You became an entrepreneur at the young age of 20 years. How did that start?
During my work with an insurance broker I teamed up with Olivier Kofler in order to develop a software tool for a larger retirement home group for the settlement of claims with the insurance companies and we started iBrows. We bootstrapped the company, which developed into a web agency and app developer. Over time, the company grew to more than 50 employees and was sold to PwC, where it became the PwC experience center.

The more prominent exit you’ve done is Bexio, which is the most successful Swiss accounting software. How was the founding of Bexio connected to your first company?
We experienced the challenges of invoicing and customer management ourselves. Since we didn’t find a convincing solution at that time, we started to develop the software as a side project. At one point, Jeremias Meier and I decided to spin this product which was then called EasySys out of iBrows. We chose Software-as-a-Service as the business model and sold licenses to SMEs for less than CHF 50 per month. This is, of course, a completely different business model than project business and consulting in an agency, because it is highly scalable. We financed the new company with experienced business angels.

In 2018, Bexio was sold to Mobiliar. What are your lessons from the exit?
I wasn’t so much involved in the exit talks, which were conducted by the CEO Jeremias and the board. For me, the topic isn’t really that relevant. Founders that talk about an exit from day one are doing it wrong. They should concentrate on building a great product and acquiring customers. It’s a bad thing that the startup hype has led young people to dream about getting rich quickly by founding a startup and flipping rapidly. When we founded our first business, we didn’t even know what an exit was. We wanted to solve problems and help customers to implement their ideas in projects.

How much has the Swiss startup scene changed since the early 2000s?
It has become much bigger and more professional. A lot of support programs and awards have appeared, and networks such as Verve Ventures have gained traction. It is easier for founders today to start their business, they are better informed and access to capital has become a lot better. From an investor perspective, however, the challenge to get access to the best opportunities remains, because there aren’t necessarily that many more exceptional founders.

What did you do after the exit?
I left Bexio and traveled for about half a year, mostly in South America and New Zealand. It was an enjoyable time after several intensive years of entrepreneurship. For me it was not so difficult to let go of the company, once you finance your start-up with venture capital, you have to be aware that an exit is usually the goal.

And what are you doing now?
I’m active with the VC fund Spark Invest that was launched in 2019 by the first two investors in Bexio, Martin Altorfer and Philippe Bubb. Spark invest led GUURU’s USD 5 million Series A extension round, in which Verve Ventures also participated. I’m looking for startups in the software and consumer space, and it’s interesting to be a sparring partner for Martin and Philippe. I also do private investments, both via Verve Ventures and directly. I think I made my first investment through Verve Ventures already in 2012. I like business models I understand, such as Software-as-a-Service. Normally I don’t invest in Biotech and I struggle to assess the technical merits of startups that do, say, deep tech like machine learning or artificial intelligence. But the main thing I look at is if a startup is solving a real problem or not. It isn’t a surprise that more and more investors are interested in startups, but many still struggle to get access to good deals. For me, investing in startups is a continuation of entrepreneurship and closely related to it. I was in the same situation once that I needed to find money, and I find it fascinating to learn more about the problems new startups with their teams aim to solve. I don’t invest in the stock market. With startups, I’m much more close to the companies and I have sometimes the opportunity to help them achieve their goals faster.

What message do you give to young entrepreneurs?
You need to talk early with your customers and involve them in product development. Start selling early, even if the product isn’t perfect yet. There are always features that you think you need to add before you go out to the market, but if you postpone this moment too long, you risk developing features the customers might not even need.

You started your life as an entrepreneur very early, would you advise others to do the same?
If you’re young and don’t have a family and kids, you can more easily take risks, but the downside is that you lack experience and will make errors. You also need a certain naivety to get yourself involved in a startup, if we hadn’t been a bit naive we hardly likely wouldn’t have had the courage to develop an ERP and accounting software.

What kind of errors did you make?
We made several smaller and bigger mistakes. But making mistakes is part of the daily learning process. An error was that we thought hiring a sales representative that visits companies to explain the software was a good idea. We realized it’s not the most efficient way and built the online marketing and sales channel instead. Basically, we had also simply underestimated a lot and had to realize that it sometimes takes twice as long and costs twice as much as planned.

Do you see your future as an investor or do you feel the urge to return to entrepreneurship at one point?
I can imagine quite well to become active again and help build a great product because building products and companies is what I like to do. Being responsible for something that sells and excites customers is a great job. It doesn’t necessarily have to be accounting software again (laughs). What it will be I can’t say yet, I think I shouldn’t force this and wait until I find the right fit.