Swisspreneur Show

Timestamps: 09:49 - How Nathalie got into climate entrepreneurship 12:02 - The tipping point: How close is it? 15:25 - How can richer countries like Switzerland play a role? 27:54 - Simultaneously being an investment and impact firm  34:08 - How can the economy adapt to climate-centered frameworks? About Nathalie Moral: Nathalie Moral is the founder and CEO of Clima Now, a foundation that finances and invests in climate solutions She received a degree in business administration from the University of St. Gallen and a certification in business and climate change, from both ZHAW and Cambridge. She followed a career in consulting, working at companies like PwC, but soon realized she felt like she had a bigger purpose and wanted to make an impact, and to do something she would be proud to tell her children about one day. Born in Switzerland, her family unconventionally spent the first few years of her life in India, and upon moving back to Switzerland, she was confronted with how different the experiences were between the two places. She gained awareness early on in life of the privileged bubble that Switzerland can be and  became cognizant of the experiences of others. That is what got her interested in helping to fight climate change, and her optimistic outlook has often infectiously inspired other people. She tries not to focus on the pessimistic aspects when thinking about climate change but rather to be aware of the fantastic work people are doing around her to make a difference in this pressing issue – she believes the future is bright. The combination of impact and investment is one of the best ways she sees to make real change, as in this capacity you can get involved with political movements  which are focused on the climate, and not just their own political agenda. She has a goal to get 100k signatures  for Clima Now’s initiative, Spotlight, which allows communities  to submit climate-conscious ideas that are then voted on by the public at large.  Since in Switzerland 100k is a large enough  number of signatures to change the law,  hitting this milestone would be a huge stride for the organization.  Switzerland being one of the world’s wealthiest countries, it is often thought that we are already doing enough to be carbon neutral, and we are, in fact, doing many positive things. However there are still areas where improvements can be made and it is largely to do with aligning political agendas,  because climate consciousness should not be a political strategy, and neither should taking responsibility and providing support to the Global South.  Clima Now’s future focus will be on the youth aged 18-35, which is the generation that climate changes will affect the most, and they will as well be focused on climate-positive food security sourcing and how people think about what they eat, and where it comes from. Like any venture, there has to be a focus on the finances, and there is a hope to raise between 50 and 100 million Swiss francs in the next few years to be able to invest in even more projects. They want funders to see this investment as a climate return, more than a financial one. “Getting a seat at the table, and then changing the role that people have for you, is where the true shift for women begins.” “Challenges for startups will always come up both when you have money  and when you don’t have it.” Don’t forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there’s no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

Timestamps: 04:29 - Meeting Smallpdf 14:37 - Backstabbed by a competitor 22:50 - Identifying acquisition targets 44:39 - Structuring the deal 51:30 - Announcing the acquisition About Dennis Just: Dennis Just is a serial entrepreneur and the former CEO at smallpdf, the rapidly growing and fully bootstrapped PDF powerhouse. He holds a BSc in Economics and Engineering from the Technische Universität Berlin and previously founded companies like dSLASH.de, compreo.de, TopFachhandel.de, Numbrs, and Knip AG, and also worked at the famous scaleup DeinDeal. Currently he’s active as a venture partner at the European venture capital group 3VC.  Dennis was CEO at smallpdf from 2019 to March 2023, and during his time there the company acquired PDF Tools AG (2022) for $30M. He advises founders to cultivate a strategic mindset before even beginning the acquisition process: you need to make sure you have both the revenue and the talent to support the massive growth that acquisition implies. When trying to identify acquisition targets, Dennis suggests liaising with the competitors in your market from early on. Find out who’s who, where they’re headed, whether or not they’re your 1:1 competitors, and, if they’re not, whether it would make sense to join forces with them. In smallpdf’s case, since they’re a bootstrapped company, it didn’t make sense for them to look for companies backed by VCs, since investors tend to have demands which bootstrapped buyers (with building generational, sustainable businesses in mind) typically cannot meet. So instead they looked for bootstrapped companies with a track record of organic growth. Something that’s also crucial is to assess the cultural fit, and that’s why having a long-term relationship with these companies comes in handy. But regardless of how long you’ve known them, a due diligence process should always include cultural assessment interviews with all employees. It’s important to set clear standards for what you want the culture to be, even if that means losing 30% of the people from the company you acquired. Memorable quote: "The due diligence process should include cultural assessment interviews with every single employee from the company you’re considering buying." If you would like to listen to our previous conversations with Dennis, check out episodes 85, 87 and 259. Don’t forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there’s no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

