We spoke with Anna Sulzer, who was a systems engineer of PERIPHAS, which in 2022 developed guidance, navigation, and control for the recovery of a sounding rocket using a parafoil. We talked about the initial idea and struggles during development, as well as the glorious flight demonstration at the European Rocketry Challenge. This was a fascinating conversation, and if you are into Rockets, Aerospace, and Drones, you are in for a treat :)

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS:

PERIPHAS project website: https://aris-space.ch/periphas-2022/

Focus Rollout Presentation of PERIPHAS (in German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWInh6t8Vhk&t=725s

ARIS at European Rocketry Challenge 2022 (PERIPHAS in action): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwf1QcmTwdk

Anna’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annasulzer/

ARIS website: https://aris-space.ch/

🎙️ PODCAST INFO:

Link tree: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/btctwpod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4⁠⁠⁠⁠

Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7⁠⁠⁠⁠

Google Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw⁠⁠⁠⁠

RSS: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss⁠⁠⁠⁠

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:

All my links: **https://linktr.ee/junwoohwang**

Youtube channel: **https://www.youtube.com/@junuhunuproductions**

LinkedIn: **https://linkedin.com/in/junwoo-hwang**

This episode is hosted by me, David and today I speak with Jan who you might remember from his first appearance on the podcast about 6 months ago. Jan is the founder of Waveline, a B2B workflow automation startup. In our conversation, we dive into what Jan’s team has been up to since the last time we spoke and notably his first-hand experience of going through the Y Combinator batch at the start of this year in San Francisco. You’ll hear about their application process, their pivot during the batch, the experience of living with his cofounders for 4 months in an airbnb and of building and fundraising for a startup in the fast-moving generative AI space. I hope you enjoy!

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS:

Waveline's website: ⁠⁠waveline.ai

🎙️ PODCAST INFO:

Link tree: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/btctwpod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4⁠⁠⁠⁠

Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7⁠⁠⁠⁠

Google Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw⁠⁠⁠⁠

RSS: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss⁠⁠⁠⁠

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:

All my links: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/david.alonso⁠⁠⁠⁠

Youtube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@itsdavidalonso⁠⁠⁠⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-oort-alonso⁠⁠⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidalonso/

This episode is hosted by me, David and I speak with Jessica who is the founder of Noriware, a startup that turns seaweed into plastic packaging, cutting the dependency on unsustainable fossil fuels and making our packaging home compostable and even edible. We speak about how Noriware was born from an accident during a home experiment, the hurdles Jessica has had to overcome to turn this realization into a startup while being a student of international affairs, and I even got to see and touch one of their early prototypes. Jessica’s perserverance and resilience has made this one of the most inspiring conversations I’ve had on the podcast and I truly wish Jessica and her team all the best in the future. I hope you realize during the episode that if you set your mind on something you can do it regardless of your background.

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS:

Noriware's website: ⁠noriware.com

🎙️ PODCAST INFO:

Link tree: ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/btctwpod⁠⁠⁠

Podcast website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/⁠⁠⁠

Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4⁠⁠⁠

Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7⁠⁠⁠

Google Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw⁠⁠⁠

RSS: ⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss⁠⁠⁠

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:

All my links: ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/david.alonso⁠⁠⁠

Youtube channel: ⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@itsdavidalonso⁠⁠⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-oort-alonso⁠⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidalonso/

This episode is hosted by me, David and I speak with Max, who’s a CS Master student at ETH and the co-founder of Sid. Sid enables generative AI companies to leverage their users’ personal context seamlessly, you can think of it like Stripe for data. Max and his team have recently received the amazing news that they've been accepted into the next Y Combinator batch, and I couldn’t be more excited for them.

In the conversation you’ll notice that Max is talking about a different product in the same space. When I originally spoke with Max in January 2023, Sid Search was a B2C startup redefining personal data search, aspiring to unlock the ultimate digital assistant.

This conversation captures Sid in its earliest stages, before their first pivot or even applying to YC, but Max’s passion and insights remain timeless.

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS:

Sid's website: sidsearch.com

🎙️ PODCAST INFO:

Link tree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/btctwpod⁠⁠

Podcast website: ⁠⁠https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/⁠⁠

Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4⁠⁠

Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7⁠⁠

Google Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw⁠⁠

RSS: ⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss⁠⁠

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:

All my links: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/david.alonso⁠⁠

Youtube channel: ⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@itsdavidalonso⁠⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-oort-alonso⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidalonso/

This episode is hosted by me, David and I speak with Noah Faoro, a Swiss entrepreneur and co-founder of KORK, the largest service marketplace in Switzerland which he founded straight after high-school. We speak about his early life as an entrepreneur, the founding of KORK and his latest venture, Rocketlaunch. Noah is part of the Forbes 30 under 30 list and has achieved a lot in a short amount of time, in part due to his work ethic, pragmatism and the team he’s surrounded himself with. We discuss his approach to building successful businesses and the challenges he faced, his outlook for the future and his advice for young entrepreneurs. Noah's story is an inspiring one and I'm sure you will enjoy it. All right, see you on the other side!

