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IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. This episode brings us together with Manuel Winter, cofounder at Oxygen at Work, a startup that aims to Improve air quality in office spaces using natural plants in order to improve the health of employees and reduce the energy consumption of the buildings. In this episode we started off by looking at the startup’s creation story and how Manuel and his team got their first customer without really having a product ready. Manuel dives deeper into what the first version of the product looked like and compares it to what it looks like today, explaining how Oxygen at work can differentiate itself from its competition using data. Manuel also explained how his team tackles the challenge of selling a fuzzy and long term vision of healthier employees to his customers, as well as his worst mistake and biggest achievement launching Oxygen at work and growing it to what it is today. Problem - Solution Fit How did the team test that there were people with a problem / need for it? How did the team identify your perfect customer in the beginning? What were the first steps the team took after deciding to go with it? Product What did the team’s first product / MVP look like? How does the product work now, concretely? How will the team differentiate itself from others coming into the same space? Sales How did the team get to their first customer? How does the team sell companies such a long term and fuzzy benefit? Is the team mostly targeting companies that already have plants? What’s the business model behind Oxygen at Work? General What’s something Manuel did badly while working on your startup? What’s one thing Manuel did really well? Question from the audience: When is the best moment for a company that is built primarily with private funds to look for an investor to finance their growth? IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Johann Schlieper, President of the Business Angels Switzerland network and an active investor himself, with a strong focus on market-driven innovations. Johann has founded three startups himself and primarily invests in technology and durable consumer goods startups.     In this episode we started off by exploring the good and the bad sides of being an investor, what you need to become an investor yourself, the biggest mistakes to avoid when starting out as an angel, and how he evaluates the quality of an idea. We then asked for advice he would give to founders, for example how to filter the good from the bad investors, how many hours to invest in your startup and the three things that investors want to see in a founder.   IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST.   We covered the following topics:   Personal questions: What does he enjoy about being an investor? What doesn’t he enjoy about being an investor?   Angel Investing: How much money & experience does someone need to have to start angel investing? What are the biggest mistakes new angel investors make? How does he find out whether a founder has integrity and endurance? How does he evaluate the quality of an idea?   Advice for founders: If I pitch my idea and I haven't gotten any real traction yet: How could I still convince you to invest? How can market-driven innovations convince investors to get funding? When doesn’t it work? What are the three things he looks for in a founder, before you invest? How does he detect a ‘bad’ investor from a ‘good’ investor as a founder (how would he do it)? If I pitch my idea and I haven't gotten any real traction yet: How could I still convince him to invest? How many hours does expect a founder to be working on his / her idea per day? IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

Before I jump into this week’s episode I wanted to take a moment to share one of the challenges many entrepreneurs in Switzerland - including me - face when building up a team of qualified and trustful people. When you’ve built your first prototype or MVP and are ready to go all in on your idea - maybe you even received some money from family, friends or first investors - when you get to that moment when you need someone to focus on the technical side of your startup you’ll quickly realize that finding good software developers that are willing to sacrifice their high salaries to join you in your risky adventure, is going to be quite a challenge - especially in Switzerland. Why? Because you’re competing with big tech companies that have deep pockets and are willing to pay good developers a ton of money for their work. So, what can you do about that? One way I’ve found to get around this is to broaden your perspective and look for people elsewhere, for example in Lisbon. Lisbon has been called the European Silicon Valley for good reasons - Forbes Magazine says it is fast becoming a creative and tech startup hub, helped by accelerator funding, tech incubators and newly refurbished coworking spaces popping up all over the city. One company that I’ve come across and that I’m sharing with you without getting paid for it is helping startups set up their remote team in Lisbon is called Lisbon Tech Guide, they brand themselves as your partner to support you find and manage your team in Portugal. They cover everything you need from recruitment, company incorporation, budget planning, accounting, human resources management, tax advisory, co-working spaces, fiduciary topics, team building events and more. You can get a free 30-minute consultation call by visiting their website lisbontechguide.com to answer all your questions about setting up your team in Lisbon. Check them out at lisbontechguide.com and start building your remote team.  