Swisspreneur Show

Timestamps: 3:53 - How to know if you’re ‘investable’ 6:49 - Getting in touch with investors 8:08 - How much equity to give away  13:48 - Equity round or convertible loan? 37:16 - Celebrating a closed round About Pascal Koenig & Sophie Lamparter: Sophie Lamparter is the co-founder of DART Labs, an international fund investing in early stage Swiss climate and health tech startups to accelerate them on the US market. She holds a degree in Communication and Media Studies from ZHAW. Pascal Koenig is the co-founder, former CEO and current board member at AVA women, a startup manufacturing wearable fertility trackers for women. He studied business in St Gallen and New York and worked at McKinsey for a few years before being invited by one of his university professors to join a startup project — Cardiosave. Pascal and Sophie have created a fundraising masterclass which is available for free at https://swisspreneur.org/fundraising. During this live session, they summarized the masterclass into a few key takeaways, some of which are jotted down in these shownotes as well. How do you know if VC money is right for you? Sophie and Pascal think that if you can afford to go bootstrapped, you should do it. If you only need to raise a small sum of money, go for angel investors. If you want to raise larger amounts, it would make sense to reach out to VC investors, but you should take into consideration that a VC fund’s goal is to have one of their investments return the value of the entire fund. So if you pitch to a CHF 100M fund, know that their goal is to invest in a startup that will return them 100M. Is that the kind of startup that you are willing to build and capable of building? How do I make my startup more “investable”? First of all, you need to strengthen the team. If your startup has little to no traction but a great idea, then what funds evaluate is the team’s potential. Secondly, you should attempt to build some traction through things like marketing campaigns, and if you haven’t validated your product/service yet, you should at least validate the tech it’s based on. How much equity should I give away in my first round? No more than 25%. Remember, if things go well, you’ll be doing plenty of rounds. How do I come up with my startup’s valuation?/ How much money should I ask for? Know that if you ask for CHF 1M, that presupposes your company valuation is CHF 4M. So if you go in asking for CHF 5M and investors don’t think your company is worth CHF 20M, you’re not getting any money. Should I go for an equity round or a convertible loan? Convertible loans have the advantage of being fast: you can deploy the money the following day. Pascal and Sophie recommend that if your company is still early stage and/or if you’re raising a small sum, you should go for a convertible loan. For bigger rounds/late stage, go for equity. What makes a great pitch deck? Simplicity. It should be crystal clear even for people who don’t work with you/in your industry. Why do I need to build a long list of 100 investors? Shouldn’t I be selective? Selectivity happens further down the line. If you just talk to 5 investors, even if they respond enthusiastically, that doesn’t at all mean that they'll invest. Pascal recommends that you reach out to 100 investors (given that they all invest in your industry/stage), because out of those 100, 50 will do a call. Out of the 50, 20 will go into due diligence. And then once you get your first term sheet from one of them, other term sheets start showing up — that’s the time to be selective!

