Sergio Studer ist Co-Founder von CARIFY, der grössten Schweizer Auto-Abo Plattform. Vor der Gründung studierte er Betriebswirtschaft an der Universität St. Gallen und arbeitete anschliessend als Sales Manager und später als Head of Sales im Software Startup SHERPANY, wo er auch seinen Mitgründer Raffael Fiechter kennenlernte. Nach vier lehrreichen und prägenden Jahren entschieden sich die beiden gemeinsam den Weg in die Selbständigkeit zu gehen und haben 2019 CARIFY ins Leben gerufen. 2020 trat das Gründer-Duo bei der TV Sendung «Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz» auf und erhielt ein Investment von CHF 900'000.
Sergio liegt das Unternehmertum im Blut, seine Eltern führen ein Baugeschäft, in welchem er schon früh an den Wochenenden mitangepackt hat. Dieses hätte er zwar übernehmen können, entschied sich aber dafür etwas Eigenes zu machen und sich dem Baugeschäft nur in der Rolle des Verwaltungsrates zu widmen. Die wenige Zeit, die Sergio nebst seinem Wirken als Gründer bleibt, verbringt er am liebsten mit seiner Partnerin und seiner Familie.
«Wenn ich einen Tipp habe für jemanden […], der etwas starten möchte: fang einfach mal an, du merkst nach 2, 3, 4 Wochen, wenn du irgendwo anstehst, dann kannst du immer noch ändern.»
«Ich glaube es ist niemand böse, wenn man zu seinen Fehlern steht. Gerade auf Kundenseite geht viel schief, gerade am Anfang.»
«Wir haben bei uns die Kultur entwickelt, dass wir den Kunden in die Problemlösung einbeziehen.»
«Ich glaube das Wertvollste was man erhalten kann ist eine ehrliche Meinung und Kritik. Gerade wenn du erfolgreich bist oder in den Medien, dann merkt man auch von Freunden, dass viele nicht mehr einfach offen reden und dich kritisieren, aber das ist eigentlich das Wertvollste.»
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Oliver Marchand is Managing Director and Global Head of ESG Research and Models at MSCI Inc., a worldwide provider of support tools and services for investment needs.
Marchand finished his PhD in Computer Science and Meteorology from ETH Zürich in 2003. In 2005, he took a role as Head of IT at Fisch Asset Management. His small team managed to build the entire portfolio management system for FAM, and his decade-long stay provided many valuable lessons for building a company, like negotiation skills, IT security skills and transparency — according to Oliver, “there’s really no other way to do business”!
These tools were soon put to good use. After leaving FAM, Oliver joined forces to found Carbon Delta, a financial technology B2B service evaluating the ecological footprint and possible environmental impacts of companies. Building a social impact company, especially by bootstrapping, was no easy feat. The product was also met with intense skepticism by the investing community of Germany and Switzerland. As an alternative, browsing in America for interested investors and employees meant heavy relocation costs that were just too much for the young company.
Climate change is definitely a hot topic these days, and understandably so. According to Marchand, 50% of the economy desperately needs to decarbonize, and it was precisely this feeling of urgency that made Carbon Delta push forward to overcome their funding struggles. In the first year, their biggest support came from Climate-KIC’s Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Booster Flagship Programme. This valuable help eventually led the company to reach amazing milestones: some of their victories include the Europe’s Best Climate Venture 2016 award and the European Fintech Award 2017 for Risk, Intelligence and Security. Other major players supporting Oliver’s project include the ZKB and a team of encouraging SICTIC investors — our previous podcast guest Thomas Dübendorfer, president of SICTIC and expert angel investor, is also on the list!
Carbon Delta was acquired by MSCI Inc. in October 2019, and Oliver couldn’t be happier with his startup’s buyer. Fighting for a cleaner planet still presents many challenges, but Oliver hopes his work at MSCI may continue to have a transforming power in the sustainability of the financial industry.
“Transparency needs to be discussed. Assumed. Agreed upon from the very beginning.”
“This is my honest view, and nobody says this because it’s not politically correct. Most people believe that if there’s ‘too much sustainability’ in a business, it’s never going to create return. I believe this is not only ethically wrong, but also factually wrong.”
Strategy Cards are a cool source of inspiration for when Oliver needs to solve a business dilemma or two.
Tobias Zehnder is Co-Founder and Partner at Webrepublic AG, a Swiss digital marketing agency boosting your company’s online performance through meaningful business value strategies. Zehnder caught the entrepreneurial bug early on: during his student days in the 2000s, Tobias was a freelancing DJ and blogger posting reviews on his favourite records, having taught himself to monetize those endeavors. Then, in 2010, Tobias finished his MA in Socioeconomic History and Linguistics at the University of Zürich with a thesis entitled Online Advertising: the Stepchild of Media Agencies, which would later serve as a blueprint for his agency.
It was during his graduate studies that Tobias got a fantastic internship at Google Zürich as a Sales Planner and met Tom Hanan, the team's Head of Sales and his future co-founder at Webrepublic. The timing couldn’t have been better: cloud working was just starting to take off, and the office felt both small and international.
Unfortunately, the markets took a deep dive in the 2009 financial crisis, but not all was bad. In hindsight, Tobias sees many advantages in starting a business during those rough times: performance marketing was fairly new, so they could build from the ground up and still see results, and though companies were saving funds, the small demand gave customers the most cost-efficient solutions.
Twelve years down the road, Tobias admits that positioning a company in the market landscape is much more complex nowadays, but that there should always be space for integrated services and for small players to shine through. Today, Tobias also holds a position as a lecturer of Digital Leadership at HWZ Zürich, a job that helps him stay focused, inspired and on the freshest page with innovation. His main concerns include responsible leadership, conscious integrating partnerships and market evaluation with a global focus. Keep listening to learn more on building an incredible path during a major crisis!
“Performance marketing is not something that you do in waves. It’s something that’s always on. You don’t switch it on and off. As long as there’s customer demand, you wanna be there.”
“Don’t just focus on Switzerland. Go out, really! It’s much more motivating to benchmark yourself against absolute industry leaders than to stick to local players.”
Todoist, a task managing app currently freeing up the mental space of more than 25 million users.
Adrienne Perramond is Mediator at GDC Médiation and Board Member at Business Angels Switzerland, one of the leading angel investing networks nationwide. Adrienne grew up in a multicultural environment between Switzerland, the US and England, where she completed her BSc in Business at the University of Buckingham. In 2001, she sold Transfer Solutions, her own relocation service agency in Neuchâtel. After many years in local politics as a Liberal Party councilor in Colombier, Adrienne is now a committed angel investor with a focus on diversified sectors and conscious team building. Through BAS, she has invested in 11 startups, 5 to 7 of which may lead to a great exit in 3 years’ time. Of a total of 16 exits, 9 have profited the club members with a multiple 2,5 return: such is the work of experts! Adrienne’s main interests for the upcoming years include healthcare diagnosis, delivery logistics, remote working and food tech solutions, and she has great predictions about the post-pandemic future to share!
“You’ve got to have the right mindset. Are you angel material? Do you have a long-term view? You can’t be in it just for the money, but if you are, can you afford to lose it? What’s your tolerance for risk and failure? You can have the thrill of victory but also the agony of defeat. Most importantly, you’ve got to have respect and love for entrepreneurs and startups.”
“In Switzerland, getting to an exit is not a matter of two years. Usually, it takes more, at least five to seven years. We’re a deep tech nation and that’s bound to make things slower.”
Goodwall for amazing networking and exposure opportunities.
Edouard Treccani is Head of Partnerships at Wingman Ventures, Switzerland’s leading fund for tech projects in pre-seed and seed stages. From 2012 to 2014, he worked as an intern for Crédit Agricole Suisse and BCV while balancing a smashing GPA in Quantitative Economics and Finance. However, he realised deep down he craved a creative spark that the banking game couldn’t give him. In 2015, he founded Incidee and built a valuable media product: his journey took off! Edouard is passionate about helping young founders build something outstanding from the get-go, and this motivation for supporting bold innovation led him to create the Wingman Campus Fund, a small-scale VC fund boosting the entrepreneurial dreams of many university students. Edouard says “the Swiss startup ecosystem is just starting to write its best success stories”, and we couldn’t agree more!
AngelList for finding your next dream opportunity.
Sifted for trusty reporting and analysis.
Jason Calacanis‘ work on Angel Investing.
Naval Ravikant and his inspiring mindspace.
“After my first two internships in banking, I knew I’d never enjoy my work. Sure, I could do it by default, get a decent wage and get by month after month. But I would certainly not have been happy.”
“You should constantly think about how to build your network, how to make it more meaningful and resilient.”
“In an ecosystem like Switzerland, which is maturing more and more, it’s important to get to know founders early — it’s never a given that you’ll be able to invest in the startups you prefer.”