This episode brings us together with Sarah Maria Nordt, founder of Snordtmade, a startup that focuses on sophisticated ladies business fashion.  In this episode we started off by exploring the very beginnings of Snordtmade, how Sarah and her team tested the market need for her products, the first steps they took to launch the company and how they got their first customer. We then dove deeper into how they were planning to create demand for their brand in such a competitive environment, and what some of her low points were during her journey. IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: Problem - Solution Fit How did she test that there were people with a problem / need for it?  How did she identify your perfect customer in the beginning? What were the first steps she took after deciding to go with it? What did her first product / MVP look like? How did she get to your first customers? Sales & Marketing How did she manage to create / is she creating demand for her brand? How much is she selling, and how does she plan to grow these numbers? Persistence How did she make it financially possible to start & continue with her project? What were some emotional low points and how did she get out of them? Personal Fashion Configurator What is it and why does she think it will help her better solve the problem? Other questions What’s something she did badly while working on her startup? What’s one thing she did really well? IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Alain Nicod, a business angel, founder of various startups like LeShop in 1997 and Partner at VI Partners. Alain likes searching for startups and meeting exceptional people, and he believes it’s important that an entrepreneur can manage the day-to-day firmly, be realistic and have good sales skills.  In this episode we started off by exploring what he enjoys about being a partner at an investment fund of over CHF 100 million, and what he misses about being on the other side. We then dive deeper into questions around how a fund works, what the returns on investment have to be, how the process of launching a fund work, what skills are needed, and more. Finally, we asked Alain for specific advice that we could apply to our own situation, how we could detect a good from a bad investor and what he looks for in a founder. IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: Personal questions What do you enjoy about being a partner at an investment fund? What don’t you enjoy about your job? What are the challenging moments? How do you sleep, knowing that your investors expect you to multiply their CHF 101 million? How does a fund work? Why does a return on investment ‘need’ to be 10x or higher? After how much time does a fund need to see a return on their investment (exit, IPO, merger, acquisition)? How high do the returns need to be, to open an additional fund? How do you launch your own fund? How does the process work? How long does it take? What people / skills should be part of the team that opens a fund? What’s the minimum size that makes sense for a fund (no health care focus)? Advice for founders The founders need a side-job, should both work part-time or one full-time? How do you detect a ‘bad’ investor from a ‘good’ investor as a founder (how would you do it)? What do you look for in a founder? Is there a startup that should exist and that someone should start? IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Linda and Sofia from Casola, the first online tapas bar in Zurich. Linda, Sofia and their third cofounder Claudia started with the idea three years ago, when they realized they weren’t happy with the daily food options in Zurich, and they were looking for something between low-cost supermarket food and high-end restaurant menus - something with a good quality AND an affordable price. We discuss the first steps that the three friends took after deciding to go for it and how they registered the company - and if you’re thinking about incorporating a company yourself, here’s a quick warning from the founders: after the incorporation you will receive hundreds of fake invoices addressed to your company, and you’ll have to find the original, and pay it. We also cover their biggest challenge which is acquiring customers, as well as the personal challenge of launching a startup while having a side job. IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: Problem - Solution Fit What was your initial idea and how did you test that there were people with a need for it? What was the first step you took when you decided to do this? How did you get your first customers? How did you do the pricing, concretely? Employee > Entrepreneur How did you make it possible to start with your project, timewise and emotionally? What’s the biggest personal challenge