- 43 minutes 43 secondsSME Succession as an Entrepreneurial Path: Lars Sager, ENEX (EP#573)
Timestamps:
00:24 – Buying a Business as a Founder Path
05:54 – Starting at One Instead of Zero
17:17 – Why Succession Deals Fall Apart
24:59 – The First 100 Days After the Deal
Episode description:Lars Sager is the co-founder of ENEX, a company helping ambitious entrepreneurs take over established SMEs and navigate the succession process. He grew up around a family business that goes back to 1882, later built and exited Contactify, and eventually found his way into one of Switzerland’s biggest entrepreneurial questions: who will take over the thousands of companies looking for a successor?
In this episode, Lars explains why starting from scratch is not the only way to become an entrepreneur. For some people, buying an existing business can be the better path. You are not beginning with a blank page. There is already a company there, with something banks can understand and a future owner can build on.
But succession is very different from the startup playbook. A new owner cannot just come in and break things. The first months are often more about earning trust than proving how much you can change. Lars also shares why bank financing is such a crucial part of the process, and how AI could make traditional SMEs more attractive for a new generation of entrepreneurs. For him, the real test is not whether the deal closes. It is whether the company is still alive and doing well ten years later.
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12 August 2026, 7:08 pm - 56 minutes 42 secondsScaling Deeptech Before the Market Is Ready: Mario Michan, Daphne Technology (EP#572)
Timestamps:
00:34 – What Daphne Technology Does
04:09 – From the Navy to Physics to Switzerland
12:41 – When the Original Business Model Disappeared
31:50 – Scaling Too Early
42:23 – The Catch With Strategic Investors
This episode is part of the Swisspreneur Scale-up Circle content, our curated community of Swiss Series A + founders and operators where you can get operator grade insight.Episode description:
Mario Michan is the founder of Daphne Technology, a Swiss deeptech company working on emissions reduction for hard-to-abate industries. The company started with a strong technology, but Mario quickly learned that building the product was only one part of the challenge. Scaling it meant dealing with slower sales cycles and financing pressure that does not wait politely in the background.
In this episode, Mario talks about the moments that shaped Daphne Technology’s growth, including a $6 million grant that went into limbo overnight. He also looks back on the decision to scale the team before the product was fully ready to sell. At the time, it made sense. Later, it became one of the lessons he would not forget.
The conversation gives a very honest look at industrial deeptech from the inside. Market interest can be high, but revenue can still take a long time to arrive. Strategic investors can help a lot, but they also bring their own dynamics when the company needs to pivot.
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Timestamps:
00:45 – Petter’s Journey Into Startups
14:29 – Bringing More Founder Energy to Europe
24:26 – Europe’s Next Big Opportunity
39:24 – The Cost of Founder Obsession
Episode description:Petter Made is a founder, operator and partner at EWOR. He has spent more than 25 years in payments, fintech and company building, including as part of the founding team behind SumUp. There, he helped build a simple idea into a global payments company used by millions of small businesses. Today, he is back at the very beginning of the founder journey, working with early-stage entrepreneurs at EWOR and helping them avoid some of the mistakes he made himself.
In this episode, Petter looks back at the early days of SumUp and explains why the first three years can shape so much of what comes after. He talks about why zero to one is still his favourite stage, why speed mattered so much at SumUp, and what it cost him personally to run at that pace. One of his biggest reflections is also one of the least glamorous: they might have built the company faster if they had slept more.
The conversation also turns to Europe’s place in the global startup race. Petter shares why he thinks European founders need to build with a bigger ambition from the start, and why American investors can sometimes create the kind of pressure the ecosystem needs. He also talks about why obsession can be such a powerful signal and what it will take for more global companies to be built from Europe.
Don’t forget to give us a follow on Instagram, Linkedin, TikTok, and Youtube 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.29 July 2026, 8:54 pm - 29 minutes 51 secondsMaking Living Nature Bankable: Rahel Guggenbühl, reilo (EP#570)
Timestamps:
02:12 – Rahel’s Journey to Reilo
05:09 – Why Farmers Need Finance
07:53 – How Reilo Works
17:08 – Building Across Different Markets
Episode description:
Rahel Guggenbühl is the Founder and CEO of reilo, a Swiss climate fintech working at the intersection of smallholder finance, nature-based solutions and carbon markets. Her path into entrepreneurship started on the ground, first in Kenya and Tanzania, where she saw how many smallholder farmers were locked out of financial systems despite owning land and stewarding forests with real ecological value.
In this episode, Rahel explains how reilo is trying to make living nature bankable. The company works with farmer groups in places like Tanzania and Brazil, turning future revenue from nature-based carbon projects into collateral that banks can understand. In Brazil, that means working with açaí farmers to turn bio-waste into biochar, creating new revenue potential while strengthening the position of local cooperatives.
The conversation also gets into what it means to build in markets that work very differently from Switzerland. Rahel explains why trust has to be earned before the solution can work, and why the way you explain an idea can shape the whole project. That becomes especially clear when she talks about Tanzania, where even a word like “biodiversity” does not translate directly. For her, building reilo is as much about listening and adapting as it is about creating the financial infrastructure behind it.