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Gonzalo Sanchez is currently Head of Growth for On Deck, an educational community for those willing to learn about technology and innovation through creativity and self-improvement. Gonzalo is a natural learner: his writing skills and curiosity for new ideas led him to found Seedtable, a weekly newsletter on European tech reaching more than 60,000 monthly visitors.
Learning growth without a degree
“If you want to become a doctor or a lawyer, then absolutely, go to college. But if you want to start a company, then you can probably do a lot more with four years and all that money if you just go and start a company. I’d say you definitely don’t need to go to college to start a company.”
Swiss readers will be familiar with the traditional approach to success: a college degree is seen as a foolproof path to become a thriving business founder. But are we really dependent on formal education? After dropping off in his second year of Architecture, Gonzalo understood digital marketing and company growth were his future commitments. The young founder has never looked back, and he has some insight to share for those rethinking their degrees:
What makes Seedtable an excellent resource
In its early days, Seedtable numbered a couple dozen readers from Gonzalo’s close connections. However, a commentary on Spotify’s acquisition of Gimlet published in early 2019 went viral on Twitter: as the subscription number skyrocketed, Gonzalo realised he had created something truly appealing and beneficial to others:
How paywalls can benefit your content delivery
Choosing to go the paywall route is often a risky move from which some creators backtrack. Being afraid of hindering your sharing statistics is totally valid, so Gonzalo mentions some important things to keep in mind with paid content:
Europe: the next big player
The COVID-19 outbreak brought unprecedented change: there is no global event with the power to transform international market dynamics like a pandemic. In these winds of change, what’s exactly Europe’s position in company growth next to powerful players like the US?
However, according to Gonzalo, some European methods could use some revising. Here are some key-changes to consider:
Views on the Swiss startup ecosystem
“It’s a sort of underdog story.”
For Gonzalo, Switzerland is a great representation of that forward-thinking European spirit that should not be overlooked. Its unique blend of young companies with established industries allows quick access to capital and cultivates company culture where founders are not afraid of taking lessons from different industries. However, Switzerland as a founding hub still has some place for growth, and Gonzalo shares some unexpected focus points for the future:
Monica Maurer is a certified trustee and Swiss Certified Fiduciary at ACT Audit & Tax. In her role, she helps startups and SMEs with their accounting questions. Based on her many years of experience, here are some of her recommendations for founders who are just getting started with their accounting:
Memorable Quotes:
“Was man nicht vergessen darf, ist die kontinuierliche Kontrolle. Auch wenn alles elektronisch ist und man nur noch den Knopf drücken muss, sollte man sicherstellen das alles stimmt.”
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Jean-Michel Pittet is Vice-President of Engineering of Adobe since 2013. With his decades-long expertise of management and product development, Jean-Michel believes any tech-savvy person can become a skilful leader. His main concerns include creating meaningful digital experiences, cultivating purposeful customer/business connections and promoting a healthy leadership spirit.
“For me, it’s natural. I could never be one without the other.”
Jean-Michel’s early experiences as a minimum-wage sales worker for RadioShack taught him how being outspoken and knowing how to land a value can make or break your company’s productivity. But how can we apply sales know-how to product development?
Big wave surfing
“With every change, you have denial.”
After working for Siemens in the late 90s, Jean craved a younger, more dynamic workspace. In 2001, he joined Day Software, a thriving Swiss company with a passion for creating a universal digital experience where different services suit all offerings and aspirations of both companies and individual users. Despite what some might expect, “a Swiss company that is not selling cheese, chocolate, or watches can have an influence on the world stage”, and Day Software was truly taking the lead!
Pulling off an IPO was an impressive move, but the company soon stumbled: after the dot.com bubble burst, more and more investors stepped back from Internet investment. As rounds of terminations and lay-offs piled on, the company struggled to see the silver lining.
We all know change is especially tough when it affects someone’s livelihood. Collaborators soon accepted paycheck reduction and stood close in those delicate days, which shows solid company culture. The best approach, Jean defends, is searching for conscious solutions that won’t overlook anyone’s needs. If towers of paperwork and legal quests await you, it is the role of a leader to hold fast, stay fair and help every single worker get to the other side of the tempest.
Breaking on through to the other side
“To take this energy and to ride this wave, we knew we could get a lot more stuff moving if we had access to a bigger distribution channel. That was a realization we had as a team.”
In a positive twist of events, Day Software’s market dynamics and stock performance were on the rise by the late 2000s. As a public company, they knew how a valuable integration could really boost their ambitions. Adobe, already a customer to DS, couldn’t be a better choice! Having just launched a marketing cloud service, they showed how DS’s 2010 acquisition deal was a perfect example of aligned core philosophies, product visions and corporate cultures. Common passion is all in M&A: in this case, building a systematic digital environment where analytics and context evaluation work to deliver customers the most individualized experience possible.
Managing team fit in company merging and acquisition
“It’s about approaching it very consciously, realizing where you’re at but also realizing what the end goal is: that end goal is good integration and meshing of opportunities.”
What to consider in talent selection
“Part of it is intuitive, but the other part is clearly the respect for the individuals.”
Jean-Michel’s tips for fellow managers
The future of Basel as an innovation hub
According to Jean-Michel, the Swiss region has many highlights that startups should look into:
Nicholas Hänny is the co-founder and CEO of NIKIN, a sustainable fashion startup. Nicholas started NIKIN in 2016 together with his childhood friend Robin Gnehm after having been rejected by several large consulting companies he applied to intern with. Within only 4 years, he grew the company to 30 employees and CHF 7.2 m revenue. In 2019, Nicholas received the “Aargauer of the Year Award” as recognition for his work with NIKIN. Nicholas has a background in marketing and business administration. He holds a Master of Arts in Business Innovation from the University of St. Gallen and was part of the CEMS program.
“Konzentriere dich besser auf 6 KPI’s in Marketing und Sales, anstelle von 30-40 KPI’s die wir momentan haben.”
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Tanja Dowe is CEO for the Debiopharm International Innovation Fund and Board Member for Novadiscovery and Oncomfort. Using her expertise in strategic business and market demands, Tanja’s work encourages commercialization of innovative healthcare technologies and patient care solutions for a brighter, healthier future.
How upbringing can breed curiosity
“I wanted to turn innovation into practical things: how does that work? How are people actually going to access those technologies?”
Tanja is the daughter of a Finnish surgeon and a Swiss businesswoman. She describes herself as having been a wild child who wished to write her own story and leave her mark. Her interest in healthcare was sparked by the many fascinating dinner table conversations at home, where she heard her father talk about his day.
In 2000, she finished her MSc in Microbiology and Biochemistry at TKK (Helsinki University of Technology). Although the idea of pursuing a career of scientific research crossed her mind countless times, her curious personality led her away from the slow-moving groove of biochemical testing to creating practical outcomes and solutions for everyday problems as her life’s commitment.
The influence of North-American culture and the self-made entrepreneur
“The North-American culture is very entrepreneurial: when you’re in California, everyone is a businessman, they all have their businesses! Biotech companies on both sides of the street? You would not see that anywhere else but in San Diego.”
While completing her internship on market research for the biotech industry, Tanja got the chance to work in the energetic environments of dynamic cities like San Diego and Los Angeles. Hearing so many inspiring stories can naturally make anyone think: “Hey, I want to join as well!”.
Detailed plans were not her priority at the time; all it mattered was that American spirit which aroused her will to move forward and take part in something larger. Tanja is keen on believing anyone can become an entrepreneur, but some traits will definitely help on the journey:
Debiopharm International’s mission
In October 2016, Tanja became the CEO for the Innovation Fund of Debiopharm International, a privately owned pharmaceutical company focused on in-licensing and developing biotech products approaching clinical trials to help them reach their maximum potential and gain access to international partnerships.
With aging demographics and increasing healthcare expenses, companies should try to stay ahead of the game and ask: what is going to be the next great leap in patient care? Since drug development rates are understandingly slow, Debiopharm knows how important it is to have that special skill of foreseeing future gaps in the market, instead of developing products for a market where they’ll no longer be an essential board piece.
Tanja’s tips for fellow investors
Her experience with Innomedica Ltd. and Debiopharm’s Innovation Fund really brought her attention to how building investment funds gives rise to a crowd of unseen challenges: how do you establish a bond of trust with the companies? How do you increase your deal flow? Once the deal is completed, what should be your ratio of participation?
Tanja’s approach is clear: your philosophy of investment should rely on active participation. Before becoming Chairwoman of the Board for Oncomfort, she visited the clinical trials at the Swiss Pain Institute and witnessed the game-changing works of Virtual Reality in inducing clinical hypnosis and reducing pain and anxiety in ailing patients. After undergoing a small test herself, she was sold!
