Swisspreneur Show

Timestamps 6:44 - What to look for in a co-founder 11:38 - When is the right time to become an entrepreneur? 31:45 - How to steer a fast growing company 36:42 - Handling bad press 44:47 - The future of AI About Adrian Locher: Adrian is best known as Founder and COO of DeinDeal.ch, an e-commerce coupons and discounts platform for products and services. Within a year of starting the business, DeinDeal.ch was the fastest growing Swiss start-up and market leader in the group buying segment in Switzerland. After 18 months, the Swiss media group Ringier bought 60% of DeinDeal.ch as a strategic investment. At that time the company was valued at CHF 30 Mio. After his exit from DeinDeal.ch, Adrian went on to start new ventures that are leveraging Artificial Intelligence. Adrian graduated with a degree in business and economics from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), where he started his very first business as a software developer. He was awarded “HSG Entrepreneur of the Year 2012”, “Swiss E-Commerce Champion 2015” and was ranked “40 under 40” by Swiss Bilanz magazine. 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 3:18 - Why say no to a banking career 23:34 - Having to shut down your company 27:30 - Recovering from the crash 36:34 - Why you could not want to sell your company to Facebook 44:49 - Knowing when to move on About Peter Schuepbach: Peter Schuepbach started his entrepreneurial career as a co-founder of Miracle Software AG back in 1986 and served as its Chief Executive Officer for more than 10 years. He grew the organization in 14 years to a 350 employee software company with offices in 5 countries and went public with an IPO at the Swiss Stock Exchange SWX in 1999. Today he is engaged in several start-up companies and is a member of the board of several organizations, for example SwissCommerce, an internet platform that builds and buys E-Commerce companies in special interest markets. He received the award “Business Angel of the Year” from the ASBAN (Swiss Business Angel Association) in 2005. 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 7:32 - Realizing corporate life isn't for you 28:32 - Hiring strategies 32:57 - Handling divergent expectations within the company 45:14 - Setting and changing targets 49:17 - Work-life balance About Roman Gaus: Roman is best known as the Founder and CEO of UrbanFarmers, a company dedicated to building commercial food production systems in and around cities. Together with Andreas Graber, he has developed UrbanFarmers’ vision how food could be grown in an urban space at a large scale. He noticed the trend abroad and learned about a breakthrough Swiss technology that could make it more reliable and sustainable. Since 2011, UrbanFarmers has become a technology leader in Aquaponics, saving water, energy and nutrients to grow fish and plants in a closed-loop. Roman graduated from University of St. Gallen with an M.A. in Accounting, Finance and Controlling. Before starting UrbanFarms, he has a worked with various large companies in the food and health sector, such as P&G, Novartis and Franke Group. 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 7:45 - What André learned from being a fighter pilot in the Swiss army 11:26 - What young people should do to prepare for an entrepreneurial career 19:24 - What a great team looks like 28:48 - How to deal with risk 31:17 - Dealing with crises About André Borschberg: André Borschberg is best known as the CEO, co-founder and pilot of Solar Impulse: the enterprise that, under his guidance, built a solar-powered plane that broke the world record for the longest solo flight in an airplane of any kind: 117 hours and 52 minutes. He had previously achieved recognition for the first-ever day and night flight in a solar airplane flying Solar Impulse 1 in 2010, followed by eight different world records. André led the development of the aircraft on a mission that began as the passionate vision of Bertrand Piccard more than 13 years ago, tackling numerous challenges ranging from equipment failures to major delays along the way. André graduated from the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and holds a Master’s in Management Science from the MIT Sloan School of Management in Boston. In addition, he was a partner of a venture capital firm for eight years and successfully launched two start-ups, including Innovative Silicon, a technology company in the field of microprocessor memories. Today, André contributes as a mentor and by driving initiatives as a member of the World President’s and the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). He also speaks frequently at leadership forums such as the World Economic Forum (WEF). 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 0:40 - The concept of Seedspaces and co-habitation 14:23 - Things to consider when picking a co-founder 17:09 - The importance of recruiting 22:43 - Operating across different cultures 31:45 - Advice to female entrepreneurs About Alisée de Tonnac: Alisée de Tonnac is the Founder and CEO of Seedstars, an investment firm building and investing in tech companies in 60+ emerging markets. After traveling for a year around the world she set up the first edition of Seedstars in 2013 and grew the competition to 60+ cities around the world. Prior to founding Seedstars, Alisée worked as product manager for luxury brands at L’Oréal Group and was part of the Italian team at Voyage Privé, a leading European startup. She graduated from HEC Lausanne and obtained her Masters in International Management from the Bocconi University in Italy with highest honors. She was also a member of the Harvard Model Congress Europe where she won the Award of Excellence. Alisée is a board member of the School of Management in Fribourg, Switzerland. She was nominated top 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneur by Forbes Magazine and an Innovation Fellow by Wired UK. 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: 8:46 - Launching a startup in 11 months 22:39 - Working at Google 32:26 - How to drive the company's culture as a CEO 37:51 - What Switzerland can learn from Silicon Valley and Berlin 41:32 - What it takes to start a company nowadays About Daniel Graf: Daniel joined Uber in 2015 as the Head of Marketplace, the team that works on Uber’s dynamic pricing model. Before joining Uber he did a short stint at Twitter as the Vice President of Consumer Product. Prior to Twitter Daniel was in charge of leading Google’s Maps & Local teams. After Apple ousted Google Maps from iOS in 2012, Daniel led the development of an award-winning Google mapping experience that shot to number one in the iTunes store. Fast Company recognized Daniel for this achievement as one of the Most Creative People in Business 2013. Prior to Google, Daniel was the CEO of Kyte, which he founded in 2005. Kyte became a leading platform for live and on-demand video content. Daniel sold Kyte to KIT Digital in 2011. Before Kyte, Daniel joined Philips Consumer Electronics in 2001 where he developed the world’s first Internet audio stereo system and the first wireless Home Entertainment System with Internet video services. In 1999 and 2000 he was the Chief Software Engineer of ReQuest Multimedia, an award-winning Consumer Electronics startup, based in New York. There he created the world’s first MP3 Hard Disk Jukebox, the predecessor to Apple’s “iPod”. Daniel earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Interstaatliche Hochschule für Technik Buchs (NTB) and an MS in Computer and Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). 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!