Timestamps: 8:27 - How to know if you can work well with someone 14:28 - Gift cards in Switzerland 18:55 - Building trust in e-commerce 25:18 - Credit card fraud and liability 28:55 - Getting big brands on board About Dominik Megert: Dominik Megert is the founder and CEO at offerz, a company which provides the largest assortment of digital vouchers and gift cards in Switzerland. He studied Retail Trade at the Business School Thun and started offerz when he finished his studies, in 2015.  Whether it’s credit for gaming services (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Blizzard, Steam), vouchers for entertainment ( Spotify, deezer, Google Play), gift cards for everyday needs (Coop, Manor, Lidl, MediaMarkt, Zalando, Just Eat) or prepaid mobile top-ups, offerz has it available at any time and printable as PDF. They also allow you to personalize your gift card with text, image or video. In return for promoting the gift card issuing companies, offerz receives a commission between 2% and 20%, depending on how well the card typically sells.  Though the average gift card sale in Switzerland is twice as high as in other European countries (due to the higher purchasing power and stronger currency), gift card issuing companies don’t usually go for Switzerland, because of its small size and multilingualism.  However, offerz’ innovative solution seems to have convinced a number of them, and they feature offerz’ logo on their online shops. This helped offerz build up trust with potential customers, and for that same purpose they also upgraded the look of their own website and logo and invested in building a strong customer support team.  Memorable quote: "If your online shop looks ugly, that certainly won’t help build trust with customers." Don’t forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there’s no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

Timestamps: 6:05 - Coming up with planted recipes 7:18 - What’s wrong with livestock farming 10:56 - How vegetable protein compares 16:20 - Why Planted is better than meat 28:00 - Production costs in Switzerland About Pascal Bieri: Pascal Bieri is the co-founder of Planted, a startup creating healthy plant-based meat alternatives. He holds an MA in Informations-, Media- and Technology Management from the University of St Gallen, and previously worked in companies like SweetWorks Confections and DeepTech Capital AG before starting Planted in 2019. He also co-founded the Green Liberal Party in Lucerne when he was 21, but the slowness of politics soon dissuaded him from getting further involved.  So what’s wrong with livestock farming? From a cold, technocratic point of view, not taking into account the environment, animal well-being or workers’ rights was great for the meat industry, since it allowed it to achieve a fantastic production ration, super efficient supply chains, pay almost no taxes and deliver very low margins to everyone involved. Meat became cheap and accessible to almost everyone. However, this came at the cost of… Destroying acres and acres of land to build livestock operations; Establishing intensive monoculture farming operations which deplete soils of nutrients in order to feed livestock, which requires 25x the amount of those crops than we do to meet their nutritional needs; Emitting 14.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions, which is about the same as the amount emitted by the entirety of the transportation system. Planted makes meat alternatives mainly out of pea protein, which can be grown locally and gives great taste.  In 100 g of planted.chicken Nature, for example, there is 23.7 g of protein, which is about the same amount as found in conventional chicken meat. planted.chicken Nature consists of no more than four natural ingredients and a healthy portion of vitamin B12. What scares Pascal in the meat alternative market is not companies trying to produce equally healthy and tasty alternatives, but the companies making unhealthy products that taste terribly, which deter people from ever trying out a vegan product again.  planted products are available in supermarkets but also in certain restaurants, and the menus in these restaurants clearly state that they use planted products. This was intentional on planted’s part, in order to build trust with their future customers. Their goal, eventually, is to become cheaper than animal meat. Memorable quote: "We’re hiding from climate catastrophe behind our own plates, because we’re so attached to eating meat." Don’t forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there’s no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

Timestamps: 01:35 - Change as a career navigator 06:46 - Being open to failure 14:12 - The role of foundations in the Swiss ecosystem 28:06 - Why and how to question yourself 33:21 - The pressure for change in Switzerland is too small About Andrea Belliger: Andrea Belliger is the director of the Institut für Kommunikation und Führung, Switzerland's leading educational research and consulting institution. She studied at the University of Lucerne, majoring in theology, philosophy, and history. She also completed two post-doctorates, one at the University of Zurich in Classical Studies and Law, and the other at the University of Athens, focusing on ancient church history. She joined IKF in 2005, and is involved with many of the courses' conceptual structures. Her other job titles include professor, scientist, author, speaker, and board member. A significant focus of  IKF is teaching communication, management, and personal leadership skills, and helping to encourage. You can find your career path by embracing change and taking inspiration from your American counterparts: it is important to be bold and not shy away from failure! Foundations play an important role in Switzerland's entrepreneurial make-up and help to bring into existence projects which may not otherwise have had  the necessary financial means. To provide this support is one of the main focuses of IKF,  and to do so in a variety of industries, including e-learning, e-health, and e-government.  Andrea also gives some tips on working more thoughtfully by focusing on your strengths and improving your work culture. She recommends questioning yourself to ensure you're on the right path and in the right seat, because you sometimes need to come to terms with the fact that you may not be satisfied in your career. Lastly, we talk about how wealth in Switzerland doesn't always help society make the changes it needs, and point to the importance of shifting mindsets and having ideas worth the funding available. "Wir sind veränderungsresistent, weil es uns sehr gut geht." Don’t forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there’s no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

