Swisspreneur Show

Timestamps: 01:33 - Building vs Selling the Product 06:01 - Outsourcing Sales 09:00 - How to Win Your First Customer 11:02 - Tips on Improving Your Sales Pitch 12:19 - A Founder's Unique Role About Julie Maples: Julie Maples is a co-founder and managing director at FYRFLY Ventures, where she has made investments in companies such as Boundless, Rosalyn.ai, and Mobi Systems, among others. She also serves on the board of the V Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports cancer research. At The Wharton School, she earned a BS in entrepreneurial management and an MA in Finance. It may appear strange to consider a founder being involved in the sales process. However, a founder's responsibilities extend beyond just running the business; a founder must make the first sales of their product or service to reap valuable lessons from these sales sessions. Some founders may enjoy building the product, but they may dislike selling it. It is important to change that mindset and replace the word "sales" with "partnership". It is critical to view your potential customers as evangelists who will be your biggest champions if they like your product or service, especially in early customer meetings. When you satisfy your early customers and learn from them, you learn what works and what doesn't. Even if you don't think you have a passion for sales, you can change the way you approach it by letting go of the idea that it must be done a certain way. You can simply speak honestly about your vision while listening to the person across from you. If you pass up the chance, you can miss out on important information from early customers that could help you develop a better product or service. It is also critical to recognize the value of the sales process, because outsourcing sales in the early stages of a business may not be the best move. It deprives you of the opportunity to learn and incurs additional costs. When your company has grown, it is a better time to outsource. As a founder, you'll always be doing sales. When you approach sales as a partnership, you will fall in love with sharing your passion with others as often as the opportunity presents itself. Memorable Quotes: “You don’t have to love sales; just share your vision authentically and learn from the person across from you.” “Your early customers are your biggest champions.” If you would like to listen to our previous episode with Julie Maples on fundraising, check out episode #287. 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 giveaways or founders' dinners!

Timestamps: 07:35 - Curiosity Breeds Entrepreneurship 15:09 - The Fall of Dermintel 23:24 - Digital Transformation Best Practices for Companies 33:03 - Inclusivity in the Tech Space 39:14 - Cognitive Flexibility and the Future of Work About Tomoko Yokoi: Tomoko Yokoi is a researcher and advisor in digital transformation at the IMD Business School and a lecturer at ETH Zürich. She also co-founded a market research startup, Dermintel. Before working in business, she studied International Development and Human Rights at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service. Although she had a huge passion for development and human rights, she wanted to venture into something different and decided to enter the corporate world. The more she learned about entrepreneurship, the more she realised the advantages of the entrepreneurial lifestyle, including time flexibility, which she felt was lacking in corporate life. In 2020, the covid pandemic forced Tomoko to pause Dermintel's development, allowing her to focus more on her passion for digital transformation. Digital transformation can be complicated, but Tomoko loves unpacking the complexity to help organisations succeed. For her, it's not just about technology: it's also about governance, innovation, culture change, leadership, and competency development. As part of her book, Hacking Digital: Best Practices for Implementing and Accelerating Your Business Transformation, Tomoko Yokoi shares more about how to implement digital transformation in the workplace by giving insight into: How to create the best business model that has value How to lead digital transformation New technologies in digital transformation Resources: Book: Hacking Digital: Best Practices to Implement and Accelerate Your Business Transformation Article: Emojis In The World Of Work  Memorable Quotes: “So many opportunities exist, it really depends on how you can target what you need when you need it.”  “It is important to think of inclusivity when you think about innovation.” If you want to tune into another conversation with a founder who left corporate to start a business, check out our episode with Robert Piconi, co-founder and CEO at Energy Vault.  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 giveaways or founders' dinners!

