Timestamps:

1:52  - Should making an exit always be the goal in creating a startup?

12:00 - Entrepreneurship in the medical field

22:15 - Selling a second company for $12.5 million 

31:36 - Do founders grow out of their role?

36:53 -  The power of a network

Biography

Michael Friedrich is the CEO of Distalmotion, a medical device company specialized in robots for minimally invasive surgery. Michael started his first venture as a 16-year-old teenager during high school. The company, Berne Byte Bears, focused on the early applications of the Internet, producing specialized software programs, websites and other web applications. Their most successful offering was an online product comparison site, komsumenteninfo.ch, which was acquired by Comparis in 2002. Michael went on to study Microengineering at EPFL Lausanne. From there, he started Aïmago, a medtech venture focused on visualizing blood flow in real time. Aïmago was acquired by its competitor Novadaq for $12m in 2014. Nowadays, Michael is CEO (and early investor) of Lausanne-based Distalmotion, a spin-off of the EPFL that has set out to make robotic surgery more accessible and establish robotics as the new standard of care in the OR via its surgical robot called Dexter.

Timestamps:

2:06  - What mistakes do Swiss startups make repeatedly when it comes to funding for growth?

11:43 - How to find investors

24:06  - Turning down a $ 10 million investment offer

30:47 - How to go about evaluation

40:50 - When to start the fundraising process

The Episode In 60 Seconds

The four phases of fundraising.

Phase 1: Preparation

Phase 2: Pitching

Phase 3: Negotiating Term Sheets

Phase 4: Due Diligence

Timestamps:

2:40 - Running a business in Switzerland vs in Mexico

10:23 - The early days of Spocal

21:55 - Raising 50k

35:40 - Figuring out pricing

39:15 - When to scale up

Biography

Cristian Grossmann is the CEO and co-founder at Beekeeper, a software company which allows businesses to easily communicate with their non-desk workforce. Cristian was born in Mexico City, to a Mexican-Swiss family. He left Mexico as a teenager to pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering at ETH Zurich and went on to complete his doctorate in Electrical Engineering. The path to Beekeeper began in 2011, when he and his co-founder Flavio started an anonymous dating app for university students called BlicKlick. BlicKlick became Spocal, a community platform for all types of interactions – not just flirting. The solution was picked up not only by university students but also by businesses trying to engage their workforce. In 2012, Swissôtel, a Swiss hotel chain, used the solution to manage communication with its non-desk workforce during a merger with two other global hotel chains. This was a breakthrough moment for Beekeper, which since then has been growing rapidly and just closed a $ 45 million series B round this year.

Timestamps:

2:44 - The story behind the name "Swissto12"

7:50 - Identifying and solving problems

11:17 - Switching markets

21:00 - Convincing customers

27:04 - Emile's plans for the funds he raised.

Biography

Emile de Rijk is the co-founder and CEO of Swissto12, a high-tech company which specializes in the 3D printing of radio frequency products based on its own patented technology. The company’s technology originated from Emil’s PhD thesis at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), in Lausanne. After initially focusing on the production of scientific equipment, the company pivoted in 2014 and since then is mainly active in the market for antennas for satellite telecommunications. Swissto12 was awarded a contract by the European Space Agency in 2015 and raised a $ 18.5m series B round earlier this year with Swisscom Ventures as one of the lead investors.

Timestamps

2:07 - What's the difference between an accelerator and an incubator?

3:14 - Are accelerators and incubators worth it?

4:10 - When should you reach out to accelerators and incubators?

5:55 - Do certain business types have more of a chance with investors?

7:48 - What do accelerators and incubators deliver to you as a startup?

11:11 - Do accelerators and incubators even do anything?

13:04 - Which famous Swiss companies have been part of an accelerator or an incubator?

14:19 - Where to find incubators for young Swiss entrepreneurs?

17:00 - Why choose a Swiss incubator or accelerator?

18:43 - Is their a Y combinator equivalent in Switzerland?

25:21 - Do accelerator/incubator programs demand a full-time commitment?

28:00 - How do you know if the program has been successful?

