Swisspreneur Show
Swisspreneur
Recent Episodes
Timestamps:
3:05 - From burning out from the 9-5 to becoming an entrepreneur
8:33 - Scaling properti to an industry leader in 5 years
14:00 - How Levent’s role shifted throughout properti’s growth
22:11 - What’s next for properti
This episode was sponsored by infinity.swiss, Switzerland’s most advanced AI accounting tool. Save 25% by entering code SWISSPRENEUR at checkout.
Episode Summary:
In our second Swisspreneur Documentary series we sit down with Levent Künzi, Co-Founder and CEO of properti, to explore his journey from burnout to building one of Switzerland’s fastest-growing proptech companies. What started as a frustration with outdated industry norms became a mission to simplify real estate, automate transactions, and create a platform-driven brokerage model built around efficiency and customer experience.
Throughout the episode, Levent opens up about the reality of scaling: How the solution isn’t necessarily increasing headcount, why you should hire slow (with a big focus on cultural fit and decide fast if they’re a match or not), and leveraging automations in the age of AI. He shares how properti reinvested early revenue, built a clear playbook, and shifted from a transaction focus to creating a full on platform to support every need.
We also dive into the mindset evolution behind going from founder-operator to scale-up CEO. Levent reflects on identity and personal sustainability: moving from hustle mode to strategic leadership, why scaling the company required him to first scale himself, and how he surrounds himself with the right board members and investors to help him through struggles and challenging decisions.
Whether you're bootstrapping, fundraising, or transitioning into scale-mode, Levent’s story offers grounded lessons, tactical frameworks, and radical honesty about what it takes to build a category-defining company in Switzerland (and beyond).
This video was produced by: DANGVIDEOS
Cover portrait by smartportrait.
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Timestamps:
2:23 - The story behind Google Clouds Founder Story
8:45 - Uber’s pre-IPO hypergrowth
25:19 - Is Switzerland Good at Adopting AI?
44:29 - How Swiss founders can expand into the US
This episode was sponsored by Google Cloud. Join their The Founder's Story event on December 4th to hear an exclusive panel discussion with visionary leaders sharing what it takes to go from building companies to funding them.
Episode Summary:
In this episode, Google Cloud leaders Hans Tran, Industry Lead for Digital Native Startups, and Chris Craig, ISV Partner Manager, share their insights from working with founders across Switzerland and globally. Hans is the creator of Google Cloud’s Founder Stories series and holds a Masters in Digital Marketing Strategy from Trinity College Dublin. Chris brings operational and scaling experience from his years at Uber during its pre-IPO hyper-growth phase and holds an MBA from HSG.
They discuss the current state of the Swiss startup ecosystem, from founder mindset and scaling patterns to the evolving fundraising climate. The conversation explores how Switzerland compares to major innovation hubs and what unique advantages founders can leverage: including deep tech talent, AI readiness, and a rapidly maturing support system.
The discussion also goes deep on cultural dynamics and how Swiss founders need to move faster, take risks earlier, and embrace iteration over perfection. Chris shares raw lessons from building at Uber, why focus determines survival, and why you need to stand for your ideas. Hans reflects on how community-driven founders are changing how startups launch, test, and scale in Switzerland.
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.
Timestamps:
4:58 - Diversity in tech: challenges and opportunities
6:08 - Recruiting challenges in tech
13:00 - Supporting girls in STEM
This episode was sponsored by Google Cloud. Join their Founder's Story event on December 4th to hear an exclusive panel discussion with visionary leaders sharing what it takes to go from building companies to funding them. Link is in the bio! This episode was originally a live conversation recorded at the SEF.Growth Founders Conference back in June 2025.
Episode Summary:
Beat Knecht is the co-founder and CEO of the TV streaming provider Zattoo, and a general partner at the VC fund REALR. She also founded Genistat and Levuro. Bea holds a BA in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Carla Bünger is the co-founder of Phoenix Technologies, a tech cluster that drives the AI landscape through its sovereign hyper-secure IT infrastructure (kvant Cloud) and its SaaS solutions in frontier technologies. She also co-founded KORE Technologies Switzerland. Carla holds an MA in International Relations from the Geneva Graduate Institute.
Sandra Trittin is the co-founder and CGO of beebop.ai, a power grid orchestration software which unlocks grid flexibility within consumer devices, turning it into a valuable, tradable asset. She also founded Futurize Energy. Sandra holds an MBA from Mannheim Business School.