Former Automattic CEO, Toni Schneider, shares insights on building a company on open source, scaling with a distributed team, the importance of a long-term view, dealing with loneliness as a CEO, and creating feedback loops. He brings valuable experience from leading WordPress.com to success.

Timestamps 10:35 - Early days of Doodle and taking risks 16:21 - Managing growth and culture 25:18 - How to manage a product backlog 27:35 - On launching early 38:20 - Myke's productivity tips About Myke Näf: Myke Näf is the founder and former CEO of Doodle, the prominent event scheduler software. He sold the company for an undisclosed amount to Tamedia in 2014. Shortly after the acquisition he left Doodle and has become an active angel investor and startup mentor in Switzerland. He’s a Venture Partner at Cavalry Ventures, a Startup Mentor at Kickstart Accelerator, and serves on a number of different boards. He’s also a Partner at Swiss Life Lab, an incubator for Fintech, Insurtech and Propertytech. Myke holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from ETH Zurich and Executive Diploma from the University of St. Gallen (HSG). 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 1:06 - Why open offices in Zurich, Austin and Cape Town 5:54 - Why studying economics aids you as a CEO 21:55 - Dealing with critics 32:03 - Knowing it's time to pivot 46:25 - Founding a company with your husband/wife About Dania Gerhardt: Dania Gerhardt is the founder of Amazee Labs. She started Amazee.com in 2007 and successfully pivoted her startup to one of Switzerland’s premier Web services companies Amazee Labs. The company has offices in Zurich, Austin and Cape Town. In 2014 Dania moved from Zurich to Cape Town and frequently commutes between South Africa and Switzerland. Dania serves on the boards of the Swiss Internet Industry Association and Swissnex. She is also the host of TEDx Zurich since 2012. Before her entrepreneurial life, Dania was an accounting executive at KPMG in Zurich. She received a Master in Economics from the University of Basel. 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 18:15 - How to make it work when your co-founder is your wife 28:39 - How to find product-market fit 36:24 - Selling his company Wildfire to Google 41:45 - What it's like working for Google 47:14 - The Swiss startup ecosystem About Alain Chuard: Alain Chuard is a Swiss serial entrepreneur and former professional snowboarder living in Palo Alto, California. He is best known as the founder and Chief product officer of Wildfire Interactive, the social media marketing technology company acquired by Google in July 2012. At Google, Alain was responsible for overseeing Wildfire’s strategy, integration into Google’s Display Ads Division, and external representation of the product. His early professional years were spent as a financial analyst with New York investment bank Salomon Smith Barney and as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Highland Capital Partners.  Alain is also a former world-ranking professional snowboarder who competed on the World-Cup Pro Tour. He was ranked in the top 4 in Switzerland, placed in the top 4 in the NY State qualifier for the U.S. National Championships, and is among the most published snowboard athletes in history. Alain holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (2007) and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Macalester College (1999) in St. Paul, MN. 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!