6:44 – What to look for in a co-founder
11:38 – When is the right time to become an entrepreneur?
31:45 – How to steer a fast growing company
36:42 – Handling bad press
44:47 – The future of AI
Adrian is best known as Founder and COO of DeinDeal.ch, an e-commerce coupons and discounts platform for products and services. Within a year of starting the business, DeinDeal.ch was the fastest growing Swiss start-up and market leader in the group buying segment in Switzerland. After 18 months, the Swiss media group Ringier bought 60% of DeinDeal.ch as a strategic investment. At that time the company was valued at CHF 30 Mio. After his exit from DeinDeal.ch, Adrian went on to start new ventures that are leveraging Artificial Intelligence.
Adrian graduated with a degree in business and economics from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), where he started his very first business as a software developer. He was awarded “HSG Entrepreneur of the Year 2012”, “Swiss E-Commerce Champion 2015” and was ranked “40 under 40” by Swiss Bilanz magazine.
“Swiss entrepreneurs should take the plunge as soon as possible. The earlier you start to fail, the earlier you’ll start to succeed.”
“It’s not about the idea. It’s about timing. Most businesses out there are total copycats!”
“Never try to develop a market as a startup. It’s gonna kill you.”
“Questionnaires are not valid feedback, because people don’t do what they say they do.”
“My best employees at the time were people who nowadays are founders. Out of Dein Deal, at least 20 companies were created.”
To listen to more conversations with Swiss serial founders, check out our episode with Marc P. Bernegger, Manuel Grenacher and Dennis Just.
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