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS:

Kork: kork.ch

Rocketlaunch: rocketlaunch.ch

🎙️ PODCAST INFO:

Link tree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/btctwpod⁠

Podcast website: ⁠https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/⁠

Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4⁠

Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7⁠

Google Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw⁠

RSS: ⁠https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss⁠

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:

All my links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/david.alonso⁠

Youtube channel: ⁠https://youtube.com/@itsdavidalonso⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-oort-alonso⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidalonso/

In this episode, we talk with Eugenio Valli, president of the board of Swissloop Tunneling, an ETH Zurich Student team building a tunnel boring machine that won an innovation award in 2021 in Las Vegas after competing in the Not-A-Boring Competition by Elon Musk.

We talk about the process of organizing a team to build a 2.5-tonne tunnel-boring machine from scratch, boring competition in Las Vegas, Vision of Hyperloop System, and the potential of a micro-tunneling startup in the future.

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS:

Swissloop Tunneling Website: https://swisslooptunneling.ch/

Find more information in the episode resources link: https://www.notion.so/davidalonso/12-Elon-Musk-s-Not-A-Boring-Tunneling-Competition-Space-Exploration-Eugenio-Valli-Swissloop-T-9d909dc007054f9387ab56adeda370e7?pvs=4

🎙️ PODCAST INFO:

Link tree: https://linktr.ee/btctwpod

Podcast website: https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw

RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:

All my links: https://linktr.ee/junwoohwang

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@junuhunuproductions

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/junwoo-hwang

This episode is hosted by me, David and I speak with Jessica who is doing a PhD in environmental engineering at ETH. She is also the founder of RiverX, a project aimed at building a low-cost water monitoring network. We speak about her transition from mechanical to environmental engineering, her experience as a woman in STEM fields, her Youtube channel, the inception of her project and how it’s been to combine her biggest hobby of kayaking with her PhD research. I was super inspired by Jessica’s willingness to throw herself into the deep end of new fields she’s unfamiliar with and how she’s shared her journey with the world. Just like a podcast episode was the trigger for her to switch fields, I hope this episode makes you reflect on your own career path and less intimidated by unexplored fields.

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS:

Jess' instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rivertechjess/

🎙️ PODCAST INFO:

Link tree: https://linktr.ee/btctwpod

Podcast website: https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw

RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:

All my links: https://linktr.ee/david.alonso

Youtube channel: https://youtube.com/@itsdavidalonso

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-oort-alonso

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidalonso/

Fayçal is a CS MSc at ETH and co-founder of Alter Ego, a startup creating virtual fitting rooms to allow shoppers to try clothes digitally on their own avatar.

We speak about how Alter Ego was born and their progress so far, the challenges of developing the technology behind Alter Ego, their plans for expanding the team and the business, their business model and the potential use cases for their technology in the fashion and retail industry.

As you’ll soon be able to tell, Fayçal is deeply passionate about fashion and cares deeply about revolutionizing this space, not only for his own convenience but also to address sustainability issues of the retail industry today.

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS:

Alter Ego Website: https://www.alter-ego.ai/

Find more information in the episode resources link: https://www.notion.so/davidalonso/Fay-al-Alter-Ego-74fce69398664cbca952baa973a960c4?pvs=4

🎙️ PODCAST INFO:

Link tree: https://linktr.ee/btctwpod

Podcast website: https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw

RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:

All my links: https://linktr.ee/david.alonso

Youtube channel: https://youtube.com/@itsdavidalonso

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-oort-alonso

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidalonso/

This episode is hosted by me, David and I speak with Luca who is the co-founder and backend development manager at InClub. InClub is part of the anti-social media trend by helping people become doers in the real world by connecting its users with like-minded individuals that share the same passion. In this conversation, we delve into how Luca ended up at InClub in Zurich immediately after his studies in Milan, and the journey of InClub and its community since then. If you want to learn firsthand what life is like as a developer at a young startup, this is the perfect episode for you.

“The cool thing of a startup in general is that everyday you keep moving ideas around.”

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS:

Download InClub: https://inclub-app.com/  

Episode resources: https://davidalonso.notion.site/Luca-InClub-7cb39a9a409c4de093e5bd62fe1c09a6

🎙️ PODCAST INFO:

Link tree: https://linktr.ee/btctwpod

Podcast website: https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw

RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:

All my links: https://linktr.ee/david.alonso

Youtube channel: https://youtube.com/@itsdavidalonso

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-oort-alonso

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidalonso/

In this episode, I had a conversation with Timon Mathis, a last year Bachelor Student at ETH Zurich, who is the Technical lead of the concrete drilling drone project AITHON.

We talk about their initial prototypes using vacuum cleaners, to successful completion of their 1-year focus project at ETH Zurich, as well as their current progress in forming a startup.

We also discussed his high school project of creating roman concretes using homemade ovens, doing Curling as a hobby, and being a part-time firefighter.

AITHON was one of the most fascinating projects I have come across, and I hope you find this episode insightful as well!

Memorable quotes:

“It is worth it if you have the option, infrastructure and opportunity to invest your time in such a big project. Who is going to care about half of you studying when you have developed such a cool thing?”

“Go for what you are fascinated of and do project-based work because in the end it really matters what you can build out of yourself and out of your own intuition.”

"Sometimes you have the dumb idea that you begin to design something and then you end up with such an amazing project."

Episode resources:

https://davidalonso.notion.site/AITHON-730e1a5e06bc4f11913c9417a8536088 

Learn more about the Podcast:

https://linktr.ee/btctwpod