for you during this transition? What are the challenges when working next to your startup job? Product How did you build your shop? How do you come up with recipes? Other How did they incorporate the company? What’s the biggest challenge now? IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Cédric Bollag from GlobalTechBox, a startup enthusiast, aspiring entrepreneur, blogger, vlogger and future venture capitalist. Cédric hosts a weekly show called The Startup Show where he showcases startups and investors from different industries and stages, reaching on average 650k/month impressions across all of social media. Cédric has a passion for meeting new, interesting people which is one of the reasons he’s been so persistent and has published over 160 video interviews with founders and investors. In this episode I had the opportunity to dive into Cédric’s world and ask him about his vision behind The Startup Show, how he started it all, and many more questions that were bugging me. We cover topics like his revenue model, the importance of delegating tasks, how he grew his audience to its current size, as well as other more private topics, like his favorite book for example. Having Cédric on the show was a delight and I learned a lot from our conversation, which is why I’m super excited to share this conversation with all of you today. Enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST.   We covered the following topics: Problem - Solution Fit How he started it all How he tested that there were people with a need for what he wanted to do? How did the first steps of Global Tech Box / The Startup Show look like? How he grew his audience in the beginning and how he is growing it now Revenue Model How he generated revenue in the beginning vs now? Hustle Delegating: How does his process look like? Work life balance: How does he keep the balance? How is what he’s doing now helping reach his long term goal (venture capitalist)? Learnings What’s one thing he did really badly while working on your startup?   BOOK RECOMMENDATION Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel 12 Lessons for Life: An Antidote To Chaos by Jordan Peterson 21 Lessons for the 21 Century by Yuval Noah Harari Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari   IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Alex Balderstone from AGORA, a virtual start-up launcher providing all the necessary tools for entrepreneurs, no matter the stage of their journey. Starting your own venture can be a scary project with many unknowns. How do you find the idea for your startup? How can you make sure not to make too many mistakes and fail? Where can you get support in form of advice and money? These and many more questions go through the heads of every aspiring startup founder, and they are one of the reasons Alex started AGORA. His goal is to offer a one-stop shop for early-stage ventures where aspiring and active entrepreneurs can go and get the support they need. In this episode we dive into the story of AGORA, their target audience, how AGORA is different from other platforms as well as more personal topics like the importance of mindset for entrepreneurs and what Alex did especially well and not so well while working on AGORA. IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: PROBLEM - SOLUTION - FIT What’s the idea behind AGORA? What’s the business model behind AGORA? How did he test that there are people with a need for it? What were the first steps he took after he decided to do this? How does his life look like during that bootstrapping phase? CUSTOMER ACQUISITION Who’s AGORA’s target audience and where do they gather? How is the team planning to acquire your first 100 paying customers? PRODUCT Why can’t I get what AGORA is offering elsewhere? What’s your MVP going to look like? MINDSET How important is mindset in the beginning of a startup? How can you get into the right mindset, when your environment is not ideal for it? PERSONAL What’s one thing you did really well while working on your startup? What’s one thing you did really badly while working on your startup? BOOK RECOMMENDATION The Lean Startup by Eric Ries IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Michael Haase from Plant Jammer, a startup that helps you empty your fridge with the best plant-based recipes and and also helps you stop food waste. Imagine the following situations… You are coming home after a long day at work. You open the fridge and you see some carrots, half an apple, soy sauce and mushrooms. What now? You found a nice cheap cauliflower in the supermarket, but don’t know what to do with it Your food is too salty, and you don’t know how to fix it These are just some of the situations that have made me give up and order take out, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Plant Jammer offers a variety of great features like Food Pairing, the GastroWheel and the Balancer that target the problems I mentioned before. The team has a free mobile app with over 30k active users and 3 mio recipes, and for those of you with higher goals, the app lets you upgrade to PRIME which will get you nutritional target setting and tracking as well as additional meal planning features. Having Michael on the show was a delight and