Whether we allow working from home or if someone asks me, I don't think it's good when people stay home all the time. We've found a hybrid concept that works well for us, but we're open to adjusting it. During COVID we went fully remote, but we no longer offer full remote contracts. Every contract includes an office location to signal belonging. We're happy with an average attendance of 50-60%. It's a good post-COVID new work setup, but not a universal solution because it's very specific to Flix.
That's very interesting and great that you achieve that flexibility. I spoke to another entrepreneur about this – he said the problem is when you don't come together in the office, you lose the ping-pong of ideas. There are two things: the cultural question and the mindset to build an organization where everyone wants to perform.
We had a discussion with other German DAX executives who said Monday and Friday there are noticeably fewer Teams messages and emails. That's not the case with us. It's easy: you can look at anonymous data flows across thousands of people. There are no dips. I can't claim our people aren't working. Still, what led us to found the company was timing or serendipity – lucky coincidences at the coffee machine. The natural human interaction has to do with proximity.
Absolutely. Standing opposite someone creates a different energy. In my time at a law firm, I'd rather walk to a colleague's office than call five times. Digital tools like Figma, Miro, Teams, and messengers are great, but it's different.
We've done digital brainstorming sessions, but recently our People chief Dorit took the team to a manor in Brandenburg. That creates a completely different dynamic. You have to build that in, because humans are a bit lazy by nature – you have to guide them gently. There's resistance, but it's a challenge.
You said a great sentence earlier: you have to make people excited about working. That brings me to leadership principles. Are there specific principles you follow to motivate people? What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs?
People don't like being pushed around or just receiving orders. They enjoy working creatively and having mental freedom – that goes back to Kant. Our intellect distinguishes us from animals. The basic assumption is everyone wants to engage and solve problems. The question is how to create the right framework. I try to find people who are better than me at each challenge and delegate immediately from day one. I give 100% trust from the start – you can lose it, but building it slowly doesn't work. My understanding as a leader is to only remove obstacles so the team can run as fast as possible. That's it.
I can confirm that – I've heard that too. Coming from a legal background, it's not normal to give young colleagues so much trust and responsibility. It's also a knighthood for the person you hired. And since you mentioned hiring: it's key to find the right people and bind them. Don't hire assholes. We're not perfect, but if you succeed, let people do their work.
I have two or three examples where I went against my gut feeling and it was a mistake. Often that gut feeling is the accumulation of unconscious experience. There's a high correlation – when I ignored my gut, it turned out badly. Those mistakes also help you learn.
Absolutely. That accumulation of experience, including mistakes, helps you know what to watch out for. You also mentioned working in teams and not imposing things from above. I did a Design Thinking workshop in Berlin – it's about co-creating a product together. I believe that's key to motivation. What's your take?
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Krauss, D. (2024, November 7). „Work hard and be nice to people”: Interview mit Daniel Krauss [Interview transcript]. Bring it up Podcast. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1054543/
MLA
Daniel Krauss. "„Work hard and be nice to people”: Interview mit Daniel Krauss." Bring it up Podcast, 7 Nov. 2024. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1054543/.
BibTeX
@misc{krauss2024_1054543,
author = {Daniel Krauss},
title = {„Work hard and be nice to people”: Interview mit Daniel Krauss},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Bring it up Podcast. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2024},
month = {nov},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1054543/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
