Swisspreneur Show

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 About Cédric Waldburger: 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”. 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!

Cédric Waldburger, a minimalist and venture capitalist, talks about delivering value to multiple projects, his experience with Swiss military service, owning only 64 things, and his involvement with DFINITY. He also discusses the importance of setting 90-day goals for focus and progress.

Christian Hirsig, a passionate serial entrepreneur, shares insights on common startup mistakes, practical validation, data analysis for success evaluation, and knowing when to pivot or abandon an idea. The podcast emphasizes engaging stakeholders, trusting gut instincts, and embracing failure as part of the entrepreneurial journey.

Timestamps: 3:00 - Changes for Swisspreneur. 6:28 - Associations vs For-profit companies. 12:40 - Finding good employees. 23:25 - Growing up in an entrepreneurial family. 26:47 - When to leave a startup. About Christian Hirsig: 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. 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 2:06 - What makes a successful accelerator application 15:40 - Launching your first pilot 29:00 - Hiring and outsourcing 33:16 - Splitting shares 39:55 - Making it work without salaries About Anastasia Hofmann and Naomi MacKenzie Through her work experience in Malta, Miami Beach, Lausanne and Zurich, Anastasia developed a strong fascination for the hospitality industry. She holds a Bachelor of international hospitality management from Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne and is very interested in the development and implementation of sustainable practices within this dynamic industry. This led her to co-found KITRO, a startup which provides the technology to identify, track and monitor food waste. With experience working in the food and beverage industry, Naomi witnessed the enormous amount of edible food that is being thrown away every day. This has led her to commit herself to reducing the avoidable food waste in this sector. The idea behind KITRO originated during Naomi’s studies at the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne. Since then, she and her co-founder Anastasia have been vigorously working to bring the hospitality industry a solution to tackle the growing issue of food waste. Their goal is to bring back the value of food, so that all food is appreciated and not wasted. 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 9:00 - Deciding who to sell to 22:52 - Retaining confidence after your first failure 36:14 - What to look for in a headhunter 41:05 - Stock option plans 52:49 - Building a company, not a startup About Thomas Sterchi: Thomas is best known as the founder of jobs.ch, an online job market platform. In 2007, he and his partner sold the venture to an American holding company for a multi-million dollar sum. Since his successful exit, Thomas has built up a diversified portfolio of projects under the umbrella of his holding company “Tom Talent”. Examples include the online-TV portal Teleboy or the music festival Zermatt Unplugged. Thomas has also successfully produced several movies, amongst them “A Dangerous Method” starring Keira Knightley. 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 7:05 - Meeting President Reagan 21:15 - How a public speaker is born 28:12 - Skills for managing crises 34:34 - Why it's important to empower women in business 37:49 - Advice to young women About Rosmarie Michel: Rosmarie Michel, now in her eighties, looks back on a lifetime of entrepreneurship and advocacy for women in business. In the 1970s she was one of the first women to be appointed to the board of major Swiss companies such as Valora and Volksbank, which later was bought by Credit Suisse. From 1983-1985 she held the presidency of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (IFBPW). She also served over a decade as the vice chair of Women’s World Banking, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing female entrepreneurs with access to financial resources. During her career Rosmarie met and exchanged her thoughts on women in business with many influential personalities, such as President Ronald Reagan and Hillary Clinton. To this day, Rosmarie remains active as a mentor of female entrepreneurs and a driver for the empowerment of all women. 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!

Timestamp 7:54 - The importance of your economic footprint 15:36 - Realizing you've chosen the wrong strategy 27:20 - The hard parts of entrepreneurship 35:11 - Does anyone have the recipe for success? 46:29 - Advice for young entrepreneurs About Markus Popp: Markus Popp is best known as the founder of tilllate.com, a party event platform with photo gallery and community features. In 2009, Markus left tilllate.com and embarked on a half-year inspirational sabbatical. Upon his return, he founded the company builder Mühlemann & Popp Online Media AG together with one of his co-founders at tilllate.com, Silvan Mühlemann. Next to being engaged at Mühlemann & Popp, Markus has launched various other digital startups such as SOBRADO or eveni.to. Markus has a Masters in Management, Technology and Economics from ETH Zurich. 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 2:11 - The gender gap in the Swiss startup ecosystem 18:45 - Splitting up with your co-founder and abandoning the startup 34:05 - Startup competitions: yay or nay? 42:16 - The advantage of incubators 48:12 - Choosing the right idea About Lea von Bidder: Lea is best know as the Co-founder and President of Ava Science, Inc., the company behind the Ava bracelet, the first fertility-tracking wearable device. Prior to starting Ava, Lea co-founded L’inouï, a premium chocolate production and retail chain in Bangalore, India. She also spent time working for the marketing division of Procter & Gamble in Frankfurt and for a strategy-consulting boutique in Paris. Lea holds a Master’s degree in global entrepreneurship from EM Lyon in France, Zhejiang University in China and Purdue Krannert University in the USA. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of St.Gallen and HEC Montréal in Canada. In 2017, she was recognized by the University of St. Gallen with the HSG Founder of the Year award. 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 7:00 - Coming up with an initial marketing strategy 11:45 - Bootstrapping your business 16:06 - Measuring your ecological footprint 24:37 - What they look for in new employees 40:55 - How digitalization influences your business About Markus and Daniel Freitag: In 1993, graphic designers Markus and Daniel Freitag were looking for a functional, water-repellent and robust bag to hold their creative work. Inspired by the multicolored heavy traffic that rumbled through the Zurich transit intersection in front of their flat, they developed a messenger bag from used truck tarpaulins, discarded bicycle inner tubes and car seat belts. This is how the first FREITAG bags took shape in the living room of their shared apartment. Today their products are available in 16 F-STORES as well as at over 450 resellers around the world. FREITAG lab.ag has been headquartered at the Nœrd industrial complex in Zurich-Oerlikon since 2011. In 2014, FREITAG launched a new product, F-ABRIC. These completely compostable textiles are based on bast fibers that are produced using a minimum of resources within a 2500-kilometer radius of headquarters. FREITAG lab.ag still belongs to the two Freitag brothers, and, as Creative Directors, they still oversee each new model through to series production. 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!