Swisspreneur Show

Timestamps: 3:04 - Building a startup in 1990 13:01 - Joining Securecell 22:38 - The SPARKS Academy 30:09 - Clinical trials 31:16 - Medtech market trends About Michele Bomio: Michele Bomio is an investor and board member at Securecell , a high tech life sciences company focusing on biotech & medtech. After having built his first venture, SAM, in the 90s (an ETH spin-off delivering predictive m...

Timestamps: 1:40 - Having too many interests 11:11 - Testing an idea for a year 17:45 - Focusing on which problem to solve and how 19:30 - Building trust in the cybersecurity space 27:55 - What it takes to be an entrepreneur About Sandra Tobler: Sandra Tobler is the co-founder and CEO at Futurae Technologies , a startup providing future-proof, end user-centric authentication. She previously worked...

Timestamps: 13:46 - Being an external CEO 17:48 - Surviving in a saturated market 24:50 - Acquiring users and partners 33:14 - Going public on the Swiss stock exchange 38:17 - Choosing a direct listing About Jan Luescher: Jan Luescher is the CEO at ASMALLWORLD , an exclusive travel & lifestyle community. He previously worked as a Principal at Bain & Company and holds a MA in Strategy and I...

Timestamps: 4:20 - Reading business books in engineering school 11:50 - The lean startup methodology 19:30 - The lean canvas 39:52 - The entrepreneurial renaissance 51:54 - The lean workshop About Ash Maurya: Ash Maurya is the founder and CEO at Leanstack , a leading provider of Lean Startup and Lean Business Modeling tools, content, and coaching resources. He is also the author of the book Runnin...

Timestamps : 11:20 - Giving up your salary for a startup idea 12:58 - Moving to California 23:25 - Marketing a solution with broad applications 32:19 - Tweaking your pricing 40:03 - Convincing investors to invest About Chris Bach: Chris Bach is the CSO/CCO at Netlify , a platform for building highly-performant and dynamic websites, e-commerce stores and apps. He studied film and media science at t...

This episode was produced in cooperation with the ETH Entrepreneur Club. Timestamps: 3:20 - IoT 10 years ago 20:02 - Subscription based models and high margins 25:09 - Going international from day one 30:02 - Picking Ariel Lüdi as an investor 45:00 - Scaling your team About Samuel Mueller: Samuel Mueller is the co-founder and CEO at Scandit , the leading technology platform for mobile computer vis...

Timestamps: 9:25 - Netcentric’s focus 23:17 - Growing your headcount 26:45 - Choosing holacracy 38:36 - Getting acquired 49:08 - Building a wine marketplace About Elian Kool: Elian Kool is the co-founder and former CEO at Netcentric , a Zurich based company that develops CX marketing solutions. He previously worked at companies like Acommit AG, Namics and Logica Deutschland. Elian co-founded Netce...

Timestamps: 7:21 - The right time for scaling up 26:36 - Why hire in Belgrade 32:02 - Scaling while bootstrapped 42:42 - Growth engines 53:15 - Growing towards an exit About Dennis Just and Mathis Büchi: Dennis Just is the current CEO at Smallpdf , a company offering a suite of clever document management tools for everyone. He holds a BSc in Economics and Engineering from Technische Universität Be...

Timestamps: 1:44 - Falling in love with machine learning 15:03 - Developing a prototype at HackZurich 23:05 - Podcasts as the world’s largest knowledge base 40:43 - Doing B2C in Switzerland 49:15 - Benefiting from the Swiss startup mafia About Kevin Smith: Kevin Smith is the co-founder and CEO at Snipd , an AI-powered podcast player built to unlock the knowledge in the podcasts you listen to. Orig...

Timestamps: 2:01 - How consulting makes you a better entrepreneur 7:27 - Spending your sabbatical in Rheinfeld 31:18 - Staying healthy as a founder 42:18 - Complex and non-complex system 47:35 - Getting acquired by Zoom Info About Roy Raanani: Roy Raanani is the co-founder, former CEO and current president of Chorus.ai , a B2B SaaS platform that helps sales teams improve the quality of their conve...

Timestamps: 3:52 - Breaking up and getting back together with McKinsey 9:36 - Gathering the Oviva team 12:01 - Certified dieticians vs nutritionists 16:52 - Working with health insurers 34:59 - Keeping in touch with your investors About Kai Eberhardt: Kai Eberhardt is the co-founder and CEO at Oviva , an app which provides personalized advice and individual support for targeted dietary changes. He...

Timestamps: 12:50 - Alcohol-free drinks for the new decade 18:17 - Choosing Switzerland as a production site 21:40 - Who’s buying alcohol-free drinks? 22:53 - Reaching a crowdfunding goal in 11 hours 28:37 - Selling B2C and B2B About Christof Tremp: Christof Tremp is the co-founder and CEO at Rebels 0.0% , a startup producing alcohol-free spirits. He holds an MA in Business Administration from HSG...