Investors often stand in awe before ground-breaking innovation and rush in investing, but many wonder: “What now? What should I do next?” Tanja explains her method:
Red flags to look out for during company assessment
Finland vs Switzerland: approaches on innovation
The events of Swedish integration until the nineteenth-century and the Russian Revolution of 1917 show how Finland is in fact a very young country. This historical status, Tanja defends, makes the Finnish heavily rely on IT-based innovation to get their point across in international markets. They are very appreciative of fresh-blooded, fast-paced energy that seeks quick exits to move on to the next big undertaking. Switzerland’s history, however, supports tradition and its time-tested industries, so companies are keener on a longer-term view of growing small projects to their maximum potential before exiting.
The future of digital health
“Some of the biggest things that we need to change lie in the way we understand health insurance, how we pay for treatment today and how we should be predicting and keeping ourselves healthy. I think it is unbelievable that we don’t already have access to our own health data today: changing that is very important.”
Our traditional approach on healthcare places physician practice in the centre of the equation. Tanja, in the meantime, suggests a different standpoint: highlighting patient experience with the help of digitalization. Here are some lingering topics to consider for the next decades:
Alan Frei is the co-founder of amorana.ch, an e-commerce platform for sex toys and lingerie. In 2020, he sold a majority stake in Amorana to the British Lovehoney Group. Before starting Amorana, he experimented with a variety of other projects such as nachhilfeportal.de and LooksOfLove, from which he learned what it takes to make a company successful. Alan is a University of Zurich alumni and headed the University’s startup center. He lives a minimalist lifestyle, counting less than 120 items in his personal possession.
After the acquisition of Amorana by Lovehoney Group, he stayed on as CMO of Amorana with the intention of expanding the brand internationally. He also decided to take his minimalist lifestyle to the next level by giving up his apartment and permanently living out of hotels.
“Zuerst versuchst du die Conversion Killer zu minimieren, um dann anschliessend oder auch leicht versetzt Traffic auf deine Website zu schicken.”
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Valérie Vuillerat is CEO of Nine Internet Solutions, the leading provider of platform management solutions in Switzerland. With ample experience in board membership, business administration and entrepreneurial expertise, Valérie was also CEO for Ginetta and co-founder of Witty Works, helping tech companies boot out unconscious bias through inclusive language choices suited for all walks of life.
Resources:
You graduated in Multimedia Studies from the SAE Institute of Zürich. As an undergrad, was the entrepreneurial possibility ever on your mind?
“No, not at all!”. After finishing her degree, Valérie struggled to find suitable job offers. She searched high and low for a project fitting her diverse skills of coding and multimedia design, but no opportunity fulfilled her wishes.
It seemed the scenario was black-and-white: web design or web programming. If you feel like a misfit, which way should you turn? “Designing your own job!”: in 2000, she founded Iweb4you, one of the first web design agencies in Berne.
What else besides lack of suitable job opportunities motivated your choice for self-employment?
“I grew up in a family where everyone was very solution-oriented,
so complaining was not a thing.”
College, jobs, social networking… young adults are experts on jumping through hoops. Valérie moved out at 18, which pushed her to be responsible at an early age. By then she already had a support network and web design experience from working with friends — why not try to earn a living out of it? To her, entrepreneurship’s best motivator is freedom: there is no better feeling than getting the chance to choose when and where you work!
Participating in so many projects and meeting valuable sponsors can really open unseen doors. What advice can you give?
Valérie confesses she used to be as shy and silent as they come. But what she also knew deep down is that she had an innate ability to connect with others. At only 20 years of age, she got the invaluable opportunity of entering the Business and Professional Women Club of Berne (BPW). If, like Valérie, you too are a natural social butterfly seeking entrepreneurial success, remember your communicative skills are what really keeps the stone rolling:
You’ve worked as a CEO for Ginetta for 6 years. What made you leave your solo journey and jump on the wagon?
“Momentum is more important than always being right.
If something feels good for my gut feeling, why shouldn’t I try it out?”
When Simon Rauess, founder of Ginetta and Valérie’s close acquaintance, saw his time for client inquiry running short, he needed to find a reliable partner to grab the wheel. Valérie could use a creative rush, so she took the role.
The first two years, she admits, were full of adversities: “we did a lot of projecting, but I can’t remember we ever did user research, so selling it was quite hard”. The business woman knows how momentum can make or break a company’s growth, but she never let hard circumstances bring despair: after all, you must keep in mind that being ready for when the tidings change is what makes a resilient project.
One of the things that really made Ginetta stand out was its female employee ratio compared to other peer companies. What lessons can we learn from there?
“If you have a good balance, the company culture will always address
female and male needs equally.”
Back in the early 2000s, workplace inclusion was not exactly the hottest topic. Being a female CEO herself, she knows getting a larger talent pool is all about setting the example and allowing organic change from day one:
In 2018, you took representative ideals to the next level and founded Witty Works. How can language fine-tuning make a difference?
“If you want more women to apply, you need to change the way you write.
Language is a very powerful tool.”
Co-founders Valérie Vuillerat, Nadia Fischer and Verena Oberholzer had experience in tech companies and understood firsthand how diverse teams develop powerful products. Our digital world is constantly evolving and reshaping the ancient art that is communicating, so it is vital to leave no sociodemographic group behind.
Preparing your company for long-term success begins with work culture, and a healthy ecosystem is all about how you talk to people. Why not create a software that brings the best of balanced linguistic choices to the business world? The Diversifier was developed to help your company deliver conscious ads through careful review of underlying bias in your text, highlighting all expressions that may come off as less comprehensive of difference. But its vision doesn’t end there: from press releases to social media posts, all writing is welcome!
What has Switzerland done in the last two decades in terms of job equality?
“Change will help us not only in the business world, but also as a society.
We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Not only company founding benefits from the right timing: so does social change, and there is no better time than the present moment. Being a female CEO in 2010 was very rare. Now, more and more women are achieving top positions. Social concerns are expanding their influence as pioneering activists point the way, but there is still a lot to be done. For Valérie, it seems that companies are aware of the elephant in the room, but are very hesitant on making a material move.
How can Swiss companies change the old record? Any broad advice on how we can work towards inclusivity?
“Innovation comes from friction. Homogeneity never brought the best solution.”
Valérie is confident that inclusivity will soon become a differentiating factor for companies. Some problems won’t solve themselves, so here’s how to set a solution in motion:
Stefan Flück is the founder and CEO of Appentura, a provider of surprise experience gifts. Stefan started Appentura in 2014 when he pitched the idea at a startup competition. The original idea was to offer customers the possibility to buy a surprise for themselves within a given timeframe and budget. Stefan, however, soon realized that customers were much more willing to spend money on surprising others rather than themselves and consequently, Appentura changed its offering to what it is today. Contrary to many of its competitors, Appentura sells its gift certificates almost exclusively online. Over the years, they built strong expertise in online marketing and digital sales channels which now results in a competitive advantage. The first 5 years, Stefan completely bootstrapped the company, investing every CHF earned back into online marketing. In 2019, the company participated in the “Höhle der Löwen” show and was able to win Bettina Hein as an investor. Going forward, Stefan plans to expand the business internationally. They have already run successful “test experiences” in Germany and the US and are planning to roll out larger scale offerings as soon as Covid permits. He also sees large untapped potential in the surprise gift market for businesses and wants to position Appentura in that area as well.
“Offline Werbung machen wir praktisch nur noch, wenn sich eine einmalige Chance ergibt. Mit unserem Budget ist es aber momentan nicht wirklich ein Thema.”
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Martin Godel is the Head of Small and Medium Size Enterprise Policy at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), based in Berne. In 2002, he earned his Master’s Degree of Law and Diplomacy from Fletcher School, administered by Tufts and Harvard University. For nearly two decades, Martin has held various positions in business endeavours, including Head of the Swiss Business Hub for the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan (2007-2010) and Counsellor for the Swiss Government (2002-2004; 2005-2007). Godel’s main concerns are relieving the administrative load through e-government tools and assuring prime conditions for SME’s access to funding.
Has contact with government paperwork made your company weary and in need of a smart fix? Progress may seem slow, but governments are definitely moving towards more efficient, unified solutions. Today, we hear Martin Godel, the brains behind the Government-to-Business e-platform EasyGov since 2017.
“The need was clear, but nobody was doing it.”
Martin’s interest is clear: “e-government wants to make your life easier”. Luckily, Martin noticed the gap in the digitalisation of company registry and hopped in: this marked the beginning of EasyGov. By combining hard tech expertise and a politically-engaged network, his platform “aims to offer everything a company needs during its lifetime when it comes to business-to-government interaction”.
“Slowly, things are building up.”
Martin is positive that Switzerland is quickly catching up with the early advances of countries like Estonia. After all, creating a crisp platform is not all about having a good-looking website. However, some key features are still missing: most important of all, government-regulated electronic identity systems.