Timestamps: 9:30 - The effect of climate change on coral rrreefs 14:54 - 3D printed terracotta clay  17:46 - Testing the product, having a breakdown 28:18 - How rrreefs makes money 38:12 - Tackling reef destruction at the source About Ulrike Pfreundt: Ulrike Pfreundt is the co-founder and Head of Science and Development at rrreefs, a startup rebuilding coral reefs to restore marine biodiversity and protect coast lines. She holds a PhD in Molecular Genetics/Experimental Bioinformatics and was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow of Biological Oceanography at ETH, before creating rrreefs in 2020. What causes damage to coral reefs? Local stressors like agricultural run-off, which sometimes infects corals with viruses; Overfishing, since fishes are crucial pieces of the reef ecosystem; Climate change: warming temperatures warm the waters. Waters that stay warm for too long kill reefs, because the algae that feed the corals become toxic under warmer temperatures. It’s estimated that we’ve already lost 50% of all coral reefs on planet Earth. This is truly tragic, because they harbor ⅓ of all species that exist in the ocean, and are essential for industries like pharma, beauty, etc. In the pharma industry, for example, byproducts of the coral reef ecosystem are used for drugs against bacteria, viruses, pain, and even cancer.  rrreefs tackles this issue by building modular systems of 3D-printed terracotta bricks which, when “implanted”, ​​create a new habitat for about 20000 reef animals smaller than 0.5mm for each m3. Every reef is built in collaboration with local stakeholders and all reef material is 100% plastic free and free of additives. Their reefs are proven to increase fish abundance and diversity by providing shelter for adult and juvenile fish, and the rrreefs team continuously integrates results from scientific experiments to improve their reef system. rrreefs began their operations by crowdfunding, and after that accepted donations from companies and grants from foundations. In 2023, the rrreefs foundation is becoming an AG and starting to raise capital, targeting companies that want to foster a reef as part of their sustainability portfolio. Why just plant trees, when you can also foster coral reefs? Companies can sponsor their very own reef or sponsor part of a communal reef, and they can also add on a data & storytelling subscription to know how their reef is evolving. rrreefs’ medium to long term goal is to eventually create reef credits which will be tokenized and work as financial assets. "We’ve probably lost around 50% of all coral reefs already. These reefs harbor ⅓ of all species that live in the ocean." Don’t forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there’s no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

Timestamps: 05:31 - The current state of gender diversity in Switzerland 9:00 - Obstacles women face in the workplace 11:12 - Are there ways to fix this problem? 20:34 - Benefits of diverse teams 23:10 - 3 ways to make Switzerland more diverse About Hilda Liswani: The daughter of a Namibian diplomat, Hilda Liswani has lived in many places, including South Africa, Ethiopia, and the UK. The experience of always being an outsider looking in has shaped her perspective toward diversity and inclusion: she was made to realize how boundless the world is, and how opportunities present themselves to you once you change your mindset. Hilda has a degree in International relations from the Nottingham University of Trent and an MSc from the University of London in Migration Mobility development. Nowadays she is the CEO and founder of WeBloom, a non-profit focused on building gender equality in Switzerland within policy making and institutions.  WeBloom is a non-profit association based in Zurich, Switzerland, whose focus is to adopt inclusion and sustainable methods towards diversity in Swiss work environments, specifically within the tech industry, with a focus on venture capital, academic institutions, founders and corporates to address systemic challenges within technological innovation. According to research WeBloom conducted in 2022, only 1.9% of seed funding only went to female founders —  this shows us where change most needs to take place. Hilda believes that Switzerland is already bridging the diversity gap and is further ahead than many other European countries. However, there is still a way to go, and what will ignite that change is economic inclusion and actively changing people’s mindsets, especially for women and minorities, to shift their internalized cultural perspectives. WeBloom conducted another study where they found that 17% of Swiss people have negative feelings towards black people, and 21% towards Muslim people, which naturally is also felt in the workplace. Policy makers and employers should not attempt to fix this issue through setting quotas, because making people feel like they’re a quota hire is  both disheartening and unsustainable in the long-term. Instead, employers should look to improve their unbiased hiring practices, to ensure preconceived notions of “the other” do not prevent them from hiring the best person for the job. Some additional solutions Hilda suggests are prioritizing financing female founders and integrating DAI (Diversity and Inclusion) initiatives in the workplace that provide clear and actionable information. Memorable quotes: “Diverse teams yield about 32% more financial returns in terms of profit and are also more effective in  avoiding harmful design and development.”  “Only 20% of entrepreneurs in Switzerland are female, and only 10% of those are in tech. Things are not faring so great right now, but a lot of opportunities are available for change.” Don’t forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there’s no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

