
Ask HN: Building a team in Berlin vs. the rest of Germany - rhsimplex
I&#x27;ve recently been offered a position to become a technical lead of a new startup in Berlin, a city where I&#x27;ve worked as a developer for the last four years.  For context, our product will involve large-scale data processing and analysis for heavy industry.  I had assumed I would build up the team in Berlin, but talking to founders&#x2F;CTOs&#x2F;engineering managers in other companies here has convinced me to also consider other options.<p>My question is to anyone who has done a bit of hiring or managed a team in Berlin AND somewhere else.  Was it easier&#x2F;harder here, everything else being equal?  Would you do it again? Are there hiring&#x2F;personnel problems unique to Berlin that might have been invisible to me as a individual contributor?<p>We are particularly interested also in Munich due to some pre-existing customer relationships, but comparisons to anywhere else in Germany&#x2F;Switzerland&#x2F;Austria are welcome.
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montypython12
I am a technical lead in Walldorf, Germany. This area and surroundings of
around 15-20 km radius (Walldorf, Heidelberg, Speyer, Schwetzingen) can also
be an option with some of the reasons mentioned: -Good concentration of people
working in SAP having technical experience as well as specific industry and
business experience \- Not in a very big city but still close(driving
distance) to Frankfurt and Stuttgart and close enough to stay in mid cities
like Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Mannheim \- Startup scene is not that developed
so less competition and can be quite attractive to talent from big companies
like SAP, Bosch, etc. \- Available pool of students from universities in
Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Mannheim \- Traffic and congestion in this area is
quite manageable \- Not a very happening nigh life like Berlin but there are
good party and night life options in above college towns \- Decent cost of
living and rental options ranging from very expensive (Heidelberg Altstadt,
Walldorf) to economical (small towns like Bad Schonborn) in 15-20 km radius \-
Tolerant, peaceful, family-friendly neighborhoods in numerous small towns with
people from different nationalities

Maybe someone in this area can also add other points.

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rhsimplex
Thanks for the detailed reply!