Companies know how efficient recognition is vital for closing contracts briskly and polishing applications. So, what’s left? Legally speaking, the Swiss Parliament accepted the initial proposal. The response of the Swiss electorate to the e-ID Act referendum of March 7th, 2021 will determine the next step.
“Every platform must recognise it’s not the only platform, and is part of a much larger ecosystem. However large and broad and good the platform may be, it is never the only one.”
It is natural to see how centralised states like Estonia have an easier time balancing platform offer. In contrast, Switzerland’s 3 federal levels, by working with largely independent ministries and services, present an ocean of digital initiatives.
Platform creators are bound to feel a bit overwhelmed. Martin has navigated those currents before, so he keeps some valuable tricks up his sleeve for new developers:
– Business registry changes and brand registry;
– Instant connection to Intellectual Property institutions;
– Application for secure, government-proved loans;
– Balance of legal pursuits (Betreibungsauszug);
– Salary declarations for social insurance deduction (and many more!).
EasyGov knows it’s not all about providing service. Compromise and proactivity are the backbone of a helpful platform. Here is what marks EasyGov’s commitments:
As of now, Martin envisions two new handy services for the platform:
Hopefully, the addition of new services to easygov.ch will create a domino effect just like cross-selling in on-line shopping: if one works perfectly, why not try the rest?
Karim Nemr is the co-founder and CBO (Chief Business Officer) at PXL Vision, an ETH spinoff focused on digital identity verification. Karim started his career as a business developer at Dacuda, the company founded by Swisspreneur guest Michael Born. He joined the company at a very early stage and was heavily involved in their later exit to the American company Magic Leap in 2017. After Dacuda had been acquired, he soon decided to leave the company for a new venture – PXL Vision – which he had conceived with 4 of his former Dacuda colleagues.
To date, PXL Vision is most renowned as the technology provider for the SwissID solution and for their customer verification and onboarding solutions for enterprises. In May 2020, PXL Vision secured CHF 4.6 m in seed financing. The investment round was led by SIX Fintech Ventures. The company has also been awarded the Swiss Economic Award and was admitted to the SEF Upscaler Program. Going forward, PXL Vision wishes to expand geographically and also branch out into additional use cases beyond customer onboarding.
Karim holds a Bachelor in International Business Administration and Hospitality Management from École Hôtèliere de Lausanne.
“Aus KMU Sicht gilt es wirklich komplett neu zu denken. Digitalisierung ist nicht nur der Weg wie man den Kunden digital erreicht.”
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Aleksandra Laska is a partner at Redalpine and expert Venture Capitalist with broad experience in board management and investment operations. With a background in Law and Finance, she spent 5 intense years on Goldman Sach’s trading floor. In 2013, she started her own business journey with MobileDots Ltd. Believing “people are the foundation for any company’s success”, she holds strong commitment and enthusiasm for solving problems in creative, sustainable ways.
See Aleksandra’s LinkedIn here.
Check Redalpine’s website here.
Ever wondered how the everyday hustle-and-bustle of the life of a Venture Capitalist looks like? The community has asked, and Swisspreneur has answered! Today, we interview Redalpine partner Aleksandra Laska for an experienced account of navigating the VC world.
“It’s never boring!”. The answer may sound a bit cliché, but there really isn’t a strict routine to follow. Usually, Aleksandra will dedicate her first work hours to due diligence research and deal sourcing. Then, she’lll move on to working with portfolio companies. The time dedicated to each task varies widely, depending on the deal flow, the company’s groove and the current circumstances of the time. In the first COVID-19 lockdown, for example, portfolio companies needed additional support: this shows how you must keep the communicative flow in the face of hard times.
However, Aleksandra’s favourite part is certainly the intellectual stimulus! Engaging with other VCs who challenge one another keeps her on her toes and up to date with all that is happening in the ecosystem.
“I feel that VC really combines both: the financial background, but also the entrepreneurial, the ‘tech-y.’”
As a college student, Aleks couldn’t exactly put a finger on what Venture Capitalism really was. After spending 5 years on the trading floor for Goldman Sachs and starting her own business, she quickly “fell into it”. Aleksandra wished to be exposed to many different ideas, backgrounds, and mindsets: entrepreneurship, “combining the best of two worlds”, is the place to go for innovation!
“First and foremost, I think it’s important to look after yourself. If you don’t, it’s very difficult to do a good job or help other people out.”
Aleksandra confesses it’s a long learning process. Going through such an intense experience can seem daunting for new graduates. Luckily, there is a way to keep your head afloat! Here are Aleks’s recommendations:
– Carve out a moment for introspection — yoga and meditation are great options;
– Seek a distanced approach, even if the world seems ready to collapse;
– Try your best to eat healthy and sleep properly.
However, being part of a fast-moving mechanism brings its share of lessons:
– The ability to remain calm and manoeuvre tricky situations, while transmitting that same sense of ease to others;
– A valuable network for years to come: as former partners branch out to diverse industries, all brainstorming sessions will become incredibly fruitful.
Imagine elevator chatting: when time runs short, you aim for quality, right?. We all know long-winded messages are bound to stay buried in a pile of unread mail, so strive for a crisp introduction with a pinch of personality. Attach your deck for further constructive feedback and you’re golden. Vision pitches catch the attention for their courage and passion; problem statements, in the meantime, show responsibility and organisational skills.
“It boils down to the entirety of the business.”
As Aleks recognises, nothing is “set in stone”. Deciding to invest in an idea at seed and early stage, as Redalpine does, definitely seems like rocket science.
However, investors should pay attention to certain key aspects. Product/market fit, a reliable prototype (MVP) and early traction are reassuring signs: they show how the original idea can bloom into an impressive market tour de force.
Just as importantly, check for previous entrepreneurial experience and team fit. In case of doubt, reach out to your network and hear what they have to say!
“A complex idea in simple terms”: you have 10 minutes to make your best leap, so use them wisely! Here’s how to shape your strongest pitch presentation:
– Get down to business and focus on solutions;
– Be clear about where you stand: at what stage is the project? What is your financial plan?;
– Show awareness of the competitive landscape: what makes your idea ground-breaking?;
– Talk about your team and appreciate its diverse skill sets;
– Don’t rely too much on templates: like a business card, a pitch deck should reflect your company’s unique goals.
After challenging the company’s proposals and discussing things internally, trusting a great gut feeling and a constructive phone call are all it takes to build a connection. As Aleksandra says, “the money is a very small part of being an investor”. For the other side of the game, if the feedback wasn’t what you wished for, remember commitment is a two-way street, so keep showcasing your company’s achievements on all channels you have available — you never know when the perfect moment will come and someone will notice you!
Aleks knows how being a founder can be “a very lonely job”, as everyone expects you to keep the ball rolling at every moment. The right investor can play an invaluable role in the success of a company by:
– Position your companies for the best possible outcome by helping with later funding rounds;
– Use your extensive network to help filling key-roles;
– Lastly, let founders be founders: “ultimately, it’s their idea, their brainchild”.
Redalpine funds are financed by a tight-knit community of LPs (limited partnerships) that range from individuals to banks and insurance companies as well as family offices. For a strong deal flow of promising companies, Aleksandra recommends the following:
– Ask your portfolio companies for feedback: how is it like to work with you? Potentially also ask for introductions to other great companies. Startups usually know their peers best;
– Be present through networking and mentoring, securing possible bonds early on: getting to know a founder while ideas are still brewing in his mind fosters reliance;
– Be proactive and deep-dive into your ecosystem, “hopefully fishing out the best ones!”.
At Redalpine, Aleksandra feels valued among her peers, though she is “fully aware that, unfortunately, that’s not the case with many female VCs out there.” Lack of diversity is a structural problem extending far beyond STEM and the entrepreneurial world, either by conscious segregation or by unconscious bias.
Thankfully, the tables are turning. If you wish to nurture a more inclusive community where all voices are heard, the law of attraction is on your side! Keeping a strong female model at the table may encourage other aspiring female VCs to raise their hands and join along. If you are hesitant on diving in and embracing VC yourself, don’t let glass ceilings frighten you: your journey is limitless.
Aleksandra’s final advice:
Judith Bellaiche is a Swiss national politician (Swiss Green Liberal Party, GLP) and co-initiator of the Parliamentary Group for Startups and Entrepreneurship. She was first introduced to the Swiss startup landscape during her tenure in the Zurich cantonal parliament. In 2016, she, together with other politicians and lobbyists, pressured the administration to abandon a new, disadvantageous way of calculating the wealth tax for early stage founders. In 2019, Judith was elected to the Swiss National Parliament (Nationalrat). There, she teamed up with fellow parliamentarian and former Swisspreneur guest Andri Silberschmidt to launch the Parliamentary Group for Startups and Entrepreneurship. Through this working group which managed to attract politicians from across the political spectrum, they hope to improve the framework conditions for startups in Switzerland, starting with easier access to talent from non-EU countries through a dedicated startup visa. Judith holds a Law degree from the University of Basel and an executive MBA from the University of St. Gallen.