I learned a lot from our conversation, which is why I’m super excited to share this conversation with all of you today. Enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: PROBLEM - SOLUTION - FIT What was the initial idea and how did he test that there were people with a need? What was the first step he took when he decided to do this? How much time did it take him to build his MVP? How did he get his first users? RETENTION How did they manage to get to 30’000 active users and 3 mio recipes? PERSONAL STARTUP ADVICE What's one thing Michael did really badly while working on his startup? What's one thing Michael did really well while working on his startup? If he could put one message on a billboard to get to millions or billions of people, what would it be? What's something crazy he believes that nobody else around him believes? IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Alan Cabello from Adjoint a startup that empowers businesses in the financial industry to achieve new levels of efficiency and control by delivering blockchain technology built specifically for their needs. Having Alan on and talk about hot technological topics like blockchain and API’s in layman's terms was super insightful and helped me better understand these important technologies that are gaining more and more attention these days. Alan also shared how he perceived the difference between being a founder and being a manager at a startup, how he acquires businesses as customers, and more. I’m super excited to now share this conversation with all of you today. Enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: PROBLEM - SOLUTION - FIT How did you test that there were people with a problem / need for it? What did you do exactly to identify your perfect customer for your brand and value proposition? How did you acquire your first customers? How did you decide on the pricing of your product? FOUNDING vs. MANAGING What differences do you see between your role now and the role of a founder? Why is joining an existing startup better than founding your own? Why worse? CUSTOMER ACQUISITION How do you acquire customers, and how long does that process take? What are the attributes customers want to see in you, for them to buy? TECHNOLOGY How does Blockchain work? How does it compare to an excel sheet? What are API’s and how do they work? B2B vs B2C What’s the attractive part about B2B? Doesn’t it all move very slowly? Books & other recommendation Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, by Adam Grant Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, by Nir Eyal It doesn’t have to be crazy at work, by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Ross Buhrdorf from Zenbusiness, a startup that makes it simple, easy and accessible for everyone to start and run a small business. Ross, who is known for his ability in building teams and executing in a healthy company culture, is the former CTO of HomeAway, a home rental competitor to Airbnb that sold to Expedia for $3.9 billion in 2016. It was excited to have Ross on the show and get an insight into how a more seasoned entrepreneur is approaching the challenges one faces as a startup. We also talk about one of my favorite topics which is the building a company culture, as well as one of the challenges Zenbusiness had to face early on. I’m super excited to now share this conversation with all of you today. Enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: PROBLEM - SOLUTION - FIT How did you test that there were people with a problem / need for it? What did you do exactly to identify your perfect customer for your brand and value proposition? How did you acquire your first customers? How did you decide on the pricing of your product? FAILURE First mobile app was a miss - why did it come to it and how did you fix it? CULTURE How do you create a healthy company culture? Books & other recommendation Yuval Noah Harari - 21 lessons of the 21 century IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode is part of our EXPERT SERIES, in which we interview experts in the startup and business ecosystem, like investors and lawyers. Today I’m excited to share with you an interview my partner and I did with Michael Sidler from Redalpine, a seed stage venture capital firm investing in high tech companies in the field of ICT (internet/media/mobile) and Life Sciences. In our conversation we cover many of the questions we asked ourselves as founders when it comes to investors, like “how do you get in touch with investors?”, “how do you keep investors interested in your story?”, “what are the good and the bad sides of having an investor on board?” and “what are the most common mistakes made by founders when it comes to dealing with investors”? We had never met Michael before and the fact that he took time out of his day to answer our questions just goes to show how serious some investors can be about helping entrepreneurs succeed, and I’m super grateful to have had such an insightful conversation about topics that aren’t really talked about enough. And I’m excited to now share this conversation with all of you. Enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: About Redalpine What kind of startups do they invest in How are they helping these startups succeed, concretely (with examples) Contacting Investors How do I know if my startup is ‘scalable’ enough for VC’s? At what point should founders start contacting investors? How much traction is needed, e.g. with an e-commerce startup? How do you keep investors interested in your project, e.g. if it’s too early? The good and the bad What are the ‘bad sides’ of having VC’s on board? What should founders expect? What experiences has he made where the startup and the investors clashed together? What’s the most common mistake founders do, and how can they fix it? IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

