
Coaching
Coaching is a key element of the tailored support provided as part of the Swiss Innovation Challenge. Each team is given one coaching session in stage 1, two in stage 2 and three in stage 3. The sessions can focus on your business plan, on functional aspects (e.g. marketing, financing, production), on processes of innovation and internationalisation or on considerations of motivation and behaviour.
Our coaches
Robert-Jan Bumbacher has over 25 years of experience of managing consulting and auditing mandates for family-owned businesses, companies listed on the stock exchange and public institutions. He spent eight years developing and managing a service department and field office and three years heading up the Basel branch of an international auditing and consulting firm. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors at University Hospital Basel and is also a visiting lecturer at the FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. Mr Bumbacher studied at the University of St. Gallen and is a qualified auditor.
Key coaching areas: Business and strategic development, developing and implementing a business plan, business management and control, business process analysis, managing succession, financing and project management.
Prof. Martina Dalla Vecchia developed Switzerland’s first-ever postgraduate course in e-commerce and online marketing in 2000. She was ahead of her time. She now lectures at the FHNW School of Business and heads up various certificate and diploma programmes on the topic of digital business innovation. Her core expertise covers e-commerce, online marketing and social media. She speaks at conferences and trade fairs and writes on trends and innovations. She is one of the editors for BPX Verlag (IT and business). “You are what you share!” is her motto.
Key coaching areas: E-commerce, online marketing, social media and e-business
Jan Fülscher founded his first start-up at the tender age of 22. Since then, he has been putting his experience into practice as part of around 15 start-up companies as a member of the board, coach or shareholder. He is the CEO of the Business Angels Switzerland investor network and co-founder of the Swiss ICT Investor Club network. His work as a lecturer includes visiting lectureships at the University of Zurich, the University of Bern, the FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland and Bern University of Applied Sciences. In addition, Jan Fülscher is a guest lecturer at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and a speaker and coach for the VENTURE business plan competition. He serves as a founder/advisor/mentor on various start-up projects, including Startup Weekend Creative Business and the Youngfounders network.
Key coaching areas: Business models and monetisation, financing for start-ups, marketing for start-ups and financing in general
Andrea Gander holds a BA degree in business administration and is a management advisor on strategy, organisation and management. She coaches in communication and presentation techniques and teaches at Bern University of Applied Sciences and at the Hotel Management School Thun. She has many years of experience in the hotel and catering industries and also hosts various symposia and conferences. Andrea Gander has been a member of the Executive Board of Gastrag in Basel for many years.
Key coaching areas: Devising a business plan, communication (summarising your innovation), presentation skills (presenting your innovation).
Eric Künzi is the founding partner of Vujàdé Law, which specialises in legal services, business modelling and the structuring of financing rounds, primarily for entrepreneurs, start-ups, companies and organisations. He has 15 years of experience working as a business lawyer at a leading corporate law firm in Zurich and later for his own company. His practical experience as the co-founder of multiple start-ups has given him an in-depth understanding of the strategic challenges of the start-up phase. Eric Künzi holds a law qualification from the University of Neuenburg (equivalent to a Master’s) and became a licensed lawyer in Bern in 2001. He is a Swiss national and speaks fluent English, German, French and Spanish.
Key coaching areas: Business law (founding, capital increase, etc., relationships between founders and/or investors, shareholder agreements), contract law (contracts with suppliers, GTCs, employment contracts, software development), trademark law, financing rounds (strategic aspects and structuring of financing rounds, term sheets, negotiations with investors), start-up experience (strategy, business modelling, etc.).
Christina Loosli has a degree in natural sciences from the University of Basel and in Engineering and Management from a university of applied sciences, as well as an EMBA in International Management. She offers a wealth of management and project experience in various business sectors at the interface between information technology and business in an international environment. As the CEO of the Technopark Aargau and a lecturer at the FHNW, she now works on promoting start-ups and transferring knowledge and technology.
Key coaching areas: Business management, business and information technology, knowledge and technology transfer, business planning, promoting start-ups
Markus Müller studied business administration (Bachelor of Business Administration), specialising in marketing. He holds a Certificate of Advanced Studies in sports psychology and mental training from Zurich University of Applied Sciences and a Master of Advanced Studies in systemic solution-oriented coaching from the FHNW. He specialises in innovation management, strategic business development and change management. Over the past 15 years, he has helped establish and get several (internet-based) start-ups off the ground. He is a guest lecturer at various universities across Switzerland and has written a number of specialist articles and books.
Key coaching areas: Marketing, innovation, business and organisational development, change management, start-up support and site innovation.
Marc K. Peter currently works at the FHNW School of Business as Head of the Centre for Digital Transformation and Marketing. He previously worked for LexisNexis (RELX) UK & Ireland, London as Director of Sales & Marketing, for LexisNexis (RELX) Asia-Pacific, Sydney as General Manager and COO, for E*TRADE, Sydney as Senior Brand Marketing Manager and for eBay International, Bern as Head of Marketing.
Key coaching areas: Digital marketing, digital transformation, business development, B2B sales, global expansion
Rolf-Dieter Reineke is a professor at the Institute of Management at the FHNW School of Business, where he heads up the Swiss Innovation Challenge competitions in Switzerland and Asia as well as the Swiss Next Challenge. He is also a member of the boards of directors of several international service companies. He previously held various positions at universities in Switzerland and abroad and at international consulting firms, where he gained consulting and training experience in more than 40 countries and advised on strategy, organisation and internationalisation in particular. He has written a number of specialist articles and books. Rolf-Dieter Reineke completed a PhD in international mergers and acquisitions at the University of Münster.
Key coaching areas: Internationalisation strategies and company succession.
Patrick A. Scarpelli is a managing partner and Chairman of the Board of Directors of cctm Holding AG, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FrehsCo AG and a member of the Audit Committee of Weleda AG. He has over 20 years of consulting experience at national and international level and was Group Chief Financial Officer for an industrial company. He completed a PhD at the University of St. Gallen and lectured for over ten years at Bern University of Applied Science, primarily on the subject of business planning and turnaround management.
Key coaching areas: Devising business strategies, developing and reviewing business plans, establishing a multi-project management approach at private and public institutions, conducting business and brand evaluations, developing operating concepts.