“The broader our reach, the more support we have from every party, the stronger we will be.”
“We need to make people realize how important startups are to the economic prosperity of our country.”
“We need to engender in Switzerland an appetite for risk and for success.”
What you need to know about angel investing in Switzerland, according to Thomas Dübendorfer.
The most common mistakes of new angel investors:
The investment process:
Make sure you are covered — the shareholders agreement:
Full-time business angels:
Advantages angel investors bring to a business:
“If all you want is to ‘get rich quick’, then maybe being a business angel is the wrong path for you. Better visit a casino.”
“Helping the startup team to make the right decisions at the right moments is the most important thing a business angel can do besides activating the network.”
Simon Enderli is the CEO of the Swiss Entrepreneurs Foundation (SEF) and President of the Swiss Entrepreneurs & Startup Association (SWESA). Before joining the Swiss Entrepreneurs Foundation as Deputy CEO in 2019, Simon spent 8 years at PostFinance, the financial services unit of the Swiss postal service. In 2020, he took over the CEO position at the Swiss Entrepreneurs Foundation from his predecessor, Peter Stähli. Shortly after, SWESA was established to work more closely with national parliamentarians and represent Swiss startups in the political decision-making process. Simon was nominated as the association’s first president and within only one year, the organization was well on track to launch its first political initiative: a startup visa to facilitate the access to talent from countries outside the Schengen Area for Swiss startups. Simon holds a degree in Business Administration from the Berner Fachhochschule.
“Don’t romanticize the word “president” — what it actually entails is a whole lot of work.”
“I actually do think there are plenty of ideas in Switzerland. Our true weakness is knowing how to commercialize those ideas.”
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In 2013, software engineer and tech lead Thomas Dübendorfer left Google Zürich, turning over a new leaf into the new-found world of start-up financing. In this episode, the Internet entrepreneur and expert angel investor discusses the evolution of his investing career, sharing valuable advice for those willing to make their leap of faith into the world of start-ups.
After completing a PhD in Computer Science from ETH in 2005, Thomas Dübendorfer knew that industry would be his next step. He soon seized the admirable opportunity of kick-starting his career by becoming a tech lead and software engineer in the early days of Google Zürich. In a small community of less than 60 workers, Thomas found a happy medium between his academic experiences and the concrete universe of large-scale programming. His line of work focused on fraud-prevention projects for advertisement systems; as relevant Big Data challenges arose on a daily basis, he grew in his expertise.
The company soon expanded exponentially, numbering around 1,400 workers by 2013. Consequently, a switch in work dynamics seemed urgent. New internal structures, such as team-building and emerging administrative layers, brought a significant contextual shift. With expansion came also a fresh set of initially unexpected skills: beyond “machine learning” and programming, Thomas became familiar with the delicate procedures of hiring his own collaborators.
In hindsight, Dübendorfer recognises how these transformations can become “little disruptions” in the sustainability of a company’s development, effectively changing its work culture. Nevertheless, this accelerated flow still had its benefits…
Undergoing this form of “American-style scale-up” has definitely enriched Thomas’s perception of workplace mechanisms, some of which he considers valuable directions for Swiss companies:
However, as the corporation reshaped itself to new demands, Thomas started missing the “family groove”, the intimate, small-scale setting where his work as a programmer flourished. After 7 years of cooperation, Thomas made the decision of expanding to new horizons.
“I was also much fonder of working with young, inspired entrepreneurs, and I really tried to make this big. For me, it was a big bet; I knew it was a medium-to-long-term bet, so I knew I had to do this for several years before seeing whether it worked out or not. In the beginning, you never know . . .”
Thomas admits his first contact with entrepreneurship came “by accident”. Becoming an angel investor for Spontacts “basically overnight” offered him the tools to build Zeeder, a group of angel investors prioritising seed-stage ICT start-ups.
As a member of Zeeder, Thomas co-founded two ICT start-ups: Frontity and Contovista. By noticing that banks were moving towards digital-based services and that customers grew more and more demanding regarding their personal finance, Contovista strove to fill the gap.
The problem with traditional banking? “Dead data”, as in PDF files or simple transaction extracts, is far from interactive and informative regarding trends and specific needs. Contovista offers digital services to financial institutions and consumers recurring to data analysis. Their services use digital intelligent management to tailor meaningful, insightful data, fostering a proactive attitude towards finance management.
As entrepreneurs know, banks are very careful in analysing risk, pondering every possible wrong turn before granting funds:
The solution? A multi-skilled network of contributors. Contovista benefited from the collaboration of lawyers, executives and software engineers proficient with credit card data treatment: this diversity of useful competences brought an added layer of trust.
However, holding advisor and shareholder roles simultaneously has its conflicts of interest. To solve this, Thomas adds that granting upside participation is key to diversifying the conversation with the interested party.
On a final note, presenting a concrete price tag, when compared to competing free-access models, may positively alter the institution’s perception of a product’s risk in the long run.
While Contovista was taking its first steps, personal finance was certainly having its hey-day as a “hot topic”. Driven competitors can truly storm a seed-stage start-up with doubt and apprehension.
Nonetheless, Thomas has a different take on the quest for market success: competition is natural and necessary! In Contovista’s particular case, the presence of two other competing companies sparked a craving for achievement: with this vital propelling mechanism, the company managed to launch within the first 18 months and strengthen its connection to institutions through B2B agreements.
For dealing with a competitive market, Thomas presents some helpful guidance:
Contovista’s expansion to Germany and Austria seemed promising. However, the company opted for conquering the Swiss market first, guaranteeing a solid home base. On the one hand, changing too early might concede influence in the local market to competitors who eventually decide to switch from B2C to B2B. On the other hand, selling too late may also come with exponential risk after the 5-to-10 years mark.
On August 2nd 2017, barely 4 years after its initial incorporation, Contovista was sold to the Aduno group. According to Dübendorfer, the change was more than welcome: both companies showed “[a] very close entanglement on the know-how basis”. Aduno was a perfect fit for Contovista’s future endeavours, since they also operated with data analytics and collaborated with credit card processers, but with a significantly larger customer base. For Thomas, continuity of purpose is vital to customer maintenance: that is, making sure that a sustainable creation maintains its identity throughout its different stages.
In conclusion, Contovista illustrates a “perfect blueprint of how you can sell a successful start-up”. According to its co-founder, “[i]t shows you can build something from scratch, and, within a reasonable amount of years, have your first customers become profitable, and then actually sell the whole company.”
On September of 2014, the Swiss ICT Investor Club (SICTIC) came to life. According to Dübendorfer, the association sought to respond to existing blank spaces. Many other investors’ clubs were concentrating their efforts on a broad scope of enterprises, so building a community with a shared, specific interest in stimulating data-driven technology start-ups became the next step.
Unsurprisingly, a successful angel investors’ club like SICTIC holds its secrets. Dübendorfer shares his insight on building a positive, productive network:
Thomas currently possesses more than 20 portfolio companies. He has successfully incorporated 10 as of the moment, and is looking forward to establishing two more later this year.
For the investor, the line of action is clear: you’ve got to look after the youngest companies, while making sure the most acclaimed ones can grow even further. To take just one example, his 2013 incorporation Frontify has now around 130 employees and international offices in New York and Frankfurt. So, it’s vital to find a balance between helping the largest companies go international while still supporting new founders in building something wonderful from day one.
Work efficiently. Use shared platforms such as Google Docs or Spreadsheets for fast-moving collaboration, instead of hurling e-mails packed with heavy attachments back and forth. This allows all users to keep track of activity step-by-step, nurturing a streamlined, collaborative understanding of the project at hand.
Thomas Dübendorfer is the president and co-founder of Swiss ICT Investor Club (SICTIC), the most influential angel investing association in Switzerland, with a scope of work deeply focused on technology start-ups in their earliest developmental stages.
Thomas holds a doctoral degree in Computer Science from ETH Zurich, his alma-mater. In January 2006, he started his career as a tech lead and software engineer at Google Zürich, where he worked in fraud-prevention projects for advertisement systems.
After 7 years, he left the company and devoted his life’s work to entrepreneurship and angel investment in seed-stage ICT start-ups, currently numbering more than 20 entrepreneurial endeavours in his portfolio. Beyond his accomplishments in industry and investment, Dübendorfer has ample experience in academic settings, having worked as a researcher and lecturer in institutions as the University of Zürich and ETH Zürich, where he co-lectured a module on Network Security for 10 years.