For a free masterclass on angel investing with DART Labs founder Sophie Lamparter and SICTIC president Thomas Dübendorfer, click here. Timestamps: 03:52 - Building Trust with Potential Investors 07:54 - How to Split Your Time Fundraising and Managing Your Business 08:57 - Who Should be Involved in the Fundraising process 10:48 - The Advisory Board's Role in the Fundraising Process 15:29 - How Long the Fundraising Process Takes About Julie Maples: Julie Maples is a co-founder and managing director at FYRFLY Ventures, where she has made investments in companies such as Boundless, Rosalyn.ai, and Mobi Systems, among others. She also serves on the board of the V Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports cancer research. At The Wharton School, she earned a BS in entrepreneurial management and an MA in Finance. In this episode, Julie talks about raising funds and managing the demands fundraising takes on your time as a founder. As a founder, you should build trust with potential investors, determine who should be in charge of raising money, and divide your time well between fundraising and managing your business. It has always been difficult for entrepreneurs to separate their personal life and their professional lives. No single issue should consume all of your time as a founder, especially not fundraising. It's equally important to protect your mental health as it is to achieve your next milestone. It will always be an easier and more successful journey if you tend to yourself. Memorable Quotes: “As a founder, it is important that you have an advisory board that opens doors for you.” “It is important to keep a pulse on the status of the business to know when you are underperforming.” 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 giveaways or founders' dinners!

Timestamps: 01:46 - The Animal Kingdom and the Competitive Ecosystem 05:52 - Differentiation in the Marketplace 08:12 - Reacting to Your Competitors in New Markets 12:47 - Communicating with Your Competitors 14:17 - Coping with the Acquisition of a Competitor About Philipp Stauffer: Philipp Stauffer is the co-founder and managing director of FYRFLY Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that invests in companies using data and intelligence to build their competitive advantage. His investments have included AngelList, Philz Coffee, and Beekeeper, among many others. As well as being a founding board member of the Swiss Blockchain Federation, he is also on the Advisory Board of the Swiss Entrepreneurs Foundation. Additionally, he serves on the boards of PubMatic, the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce, and the Digital Citizen Fund. In this episode, Philipp talks about how to handle competition in the workplace. He compares the competition ecosystem to the animal kingdom: highlighting the importance of knowing and understanding your place in the marketplace in order to respond more effectively to your competitor’s actions. In this episode, he gives insight into: The competitors you should worry about the most Why talents may leave your company and work for competitors What is the perceived differentiation in the marketplace With regards to differentiation in the marketplace, Philipp explains that differentiation is not just about how exceptional your product is, but it also expands to other aspects of your company: The market presence The distribution process The sustainability of the pricing structure Above all, Philipp believes that understanding your “why” is important. This greatly affects how you handle competition, especially when it comes to taking competitive action and understanding why your competitors take action as well. Memorable Quotes: “Don’t think you’re the lion if you’re the sheep.” “You don’t have to be paranoid about competition all the time.”  Take a listen to our conversation in our previous episode with Philipp Stauffer to learn  How to Nail Your Board Meetings.  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 giveaways or founders' dinners!

