Swisspreneur Show

Timestamps: 5:00 – How much should you raise in a Series A? 12:39 – Should you get existing investors to invest again? 19:12 – How to approach investors for a Series A 30:00 – How to mitigate risk for your investors 35:09 – What if you just bootstrapped? This episode was originally a live webinar co-hosted with Holycode, a software development partner that's helped more than 140 startups scale...

Timestamps: 4:16 - When does a startup become a scaleup? 18:04 - Prioritizing which issue to tackle next 25:06 - Why properti only has Swiss investors 28:40 - Challenges in scaling up in Switzerland vs Internationally 31:34 - How Levent leverages his advisory board 39:00 - Key advice for early founders Click here to purchase our book, “Swiss Startups”. About Levent Künzi: Levent Künzi is the Co-Fo...

Timestamps: 6:32 - How can lawyers help entrepreneurs? 13:55 - The cost of legal services: hourly rates vs. success fees 23:40 - Essential contracts for startups: what founders must know 40:10 - Understanding term sheets and key negotiations 50:56 - Personal liability and risk management This episode was co-produced by EO Zürich . Check out their upcoming event, Entrepreneurs Summit 2025 . Subscri...

Timestamps: 5:11 - Hire your first 15-25 employees super carefully 10:35 - Incentives and ownership in company culture 15:28 - What can Switzerland learn from the US? Click here to order your copy of “Swiss Startups” today. About Victoria Ransom: ⁠ Victoria Ransom⁠ is the co-founder of Wildfire, a social marketing software-as-a-service company which was acquired by Google, and of ⁠ Prisma⁠ , a glo...

Timestamps: 4:26 - Should Swiss VCs raise money from pension funds? 11:38 - Why Swiss pension funds invest so little in VC  20:45 - Are there regulatory barriers to investing pension fund money? 41:00 - DeepTechNation’s role in connecting money with talent 43:33 - Should private citizens have a say in where pension funds go? This episode was co-produced with the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Founda...

Timestamps: 3:30 - Teaching a made-up course on London Business School 13:29 - Should we be wary of AI? 16:00 - It’s never been easier to hack software 27:38 - Gandalf came out of a hackathon 38:38 - Differences between the US and Switzerland This episode was sponsored by infinity.swiss , Switzerland’s most advanced AI accounting tool. Save 25% by entering code SWISSPRENEUR at checkout. Click  ⁠he...

Timestamps: 05:58 - From tennis courts to security 11:43 - Getting the team onboard with a major pivot  19:40 - Staying focused vs staying flexible 27:57 - What are the biggest pivoting mistakes startups keep making? This episode was co-produced with Innovaud , the innovation and investment promotion agency for the canton of Vaud. This episode was sponsored by Relai . Get started with Bitcoin by d...

Timestamps: 02:24 – Führen wie ein Löwe 06:31 – Warum Sales Chefsache ist 07:31 – Das globale Startup-Ökosystem: USA vs. Europa 10:16 – Erfolgreiche Sales-Strategien strukturieren 21:29 – Rückschläge meistern und Resilienz aufbauen This episode was sponsored by Relai. Get started with Bitcoin by downloading the Relai app today, and profit from 10% less fees by entering code SWISSPRENEUR at checkou...

Timestamps: 2:48 - Why ETH generates so many startups 7:23 - From research to commercialization 14:00   - Does ETH invest in startups? 21:50 - Perfectionism vs move fast and break things 29:23 - It’s not hard to convince people to work for startups This episode was co-produced with the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation . Click here to order your copy of “Swiss Startups” today. About Roland S...

Timestamps: 13:03 - How much equity did Relai give away? 31:00 - How to delegate as a CEO 39:13 - Why product roadmaps change  47:10 - Why Julian is cautious to expand his team This episode was co-produced with SEF.Growth , the Swiss Economic Forum's Growth initiative to support Swiss startups and SMEs with growth plans free of charge. This episode was sponsored by Relai. Get started with Bitc...

Timestamps: 9:33 - Leaving a corporate and starting your own company 18:00 - Why pet food is terrible 29:08 - Why there’s a market for Loonawell 33:32 - Pet food made by an executive chef? 36:14 - Why established pet food companies can’t compete with Loonawell Resources Mentioned: Silence: the Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise , by Thich Nhat Hahn About Maria de Bettencourt Tavares: Maria de...

Timestamps: 11:04 - How the Swisspreneur team grew 14:16 - Why most people at Swisspreneur are volunteers 25:00 - How the syndicate got hundreds of signups after a few weeks 30:42 - Why does Swisspreneur produce free masterclasses? 39:43 - How Swisspreneur wrote a book This episode was sponsored by Google Cloud. Join their Founder's Story event on June 24th to hear directly from blockchain sta...

Timestamps: 5:07 - Thomas’s leap from cybersecurity to founding Rivero  15:07 - Building partnerships with Visa and Mastercard   21:10 - Bootstrapping until Series A   23:00 - Founder salary realities   27:43 - Why it’s hard to sell to banks   Get started with Bitcoin by downloading the Relai app today. Click here to profit from 10% less fees by entering code SWISSPRENEUR at checkout. (Disclaimer:...

