Timestamps:

2:26 - Should you start a business with a family member?

Biography

Iman Nahvi is the co-founder and CEO of Advertima, a company which uses AI for consumer engagement on physical channels. At Advertima, Iman implemented a holocratic organisational structure, meaning (among other things) equal pay for all employees and a broad distribution of decision-making power. In 2017, Advertima won the “Coolest Startup Award” at the WorldWeb Forum.

Timestamps  

1:23 - What mistakes do Swiss founders repeatedly make when it comes to B2C marketing?

11:00 - Investing in auto-marketing activities

14:04 - Improving conversion rate

21:02 - Best tools for marketing

29:18 - The marketing channel of the future

Biography

Alan Frei is the co-founder of amorana.ch, an e-commerce platform for sex toys and lingerie. 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.

Timestamps  

1:32 - What can the Swiss startup ecosystem learn from the Chinese one?

12:10 - The importance of having the right focus

16:20 - How Alan's father being an entrepreneur influenced him

20:57 - Does minimalism bring happiness?

26:34 - The role of the social circle when it comes to personal growth and support

Biography

Alan Frei is the co-founder of amorana.ch, an e-commerce platform for sex toys and lingerie. 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.

Timestamps:

1:15 - Mistakes Swiss founders make repeatedly.

4:20 - How to find the right evaluation.

09:58 - How much money should an early-stage company raise?

21:47 - How should a startup team deal with an investor?

29:12 - How often does Daniel check-in with his investments?

Biography

Finding unicorns before they have 10 employees is his ambition. Daniel Gutenberg is one of Switzerland’s most active Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors. During his career he’s collected a total of 12 unicorns in his portfolio, so far. Daniel started his first company – Gutenberg Communication Systems – in 1991 and sold it in 2000 as part of a deal to become the CEO of the acquiring company. During this time, Daniel was a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), through which he met people like Jeff Bezos and Marc Andreessen. Since 2003 he has been active as an investor and advisor to startups through the Swiss venture capital firm Venture Incubator Partners. Daniel was awarded business angel of the year in 2011 (SECA).

Timestamps

2:55 - How he started his first company

Biography

Finding unicorns before they have 10 employees is his ambition. Daniel Gutenberg is one of Switzerland’s most active Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors. During his career he’s collected a total of 12 unicorns in his portfolio, so far. Daniel started his first company – Gutenberg Communication Systems – in 1991 and sold it in 2000 as part of a deal to become the CEO of the acquiring company. During this time, Daniel was a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), through which he met people like Jeff Bezos and Marc Andreessen. Since 2003 he has been active as an investor and advisor to startups through the Swiss venture capital firm Venture Incubator Partners. Daniel was awarded business angel of the year in 2011 (SECA).

Timestamps 

1:19 - Mistakes Swiss startups repeatedly make when creating a product 

10:03 - How long does it take to build a great tech product?

12:44 - How to acquire customers

17:46 - Bringing new technology to Switzerland

26:22 - What makes a great product?

Biography

Herbert is the co-founder of Kooaba, an image recognition program which he successfully sold to Qualcomm in 2014. Following his successful exit, he embarked on a sailing trip from France to New Zealand together with his wife and two young sons. While at sea, he managed his second venture, Shortcut, remotely. After a 4-year journey, Herbert returned to Switzerland, where he took the position as Principal Software Engineer, Digital Health & User Perception at Magic Leap, a US company specializes in “mixed-reality” applications. Herbert holds a PhD from ETH Zurich and is a published researcher.

Timestamps:

1:20 - What made Herbert Bay become an entrepreneur.

5:40 - Having two technical founders; dealing with lack of business knowledge.

7:30 - Raising 10 million dollars.

12:25 - How Herbert dealt with a difficult time in his life; what he learnt.

24:57 - Managing a company from a distance.

Biography

Herbert is the co-founder of Kooaba, an image recognition program which he successfully sold to Qualcomm in 2014. Following his successful exit, he embarked on a sailing trip from France to New Zealand together with his wife and two young sons. While at sea, he managed his second venture, Shortcut, remotely. After a 4-year journey, Herbert returned to Switzerland, where he took the position as Principal Software Engineer, Digital Health & User Perception at Magic Leap, a US company specializes in “mixed-reality” applications. Herbert holds a PhD from ETH Zurich and is a published researcher.

Timestamps  

1:23 - Team-related mistakes

4:50 - Giving guidance vs offering freedom to employees

7:11 - The company lifecycle

12:55 - The ideal co-founding relationship

34:25 - Sendtask and remote teams

Biography

Cédric is a Venture Capitalist and founder of Dfinity, Tenderloin Ventures and Sendtask. He started his first venture – Mediasign, a digital branding agency – in high school. He went on to study electrical engineering at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and spent the following years in different jobs in Hongkong, New York and Berlin. Since 2013, he is active as a venture capitalist through his company Tenderloin Ventures. With Dfinity, he became involved in his first blockchain project. Cedric is an avowed minimalist, owning only 64 things. He’s known for his strongly optimized lifestyle, following what he calls the “90 review and preview”.

Timestamps:

1:37 - Delivering value to 11 different projects at the same time

14:19 - How the Swiss military service supported/hindered Cédric's entrepreneurial career

20:15 - Owning only 64 things

22:52 - What is DFINITY?

34:42 - 90-day goals

Biography

Cédric is a Venture Capitalist and founder of Tenderloin Ventures and Sendtask. He started his first venture – Mediasign, a digital branding agency – in high school. He went on to study electrical engineering at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and spent the following years in different jobs in Hongkong, New York and Berlin. Since 2013, he is active as a venture capitalist through his company Tenderloin Ventures. He also became involved in his first blockchain project with the company Dfinity. Cédric is an avowed minimalist, owning only 64 things. He’s known for his strongly optimized lifestyle, following what he calls the “90 review and preview”.

Timestamps

1:30 - What mistakes do you see Swiss startup founders repeatedly make?

7:30 - How to obtain accurate feedback for your idea.

14:50 - Where to spend your time: documentation vs implementation. How to implement. The minimum viable product.

25:40 - Data gathering to evaluate the possible success of your idea.

28:12 - When to kill your idea or move on from it

Biography

Christian is one of the co-founders of Swisspreneur.org and a passionate serial entrepreneur. He founded his first venture — Atizo, a crowdsourcing platform for ideas — in 2007. He eventually sold the company and went on to start the consulting business and startup incubator Pacific Catch Ltd. together with his wife, Bettina Hirsig. Under the umbrella of Pacific Catch, he has initiated and supported a wide variety of projects such as „Geile Eier“ — a breakfast franchise, Blacknose — a Swiss mountain pale ale brand and Powercoders — a coding academy for refugees. Additionally, Christian is the founder of TEDxBern and serves as a startup coach for be-advanced, Startfeld and Kickstart Accelerator. Christian was named one of the „Digital Shapers 2018“ by Bilanz Magazin and was invited to speak at TEDxZurich 2017.