Daniel Schulte-Hillen is an active business angel and the founder of bldrs. bldrs connects the brightest and hungriest talents with exclusive roles in Berlin’s best startups. By bringing together hungry talent and world-class startups, he helps both sides.

To succeed, startups need to build world-class teams. Rather sooner than later, any founder is faced with the challenge to attract and hire their first employees. With Daniel's experience, I was curious to better understand when founders should hire, how to convince employees to join them on their journey, how to think about ESOP, and what pitfalls founders should avoid when making their first hires.

In this episode of the Entrepreneurship & Leadership podcast, we talk about

• when it is the right time for startups to hire their first employees
• what startups have to offer to early employees
• and what motivation talented people have to join a startups

His final message to everyone looking for their next job: "Joining an early-stage startup can be an amazing decision from a career perspective. And it is also much less risky than people think."

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Michael

Learn more about bldrs at https://joinbldrs.com/

Connect with Daniel: https://linkedin.com/in/danielschuhi

Connect with me on https://linkedin.com/in/m-froehlich/

BONUS

• Daniel recommends Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World by Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross for those who want to learn more about hiring.
• For founders and anyone interested in understanding compensation with Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOP) Index Ventures' ⁠Rewarding Talent Handbook⁠ provides excellent guidelines.