Karim Maizar is a partner at Kellerhals Carrard and Board Member of SWESA, the Swiss Entrepreneur and Startup Association. He is the co-founder and head of Kellerhals Carrard’s startup desk and in this capacity has advised some of Switzerland’s most promising technology and life science startups through all stages of their growth. As a board member of SWESA, Karim is lobbying and working with a group of Swiss national parliamentarians to improve the legal conditions for startups and innovative SMEs in Switzerland. Currently, the association’s top agenda item is easier access to foreign talent for companies in Switzerland. While Switzerland’s technical universities ensure a steady supply of top talents, it’s often not enough to meet the needs of fast growing startups. This is why Karim and SWESA propose to introduce special immigration rules for highly skilled workers and founders from countries outside the European Schengen Area. Karim was recognized for his work by Bilanz/Handelszeitung/Le Temps as one of the “Top 100 Digital Shapers” of Switzerland in 2019.
“I’m totally convinced that a political lobbying organization speaking on behalf of startups and the venture capital ecosystem is required.”
“The digital wave that came with the Covid crisis has mitigated Switzerland’s difficulties with searching for talent.”
“Until now Covid has had a very small impact in the startup and venture capital world.”
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Leif Langenskiöld is the founder of FocusWater, a Swiss vitamin water. After obtaining his degree in International Relations from the University of St. Gallen, Leif originally planned to join the United Nations. His plans changed significantly when a summer job at Red Bull turned into an 11-year tenure with the company, eventually advancing him to Director of Business development and Motorsports marketing based in Los Angeles, CA. Having started at Red Bull as employee #16, Leif got to know what it takes to get a beverage startup off the ground — and in 2005, he decided to leave Red Bull’s increasingly corporate structures to make it on his own. His first two attempts at beverage-related ventures failed. Unfazed, he continued his hunt for the right idea and eventually found FocusWater. The brand was struggling because it had a very low repurchase rate (meaning customers bought it only once and never again). Leif, together with his co-founder, took over the brand from its original owners and completely revamped the contents of the product. The new Focus Water was a hit, growing from CHF 3 m in sales in 2018 to 10 m in 2020. In 2019, he sold the company to Rivella’s innovation team for an undisclosed amount.
“When I joined Red Bull in 1995, it was a startup. With time, as it grew bigger and became more corporate-like, it became less interesting for me.”
“I think you learn much faster by making mistakes than through a series of successes.”
Hanspeter Fässler is the co-founder and chairman of Anybotics, an ETH robotics spinoff with a focus on autonomous, walking robots for industrial inspection tasks. Hanspeter started the company in 2016, together with 5 co-founders. At this point, he was already looking back on a successful career which had allowed him to accumulate a wealth of business experience. Amongst other roles, Hanspeter served as the CEO of Implenia, a large Swiss construction company from 2010-2012 and subsequently as Senior Vice President, Business Unit Grid Systems at ABB, an electrical equipment provider. With Anybotics, Hanspeter made his first foray into entrepreneurship. Since 2016, the company has grown from the co-founder team of 6 to a team of 55. In 2020, the company took part in the SEF Upscaler program and subsequently closed a CHF 20 m Series A round with Swisscom Ventures as lead investor. Anybotics has also been recognized with the Swiss Economic Forum Award. In 2021, the company plans to ship the first commercial version of their inspection robot, going up directly against their large American competitor, Boston Dynamics. Next to his role at Anybotics, Hanspeter also holds a variety of other board mandates, amongst them Axpo and Dätwyler Holding.
“I’ve always seen myself as more of a builder. Usually I’m not the one who comes up with the crazy ideas — I’m the one who makes them happen.”
Life before and after the exit, according to Simon Scheurer.
Balancing family and business
Earn out periods
Life after the exit
“I’m just not a corporate guy. I like new things and I don’t like being told what to do.”
“Wealth for me is just an instrument that allows me to be independent and happy.”
Roxana Porada is the co-founder and CPO of PXL Vision, a software provider for digital identity solutions. Roxana obtained a degree in Cybernetics and Statistics and subsequently worked as a software developer. In 2012, she joined Dacuda, the company founded by Swisspreneur guest Michael Born. When Dacuda was acquired by Magic Leap in 2017, she started PXL Vision together with three colleagues. To date, PXL Vision is most renowned as the technology provider for the SwissID solution and for their customer verification and onboarding solutions for enterprises. In May 2020, PXL Vision secured CHF 4.6 m in seed financing. The investment round was led by SIX Fintech Ventures. The company has also been awarded the Swiss Economic Award and was admitted to the SEF Upscaler Program. Going forward, PXL Vision aims to expand into the DACH region beyond Switzerland and branch out into additional use cases beyond customer onboarding.
"I wouldn’t like to be a leader without also being a team-player."
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Simon Scheurer is the co-founder and former CTO of Qumram, a provider of session replay technology for digital compliance. Simon holds a Masters in Physics, Mathematics and Sociology from the University of Berne. He started his career as CTO at the digital agency Unic – the same company as Swisspreneur guest and Fashion Days Founder Markus Okumus. After 7 years in consulting, Simon left the company with the desire to start a product business. He started Milgram Media which at the time was a direct competitor to Doodle. The company struggled to stay ahead of Doodle with its offering and after losing several important deals, the founders decided to exit for a modest sum. Not at all discouraged by the failure, Simon started Qumram. The idea for the product had emerged years prior and he decided to turn it into a business when large corporates started asking for digital compliance solutions. With Qumram, Simon was able to get several renowned investors on board, among them Swisspreneur guest Ariel Lüdi and Investiere. In 2017, Qumram was acquired by Dynatrace for an undisclosed amount.
“When the employee number goes above 100 or so, maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit starts getting really tricky.”
“People are very reluctant to change. So you have to be massively better than the tool that they already know, use and like.”
The Calorie Myth, by Jonathan Bailor
Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker
Thinking Fast And Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
Michele Matt is the co-founder and CEO of MyCamper, a peer-to-peer camper rental platform. Michele started MyCamper in 2015 when he realized that his own camper, Charly, sat idle for a large part of the year. What started as a project to rent out his own vehicle soon turned into a two-sided marketplace idea. In spring of 2020, the company was closing their fist fundraising round with the Covid 19 pandemic in full swing. During the course of 2020, MyCamper hit the CHF 1 m threshold in revenue and now boasts 1000 campers on their platform. The MyCamper founding team also participated in the SEF UpScaler Program, which supports companies in accelerating international growth. For the next 3 years, MyCamper wants to drive an ambitious growth strategy, before focusing on profitability. In 2021, MyCamper wants to focus on doubling their numbers from 2020 and becoming the number #1 player in Sweden while keeping their position in Switzerland. From there they plan to expand across the entire Nordic region of Europe, beating their competitors in local markets.
“I grew up in an entrepreneurial family, and it really inspired me. I wanted to have the freedom to explore my ideas.”
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Gianluca Cesari & Gregory Hitz are two of the 8 co-founders of Sevensense Robotics, as well as CEO and Business Development Lead, respectively. Gregory obtained his PhD from ETH Zurich later continued as Postdoc. Gianluca also received his Masters in Robotics, System and Control from ETH Zurich and afterwards continued as Robotics Engineer at the University’s Autonomous Systems Lab. The two worked together with their 6 co-founders on an autonomous robotics project together with two industry partners while still at university. Out of this initial research group, Sevensense Robotics was born. Running a business with 8 co-founders would be a challenge for many. Sevensense decided to mitigate the problem by clearly distributing roles. While some members of the founding team took on managerial duties, others stayed with their passion for engineering and have contributed to developing the product.
Autonomous robots have applications in various industries: Sevensense currently focuses on logistics. By applying Sevensense’s technology, logistics providers can enable their machines to safely and autonomously navigate in dynamic spaces shared with humans, in- and outdoors. To date, Sevensense has been able to work together with several important customers, such as Jelmoli and Wetork.
“Many people are actually really willing to help you — you just have to ask.”
Thinking, fast and slow, by Daniel Kahneman
Sreenath Bolisetty is the co-founder and CEO of BluAct Technologies, an ETH spin-off which provides a technology for water purification from heavy metals through milk proteins. In 2020, the company won the Expert’s Choice Award at the Energy Startup Days. Originally from a small village in India, Sreenath obtained his PhD from the University of Bayreuth. He went on to work as a Senior Researcher at ETH Zurich and in 2016, started BluAct Technologies as his first company. BluAct’s purifying system differentiates itself through its high level of effectiveness at a low cost point. Being able to run without electricity, it is the perfect choice for water purification in remote areas – something which BluAct Technologies has proven through their various pilots in remote communities around the world. Their milk protein membranes are suitable both for water purification in individual households and at large scales of thousands of cubic meters of water. With 2 products already on the market, BluAct Technologies wants to expand its offering to cover purification for radioactively polluted water. The company is planning to raise USD 3m in their next investment round to help with the commercialization and certifications of its products.
“A very strong motivation to start BluAct was the fact that I come from India, where water problems are a very real day-to-day issue.”
Getting company culture right, according to Tobias Häckermann.