“It’s the quality of the questions that tell my if [entrepreneurs] are going to make it or not.” - Aike Festini This episode brings us together with Aike Festini from LuckaBox, a startup that enables retailers to send their products to end customers via flexible delivery options. The LuckaBox team pays great attention to being green and will save over 12 tonnes of Co2 within the next five years, delivering goods by bike whenever possible. Aike and I met at a startup workshop years ago, when the LuckaBox idea was still in its infancy. When I recently asked her if there was one crazy thing she believed that many others didn’t, her answer was truly inspiring and motivating: “I'm deeply convinced that life is a playground to be enjoyed to the last bit. Life is not supposed to be hard. Work is supposed to motivate and inspire you to your core. Find your mojo - everything else: love, joy and success, will follow.” I loved having Aike on the show and asking her all of my burning questions about how she turned her initial idea into what it is today, how she acquired her first customers, her daunting and sometimes hurtful experience with investors, and so much more! I’m super excited to share this episode with you today, enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: Problem - Solution Fit What was the initial idea and how did they test that there were people with a problem / need for it? Why did it not work out, and what did they do after they realized that? How did they know in which direction to go? How did they identify that this was the perfect customer for them? Customer Acquisition: How did they acquire their first customers? Pricing How did they decide on their prices? How did the competition with the Swiss Post impact their pricing? Investors What learning did she have from her first experience with investors? Why does she think every entrepreneur needs a good lawyer? Books & other recommendation Venture Deals - Be smarter than your lawyer and venture capitalist, by Brad Feld & Jason Mendelson The Pumpkin Plan - A simple strategy to grow a remarkable business in any field, by Mike Michalowicz Kellerhals Attorneys - https://www.kellerhals-carrard.ch IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Michael Klien from Safeside, a startup that’s taking what our parents know as “buying life insurance” and making it simple, fast and digital. Most insurance companies sell multiple products bundled around the topic of life insurance, making it difficult to understand for most of the population. This in turn means that to understand these insurance products, most people require the help of an insurance professional, which means they need to take a few hours out of their schedule, print out contracts and maybe even go to the insurance’s office to meet with the advisor. In our conversation we cover how Safeside is tackling the current problems of life insurance, how the team validated their ideas, which challenges arise when you have a remote team and how an accelerator program can help early stage founders get where they want to go faster. I’m super excited to share this episode with you today, enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: PROBLEM - SOLUTION - FIT How many customer interviews have to be done before moving on How to have a good interview with potential customers BUSINESS MODEL How Safeside wants to build a business around a low margin product How the team manages to provide high quality insurance with good user experience TEAM How working as a remote team can be challenging Tips and tricks to still be successful as a remote team F10 ACCELERATOR How an accelerator program can help you as a founder Book recommendation Chris Voss - Never split the difference: Negotiating as if your life depended on it IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Geir Sand Nilsen from Differ, a startup that gives students a safe place to ask stupid questions, conversations to join, and peer mentors to talk to. Students are more stressed than ever. Loneliness, depression, and anxiety are key factors for lack of student engagement and university dropouts. 