Learning from unicorn founders, experienced angel investors and insiders

Talent Kick and Swisspreneur: Founders Agreement Masterclass

The masterclass focusses on the Founders Agreement, a framework based on the experiences of entrepreneurs who have raised millions and scaled their companies to hundreds of employees. It shows how to align with co-founders on roles, equity, commitment, and vision. In six lessons, this masterclass covers essential discussions to build a solid foundation for a startup. Instructors are Melanie Gabriel, co-founder and former CMO of Yokoy, Christof Roduner, co-founder and currently VP Engineering & CIO of Scandit, and Viviana Gropengiesser, CEO of Talent Kick.

SICTIC: angel investor assistant

SICTIC has launched its free smart angel investor assistant that knows all the best practices described in the 252 page "Swiss Angel Investor Handbook". It's useful for startup founders as well as novice angel investors and allows to ask the questions about the topics that are most relevant to you when you have them. Based on ChatGPT 4.0-mini, the assistant speaks German, French and Spanish besides English. 

EU VC: IMD’s Jim Pulcrano on Educating LPs and Demystifying the Venture Mindset

Jim shares how his early startup experience in Switzerland pulled him into the orbit of venture capital back when the ecosystem was still in its infancy. He talks about creating IMD’s VC Asset Management Program, which aims to give LPs a crash course in venture, teaching them both the appeal and the real difficulty of being a GP. Jim also shares what he’s learned running IMD’s startup competition and Swiss scale-up programs. He shares insights from his research into VC behaviour, like why less experienced investors are often eager to lead rounds while mid-career ones take a backseat. He explains why experienced GPs tend to source proactively and why most avoid relying too much on HR assessments when evaluating founders.

Vincent Bieri: The Chaos Behind the Glamour of Unicorns

As co-founder of the Swiss unicorn Nexthink, Vincent Bieri has first-hand knowledge of the challenges of building a disruptive company. In the article, he explains why success is built on resilience and not on perfection, why start-ups run on ‘Oh crap’ moments and which three essential games start-ups must win.

(Stefan Kyora)