. May 26

    The Risk of Living Your Childhood Dream at 44 | Ep 44

    We love to tell ourselves we'll take the leap when the timing is perfect—when we have enough saved, when the kids are older, when the stars align. But Markus looked around at 44 and realized: if not now, when? This week we're sitting at Markus's winery in the Wachau Valley, drinking his Grüner Veltliner and hearing the unfiltered story of what happened when he left a decade-long political career to become an organic winemaker. We talk about the exact moment he knew he had to do it, the terror of not knowing if there'd be money at month's end, and why working alongside your partner and entire family is either the most romantic or most insane business model ever invented. We also get into Markus's "be brave and play" philosophy, the reality check of running a high-stakes, low-margin business, and why his most idiotic moments always happen on a tractor. Plus, Paul's train disaster, Marc's F-bomb-filled business meeting, and why apricot jam might be the secret hero of this episode.  Chapters: 0:00 Introduction to Guys Like Us Podcast 3:01 The Journey to Winemaking 5:47 Transitioning from Politics to Winemaking 10:54 Living the Childhood Dream 13:28 The Moment of Decision 18:13 Reflections on the Journey 19:44 Family Involvement in Business 22:37 Balancing Dreams and Reality 25:31 The Romanticized Vision of Winemaking 28:37 Navigating Challenges in the Wine Industry 30:59 Idiotic Thing and Terminator of the Week  | Ep 44

    35 min

  6. May 19

    The Friendship Math That Doesn't Add Up | Ep 43

    We love to tell ourselves we're just too busy for new friendships, but the truth is way more uncomfortable: most men in their 40s are losing nine to ten friends per decade, and 40% of us report feeling lonelier than any other age group. That's not a scheduling problem. That's a crisis. This week, we wrestle with the mechanics of midlife friendship — the spouse proxy trap, the 200-hour rule Paul swears by and Marc thinks is complete nonsense, and why the bottleneck isn't opportunity, it's time. We cover Paul's realization that he's outsourced his social life, Marc's definition of "fast friends" (which Paul finds deeply suspicious), and the uncomfortable truth that your best shot at a new friend is finding someone whose wife your wife actually likes. We also talk about intentionality — the idea that you should actively choose the five people who shape your average, not just let proximity decide for you. Plus: soccer dad barbecues, Formula One invites from personal trainers, and whether faking a T-ball rain cancellation makes Marc father of the year.  Chapters: 0:00 The Friendship Recession: Statistics and Insights 2:10 Understanding the Dynamics of Male Friendships 9:54 Defining Close Friendships: Quality vs. Quantity 11:56 The Nature of Friendship 13:12 The Loneliness Epidemic 17:22 Challenges of Maintaining Friendships 20:05 The Impact of Parenthood on Friendships 24:10 Intentionality in Friendships 27:51 Diversity in Friendship Circles 31:15 Terminator and Idiotic Thing of the Week  | Ep 44

    35 min

  7. May 12

    The Real Reason Men Don't Ask for Help | Ep 42

    We love to tell ourselves we'll deal with it when things get bad enough. But by the time most men walk into a therapist's office, they're already at crisis point—and that's if they walk in at all. This week, we sit down to talk about why men avoid therapy like the plague, and what it actually takes to break through that resistance. Paul opens up about the exact moment he put down a self-help book because he knew if he kept reading, he'd have to question his entire life. Marc admits he's been waiting for something to break before he'd consider it. We cover the stats (only 1 in 3 men seek help, yet men are 80% of suicides), the eight reasons men hesitate, and why most of us literally don't have the words to describe what we're feeling. Plus: why coaching might be the gateway drug to therapy, the power of men's groups, and Marc's realization that he'd been calling his frustration "anger" for days because he didn't know the right word.  Chapters: 0:00 Exploring Therapy: A Personal Journey 4:34 The Gender Gap in Therapy: Men vs. Women 9:21 Barriers to Therapy: Why Men Hesitate 13:29 Breaking Down Emotional Barriers: Vulnerability in Men 15:28 The Male Experience: Navigating Emotional Challenges 16:58 Crisis as a Catalyst for Change 18:28 The Role of Therapy in Men's Lives 22:22 Confronting Fears: The Therapy Journey 23:59 Understanding the Value of Therapy 28:07 The Importance of Emotional Vocabulary 32:05 The Path to Self-Discovery and Growth 34:54 Terminator and Idiotic Thing of the Week  | Ep 42

    37 min

  8. May 4

    How can we get the ultimate superpower: to stop time! | Ep 41

    It's easy to tell yourself you'll slow down once things calm down — but they never do, and suddenly COVID was five years ago and you're wondering where your 40s went. We dig into why time accelerates as we age (spoiler: your brain literally processes less detail), why having kids in your 40s hits different than having them in your 30s, and whether optimization culture is secretly robbing us of the moments that make life feel long. Marc shares his childhood fantasy of stopping time to eat all the chocolates, and why on mushrooms the first thing he does is take off his watch. Paul introduces the "retrospective paradox" — why breaking routines and chasing novelty stretches time in hindsight. We also get into the practical stuff: why journaling works, why taking pictures during an event actually makes you remember it as shorter, and Marc's Nietzsche thought experiment about reliving your life on repeat. Plus, Kurt Vonnegut's story about buying an envelope that nails what we're all missing.  Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 2:52 Reflections on Life Stages 5:49 The Acceleration of Time in Midlife 8:53 The Value of Time and Shared Experiences 11:50 Exploring Presence and Mindfulness 14:13 Understanding Time Perception and Routine 17:09 The Importance of Intention and Experience 19:19 The Role of Dopamine in Memory and Time Perception 21:21 Navigating Life's Trade-offs: Kids and Time 23:17 Being Present: The Key to Slowing Down Time 26:21 Intentional Living: Making Every Moment Count 29:03 Reflection and Journaling: Honoring Our Experiences 31:10 Adding Novelty to Life: Breaking Routines 33:14 Terminator and Idiotic Thing of the Week  | Ep 41

    38 min
See All (49)

Trailer

About

Two guys old enough to know better—but curious enough to keep asking. A former CEO and an undercover poet—from Vienna and New York, two longtime friends share (lightly) decanted reflections on life, work, and everything in between. Guys Like Us — home of champagne problems and existential questions. IG: https://www.instagram.com/guyslikeus.official/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulfattinger/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-winter-6138679/

Information

  • Creator
    Paul Fattinger & Marc Winter
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    49
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Paul Fattinger & Marc Winter
  • Show Website
    guyslikeus