87% find it difficult to cope with their studies, 71% have or have had some kind of mental illness,  29% say they are lonely. In our conversation we cover how Geir and his startup got into this topic, how aiming for failure can help you reach your goals, and how entrepreneurs can deal with mental challenges to overcome challenges. I’m super excited to share this episode with you today, enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: PROBLEM - SOLUTION - FIT How they ended up identifying the real problem of their target audience What challenges they faced by working for someone who isn’t their customer MISTAKES Why trying to solve too many problems leads to nowhere STRUCTURES How to set up a good work structure and routine for your startup team and yourself MENTAL HEALTH The biggest challenges entrepreneurs face when it comes to mental health How you can deal with mental health issues IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode is part of our EXPERT SERIES, in which we interview experts in the startup and business ecosystem, like investors and lawyers. Today I’m excited to share with you an interview my partner and I did with David Hug, Managing Director at Ringier Digital Ventures, the corporate investment fund of the international media group Ringier. In our conversation we cover many of the questions we asked ourselves as founders when it comes to investors, like “what are the most important factors for investors to invest in our startup?”, “how many customers do we need to have before contacting investors?” and “if an investor is interested, what happens then?”. We loved sitting down with David and getting honest answers from an investment expert, which is why I’m super excited to share this episode with you today, enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: RINGIER DIGITAL VENTURES What kind of startups do they invest in At what stage they invest How they are helping these startups succeed DUE DILIGENCE How a due diligence process looks like How they check if Product - Solution - Fit & Product - Market - Fit are reached What the most important factors investors check before investing in a startup How much traction is necessary for an investment ADVICE FOR STARTUPS What’s the mistake he sees most often founders do, and how should they fix it How to approach investors and keep them interested in your startup IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Eric Laudet from Batmaid, a startup that lets you book trusted house cleaners in a blink of an eye. It enables households to book their hand-picked and declared cleaning professionals in less than 60 seconds for a one-off cleaning or with a particular frequency. Batmaid's business model creates jobs, fights against the black market and removes the hassle of hiring a maid on the client’s side. Last but not least, Batmaid is able to offer the lowest price for cleaning on the market while making sure the Batmaids remain the top-paid cleaners in Switzerland. In our conversation we cover the backstory of Batmaid and how it became to be what it is today, how the team managed to grow the platform in such a short amount of time, and we also dive into other exciting startup ideas that Eric is working on. I’m super excited to share this episode with you today, enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: THE BACKSTORY How Eric’s background led to him starting a startup How the beginnings of Batmaid looked like How Batmaid got their first customers How Batmaid decided to price its service GROWTH How the Batmaid team managed to grow the company in such a short period of time The biggest challenges growing the Batmaid marketplace Why the team started with cleaning, and what services are next in line GOTHAM COWORKING, SHAREX, BLOODX How Eric manages his time to work on multiple projects at once What the upsides and downsides of working on more than one project at a time are Recommended books: Antifragile from Nassim Taleb IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE   Other links: https://www.startupticker.ch/en/company/batmaid https://www.startupticker.ch/en/news/june-2018/investis-acquires-10-stake-in-batmaid

This episode brings us together with Andrea Girasole from Billte, a startup that offers and end-to-end invoicing software that lets them do your invoicing, while you run your business. In our conversation we cover how Andrea started out, how being part of an accelerator program helped him in the starting phase of his startup, how Billte acquires customers, and more. I’m super excited to share this episode with you today, enjoy! IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: PRODUCT - MARKET - FIT How did Andrea make it financially, timewise and emotionally possible to start with his project? How did he figure out that there is a real problem, who has this problem and what solution would solve the problem? How did Andrea get to his first customers? How did Andrea do the pricing? F10 ACCELERATOR How did Andrea’s experience in the F10 look like? How did the program help him in launching his venture? CUSTOMER ACQUISITION How does Billte acquire customers, and how long does that process take? What are the attributes customers want to see in Billte, for them to buy? B2B vs B2C What’s the attractive part about B2B? IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