Timestamps: 00:54 - What You Study Doesn’t Matter 07:18 -  Starting Sunflower Labs 25:04 - Bureaucracy & The Drone Space in Switzerland 35:36 - The Evernote Network 39:00 - Why Some Investors Didn’t Invest About Alex Pachikov: Alex Pachikov is the co-founder and CEO of Sunflower Labs, a remote and autonomous drone solution for property security. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2003 with a degree in Astronomy and Sociology. A decade later, he co-founded Sunflower Labs with Chris Eheim and Nicolas de Palézieux. When he started Sunflower Labs in 2016, it was one of five ideas they had after brainstorming about several business ventures they wanted to do together. It was the perfect time for Sunflower Labs to launch since the drone industry worldwide was starting to gain traction. The idea of Sunflower Labs as an automated drone-in-a-box solution that integrates with your existing security cameras and sensors became revolutionary in the space of commercial drone security. With the push of a button, the drone flies from its hive and is able to plan a path and perform a sweep of a large property within seconds. The secret is the 3D property mapping and geofencing technology that allows the drone to navigate and stay within the property, detect unexpected obstacles, re-route to avoid collision and actively deter intruders and loiters with its presence. Despite Sunflower Lab’s revolutionary take on property security, they faced many challenges during their startup stage, including but not limited to: The bureaucracy in starting a company in Switzerland Some Investors deciding not to invest because they thought the idea wasn’t feasible Navigating the drone space at a time when several drone companies were plummeting What helped Sunflower Labs to be successful despite these challenges was the support of the Evernote Network. Alex worked at Evernote from 2006-2015, dedicating almost a decade of his life to it. He was Evernote’s 3rd official employee and was a member of the founding team, serving as VP of partnerships, developer relations and hardware products integration. When he had the idea of starting Sunflower Labs, the Evernote Founders Network was a valuable asset, providing mentorship as well as investing in his company. With their support having an integral role in their start-up stage, Sunflower Labs raised over 15 million dollars in seed funds. Memorable Quotes: “If you want a software to be executed with perfection you have to build your own hardware.” If you play a game, you don't want to play the same level over and over, at some point, you want to level up.” If you would like to listen to another founder in the drone space, check out episode 206 with Lorenzo Arizzoli-Bulato, co-founder of LINIA. 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 01:19 - The Role of a Board 05:21 - How Often a Board Should Meet 10:15 - The Board Meeting Agenda 13:35 - How to Make Decisions as a Board 17:25 - The Importance of Good Communication About Philip Stauffer Philipp Stauffer is the co-founder and general partner of Fyrfly Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that invests in companies using data and intelligence to build their competitive advantage. His investments have included AngelList, Philz Coffee, and Beekeeper, among many others. As well as being a founding board member of the Swiss Blockchain Federation, he is also on the Advisory Board of the Swiss Entrepreneurs Foundation. Additionally, he serves on the boards of PubMatic, the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce, and the Digital Citizen Fund. In this episode, Philipp speaks about the operational aspects of being a founder specifically about how to plan and execute a successful board meeting. He gives insight into the different stages of a board meeting, from discussing how often a board should meet, to whether physical or remote board meetings are better. Phillip starts the episode by explaining the role of a board. The board has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of those they represent, including: Evaluating the governance of the company Hiring or firing the CEO when necessary Looking out for the shareholders’ interests Overseeing corporate activities Assessing performance When it comes to who should sit on the board, he explains that for startups it is important to have members who will: Act in the company's best interest Invest adequate time Fit into the company's culture How often a board should meet is equally important. The normal practice is at least once per year; however, he advises boards to hold quarterly meetings, because each meeting has a different role. The first board meeting will focus on budgeting, planning and accountability, while subsequent meetings will change based on specific needs. In addition to quarterly meetings, board members can meet as often as necessary. For example, to encourage collaboration and keep everyone up to date, monthly board meetings may be most appropriate if you're in a high-property fundraising mode Memorable Quotes “Board members are a secret weapon to help you win the market." “Your own job as a CEO is to fire yourself if you're not doing your work. It’s important to look in the mirror.” Take a listen to our conversation with Jon Brezinski, co-founder and CEO of Invenda, to find out why he sees board meetings as a great opportunity to have fun. 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 giveaways or founders dinners!