This episode is presented in partnership with Swissnex in Brazil. Swissnex connects Switzerland with some of the world’s leading innovation hubs and helps Swiss startups expand internationally. In Brazil, Swissnex helps ventures identify opportunities, build strategic collaborations, and engage with Latin America's vibrant innovation landscape, with a focus on climate, nature-based solutions, the bioeconomy, clean energy, and beyond. Explore their work through the link above.
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22 July 2026, 10:56 pm - 45 minutes 48 secondsThe Success Formula Behind 20 Years of Entrepreneurship: Jann Tadorian, Entrepreneur & Investor (EP#569)
Timestamps:
02:24 – Becoming an entrepreneur
07:02 – Are founders born or made?
17:05 – Lessons from football
28:48 – Why domain expertise matters
35:05 – Luck, timing and success
This episode was co-produced by EO Zürich. Check out their upcoming event, Entrepreneurs Summit 2026.Jann Tadorian is an entrepreneur, investor, board member, Founder and CEO of Inplenion, Co-Founder of Solantic Group, and President and Co-Founder of CPM Partners. Over more than 20 years, he has built companies across markets, most recently helping grow CPM Partners internationally before DPE acquired a majority stake in the company in 2025.
In this episode, Jann breaks down what actually makes entrepreneurship work, and it’s not one big trait. It starts with knowing your field well. Then comes the harder part: staying in the game long enough to get good, learning constantly, and accepting that timing can still shape the outcome. He also talks about what separates good founders from exceptional ones, and why perseverance only really means something when success is far from guaranteed.
We also get into the shift from founder to leader and what it takes to build a company that doesn’t depend on you for every decision. Jann brings in lessons from professional football, including how one weak performance can affect an entire team. He also talks about what changes after an exit, once money is no longer the main reason to keep going.
Don’t forget to give us a follow on Instagram, Linkedin, TikTok, and Youtube 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.15 July 2026, 7:55 pm - 44 minutes 39 secondsUnderwater Robots From a Country Without a Sea: Jonas Wüst, Tethys Robotics (EP#568)
Timestamps:
07:09 – Building a Startup With Seven Co-Founders
19:02 – Where Underwater Robots Create Value
26:16 – Why Zurich Works for Robotics
39:57 – Scaling Tethys Beyond Switzerland
Episode description:
Jonas Wüst is the CEO and Co-founder of Tethys Robotics, an ETH Zurich spin-off building robots for difficult underwater environments. The company started as a student project and has since grown into a startup working on missions where visibility is poor, currents are strong, and sending people underwater can be risky or expensive.
In this episode, Jonas shares what it was like to build the company with six other co-founders who had already worked together for years. He talks about why that unusual setup became a strength, how his role changed when he became CEO, and why Tethys decided to put more intelligence directly into the robot instead of using it only as a tool for collecting data.
We also get into what it takes to build a robotics company from Switzerland. Jonas explains how grants helped the team get through the early stages, why investor relationships need to start well before a funding round, and where the financing gets harder as deeptech companies grow. He also shares why Zurich still makes sense as a base, even without direct access to the sea.
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8 July 2026, 8:37 pm - 1 hour 10 minutesFrom Launch to a Landmark Exit to Mistral in 18 Months: Dennis Just, Emmi AI (EP#567)
Timestamps:
09:16 - How Emmi AI Reached an Exit in 18 Months
18:01 - Why They Raised €15M After Becoming Profitable
25:25 - Why Mistral Was the Right Buyer
46:49 - Can Europe Win in Industrial AI?
Episode description:Dennis Just co-founded Emmi AI and served as its CEO, building an industrial AI company focused on complex engineering problems. Around 18 months after launch, Emmi AI was acquired by Mistral AI, where Dennis now serves as VP Manufacturing Solutions. Before Emmi AI, he had already founded several companies, including Knip and Smallpdf, and was closely involved in the Swiss startup ecosystem.
In this episode, Dennis explains how the company grew around research rather than a traditional sales setup. Publishing strong technical work brought major industrial companies to them, while the €15 million seed round gave the team room to keep investing in the technology without making every decision around runway. He also takes us behind the acquisition and shares why Emmi AI chose Mistral despite having other offers on the table.
The conversation then zooms out to Europe’s place in the AI race. Dennis explains why he sees industrial AI as one of the continent’s strongest opportunities, what Europe still needs to get right, and why this deal feels more like the start of a new chapter than the end of the journey.
The cover portrait was edited by www.smartportrait.io.Don’t forget to give us a follow on Instagram, Linkedin, TikTok, and Youtube 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.
2 July 2026, 12:03 am - 51 minutes 14 secondsCan Switzerland Stay Relevant in the AI Race?: Laurent Decrue & Sophie Lamparter (EP #566)
In this Swisspreneur Briefing, Sophie Lamparter, Founding Partner at Vitamin°C, and Laurent Decrue, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Holycode, join Silvan to discuss what the latest developments in AI and funding mean for Swiss founders.