Click here to buy your START SUMMIT ticket and get 20% off by using the promo code StartupStories@Summit This episode brings us together with Majbritt Byskov-Bridges from Alver, an startup that has developed and brought to market one of the healthiest, tastiest and most sustainable source of protein and nutrients on the planet, that in the future might very well replace most of the meat we consume today. Their innovation is a micro algae called Golden Chlorella, that compared to the traditional algae products you know, is not a pill with a bright green color and a strong smell - It’s golden and subtle in taste while still bursting with life essential nutrients. The startup aims to create food products that fit easily into your everyday life, boosted with Golden Chlorella, and they have already launched pasta, soups, sauces and many more delicious food on their website. Majbritt came from a corporate background working for big companies in different field, and is the startup COO. In our conversation Majbritt shared how it all started out, how the jump from working at a big company to working in a startup worked out for her, and much more. IF YOU LIKE THIS PODCAST, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: THE START How Alver got started and what problem it’s solving Why Alver can completely replace meat PROBLEM - SOLUTION FIT How the team tests that there are people with a problem / need for their product How the team acquired their first customers THE PRODUCT What makes Golden Chlorella such a good product for everyone Why people are buying Golden Chlorella FROM CORPORATE TO STARTUP The steps Majbritt took to go from employee to entrepreneur How Majbritt tackled the financial challenge, going from a salary to no salary How different the job of an entrepreneur is compared to the one of an employee Links/Weekly recommendation:   Greenpeace report on the impact of meat consumption on global warming   IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

This episode brings us together with Nicolas Burer and Matthias Zwingli from Digital Switzerland, an organisation that comprises more than 130 leading companies, organisations, academia and politics to achieve its mission to establish Switzerland as a leading European digital-innovation hub. Working with startups is an integral part of this mission which is why I was super excited to hear they would join us for an episode of our expert series. Nicolas Burer is the Managing Director of Digital Switzerland and Swiss Business Angel of the Year for 2018, and Matthias Zwingli connects startups, corporates, investors and hubs as a Startup Ecosystem Builder. In this compact half hour interview we covered questions on dealing with business angels, working with corporates and more. IF YOU LIKE THIS PODCAST, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. We covered the following topics: DIGITALSWITZERLAND What problem are you solving? What’s the purpose of your company? Who are your target customers and what do you offer them? What are cooperation possibilities between Startups, Corporates and Investors BUSINESS ANGELS, BOARD MEMBERS & ENTREPRENEURS At what point should a startup start to raise money from a business angel? What does it depend on? What should an early stage founder look for in a business angel? Can you tell us about the best example of a founder asking you for money? And also the worst example? CORPORATE INNOVATION What is your experience with cooperations between Startups and Corporates? What founders / startups should look for collaborations with corporates? And why? What type of person do you think should focus on working for an innovation department, and not building their own venture? Links/Weekly recommendation:   Zurück an die Arbeit by Lars Vollmer Scale ups made in Silicon Valley (we couldn’t find a link, if you do, please let us know)   IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE

“No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.”– Gnanli Landrou, founder of Oxara IF YOU LIKE THIS PODCAST, GIVE US A FIVE STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCAST. For today’s episode we have a chat with Gnanli Landrou, founder of Oxara (meaning ‘community’ in Kabiye). Oxara is a startup that uses construction waste, especially excavation material to build safe, affordable and sustainable housing. It is a low CO2, low-cost alternative for conventional concrete used in housing. Get ready to dive in as we discover Gnanli’s amazing life journey that led him to start Oxara. We also take a glimpse of Gnanli’s unwavering determination and his hopes for the future. We covered the following topics: GNANLI LANDROU How he left Togo at 14 and got his PhD by one of the top Universities in the world His amazing business principles and vision for Oxara The impact he wants to have with his startup, and what metric he will measure it by BUSINESS How he is planning to build a business around his technology Challenges a technological startup founder faces GO-TO-MARKET How Gnanli is acquiring first customers What the long-term vision for Oxara is Links/Weekly recommendation:   Simon Sinek’s books – Gnanli admires Simon who talks about leadership and forgetting about technology, in a sense, as he applies this to his own vision in building houses with his employees and the people that he works with. Jack Ma - Gnanli likes Jack in terms of how he structures his business to have a worldwide presence. The Lean Startup book – Gnanli recommends this book to help with your business canvas and understand all the intricacy of what it means. IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE THIS EPISODE, LET US KNOW HERE