29:23 - How many customers can you except to gain with a program like this?

31:01 - Should you aim for zero equity?

Biography

Nicolas Bürer is the Managing Director of DigitalSwitzerland, an initiative of over 150 Swiss corporate companies to strengthen Switzerland’s position as a leading innovation hub. Nicolas started his entrepreneurial career as Chief Marketing Officer at DeinDeal.ch, which rose to be one of Switzerland’s most successful e-commerce sites within only 5 years. After DeinDeal, he transitioned to become Managing Director at the TV company Joiz, which had to close its doors in 2016. Nicolas is also one of the co-founders of Movu, a platform of moving and cleaning companies, which was acquired by Baloise in 2017. He holds a Masters in physics from the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and was awarded “Business Angel of the Year” in 2018.

Timestamps:

1:46 - What mistakes do Swiss startups make repeatedly when it comes to culture?

The Episode In 60 Seconds

It’s never too early

Scaling culture

The topic of salaries

Letting people go

Timestamps:

2:07 - Leaving a consulting firm

17:07 - Starting at Frontify

28:00 - Growing a company from 0 to 75k users

32:55 - Splitting development costs with his first client

36:40 - How self-explanatory products support customer growth

Biography

Andreas Fischler is the co-founder of and former CEO at Frontify, which offers cloud software for brand management. During his time at Frontify, the company grew from 2 to over 70 employees. Before joining Frontify, he was a partner at Namics and had his own project, Sakku, which produced solar-powered bags. Andreas holds a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering from ETH and a Masters in Information Management from the University of St. Gallen.

Timestamps

2:33 - Where can I find some good templates to set up my company in Zurich?

3:30 - How do I hire someone in Zurich?

5:49 - What's the most successful startup that was started in Zurich?

7:19 - Mistakes to avoid when starting a company in Zurich

10:14 - Living costs in Zurich

11:56 - Finding co-founders in Zurich

15:13 - Affordable office space in Zurich

17:48 - Looking for investment in Zurich

19:33 - How to get advisors on board

21:46 - Why start a business in Zurich?

25:08 - How startups can cooperate with universities in Zurich

26:41 - Does Zurich promote gender equality?

28:34 - Why are there so few politicians with real startup experience?

33:44 - How can we empower more startups in Zurich?

37:58 - Do cantonal taxes constitute an obstacle to new businesses?

40:20 - Can you be a political candidate and a business owner?

42:24 - How can startups reach out to politicians?

44:29 - What challenges does Andri face as a politician?

49:37 - What are Andri's strengths?

Biography

Andri Silberschmidt is a politician, investment consultant and the co-founder of Kaisin. AG. After his apprenticeship at Swisscanto Invest, he became (and is still) responsible for the management of all quantitative equity funds that invest in developing countries. In 2017, together with friends, he founded the restaurant chain Kaisin AG, which currently operates three branches in Zurich and one in Basel. Andri Silberschmidt has been politically active since 2011 and President of the Young Liberals Party of Switzerland since 2016. In 2018, he was elected to the Parliament of the City of Zurich for the FDP (Swiss Liberal Party) and is now a candidate for the National Parliament on the list of the FDP Canton of Zurich. Andri holds a BSc in Business Administration and an MSc in Global Finance from Cass Business School.

To get in touch with Andri, message him on Instagram @andrisilberschmidt

Timestamps:

8:02 - Should military service be mandatory for women?

The Episode In 60 Seconds

What drives inequality in Switzerland?

How can we tackle inequality?

Quotas: yay or nay?

Diversity matters.

Timestamps:

2:26 - Why Estefania left research to start her own company

Biography

Estefanía Tapias is the CEO and Co-Founder of WeSpace, a community, workspace and digital platform that nurtures female leadership and innovation, having opened its doors in Zurich in 2018. Estefanía holds a PhD in Information Cities and Urban Climate from ETH Zurich and co-developed the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) series on ‘Future Cities’ available on edX. She was also featured on the BILANZ Top 100 Digital Shapers in Switzerland as well as in Forbes’ 30 under 30.