Why Enpal Founder Mario Kohle Hires Entrepreneurs for Leadership Positions and How He Incentivizes Them

About this episode

Mario Kohle has built one of Germany's most successful GreenTech startups with Enpal. Having doubled revenue last year to approximately 900 million euros and employing over 1,000 people, the solar panel pioneer has become one of the most prominent drivers of the energy transition.

Evolution Since Unicorn Status

Since his last visit to Unicorn Bakery about two years ago, much has changed at Enpal. Back then, the company had just achieved unicorn status – today it's already approaching the billion-euro revenue mark. This rapid development brings new challenges, particularly when expanding into new markets and business areas.

Why Mario Focuses on Entrepreneurs in Leadership Roles

One of the key insights from Mario's experience: he deliberately hires entrepreneurs for leadership positions. This strategy has several reasons. Entrepreneurs bring a different mindset – they think long-term, take responsibility, and are accustomed to making decisions in uncertain situations.

"The longest vesting that a founder grants" – this is how Mario describes his incentivization strategy. This long-term commitment of his executives ensures they truly think and act like owners. The combination of entrepreneurship and impact is crucial here.

Performance Culture and Trust as Foundation

With over 1,000 employees, Mario faces the challenge of aligning everyone toward the same goal. Company culture plays a decisive role here. Mario promotes a performance and conflict culture where constructive disagreements are not only allowed but desired.

Trust is the foundation. When executives think like entrepreneurs and are incentivized long-term, decisions can be made decentrally. This is especially important when company complexity increases and not all decisions can be made at the top.

Scaling Challenges

Increased complexity brings new challenges. Mario had to undergo a personal transformation to lead a company approaching billion-euro revenue. This requires different leadership qualities than in a startup's early phase.

Particularly challenging is maintaining focus when serving both B2B and B2C customers. The key is successfully managing different business areas without losing focus.

Burn Management and Energy Management

Another important aspect is burn management – both financially and personally. Mario speaks openly about the challenges of energy management as a founder and CEO. Given Enpal's size and growth pace, it's crucial to properly manage both your own energy and that of the team.

External communication of the growth trajectory and cap table composition are other important topics occupying Mario in his current position.

Lessons for Other Founders

Mario's experiences show that successful scaling requires more than just growth. It needs the right people in leadership positions, a strong culture, and the ability to make good decisions even in complex situations. His strategy of hiring entrepreneurs for leadership positions and incentivizing them long-term could be an interesting approach for other rapidly growing startups as well.