
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.
Isabelle Siegrist has been helping to build up companies across Switzerland since 2014, first for 2 years at Startups.ch as CIO and then with her own company builder Sandborn. She supports entrepreneurs and corporates from various industries in scaling (from idea validation, product/service development, market entry to growth financing). She was recognized as one of the TOP 100 Businesswomen in Switzerland 2018, 2019 and 2020 and is a Forbes 30 under 30 Alumna (2019), studied Business Innovation at HSG and majored in Social Entrepreneurship at ESCP Europe. She is a coach at Innosuisse and regularly teaches at various colleges and universities on entrepreneurship topics.
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 has been active in the startup scene for more than 20 years: As a founder, co-founder, investor, coach, mentor and lecturer, he has experienced entrepreneurship from a wide variety of perspectives. He was managing director of the then largest investor club businessangels.ch and co-founder of today's most important club SICTIC.ch. In recent years, Jan has been CEO of a spin-off of ETH Zurich and TU Berlin. He holds an M A from UZH and is an accredited Innosuisse coach and certified systemic coach. He teaches at the Universities of Zurich and Bern as well as at several universities of applied sciences. His main topics are B2B companies with a software component as well as art and cultural projects.
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).
From freelancer to entrepreneur, Peter Goetsch has been building up specialized consulting companies for the life science industry in Switzerland, Europe and Asia since 2002. After the sale of the group of companies to a globally active consulting firm, he now heads its European and Southeast Asian business. Previously, he held various line and staff management positions with the Swiss tourism leader in Switzerland and abroad. Starting out as a «one man show», he has experienced and lived the various facets and challenges of entrepreneurship in the service and solutions business on a daily basis, learning to balance business and private life in a healthy way.
Peter Herrmann Peter completed his studies of pharmacy in Basel in 1984. After completing his doctoral thesis in the field of immunology at Sandoz AG, he worked first as a post-doctoral fellow and then as a laboratory manager in the preclinical immunology research department at Sandoz AG. Since 1993 he held various positions in the regulatory affairs departments of Johnson & Johnson and F. Hoffmann-La Roche. In 1998 he became Roche's media spokesman. In 1999 he joined the newly founded Actelion AG as Head of Regulatory Affairs. In 2004 he lived with his family in Japan to support the development of the local subsidiary. After his return he took over the newly established Corporate Affairs and Compliance department. In 2009 he was appointed Group Compliance Officer of Actelion. After the acquisition of Actelion by Johnson and John-son in 2017, he was a member of the global integration team. Since October 2019 he has been CEO of PharmaCons GmbH.
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.).
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.
Isabelle Siegrist has been helping to build up companies across Switzerland since 2014, first for 2 years at Startups.ch as CIO and then with her own company builder Sandborn. She supports entrepreneurs and corporates from various industries in scaling (from idea validation, product/service development, market entry to growth financing). She was recognized as one of the TOP 100 Businesswomen in Switzerland 2018, 2019 and 2020 and is a Forbes 30 under 30 Alumna (2019), studied Business Innovation at HSG and majored in Social Entrepreneurship at ESCP Europe. She is a coach at Innosuisse and regularly teaches at various colleges and universities on entrepreneurship topics.