Timestamps: 05:00- The Change in the Travel Market 16:10 - GetYourGuide’s Business Model 30:38 - The Dawn of the Pandemic 39:13 - Growth Strategies 49:22 - Navigating the Future About Tobias Rein: Tobias Rein is the co-founder and Principal Engineer at GetYourGuide, a leading online booking platform for travel experiences. He studied Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich). During his studies, he also worked for the design agency, Palindrome. In 2009, he and his four co-founders had an idea to create a marketplace for tours and activities, and from there GetYourGuide was born. What started out as a concept targeted at students morphed into a platform with a B2B business model aimed at professional suppliers and businesses, since students weren’t as interested in the initial concept of GetYourGuide as the team initially assumed. After they launched the prototype, companies started reaching out to them to get on the platform, which they took as a sign to go back to the drawing board and launch GetYourGuide 2.0, a platform for professional suppliers. Tobias thinks timing is one of the keys to any successful business model, especially businesses in the travel market. At the time GetYourGuide started, travel was just beginning to move slowly online. They decided to adapt to the market and created GetYourGuide as a forerunner of the online travel era in terms of online booking experiences. As they grew, new products started to launch in the market, and Google became one of their biggest competitors by integrating booking features in its software. Tobias believes that the key to standing out from big competitors such as Google is to provide unmatched customer service and to have a solid knowledge of the brand. In 2020, the pandemic disturbed travel as we knew it, and GetYourGuide, along with many other travel platforms, was deeply affected. With the rise in their competitor’s leverage and the onset of covid-19, Tobias and his team incorporated three main principles to help them outlive the crisis: Saving money Staying together as a team Prioritizing customer satisfaction By doing this, they cancelled tours that were no longer possible and set up a hassle-free process to refund customers. They avoided mass layoffs, though inevitably letting go of a few people. Finally, they were more frugal with their expenses, getting rid of non-essential items they were no longer using. Despite the changes they had to go through, Tobias believes that this experience made them more resilient and better prepared for any upcoming challenges. Post-pandemic, GetYourGuide has been redeemed, seeing their revenue skyrocket since borders have opened up. Memorable Quotes: “I would rather go on the safe path of adapting to the market, rather than trying to change the market” “Motivation and passion are only half of it” If you want to listen to more episodes talking about other platforms made for travellers, check out our conversation with Oliver Huber founder of Nomady. 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 giveaways or founders' dinners!

Timestamps: 1:47 - Building an Asian food company in the 90s 14:05 - Assembling the Loanboox co-founders 29:34 - UN’s development goals 36:08 - Meditation and entrepreneurship 40:00 - The Sparks IPO program About Stefan Muehlemann: Stefan Muehlemann is the founder, chairman and former CEO at Loanboox, the independent debt issuing platform that connects public sector, large corporate and real estate borrowers with banks and institutional investors. He holds an MBA in Business Administration and Management from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and previously worked as a foreign exchange trader at UBS and LGT, as well as having been a lecturer at HSG and UZH. His first business venture was back in the 90s, during his trading floor years, where he built Basel’s first Asian food chain, Asian Express, later sold in 1998. Much later, in 2015, he founded Loanboox, and Dario Zogg and Andi Burri joined later as co-founders. This arose from his own experience: as an investor (connected to companies like Omnibiz, Carvolution, and Futurae), Stefan was unsatisfied with conventional brokers. In contrast to conventional brokering, financing and investing through Loanboox is simple, transparent, safe and low-cost. They provide advice on financing strategy, bring together borrowers with financing needs and professional capital providers, and offer debt management tools, portfolio analysis and software solutions. Their track record is impressive: 170 active investors, transactions with a volume of EUR 28b closed in 12 countries, and 90/100 customer satisfaction. Memorable Quotes: "I’m not a person who’s easily satisfied. I don’t like rules. And that’s a sure recipe for an entrepreneur." "Oftentimes the founder personality isn’t suited to being the CEO of a publicly listed company." If you would like to listen to the story of another company in the Swiss financial sector, check out episode 227 with Simone Riedel Riley, general manager at the Swiss Technology Fund. 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 giveaways or founders' dinners!

