Mario Kohle actually looks as if he had just meditated: calm, relaxed. A monk in cargo pants. The interview ends at 4 p.m. sharp, says the Enpal CEO, as he still has to go to the hairdresser. Anyone who is late will immediately lose their appointment. One of Germany's few unicorn founders is not taking any risks.
Mario Kohle drinks black coffee, crosses one leg of his cargo pants over the other – and thinks about our questions for a long time. The topics are unemotional – the new fintech subsidiary, heat pumps, solar panel production in Europe – and more emotional ones: criticism of customer service, the culture at Enpal, of Kohle itself. Every now and then the founder checks an answer with his Chief Evangelist, who has taken a seat at the head of the small conference table where our conversation is taking place. He won't go over a minute.
What does he think of 1Komma5° boss Philipp Schröder? “Is that the former Chancellor?” asks Kohle – so coolly that you believe him for a moment. It is important to him to demonstrate: we are not interested in 1Komma5°, we do not want a mudslinging match, we do not need bashing. His barbs are discreet: Kohle refers to “other players who are thinking in terms of IPOs”. Or, when asked about 1Komma5°, he says that there are circus horses and workhorses – “and yes, we see ourselves more as workhorses – we are the ones who get things done and build things ourselves instead of buying them in.”
Source: https://www.businessinsider.de/gruenderszene/business/wie-gruender-kohle-enpal-aus-der-solar-nische-jongliert-update/