They look at Europe’s dependence on American and Chinese AI models, why investors are becoming more cautious, and what falling seed investment could mean for the next generation of startups. The conversation also explores whether Switzerland could use its strengths in data security, deep tech, and infrastructure to build a more relevant position in the AI economy.
The episode comes back to a familiar challenge: Switzerland has the talent, research, capital, and technology. What it still struggles with is turning that potential into companies that grow at global scale.
The cover portrait was edited by www.smartportrait.io.
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28 June 2026, 9:55 pm - 34 minutes 32 secondsFixing DNA Like a Typo: Vincent Forster, Nerai (EP#565)
Timestamps:
1:44 - Why Founders Build Again
4:20 - Turning Tech Into a Product
14:58 - How Founders Choose Focus
21:16 - From Hype to Real Execution
This episode was co-produced with KickFund, a VC fund investing in the most promising Swiss deeptech startups.
Episode description:
Vincent Forster is the CEO and Co-founder of Nerai, a Swiss biotech developing a new generation of more precise and scalable genome-editing tools for rare genetic diseases. Before starting Nerai, Vincent founded and led Versantis, which was acquired by GENFIT in 2022. Now a second-time founder, he is applying what he learned from turning scientific innovation into real medical products to a new mission: making sure no genetic disease is considered too rare to treat.
In this episode, we discuss why a breakthrough technology is only the beginning, and why execution and translation are what ultimately turn science into patient impact. Vincent explains how Nerai is building a platform rather than a single treatment, using AI and high-throughput protein engineering to create genome editors that can be adapted across multiple rare diseases.
We also explore how biotech founders can manage long development timelines, choose where to focus when their technology has many potential applications, and build a capital-efficient model around partnerships, reusable technology, and regulatory alignment.
Don’t forget to give us a follow on Instagram, Linkedin, TikTok, and Youtube 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.24 June 2026, 4:14 pm - 42 minutes 6 secondsSwiss Startups Need to Think Bigger: Amberg Loglay CEO Yvette Körber (EP#564)
Timestamps:
5:22 - The opportunity identification
17:49 - Transitioning into a Scale-up
24:31 - How AI is impacting logistics
35-14 - The Swiss scalling problem
This episode is part of the Swisspreneur Scale-up Circle content, our curated community of Swiss Series A + founders and operators where you can get operator grade insight.
Episode summary:
Yvette Körber is the CEO and Co-Founder of Amberg Loglay, a Swiss construction logistics technology company helping some of the country's largest construction projects become more efficient through planning, software, data analytics and AI. Amberg Loglay supports complex projects such as hospitals, laboratories and large-scale developments, while expanding from a services business into a scalable software and data platform.
In this episode, Yvette shares why some of the biggest startup opportunities are hidden inside traditional industries, how founders can use consulting and services to bootstrap and validate software businesses, and why Swiss startups need to think more internationally if they want to become global category leaders. She also discusses building a company in a market that first needed to be educated, the challenge of scaling from services to software, and how AI is reshaping construction and enterprise workflows.
Beyond business, the conversation explores the mindset shift from corporate leader to entrepreneur, the realities of driving change in an industry resistant to transformation, and what Switzerland can learn from more internationally connected startup ecosystems. Yvette reflects on the importance of international networks, confidence in global markets, and why entrepreneurship remains one of Switzerland's most important tools for maintaining its competitiveness in the future.
The cover portrait was edited by www.smartportrait.io.
Don’t forget to give us a follow on Instagram, Linkedin, TikTok, and Youtube 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.
18 June 2026, 8:16 am - 1 hour 1 minuteHow Founders Build Boards That Work: Marc Stöckli (EP#563)
Timestamps:
08:55 - When to Form a Board
14:53 - Choosing the Right Board Members
20:46 - Working Effectively with Your Board
46:52 - Scaling the Board with Company Growth
Episode description:Marc Stockli is an entrepreneur, investor, board member, and author of Make Boards Work. Over the course of his career, he has built companies, advised founders, invested in startups, and served on numerous boards across Europe. In this episode, he shares what separates boards that create real value from those that become a mere governance exercise, drawing on decades of experience helping founders, investors, and executives navigate growth, fundraising, and leadership.
We discuss how founders should think about building their board from day one, why the best investors advocate for independent board chairs earlier than most founders expect, and how boards can provide meaningful support and challenge rather than simply oversee management. Mark also explains why board composition should evolve as startups scale, how to choose the right people for each stage of growth, and why shorter board tenures can often lead to better outcomes.
Beyond governance, we explore the human side of effective boards. Mark shares why trust functions like a bank account that must be built before a crisis, how a simple icebreaker exercise helped prevent a boardroom conflict from escalating, and what founders can learn about leadership from his experiences in the Swiss Army. We also discuss ego in the boardroom, psychological safety, and why the best board discussions are often the most uncomfortable ones.
The cover portrait was edited by www.smartportrait.io.Don’t forget to give us a follow on Instagram, Linkedin, TikTok, and Youtube 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.
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