Common mistakes around company culture
Finding and growing your culture
Scaling culture
Measuring culture
“Establishing a great company culture reduces the amount of time you need to spend handling internal affairs, and leaves that time free for actually helping your customers.”
“If your core team does not share your company values, then you’re never gonna establish a culture. Culture is established through behavior.”
Laurent Coulot is the co-founder and CEO of Insolight, a photovoltaic startup. Laurent started Insolight in 2015, together with his two co-founders, Mathieu Ackermann and Florian Gerlich. Within 5 years, the company has grown to over 15 employees. With Insolight, the co-founders focus on a very specific area of the photovoltaic market which is not yet well served by mass produced photovoltaic panels – agrivoltaics. Insolight’s solar panels are both translucent and highly efficient. These properties make the panels uniquely suited to be deployed on top of areas which are used for growing crops – therefore reducing the land use competition between agriculture and photovoltaic by allowing them to coexist in the same space. In 2020, Insolight closed a $ 5m series A and received its first orders from industrial customers. The company was also awarded the public choice award at the Swiss Energy Startup Days. In 2021, Insolight plans to build and ship more than 1000 panels.
Before starting Insolight, Laurent worked as an Applications Engineer at Melexis. He holds a Masters in Micro and Nanosystems from the EPFL.
“We think market regulations should reflect the fact that solar energy has a pretty much non-existent carbon footprint.”
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Tobias Häckermann is the co-founder and CEO of Sherpany, a provider of meeting management software for leadership meetings. Tobias started his first company right out of high school. As a long time practitioner of martial arts, he was the go-to person if one of his friends needed a bouncer for a party or other event. Seeing an opportunity, Tobias started PNC security. Through his first venture, he met Nathanael Wettstein, who would later become one of his co-founders at Sherpany. Tobias sold PNC security to a competitor for CHF 70k. He went on to start easyComm, a platform for digital events which he sold to Alphablue Eventmanagement. During this entire time, Tobias was still obtaining his law degree from the University of Zurich. During his semester abroad at University of Siena, the idea for Sherpany was born. Originally, Sherpany was conceived as a communication tool between companies and their shareholders. For nearly two years, Sherpany was trying to bring the product to the market, until the founders realized they were not solving the right problem for their customers. The company pivoted to providing software for agile meeting management in leadership teams and has since grown to a multinational company with offices in Paris, Lisbon, Milano, Wroclaw, Berlin and Zurich.
“It’s okay to work part-time on a startup at the beginning. But at some point you’ve got to start giving it your all, otherwise you’re gonna iterate too slow and you’re gonna get frustrated, because you’re going nowhere.”
“I always thought the bigger your company gets, the more things it should be able to do. But it’s the opposite — the bigger you get, the more focus you need.”
Liliane Ableitner is the co-founder and CEO of Exnaton, a software provider for energy communities, allowing neighbors to trade renewable energy amongst each other. Before starting Exnaton, Liliane was a Doctoral Researcher at the Bits of Energy Lab at ETH Zurich. She met her two co-founders, Arne Meeuw and Anselma Würner, during her work on the research project “Quartierstrom“, funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy. The project resonated well with all stakeholders involved and the three PhD students decided to spin it out into an independent company in 2019. Since then, Exnaton has signed 2 pilot customers and is currently fundraising. In December 2020, they won the Investor’s Choice award at Energy Startup Days, which helped the company to gain exposure amongst relevant stakeholders. Contrary to some of their competitors, Exnaton doesn’t sell their software to end consumers. Rather, they cooperate with local utility companies and allow them to white label their solution and distribute it to their customers. Exnaton is greatly benefiting from the liberalization of European energy markets because it has been driving competition for innovative products between utility companies. They are hoping to further benefit from an opening of the Swiss market, which has traditionally been very protected.
“If you’re in a market with 0 competition, then you’re in the wrong market, because either you’re on a completely wrong track or you’re way too early.”
Pivoting your business idea to success, by Teo Borschberg.
Mistakes to avoid
The Startup Pivot Pyramid by 500 Insights
Customers and their problems
Solution
Growth
“You need to show to your customers why they need to buy your product now. This sense of urgency is the key to your startup’s success.”
“When it comes to pivoting, as with many other things, getting attached will hinder you from making the right move.”
Teo Borschberg is the co-founder and CEO of oto.ai, an AI-powered voice intelligence solution. Teo started his entrepreneurial career after obtaining his maturité (high school diploma). He relocated to China, where he spent 8 months working in a factory, 6.5 days a week. During this time, he started to resell paintings and furniture from China to Europe, and his first company, Artefact Co, was born. Three years later, upon the completion of his Bachelor in Hospitality Management at Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, Teo returned to China to start his second company, the media advertising business Good Media. In 2015, he sold Good Media and reoriented himself towards the US. He joined SRI International, a renowned non-profit research institute as Entrepreneur in Residence. In this position, he was tasked with finding business opportunities for the cutting edge technologies the Institute was developing. This is where the idea for OTO.ai originated. Three years later the company has raised $ 5.8 m in seed financing, has analyzed over 10 m conversations and serves 10 large customers globally. While OTO.ai was originally selling mainly to call centers, they – as so many others – had to pivot during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Within a few short months, the company set itself up to offer an API / SDK to its product in order to let developers use it in almost any context imaginable – from wearables to smart home devices, and even telemedicine.
“It’s always dangerous to have a technology and be looking for a market, instead of having a market and be looking for a technology.”
“I will only say we have a product-market fit the day we have customers kicking down our door to get their hands on the product.”
Tatiana Cogne is the President of START Lausanne and Head of Communication at Swiss Solar Boat. Tatiana joined START in 2019 as an event organizer, after having participated in START Hack and START Summit in St. Gallen. After 9 months as Event Organizer, she advanced to President of the chapter in June 2020. Under her leadership, START Lausanne has been reinventing itself over and over again during the last couple months in order to comply with ever changing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Beyond that, Tatiana initiated the forming of a network of entrepreneurship organizations across the Swiss Romandy: rather than each organization working independently in their city, they now collaborate on news distribution and other opportunities. START Lausanne offers events, workshops and mentoring to students and other people interested in entrepreneurship. They also organize the START Contest, a 6 month-long competition where startups receive support to refine their business idea and potentially win a CHF 30k prize.
START Lausanne is one of 10 chapters of the START Global organization in Europe. START Global was founded in 1996 out of the University of St. Gallen (HSG) and has since become one of Europe’s top startup events.
“When I finish my presidency at START Lausanne, I want to do so with the knowledge that I motivated every single one of my colleagues to surpass themselves.”
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Mina Kamel is the co-founder and CEO of Voliro, a producer of robotic drones for inspection and light maintenance at height. Mina obtained his Bachelors in Automation Engineering Technology from the Politecnico di Milano before moving to Zurich to obtain his Masters and eventually his PhD in Mechatronic, Robotics and Automation Engineering from ETH Zürich. During his PhD, he contributed to the Aeroworks project, where much of the inspiration for Voliro was drawn from. He also met his 4 co-founders, Timo Müller, Dr. Marius Fehr, Dr. Anurag Vempati and Dr. Thomas Schneider, during this time. With all five co-founders coming from a technical background, they supplemented their business knowledge through advisors and coaching by Venture Lab. The team quickly realized that the timing for Voliro was right. Not only had the technology for robotic drones matured, but there was a strong pull from the oil, gas and infrastructure industries to lower operational costs through increased efficiency in maintenance. Voliro closed a CHF 2m seed round in 2020 with Alex Fries’s Alpana Ventures as lead investor. They will use the seed round capital to get their product to the market faster and are planning to raise a series A round towards the end 2021 for CHF 5-10m.
“Falling from a great height is the number 2 biggest cause of workplace injuries. With our solution, robots do the dangerous work, and people stay safely with their feet on the ground.”
“Product development is a skill you can develop, but it takes a very long time. Sometimes it’s just more practical to hire professional help.”
Aldo Podestà is the founder and CEO of L2F, the company behind the platform Giotto.ai, which builds and hosts high performance machine learning applications. Before starting Giotto in 2017, Aldo Podestà worked in Sales Strategy at Philip Morris, in Lausanne. The idea for Giotto was born when he presented at a high level management meeting and was asked to provide an explanation for the recommendations his machine learning based strategy model had provided. When he was unable to explain the recommendations of his own model, he suspected that there would be tremendous value in a solution that would increase a machine learning model’s interpretability. Not long after its inception, Giotto.ai won a competition on Kaggle, one of the most prestigious data science platforms globally. In 2019, the company closed a CHF 3.2 Series A round which allowed them to pursue their ambitious vision. As a CEO, Aldo initially struggled to assemble the right team around him: betting on exclusively young and ambitious employees proved to be a mistake. Today, he counts on a more mixed team with various levels of experience.