Timestamps: 14:15 - Building a foundation  17:55 - Managing public perception of foundations 22:11 - Determining the success of a program 26:33 - Gebert Rüf’s funding strategy 33:00 - Why Switzerland is a great ecosystem About Pascale Vonmont: Pascale Vonmont is the director of the Gebert Rüf Stiftung, which funds innovative Swiss university projects. She is also a board member at Swiss Foundations, VentureKick and the Swiss National Science Foundation, and a jury member of EY “Entrepreneur of The Year” Switzerland. She holds a PhD in Chemistry from ETH Zurich. Founded in 1999, Gebert Rüf is the largest private science and innovation-funding foundation in Switzerland, with the objective to promote «Switzerland as a top location for business and as a place to live». As a private funding agency guided by its mission statement «making science effective», it supports entrepreneurial projects which are committed to achieving an impact. They’re supporters of known Swiss projects like InnoBooster and Venture Kick. Pascale Vonmont manages the operational side of the foundation. She supports the board of trustees in its strategic activities, manages the foundation's support programmes, and networks the foundation's activities with central partners. Pascale’s decades of experience have taught her that foundations should make a priority out of transparency and approachability, and need to recognize that innovation is a risk which sometimes necessitates failure, but failure doesn’t mean that the work wasn’t worthwhile. Gebert Rüf also helped create Swiss Foundations, a “voice” for foundations in Switzerland which offers practical advice and educates foundation bodies. Gebert Rüg’s funding strategy has 4 main pillars: Science and entrepreneurship: bridging the gap between research and the market; Science and education: focusing on building future skills; Science and society/economy: making science with society, not just for society. Making this science available to the public at large through “scientainment” (science-focused entertainment); Foundations in Switzerland: keeping Switzerland an attractive country for business through a liberal regulation foundation. Pascale advises startups thinking about applying for a Gebert Rüf grant to first get in touch with them by calling or emailing, so that both parties can make sure that the startup’s area of activity falls within the foundation’s scope.  Gebert Rüf is currently celebrating their 25th anniversary, which prompted them to co-produce a bonus series with us early this year celebrating the role of foundations in entrepreneurship. Memorable quote:"The key role of every foundation is to do impactful funding. No matter how small they are, there will be a gap in the market requiring their funding." Don’t forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there’s no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

Fabian Mächler, co-founder of grape, shares his insights on revolutionizing employee health through digital insurance. With a background in competitive sports and tech, he emphasizes the importance of preventive care over reactive solutions. The conversation dives into the complexities of forming partnerships in the insurance industry and the innovative approaches grape is taking to enhance team wellbeing. Mächler also discusses the integration of software with health services, aiming to raise workplace health standards across Switzerland.

Timestamps: 6:48 - Entering an American vs a European market 12:55 - Do Swiss companies need to go international 16:45 - Compromises when going international 20:04 - Bootstrapping or fundraising 25:49 - When talent doesn’t come to you About Tobias Gunzehauser, Léa Miggiano & Flavio Pfaffhauser: Flavio Pfaffhauser is a co-founder and CIO at Beekeeper, a frontline operating system which helps companies ditch paper and manual processes to improve employee engagement, retention, and performance. Tobias Gunzenhauser is the co-founder and CEO at yamo, an omnichannel FoodTech company creating the healthiest and tastiest products good for people and planet. Léa Miggiano is co-founder and CMO at Carvolution, the biggest car subscription service in Switzerland. All agree that when going international, branding is very important, because: A lot of products, like kid’s food, have strong emotional connotations. If parents buy them, it means they’re trusting you with their kids' nutrition. Establishing a strong brand helps you with creating trust, and trust means sales.  It facilitates hiring, at a time when you’re not yet widely known, and so great talent is not actively searching you out. What differentiates success in the US market and success in the Swiss market? In the US market you have to be bold, and make yourself seem bigger than you actually are. It’s also useful to have someone in the team move there. In Switzerland, however, boldness is not advisable. Your brand should seem down to earth and local. That’s what Swiss people like and trust.   Flavio and Tobias recommend not to compromise on the hiring process when going international. They advise you to actively look for people at recruiting fairs, LinkedIn, or even by browsing through master’s theses and contacting the authors whose work most closely relates to your industry. Tobias also adds that at this stage, you should both hire and fire fast. Memorable Quotes: "I don’t think there’s such a thing as feeling ready for the next step, in a startup context. Running a startup means being constantly out of your comfort zone." (Tobias) "The war for talent is on fire, regardless of where you hire." (Léa) "It’s always good to have a plan, but sometimes you have to take the opportunity when it presents itself." (Flavio) Don’t forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there’s no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!