Mike Baur: Looking back over three years of experience with SSUF, is there anything that you would do differently if you were to go back and start again?

Max Meister: That is a difficult question. I think that we actually got a lot right the first time around. I would probably invest more time in investigating founders’ motivation to get a better picture of whether or not someone is capable of successfully building up a startup. This is something that we underestimated at the beginning.

Why did you decide to be a co-founder of SSUF?

Having spent years in consulting and subsequently being a startup founder myself, I felt the desire to go back to those kinds of activities. I am passionate about working with, coaching and advising founders. I am also convinced that there was a market gap for SSUF to fill.

What has been your biggest disappointment since starting SSUF?

The Swiss startup ecosystem is quite rigid. On the one hand that can be a strength. However, it can also be dangerous. Often having the best solution is not enough. It tends to be your network that is decisive. I think that this is one of the weaknesses of our ecosystem.

What do you view as SSUF’s biggest success?

We have been able to help some strong founders and exciting startups towards a breakthrough and have achieved a lot in relatively short time. SSUF is also well-known both in Switzerland and internationally. I just need to have a look at our startup applications to see that.

What is a typical day for the CEO of SSUF?

I try to spend a lot of time with our accelerator and portfolio startups. I meet with lots of young entrepreneurs and have meetings with our partners throughout the day. I try to take care of the startup analysis work during down time. In our job market research is very important which is why I spend two to three hours per day with our analysts discussing current cases.

MIKE BAUR (EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN SWISS STARTUP GROUP)
MAX MEISTER (CEO SWISS STARTUP FACTORY)

How do you deal with the challenges of being a fully privately funded startup accelerator?

This can be quite difficult as we are unable to fall back onto deficit guarantees. Our founding partners all agreed to finance the first two years ourselves and did not draw any salaries over that period. We were successful in getting Swiss entrepreneurs to support the Swiss Startup Factory financially, which was obviously a big help. Defining an accelerators business is everything besides trivial. In the short term we cannot only live off of the sale of shares in startups, but need to deliver a balanced result as an accelerator. We were successful in doing this.

How did the accelerator program change from batch 1 to 3?

The program has become considerably slimmer. We have adopted the motto less is more. Startups are mostly interested in specialists who can offer tailored solutions. Standardisation does not offer all the solutions in the batch, as the startups often have different needs. Something that has changed is the quantity and quality of applications. At the moment we are receiving over 2500 applications per year, more than half of which come from abroad. While the quality of the average case has not necessarily risen, the quality of the top 15% certainly has.

What is the competition like on the Swiss incubator and accelerator market?

It is fierce. Not necessarily in terms of the number of programs, but certainly in terms of the conditions. On paper, subsidised programmes which do not request equity and can even distribute financial contributions can seem very appealing to founders. There are quite a few of these programmes in Switzerland these days.

SSUF’s claim is ‘Where innovation meets execution’ – can you explain what this means?

You should be familiar with it, after all they are your words. In principle, this quote is a reference to the fact that we have a great amount of innovation in Switzerland, but lack the ability to implement it. Other countries – for example Israel or Sweden – are way ahead of us in this respect. This is why we have such a strong focus on the issue of execution and train founders in this area in particular.

What are the key parameters that you consider when evaluating a startup project?

Classic considerations: market, product, team. One of the most important things is to not be looking at the whole market, but rather at the maximal size of the accessible market. Lots of startups make this mistake. As a result, their actual market is much smaller than they assumed. When it comes to the product, differentiation and protection (IP) are important and when it comes to the team, we look for complementary skills and personalities, training and resilience – although I note that the latter is hard to test.

What kinds of differences do you see between a team of Swiss founders and foreign teams?

It depends on where the foreign team is from. There are some enormous differences between Switzerland and the US for example. Swiss people are very honest, are often too modest and are known for being quite defensive. Americans, on the other hand, come across as confident and successful long before they are anywhere near having a finished product. We call it “moon shooting”. Some sceptics might call it “faking it until you make it”. These differences become very apparent during pitches.

Where will SSUF be in three to five years?

I believe that the SSUF will be a fixture of the Swiss startup ecosystem. We will see some exciting startups come out of SSUF. We will also be able to rise to international prominence.

What is your takeaway message for a team of new founders?

Firstly: undertake a good analysis of the market before starting (side note: there are countless founders who definitely would not have started their business if they had carried out a good analysis beforehand). Secondly: dedicate the first five years to whipping your startup into shape. Thirdly: never stop!