Timestamps: 5:02 - Picking the right co-founder 14:14 - Going B2B 18:07 - Getting better at sales 21:42 - Fundraising as a spin-off 31:59 - Getting inspiration as an entrepreneur About Patrik Deuss: Patrik Deuss is the co-founder and CEO at LEDCity , a cleantech startup specializing in smart lighting solutions. Patrik holds a BS in Energy and Environmental Engineering from ZHAW and previously work...

Timestamps: 5:00 - The ideal human future 7:27 - Reversing aging vs curing common diseases 10:22 - Longevity tips 13:11 - Societal costs to longevity 20:22 - Recs for 20 year olds About Alexander Schueller & Tobias Reichmuth: Alexander Schueller is the founder and CEO at cellvie, a seed-stage venture developing mitochondria-based therapies. Tobias Reichmuth is a founding partner at maximoon, a...

Timestamps: 1:08 - From ETH to Carnegie Mellon 5:28 - Not going to Silicon Valley 8:03 - Freemium and philanthropy 10:22 - A/B testing at Duolingo 18:23 - The Duolingo IPO About Severin Hacker: Severin Hacker is the co-founder and CTO of Duolingo , the world’s most popular language learning app. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University and previously worked as a research...

Timestamps: 6:26 - MBAs aren’t just for managers 12:22 - Covering any distance in less than 2h 15:43 - When hydrogen will become cheaper 24:34 - Building a hyperplane prototype in 4 months 29:33 - Dealing with aviation regulation About Mikhail Kokorich: Mikhail Kokorich is the founder and CEO of Destinus , an aerospace company building hyperplanes to provide the fastest transportation on earth. He...

Timestamps: 1:07 - From Canada to Denmark 7:32 - Convincing your parents about entrepreneurship 16:20 - The 3 ways to do payroll in Switzerland 21:57 - Convincing Swiss SMEs 30:32 - Preparing to acquire a company About Bassil Eid: Bassil Eid is a co-founder of Earny , a startup providing simple automated payroll in 10 mins or less for startups & SMEs. Bassil’s family moved from Lebanon to Cana...

Timestamps: 3:35 - Not having a clear goal for your PhD 7:54 - Starting your own company 22:04 - From old acquaintance to co-founder 27:32 - Selling to retail and logistics 43:53 - Life after unicorn status About Christof Roduner: Christof Roduner is the co-founder and CIO at Scandit , the leading technology platform for mobile computer vision and augmented reality (AR) solutions for enterprises....

Timestamps: 3:33 - Range anxiety with electric vehicles 10:40 - Incubating in both Switzerland and France 14:41 - Why award recognition is key 20:42 - Identifying the right launch customers 23:26 - Organizing a demo day About Alexandre Laybros: Alexandre Laybros is the co-founder and deputy CEO and CMO at WattAnyWhere , a startup offering off-grid renewable electricity for BEV fast-charging. He ho...

Timestamps: 1:39 - The freedom of entrepreneurship 11:25 - Getting access to deals in the 00s 17:15 - Borrowing money to invest in startups 34:12 - Team and timing 43:43 - The Swiss tendency to miss out About Philippe Bubb & Martin Altorfer: Philippe Bubb and Martin Altorfer are the co-founders of session.vc , a fund investing in early stage companies in the software and consumer space. Philip...

Timestamps: 4:17 - The prettiest solar panels you’ll ever see 7:09 - A team of two engineers 11:27 - Not competing with solar panels 13:04 - Tiles with greater ROI 15:53 - Scaling up to a sustainable size About Deborah Learoyd: Deborah Learoyd is the co-founder and managing director of Freesuns , a company designing beautifully integrated solar roof tiles for residential, commercial and heritage b...

Timestamps: 1:37 - Studying STEM 11:29 - Patent and a seed round 24:06 - Educating the market and closing the deal 27:53 - Landing a partnership with SONY 31:18 - Filing patents is depressing About Séverine Gisin: Séverine Gisin is the co-founder and CCO at IDUN Technologies , a neurotech startup with a vision of creating a more connected and empathetic world using brain-sensing headphones. She ha...

Timestamps: 1:31 - The value of an MBA 9:30 - How to validate a business idea 15:27 - Working with your romantic partner 28:33 - How to acquire customers 38:21 - Picking stores to work with About Andreas Lenzhofer: Andreas Lenzhofer is a co-founder & chairman at Dagsmejan , a company that develops innovative clothing for better sleep. After a UK MBA and an impressive corporate career, Andreas...

Timestamps: 3:05 - Running a coffee shop from a dorm room 9:50 - Why biology is the most advanced tech on Earth 13:32 - How to program proteins 15:05 - Vegan, sustainable collagen 23:30 - Surviving climate change About Mitchell Duffy: Mitchell Duffy is the CEO and co-founder at Cambrium , a next-generation materials company utilizing the molecular programmability of proteins to re-imagine the prod...

Timestamps: 1:40 - Consulting prepared Loïc for entrepreneurship 7:45 - Building an agency 12:58 - Solving someone else’s problem 24:24 - Focus vs offering a multifaceted product 33:39 - Being bootstrapped for several years About Loïc Schülé: Loïc Schülé is the co-founder and CEO at denteo , a software provider for dentist offices. He studied computer science at EPFL and worked in consulting befor...