EP #127 - Simon Scheurer: Leaving Corporate For The Big Startup Adventure

Timestamps:

1:53 - Majoring in Mathematics, Physics and Sociology

16:36 - Persisting through difficulties

25:55 - From co-workers to co-founders

36:57 - Managing competition

46:15 - Deciding whether you should sell

About Simon Scheurer and Qumram

Simon Scheurer is the co-founder and former CTO of Qumram, a provider of session replay technology for digital compliance. Simon holds a Masters in Physics, Mathematics and Sociology from the University of Berne. He started his career as CTO at the digital agency Unic - the same company as Swisspreneur guest and Fashion Days Founder Markus Okumus. After 7 years in consulting, Simon left the company with the desire to start a product business. He started Milgram Media which at the time was a direct competitor to Doodle. The company struggled to stay ahead of Doodle with its offering and after losing several important deals, the founders decided to exit for a modest sum. Not at all discouraged by the failure, Simon started Qumram. The idea for the product had emerged years prior and he decided to turn it into a business when large corporates started asking for digital compliance solutions. With Qumram, Simon was able to get several renowned investors on board, among them Swisspreneur guest Ariel Lüdi and Investiere. In 2017, Qumram was acquired by Dynatrace for an undisclosed amount.

Memorable Quotes

"When the employee number goes above 100 or so, maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit starts getting really tricky."

"People are very reluctant to change. So you have to be massively better than the tool that they already know, use and like."

Resources Mentioned

The Calorie Myth, by Jonathan Bailor

Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker

Aurum Fit

If you would like to listen to more episodes on leaving the corporate world, check out our conversations with Alisée de Tonnac and Luiza Dobre.

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