Last year our number of employees more than doubled. A year ago we counted five employees, by now our team consists of ten consultants plus trainees and interns. In the coming months we plan to welcome even more new faces.

The growth of our company was not only a big change for our team, but also a different and challenging experience for me as the CEO of our agency; also wearing the hat of HR manager. However, one constant we’ve deliberately prioritized during recruitment was to hire entrepreneurial employees.

Of course, this trait is not always easy to realize after one interview or a one-day work trial. But by now, I have a good sense of who is a “doer” compared to someone who just checks tasks off their list.

Hiring Intrapreneurs

Entrepreneurs distinguish themselves by their willingness to start a venture, take risks, independence and a will to achieve their aim (even by unconventional means). However, you don’t have to be a CEO to exhibit entrepreneurial behavior. Intrapreneurs, employees acting as entrepreneurs, can also change the work environment with their new ideas.

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You don’t have to be a CEO to exhibit entrepreneurial behavior. Intrapreneurs, employees acting as entrepreneurs, can also change the work environment with their new ideas.

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By definition, intrapreneurship is the act of behaving like an entrepreneur while working within a large organization. And “intrapreneurship is responsible for a lot of product innovation around the world today,” as Forbes contributor Dan Schawbel explains.

Miriam Rupp, the founder of our agency, and I (as co-CEO) are never omniscient and we value every input of our team members – we view it as truly valuable inputs that result in new projects, tasks and at best, the expansion of our agency. We take this approach despite our years of experience and our accomplishments.

Engagement And New Ideas

One of our former employees Franziska, who is now successfully self-employed as blogger, coach and yoga teacher, showed a great passion to be further educated as a trainer and coach to give seminars on behalf of our company, Mashup.

If she hadn’t started this initiative for our in-house seminars, we wouldn’t have started presenting our expertise in lectures or seminars much later, if ever at all. Given her interest in this project, during her time with us we provided her with the resources, financial support and platform to follow her passion – a win-win situation for both parties.

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The benefit for us as a company is obvious: Committed employees, new ideas, results and achievements that we alone as a CEO-duo would not have directly planned out in our vision.

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Another example is our senior consultant, Julia Beyer, who has a high level of interest in international PR projects at our agency. Due to her affinity for the English language and belief that San Francisco is the most beautiful city in the world, this is dear to her heart. She loves the communication and coordination with our international partners. Someone with this passion has a completely different motivation and feeling of responsibility than someone who is clocking in for a paycheck and a project task list.

The benefit for us as a company is obvious: Committed employees, new ideas, results and achievements that we alone as a CEO-duo would not have directly planned out in our vision.

Cultivating Intrapreneurs

This principle of hiring entrepreneurial-minded employees instead of typical employees brings advantages for every single team member as well. We want our employees at Mashup to have the feeling that everything they do is also something they create for themselves.

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