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Swisspreneur Show
Swisspreneur
Recent Episodes
Timestamps:
7:51 - Why is entrepreneurship a lonely journey?
13:55 - Comradeship in entrepreneurship
15:04 - Is post-exit depression a thing?
23:56 - Thinking about the meaning of life
26:23 - The social responsibility of founders
This episode was co-produced with EO Zürich. Check out their upcoming event, Entrepreneurs Summit 2025.
Click here to check out our free Founders Agreement masterclass, with Melanie Gabriel from Yokoy, Christof Roduner from Scandit, and Viviana Gropengiesser from Talent Kick.
About Ronnie Zemp:
Ronnie Zemp is a serial entrepreneur, startup investor and the current president of EO Zurich. He holds an MBA from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Throughout his career, he has (co-)founded the following companies: RZ Capital AG, bitConsult, notime AG (exited to Swiss Post), OSUISSE AG, RZ Real Estate GmbH, and Tears of Bacchus AG.
During his chat with Silvan, Ronnie talked about the most difficult aspects of being a startup founder. He stressed the loneliness of being an entrepreneur: when you’re your own boss, you’re the ultimate decision marker, responsible for hundreds of employees, and this can really cause quite a bit of anxiety, and even insomnia. When Ronnie sold notime to Swiss Post, he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He credits EO for relieving this sense of loneliness by introducing him to many people who have walked the same path.
Ronnie also warned founders not to see exits as the end-all, be-all of entrepreneurship. They happen, sometimes, yes, but not always, and building a cash-generating company that pays dividends is also a great (or perhaps an even better) goal for which to strive.
Ronnie feels it’s natural for founders to require a long time after an exit to be ready to build a startup again, not only because at that point they can financially afford to be picky, but also because having achieved a successful exit makes them wary of damaging their reputation. There’s also a point to be made about how age makes people more risk-averse.
Ronnie’s life was made more complicated by the fact that he lost 4 very close people within the span of 3 months, which really made him reflect about who he is and what he thinks is the meaning of life. Due to all his success, Ronnie feels a social responsibility to give back: he has financed the university studies of several students from abroad, and has spent a great deal of time supporting those closest to him, namely the daughter of his best friend, who was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 16 years old.
The cover portrait was edited by www.smartportrait.io
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:
8:01 - What drew Brynne to entrepreneurship
15:10 - Brynne’s political debut
24:12 - What’s a smart society?
27:05 - Measuring growth as a VC
43:25 - How can you find the right co-founders?
This episode was produced in collaboration with startup days, taking place this year on May 14th 2025. Click here to purchase your ticket.
Click here to check out our free Founders Agreement masterclass, with Melanie Gabriel from Yokoy, Christof Roduner from Scandit, and Viviana Gropengiesser from Talent Kick.
About Brynne Kennedy:
Brynne Kennedy is the co-founder and managing partner of Smart Society Ventures, a decarbonization and energy tech investment firm striving to accelerate net zero. She holds an MBA from London Business School, and founded and successfully exited Topia, a company providing technology solutions to manage all forms of employee movement and work location flexibility.
After stepping down from her CEO role at Topia in 2019, Brynne had a brief stint in American politics, running for US Congress in California's 4th Congressional District. She was not elected, and nowadays she’s able to look back with gratitude at that turn of events, considering the current political climate in the US. In 2023 she co-founded Smart Society Ventures, and began her career as a VC in the climate tech space.
Smart Society Ventures strives to build a “smart society” (as the name would indicate), which they define as a society enabled by tech and data to achieve better outcomes and do more with less. Brynne is extremely committed to creating the societal impetus necessary to successfully manage the energy transition. She also co-hosts The Smart Society Show with Former MP and UK Energy Minister Chris Skidmore, where they discuss climate news and scaleups.
Timestamps:
12:48 - Anyone can have a mental health crisis
26:30 - Creating trust in a mental health tool
29:12 - How to measure mental health
35:48 - Realizing you don’t want to work with a client
40:43 - Earning the SEF.Growth High Potential Label
This episode was co-produced with SEF.Growth, the Swiss Economic Forum's Growth initiative to support Swiss startups and SMEs with growth plans free of charge.
Click here to check out our free Founders Agreement masterclass, with Melanie Gabriel from Yokoy, Christof Roduner from Scandit, and Viviana Gropengiesser from Talent Kick.
About Vlad Gheorghiu:
Vlad Gheorghiu is the co-founder and CEO of Kyan Health, an AI-powered enterprise solution that connects employee well-being with measurable business impact. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and worked for Stryker and McKinsey before starting Kyan Health in 2021.