Timestamps: 1:37 - From Mexico to Switzerland 10:44 - Corporate innovation 27:26 - Validating an idea 39:37 - Calculating client ROI 48:28 - Looking for a different type of investor About Alan Cabello: Alan Cabello is the founder of SparkLabs, Sparkworks and Sparkademy, three sister companies working towards a common goal: business innovation in Switzerland. He previously co-founded the startup Kooku and holds a PhD in Strategy & Innovation Management from the EPFL. Around 2013/2014, while he was getting his PhD, Alan was a visiting researcher at Stanford, and there had a great experience with the d.school, where students and professors from different academic fields come together to tackle complex issues through a transdisciplinary and human-centered approach. When he returned to Switzerland, despite the prevalence of high-quality education, he found no such problem-solving approach. In 2014 he created SparkLabs, a cooperation between different Swiss universities with the purpose of educating and advancing a human-centered approach to product, service, and business model innovation. Then in 2015 he created Spark Works, a small innovation consultancy to tackle corporate innovation and transformation challenges. Finally, in 2020, Alan built Sparkademy, a digital-first institution bringing scalable and measurable learning to the corporate world. Sparkademy offers Online Courses, Practical Assignments, Knowledge Checks and access to a Method Kit, and also defines clear learning objectives and effective inputs, so as to help measure participant progress and provide feedback. Sparkademy runs on two business models: one is the classic business school model, where companies are charged per participant per course, and the other one is an engagement-based yearly fee (plus in-app purchases), meaning if engagement goes down, so does the price. Alan feels confident offering this alternative because Sparkademy’s average rate of course completion is 88-94% (stupendously higher than the online course average). These levels of engagement are possible firstly due to the fact that Sparkademy courses were built using behavioral science insights to keep learners motivated, and secondly because Sparkademy forms the learner cohorts using the Spark Check, a tool based on neuroscience research which helps them test employees' ability to deal with uncertainty and other people’s emotions. Memorable Quotes: "As an innovation consultant, at least half the time spent with your client goes into educating them on process basics. Which is not the best use of their time, or yours." "You want to make sure that people are on your team because they want to be there. The person sitting in the corner with their arms crossed brings everybody down; no matter how motivated they are." If you would like to listen to another founder who also focuses on business innovation, check out episode 79 with Manuel Hartmann, founder of SalesPlaybook.  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 giveaways or founders' dinners!

Timestamps: 00:07 - The Impact of GE on Ben James' Early Life 09:50 - The Start of TP24 21:45 - The Business Model: Secret Black Box 33:35 - Managing Mental Health: The Pressure of Being a Founder 48:38 - Six Sparks IPO Program About Ben James: Ben James, CEO of TP24, is an engineer at heart. After completing an engineering degree at Leeds University and working in the sales and operations department there, he started working at GE Capital full-time in sales and operations. During his studies, he worked in the insurance and (profit and loss) P&L team for GE. Then, after moving to Switzerland, he became responsible for credit-based insurance and started managing all GE businesses in the Swiss market. He later worked in the IPO team for GE Capital and Money Bank, which led to the establishment of Cembra Money Bank, a leading consumer lender in Switzerland. During his career, he recognised a gap in the lending solution market and saw the opportunity to create TP24, a flexible funding opportunity for growth. In this episode, Ben speaks a bit more about his life before TP24 and gives insight into its early stages. , as well as how its business model differs from other lending solutions worldwide. He also examines several risks business owners go through for pricing segments for loan solutions and funding sources for their businesses and how TP24 provides a better model for the front end of their customers compared to their competition. Ben goes on to speak on the negative implications of running a business on one’s mental health. He talks about his own founder experience and the impact it has had on his personal and family life, and how he struck a balance between being a business owner, a father and a husband. He provides tips for other entrepreneurs on how to ensure that their company's success does not come at the expense of their mental health or life at home. Memorable Quotes: "Finance products hold great businesses back." "If we learnt anything from businesses around the world, it was to look after your customers. If you don’t other businesses will, and you’ll lose them." If you would like to listen to more episodes about other non-traditional lending solutions, check out our conversation with Robert Lauko. 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 giveaways or founders' dinners!