During their chat with Silvan, our 3 guests discussed the current representation of women in tech in the Western world. Women are significantly underrepresented in tech, especially in leadership roles (e.g., only 22% of AI professionals in Switzerland are women). They face career obstacles such as stereotypes, biases, and societal filters that hinder their progress.
Diverse teams drive innovation, but the tech industry often overlooks this potential. To improve gender representation, proactive efforts are needed, including:
Encouraging risk-taking (critical for startups and leadership).
Building support systems (mentorship, peer networks).
Fostering STEM environments for girls to ensure future diversity.
Addressing unconscious biases in hiring and promotions.
Ultimately, empowering women in tech requires systemic change, from education to workplace culture, to unlock their full potential and drive long-term progress.
📸 The cover portrait was edited by @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.
Timestamps:
3:30 - Identifying a market gap in legal tech
10:06 - What is “smart money” after all?
16:22 - How do you go from researcher to CEO?
25:55 - The biggest risk for every scaleup
36:20 - Is Switzerland a hotbed for AI?
This episode was co-produced by SICTIC, the leading angel investor network in Switzerland.
This episode was sponsored by Relai. Get started with Bitcoin by downloading the Relai app today, and profit from 10% less fees by entering code SWISSPRENEUR at checkout.
(Disclaimer: Relai services are exclusively recommended for Swiss and Italian residents.)
Click here to order your copy of “Swiss Startups” today.
Episode Description:
Thomas Dübendorfer is the founder and president of SICTIC, the leading angel investor network in Switzerland. He’s also a cybersecurity expert and serial entrepreneur, holding board seats at Frontify and several other startups.
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, and started her company in 2021, directly after completing her studies.
Founded by ex-Google search engineers and legaltech veterans, DeepJudge reimagines how firms access and use their internal knowledge, unlocking the full breadth of data and depth of documents to improve all areas of a lawyer’s business. It enables you to build entire AI applications, encapsulate multi-step workflows, and implement LLM agents.
SICTIC is one of DeepJudge’s investors. During his chat with Merle and Paulina, SICTIC president Thomas Dübendorfer shared how he assesses startup teams:
Does the founder really understand what the journey of a startup is?
Can the startup team evolve to meet changing demands?
Does the team believe what they’re selling?
Are they aware that they’ll have to overcome several difficulties in the coming years?
Are they all moving in the same direction, working to achieve the same mission?
Thomas also takes care to assess companies from an ethical standpoint, especially when the tech has dual use. For instance, drones can be used for rescue missions or to bring food or medicine, but they can also be used to transport weapons. In cases like these, it’s crucial to confront the founders with the most problematic possibilities upfront.
Thomas is confident in Switzerland’s AI future: all the experts are here, across a very broad range of industries, and, when it comes to AI specifically, Switzerland can already count on several research institutions making great strides - like the ETH AI Center, the Swiss National Institute, and the Swiss National SuperComputing Center.
The cover portrait was edited by Smartportrait.
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.
Timestamps:
6:38 The birth of Cradle
21:36 Convincing Skeptics and Finding Product-Market Fit
28:29 Raising Capital and Choosing the Right VCs
35:21 Europe’s missed opportunities (and how to fix them)
Episode Summary:
Stef Van Grieken, CEO and Co-founder of Cradle, the AI biotech startup helping scientists design better proteins in record time and pioneering the intersection of AI and biology, re-imagining how humans create life-changing molecules. Stef holds a MSc in Industrial Engineering from the University of Groningen .
In this episode, Stef shares his journey from policy activism and Silicon Valley engineering to founding one of Europe’s most ambitious deep-tech companies. We discuss how Cradle turned AI models into a tool for biologists, the hard early days when investors said “this is impossible,” and why the team literally paid its first customers to prove value before revenue followed.
Stef also opens up about raising over $100 million, the three hypothesis you need to prove to create a disruptive startup (feasibility, value, monetization), navigating the gap between US and European venture cultures, and why Switzerland has everything needed to lead Europe’s next innovation wave.
This episode was sponsored by infinity.swiss, Switzerland’s most advanced AI accounting tool. Save 25% by entering code SWISSPRENEUR at checkout.
The cover portrait was edited by Smartportrait.
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.