Vlad’s interest in the topic of mental health and wellness came about as the result of a crisis he himself had during his time at McKinsey. After experiencing a panic attack, he sought medical care and took 4 weeks off work. When he returned, he decided to film a short video explaining what had happened to him, which he shared with coworkers who inquired about his absence. The video went viral within the organization and Vlad was then asked to create an employee wellbeing program, which would later become the blueprint for Kyan Health.
Using predictive analytics, Kyan helps companies monitor and reduce risks like absenteeism, turnover, and presenteeism. Notable clients like Hitachi Energy, Hilti, STADA, Deutsche Börse Group, and On have already seen tangible results. Vlad and his team have worked hard to make their tool a trustworthy source of help for employees around the globe, not only by making the app GDPR-compliant but also by making every profile completely anonymous. This ensures employee cooperation and also allows Kyan Health to still derive insights at an organizational level.
Kyan Health was recently awarded the High Potential Label by SEF.Growth.
Resources Mentioned:
The cover portrait was edited by www.smartportrait.io
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:
2:29 - How Sami became interested in cinema
11:15 - How to define visions and impact
22:55 - What can Largo.AI actually do?
27:55 - Does AI kill creativity?
53:23 - Largo.AI’s plans for the near future
This episode was co-produced by SICTIC, the leading angel investor network in Switzerland.
Click here to check out our free Founders Agreement masterclass, with Melanie Gabriel from Yokoy, Christof Roduner from Scandit, and Viviana Gropengiesser from Talent Kick.
About Sami Arpa & Yunus Erduran:
Sami Arpa is the CEO and founder of Largo.AI, a startup providing next-generation storytelling tools for the audiovisual industry using artificial intelligence. He holds a PhD in Computational Aesthetics from EPFL and was also the co-founder of Sofy.tv, a short film streaming service later acquired by Cosmoblue.
Yunus Erduran is a founder and documentary filmmaker, and one of the first investors of Largo.AI. He holds a BA in Economics from Boğaziçi University (Turkey) and is currently active as Executive Partner at Eğlenceli Bilim, a company offering curriculum-compliant science programs to all educational institutions in Turkey. He’s also the podcast producer and host of arastirmaca, together with his co-host Müge Bakioğlu.
Largo has developed data-assisted intelligence which can be introduced early in the life of a film project, right from script choice and development, through filming, post-production and theatrical release. Largo empowers production companies with data-enhanced ROI uplift and reduction of risk.
Their AI models were trained with 400K+ movies/TV shows, 250K+ commercials, 950K+ talents. Largo’s clients are usually producers and studios (on the film side) and agencies and brands (on the advertising side).
Timestamps:
6:54 - An investor generating returns for their LP
8:22 - The Swiss startup ecosystem is 18 years old
12:09 - Does big data drive innovation?
19:20 - What if you don’t perform as promised?
21:25 - Dealing with FINMA regulations as a VC
Click here to check out our free Founders Agreement masterclass, with Melanie Gabriel from Yokoy, Christof Roduner from Scandit, and Viviana Gropengiesser from Talent Kick.
About Andrea Silberschmidt-Buhofer, Teddy Amberg, David Hug & Tanvi Singh:
Andrea Silberschmidt-Buhofer is the general partner at EquityPitcher Ventures, an early-growth VC firm that focuses on B2B tech startups, and the vice-president of FEM'UP SWITZERLAND. She holds a MSc in Entrepreneurship from the UCL School of Management and is also a startup coach at Venturelab.
Teddy Amberg is the founding partner at Spicehaus Partners, a VC fund that focuses on seed and early stage Swiss tech companies. He holds an MA in Banking and Finance from HSG and worked at Partners Group and CreditGate24 before founding Spicehaus Partners in 2018.
David Hug is the co-founder of Marcau Partners, an investment manager managing Ringier Digital Ventures and Lightbird Ventures AG. He holds a MSc in Entrepreneurial Management from the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Chur and worked at btov Partners and Zürcher Kantonalbank before becoming a VC in 2015.
Tanvi Singh is the founding partner at Nirmata-ai Ventures, a VC fund focusing on AI-driven investments for a sustainable future. She holds a Master’s degree from UZH and worked for banks like Credit Suisse and UBS before founding Nirmata in 2024.
During their chat with our co-host Merle, these 4 VCs shared their best practices for managing a fund. Their tips included:
Being proactive in including your LPs in your fund’s journey by giving them co-investment opportunities and full access to your data room;
Not shortcutting when it comes to compliance and regulatory demands (or you will regret it!);
Underpromising and overdelivering when it comes to the goals you communicate to your LPs, and being transparent with them when something goes wrong, so as to ensure that trust is never broken;
Sticking to your portfolio companies both in good times and in bad — the startup journey is rocky, and your investments need your help!
The cover portrait was edited by www.smartportrait.io
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.