Get tickets to Scaleup Slopes 2024 here. Timestamps: 3:40 - Culture shock from moving to Switzerland 12:26 - Being a solo founder 20:43 - Expanding yourself vs franchising 28:05 - Acquiring silent partners 36:00 - Benefits of expanding slowly About Mallory Houston Nieman: Mallory Houston Nieman is the owner and operator of Velocity, Switzerland’s first indoor cycling studio. She holds a BA in English & Psychology from Cornell University and an MBA from Swiss Business School, Kloten, and previously worked for American advertising agencies like Hill Holliday and Digitas before moving to Switzerland in 2011 and starting Velocity in 2015. At Velocity, every ride is measured via power meters, and the rider’s distance covered, calories burned, and power output (watts) are recorded on their online profile so that they can track their progress towards their personal goals. In Velocity’s Veloburn classes, riders have the option to join the Veloboard leaderboard.  The first challenge Mallory faced when building Velocity was landing the first location (in Zurich): they needed a lot of air, water, and sound proofing, and Mallory’s German was limited at the time, so it was tough to find the right space and convince the landlord to take them in. The second big challenge the team faced was the COVID pandemic, during which they had to close down. To stay afloat, Mallory put the Velocity team on Kurzarbeit, negotiated with landlords, and also benefited from a percentage of revenue loss from the Swiss government. She also made sure to maintain Velocity’s online presence so as to preserve unity and motivation among their community. Velocity currently has 3 locations: Zurich, Zug and Enge. They’ve chosen to expand on their own instead of franchising because they care deeply about maintaining the soul of Velocity, and also because they’re very careful when choosing locations — all 3 of their studios are within a 4 minute walk of train stations.  Don’t forget to give us a follow on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, 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: 1:50 - Joining the Navy 9:53 - Being a solo founder with a mentor 25:30 - Creating sustainability incentives  35:41 - Expanding to Norway and the USA 42:04 - Participating in the Sparks IPO Academy About Mario Michan: Mario Michan is the co-founder and CEO of Daphne Technology, a climate deep tech company reducing air pollution produced by the global shipping industry. He holds a PhD in Physics from the University of British Columbia and previously worked as a research scientist at CERN and EPFL before starting Daphne Technologies in 2017. The company measures, reduces and monetises greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources by developing and scaling innovative technology, enabling their customers to monetise voluntary carbon emission reductions. Shell Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, Trafigura, AET and Swisscom have invested in Daphne Technologies, and the company has subsidiaries in Norway and the US. Don’t forget to give us a follow on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, 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: 1:27 - Renewable energy in 2008  10:02 - The volatility of the energy market 16:00 - Renewables subsidies on their way out 25:18 - Growing pains as a company 31:53 - Raising funds in an unideal context About Michael Waldner: Michael Waldner is the co-founder and CEO at Pexapark, a provider of energy risk and portfolio management capabilities for renewable energy. He holds a MSc in Industrial Management and Manufacturing Engineering from ETH and previously worked at companies like EGL AG and Axpo Trading AG before starting Pexapark in 2017. With more than 30GW of renewable PPA transactions supported, Pexapark is the reference for buying, selling and managing renewable energy. What is PPA, you may ask? The acronym stands for Power Purchase Agreement, which is a contractual agreement between energy buyers and sellers. They come together and agree to buy and sell an amount of energy which is or will be generated by a renewable asset. PPAs are usually signed for a long-term period between 10-20 years. Thanks to the low cost of solar technology, solar is now one of the cheapest renewables available. That is what makes solar PPAs popular. Don’t forget to give us a follow on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, 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.

We interview Switzerland’s most talented founders, business leaders and innovators. Listen to the trailer of Switzerland’s #1 podcast for entrepreneurs.