Timestamps: 8:35 - Why enter a crowded market? 15:24 - Language learning in AI 28:02 - When Univerbal got into YC 37:30 - How to get into YC 41:00 - Getting 50K+ people to test your prototype DISCLAIMER: This episode was recorded several months ago, and since then Philipp has left his role at Univerbal. We nonetheless thought the episode was still worth sharing, as it is a great startup story abou...

Timestamps: 7:29 - How does the Swiss ecosystem compare to others? 18:09 - Which Swiss scaleups is Nicolas excited about? 23:46 - Does Swiss shyness hold us back? 30:23 - Investing in companies with long development cycles 35:08 - Creating outbound investment opportunities  This episode was co-produced with the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation . Get started with Bitcoin by downloading the R...

Timestamps: 6:10 - Quantifying innovation for investment purposes 10:53 - How Evelyne met Tobias Reichmuth 20:43 - Can innovation outperform ETFs? 34:18 - How to build trust with potential investors 38:34 - Why Evelyne’s team is mostly women This episode was sponsored by Relai. Get started with Bitcoin by downloading the Relai app today, and profit from 10% less fees by entering code SWISSPRENEUR...

Timestamps: 4:00 - What’s a data breach? 10:21 - What’s a phishing campaign? 13:50 - How expensive is it to fix a data breach?  20:35 - How are startups being targeted? 22:07 - Why strong passwords are not enough This episode was co-produced by NordPass . Use code “swisspreneur” at checkout to get 30% off Business and Teams plans. This episode was sponsored by Relai. Get started with Bitcoin by do...

Timestamps: 4:30 - Wie konnte Alex Frei immer die höchste Leistung abrufen 9:20 - Liegt der Fokus auf Input oder Output? 19:30 - Was bedeutet Fairplay im Business? 33:50 - Mentale Gesundheit im Sport 39:22 - Kurze Abschlussfragen Get started with Bitcoin by downloading the Relai app today, and profit from 10% less fees by entering code SWISSPRENEUR at checkout. (Disclaimer: Relai services are excl...

Timestamps: 6:21 - How much equity to give up in a Series A 13:32 - How investors assess valuation at Series A/B 17:55 - What makes a good vs. bad investor 26:29 - Why some investors lead founders on 36:50 - Don’t spray and pray: smarter ways to reach investors  This episode was sponsored by Relai. Get started with Bitcoin by downloading the Relai app today, and profit from 10% less fees by enteri...

Timestamps: 3:51 - How T3 Pharma launched a clinical trial 15:44 - When a partner wants to acquire you 30:55 - Selling for more than you expected 44:56 - Why they publicly disclosed the acquisition cost 52:52 - How the company changed post-exit  Click ⁠here ⁠ to check out our free Founders Agreement masterclass, with Melanie Gabriel from Yokoy, Christof Roduner from Scandit, and Viviana Gropengies...

Timestamps: 2:49 - How Sherpany got acquired 18:05 - Discounting vs additional free features 23:20 - Should you hire salespeople or marketing people first? 32:03 - Where to hire salespeople 45:47 - The fixed/variable salary split About Tobias Häckermann, Lars Mangelsdorf & Laurent Decrue: Tobias Häckermann is the co-founder and CEO of Sherpany , a provider of meeting management software for le...

Timestamps: 7:51 - Why is entrepreneurship a lonely journey? 13:55 - Comradeship in entrepreneurship 15:04 - Is post-exit depression a thing? 23:56 - Thinking about the meaning of life 26:23 - The social responsibility of founders This episode was co-produced with EO Zürich . Check out their upcoming event, Entrepreneurs Summit 2025 . Click here to check out our free Founders Agreement masterclass...

Timestamps: 8:01 - What drew Brynne to entrepreneurship 15:10 - Brynne’s political debut 24:12 - What’s a smart society? 27:05 - Measuring growth as a VC 43:25 - How can you find the right co-founders? This episode was produced in collaboration with startup days, taking place this year on May 14th 2025. Click ⁠here⁠ to purchase your ticket. Click here to check out our free Founders Agreement maste...

Timestamps: 12:48 - Anyone can have a mental health crisis 26:30 - Creating trust in a mental health tool 29:12 - How to measure mental health 35:48 - Realizing you don’t want to work with a client 40:43 - Earning the SEF.Growth High Potential Label This episode was co-produced with SEF.Growth , the Swiss Economic Forum's Growth initiative to support Swiss startups and SMEs with growth plans f...

Timestamps: 2:29 - How Sami became interested in cinema 11:15 - How to define visions and impact 22:55 - What can Largo. AI actually do? 27:55 - Does AI kill creativity? 53:23 - Largo. AI’s plans for the near future This episode was co-produced by SICTIC , the leading angel investor network in Switzerland. Click here to check out our free Founders Agreement masterclass, with Melanie Gabriel from Y...