“You don’t run a company alone. You run it with every single one of your employees.”
Getting employee participation plans right, according to Yoko Spirig.
Common mistakes
Why participation plans are important
Participation plans in Europe vs the US
The mechanics of participation plans
Communicating participation plans to employees
Pitfalls of participation plans
“You shouldn’t let equity plans be an excuse not to pay your employee a decent salary.”
“I think it’s the immaturity of the European startup ecosystem that makes it not take employee participation plans seriously yet.”
Sébastien Jaffaux is the founder and CTO of the Swiss Solar Boat Association, a project created by engineering students from EPFL and HEIG-VD. Swiss Solar Boat aims to create a solar powered racing boat from scratch, to compete in contests such as the Monaco Solar & Energy Boat Challenge 2021. Swiss Solar Boat is not your typical startup. It emerged from the EPFL Hydrocontest Team which represented the EPFL at the Hydrocontest competition for maritime energy efficiency. Sébastien Jaffaux started out as communication manager at the Hydrocontest Team and became president of the association in 2018. As president, he led the transition from Hydrocontest to Swiss Solar Boat in 2019. Today, the Swiss Solar Boat Association is made up of over 60 students from various technical backgrounds who work together to create a solar powered boat from scratch, including producing the individual boat parts. Currently, Sébastien Jaffaux lives and breathes his project and enjoys pulling off such a challenging feat with some of his closest friends. But due to the nature of the association, he will be handing over his responsibilities as CTO and Vice President once he finishes his Masters degree in mechanical engineering at EPFL in the Summer of 2021.
“The Swiss Romandy is missing a place where all entrepreneurs can meet to exchange know-how and enrich their perspective.”
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Yoko Spirig is the co-founder and CEO of Ledgy, an equity management company for startups and high growth companies. Yoko studied Physics at ETH Zurich, the University of Oxford and CERN. She was also project lead of Swissloop, helping to build the first Hyperloop pod in Switzerland. Yoko met her two co-founders, Ben Brandt and Timo Horstschaefer, during her time at university. It was also during that time that they were first made aware of the problems related to equity management that many young companies (and their investors) face through a conversation with the Doodle founders, Michael Näf and Paul Sevinç, who were looking for a startup team on cofoundme. After graduating from ETH Zurich, the three friends went on a journey with the transsiberian railway from Vladivostok to Moscow where they read up on startup business strategy and sharpened the idea which would eventually become Ledgy. The company pivoted after 1.5 years from a free product to introducing business pricing and targeting larger companies rather than early stage startups. In the early days, the co-founding team also toyed with the idea of using Blockchain technology to enable their product. They however abandoned that plan after evaluating the regulatory framework and their customer needs. Today, Ledgy serves companies like Frontify, VIU and Sherpany and employs a team of over 10 people.
“A good board is a hands-off one — they don’t try to micro-manage the company. But they are also always there to offer good advice.”
“I became an entrepreneur because I wanted to have a direct, short-term impact on society.”
Zero to One, by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters
The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries
Alessandra Rojas is the manager of the EPFL Changemakers program, an incubator program which is part of the EPFL’s Tech4Impact initiative for accelerating ground-breaking and sustainable technological solutions to create positive societal and environmental impact. Alessandra Rojas was also a co-initiator of Versus Virus, a hackathon to develop solutions against the COVID 19 crisis.
As one of the world’s top universities for technology and science, EPFL is one of Switzerland’s most significant hubs for innovation. The EPFL Changemakers program emerged from the EPFL’s grant program and belongs to the unit of the Vice Presidency for Innovation at EPFL. Where previously entrepreneurs at EPFL were mostly supported through financial means such as grants, the goal of the Changemakers program is to provide more holistic support to early stage entrepreneurs and to make sustainability a cornerstone of what it means to be an EPFL startup. The program was launched in October of this year with a first cohort of 20 students across the Bachelor, Master and PhD level. Due to the challenging circumstances presented by the pandemic, the program has had to evolve rapidly over the past months. Nevertheless, the 20 students will receive 6 months of intensive training and mentoring through peers and experts and are on track to graduate successfully from the program in February 2021.
“Our GameChangers program has shown to us that the EPFL’s students’ interest in sustainable solutions is much higher than we had originally anticipated.”
“The changes that Covid has brought about have really helped startups with founders spread all across Switzerland cooperate better among themselves.”
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Luiza Dobre is the founder and CEO of Komed Health, a healthcare communications platform. She started Komed Health in 2016, after a long time toying with different ideas and struggling to find the right co-founder. Komed Health emerged from the realization that while communication is a challenge in every sector, in healthcare, the consequences of failed communicate faster and more effectively among themselves, which results in better decisions, a happier staff and healthier patients. With Marc Bornträger, Luiza Dobre has also finally found a technical co-founder to complement her skill set.
Before starting Komed Health, Luiza Dobre worked as marketing and sales specialist for major brands like Swarovski and Schindler. She also obtained a CEMS Master of International Management from the University of St. Gallen and ESADE Business School.
Be Obsessed Or Be Average, by Grant Cardone
Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight
“I knew that I would only be the best version of myself if I were creating something.”
“I think life is too short to live in a certain country just because of a paycheck. To me, Switzerland is my home. My friends are here, I love the nature… I’ve found my place.”
Anaïs Matthey-Junod obtained a BA in Environmental Science and Engineering and an MA in Energy Management and Sustainability from the EPFL. In the last year of her masters, the idea for sun’n’go was born, after a trip to India with EPFL in 2019. In the following months, they developed their idea further, creating a portable energy center which can be used in impoverished communities to light up the community’s households and charge phones. These energy centers are sold through micro credit schemes. Running entirely on solar power, they are a green catalyst for economic development. In December 2020 Anaïs and her co-workers will be finalizing their prototype. In parallel, they are preparing to conduct their first field study in Malawi, as well as a pilot project in the first half of 2021. Anaïs Matthey-Junod is currently also a research assistant at the EssentialTech Centre, and has just joined the NORCAP Accelerator Program at NRC.
Caspar Coppetti is co-founder of On, one of the world’s fastest growing sports brands. Though initially quite hesitant to quite his well-paying corporate job and jump into such a crowded market, Caspar started On together with his two co-founders Olivier Bernhard and David Allemann in 2010, based on their patented CloudTec® technology. Why CloudTec? Well, because when you wear On shoes, you feel like you’re walking on clouds! They faced a good deal of social stigma at the time, since back then there wasn’t the huge buzz around startups that there is now — quite the contrary, actually. But through luck, perseverance and creativity, On shoes have climbed their way to the top.
They have famously been worn by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and of course, their brand ambassador, tennis star Roger Federer. Over the last 10 years, Caspar Coppetti and his co-founders have expanded the company to over 55 countries, turning it into one of the top 5 leading running shoe brands in the DACH area and in the US. Now On is expanding into the trekking shoe market, launching their extremely lightweight Cloudrock trekking shoe in 2019.
How to find, optimize and scale your sales funnel from early stage to exit.
The early mistakes to avoid
On data and experiments
Customer Lifetime Value and Customer Acquisition Cost
Scaling and optimizing your sales funnel
If you would like to listen to our first episode with Jeremias Meier, click here.
Jeremias Meier is the co-founder and managing director of Bexio, a company offering SaaS around payrolling, invoicing and accounting. Bexio was born out of Jeremias’ first business iBrowse, that he started while still at university. The team had built Bexio (called Easysys at the time) for their internal invoicing needs but found that a lot of agencies like themselves were interested in using the product. In 2014, they separated the product and agency business and spun out Bexio into an independent company. iBrowse was acquired by PwC in 2015 and transformed into a digital experience center.
Mark Essam is the co-founder of YASAI, a vertical farming startup and ETH spin-off. The idea to pursue vertical farming originated from the book “The Vertical Farm: How to feed the world in the 21st century” by Dr. Dickson Despommier, which Mark read during his exchange semester in Mexico City in 2016. He subsequently wrote his thesis at ETH Zurich on the following topic: “How to integrate Vertical Farming within the Swiss landscape?”. The building material manufacturer, LafargeHolcim supported an initial feasibility study of the hypothesis brought forward in the thesis and allowed YASAI to grow. In October 2020, YASAI secured a collaboration with fenaco for a industrial-scale vertical farming pilot project in Zurich through a joint investment of CHF 1.5 m.
Lukas Stuber is the Managing Director of Dept, a digital agency. Previously, he had founded Yourposition, a digital marketing agency specialized in search engine optimization, which was acquired by Dept in 2018. In 2004, Lukas published the book “Suchmaschinen Marketing” (search engine marketing) and became known as one of the pioneers of this field in Switzerland. He also serves as a lecturer on the topic at several Swiss universities such as University of St. Gallen and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
Why expand your business to Asia
Preparing to expand your business to Asia
Market entry
Corporate Governance and Regulations