Timestamps: 1:13 - Accidentally ending up in China 9:04 - Psychological safety at work 18:50 - Publicly disclosing your pricing 28:10 - Getting the first customers 36:00 - Doubting if you’ll make it About Loris Niederberger: Loris Niederberger is the co-founder of Moodtalk, a software for clarity and structure on how teams work together successfully. He holds an MA in International Management from CEMS and previously worked for companies like swissnex China and Voliro Airborne Robotics before starting Moodtalk in 2021. It is estimated that 97% of C-levels don't know how the company’s strategy, values, and principles are understood and lived in teams, and 3 out of 4 employees say it's unclear how to collaborate optimally as a team. This lack of clarity naturally leads to dissatisfaction, overload, and disorientation — that’s where Moodtalk comes in! Moodtalk lets you define rules for collaboration and update them frequently, and every defined initiative gets tracked. Through Moodtalk, you can define some basic rules for working optimally together as a team by answering questions like: What should our meeting culture be like? (Cadence, time of day, prep, meeting notes…) How do we give each other feedback? (What does quality mean to us?) How do we approach people who seem burned out? By defining these things early on and sticking to them, you slowly build up ‘psychological safety’ in your team, which is a term for how willing your team members are to speak up whenever they disagree with something, or simply wish to propose an idea. Of course these things can theoretically be achieved without specialized software, but then again, so can sales and accounting, and we don’t tackle those without proper software nowadays. Moodtalk estimates that through their software teams save an average of 12h per month (mostly by cutting out unnecessary meetings!) and reduce fluctuation by more than 20%.Don’t forget to give us a follow on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, 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: 7:40 - High energy, high loyalty and high intelligence 13:46 - When a co-founder leaves 19:57 - The point of an MVP 32:08 - Grants or equity? 39:05 - Plans for future expansion About Philippe Ganz & Paulina Grnarova: Paulina Grnarova is the co-founder and CEO of DeepJudge, an AI-powered Knowledge Search for legal professionals. She holds a PhD in Computer Science from ETH. Philippe Ganz is the CEO and co-founder of aiEndoscopic, a medtech startup combining artificial intelligence with robotic endoscopy. He holds a MSc in Biomedical Engineering from ETH. During their chat with Silvan, Philippe and Paulina discussed some of the commons topics of starting your first company, like which values to cultivate in your founder team and how to set up a shareholders agreement that foresees all future possibilities, whether to go for grants or equity rounds as a science-heavy startup, and the guiding principles of building an MVP. Don’t forget to give us a follow on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, 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: 6:44 - eMobility back in 2008 7:39 - CO2 impact of electric vehicles  8:56 - Sourcing the minerals sustainably & ethically 15:58 - Life after death, for batteries 25:00 - Partnering with Volvo About Adrian Melliger: Adrian Melliger is the co-owner and CEO of Designwerk Technologies, an electromobility one-stop-shop. He previously worked for companies like Swissport and Ground Handling Team Holding before joining Designwerk in 2018. Designwerk was founded back in 2008, after its founders went on a 80-day, all-electric world record circumnavigation with the specially developed Zerotracer cabin motorcycle. Ten years on, the founders invited Adrian to join them as external CEO because they felt a lack of business acumen in their engineer-only founder team. Designwerk develops and constructs electric trucks, battery systems and chargers. Although their electric vehicles require more energy to produce (and therefore emit more CO2) than diesel vehicles, they make for it on the consumer side, since over their entire lifetime they produce up to 60-90% less CO2. They also often get used in other applications (like solar panels, for example) once their first life runs out (= 15 years), and can be shredded and have 92-96% of their raw materials be recycled. Designwerk’s turnover increased 11x ever since Adrian joined as CEO, and like any other scaling company, they’ve had to deal with some growing pains: getting the right people on board, adapting the structure and processes, ensuring sufficient cash flow (especially in a capital-intensive business like theirs) and ensuring the availability of materials, especially during challenging times like the COVID pandemic.  In 2021, Volvo Group acquired a stake in Designwerk Group to complement its existing offering in the area of niche products and solutions. Don’t forget to give us a follow on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, 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: 13:03 - The birth of TOPADUR 18:07 - Leaving the cushy life for entrepreneurship  23:26 - TOPADUR’s drug development  30:36 - Financing pharma 38:08 - Sparks IPO Academy About Reto Naef: Reto Naef is the founder and former CEO of TOPADUR PHARMA AG, a biopharmaceutical company developing disruptive therapies for aging diseases. He holds a PhD in Chemistry from ETH and an MBA from UZH and previously worked for pharma companies like Sandoz and Novartis before starting TOPADUR in 2015.  TOPADUR develops dual-acting drugs that target the cGMP-Enzyme Regulation System to stimulate microcirculation, enable tissue regeneration, and avoid local oxygen deficiency. Based on this key invention, they’ve built a portfolio of drug candidates to treat aging-related diseases like chronic wounds, skin fibrosis, age-related macular degeneration, colorectal cancer, hair loss and skin aging. TOPADUR recently participated in the Sparks IPO Academy as part of their journey towards going public. They estimate that an IPO will be possible around early 2025, provided that they successfully bring all the drugs in their portfolio to market. Reto decided to step down from his operative role in 2023. Don’t forget to give us a follow on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, 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.

VCs Vivek Dogra, Arijana Walcott, Lukas André & Dominique Gruhl discuss investor relationships, deeptech in Europe, early-stage investments, and increasing legislation impact. Insights on attracting institutional investors to VC funds, future of VC investments, and returns in 2024.