S2E17: Starting and Growing Your Innovation the Right Way - with Wundertax Founder Daniel Hanemann

My name is Kilian Karrasch and in this episode, I talk to Daniel Hanemann, CEO and Co-Founder of Wundertax.

Daniel went from building up Foodpanda in Hong Kong to founding Wundertax, one of the leading tax software in Germany.

But his story has a twist that taught him many lessons…

In our podcast, we talk about: 

• what his experience as a re-founder taught him about succeeding as an entrepreneur
• what most entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs get wrong when starting out
• growth strategies on how to grow your business 60% y.o.y. - without increasing your costs

Daniel on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hanemann

Wundertax: wundertax.de

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a minute to subscribe, like or share this podcast to spread the word, so I can continue bringing you outstanding guests and conversations. 🙏

And if you have questions about this episode or on how to start building digital products or services, reach out to me on LinkedIn (you can find me at linkedin.com/in/kiliankarrasch/) or write me an email at kilian@hatch.studio.

Thanks again for listening to the Digital Transformers podcast. 🚀

00:00 - Introduction

00:28 - Who is Daniel Hanemann

00:40 - Topics of the podcast

01:24 - What led Daniel to become an entrepreneur

02:42 - Idea discovery: Daniel’s epiphany that led to “Wundertax”

03:58 - Why Daniel left his startup after two years

06:02 - An unusual story: how Daniel rejoined “Wundertax” later to accelerate growth

07:05 - How to leverage mixed heritage to build successful companies and cultures

11:03 - The benefits of having a diverse team

12:58 - The challenges of having a diverse team

18:31 - How to decide what features to focus on when starting out

20:09 - Why intentionality is one of the most important traits for founders

22:58 - How to decide on the “one thing” the company should focus on

24:48 - How to deal with co-founder differences

27:12 - How to cope with leaving behind the innovation you’ve dedicated your life to

28:47 - Why founders should prioritize physical and mental health

30:53 - How “Wundertax” grew 60% every year with flat costs - and how you can do so, too

35:22 - The advantage of having a small and lean team of experts

42:02 - The importance of estimating customer lifetime value into marketing budgets

46:06 - The three best digital growth strategies