SEF.Founder Conference

"When the going gets tough" 

The SEF.Founder Conference is the most exclusive founder event in Switzerland and takes place on the afternoon of the first day of the Swiss Economic Forum.

Every year, 200 founders and multipliers from the ecosystem meet in Interlaken. Our conference is characterised by distinguished speakers and specific formats tailored to the needs of the SEF.Founder community.

6 June 2024, 12.00 pm

Interlaken

When the going gets tough: Founders do real talk at SEF.Founder Conference

At the SEF.Founder Conference at the Victoria Jungfrau Hotel in Interlaken, the Swiss founder community gathered to openly discuss the rollercoaster ride a startup founder goes through. This edition left the founders with a feeling of not being alone with their entrepreneurial struggles and gave them tools to push through the lows without neglecting their personal wellbeing.

On June 6th, the SEF.Founder Conference assembled 200 startup entrepreneurs in Interlaken. This year, the motto was "when the going gets tough," the focus was to openly discuss challenging times and strategies for founders to navigate through these difficult times. The conference setting allowed valuable conversations that often are avoided in public let alone in the press. This doesn't go unnoticed. Sandra Kobel, co-founder and CEO of zealy, attended the SEF.Founder Conference for the first time. Her impression: "One can tell the audience is a handpicked selection of founders and companies. It's also great to have open and honest conversations about tough times. In such an environment, you learn how entrepreneurs think and go about things. Still, you also realise that all entrepreneurs struggle on their journey to the shiny successes they portray in the media."

Founders return year after year for networking opportunities

Not only newbies have this optimistic view of the event. Peter Fankhauser, co-founder and CEO of ANYbotics, says: "We won the SEF.Award four years ago. Since then, we have returned every year to attend the SEF.Founder Conference. It's my yearly highlight as I meet other interesting founders." Also, Philippe Sahli, co-founder, and CEO of the hyperscaling fintech Yokoy, considers the event a must-go: "The SEF.Founder Conference is clearly the best business event in Switzerland. At Yokoy, we have gained multiple customers thanks to the connection to the high-caliber networking with SEF participants." Patrick Probst from Jester Advisory is convinced: "The SEF.Founder Conference offers the perfect opportunity to meet inspiring personalities and expand your network."

The goal of the SEF.Founder Conference is to strengthen the founder community and support the founders on their entrepreneurial journey so that sustainable businesses shape the future of the Swiss economy. Founding partner UBS Switzerland is deeply involved in this mission. Lukas Reinhardt, Head of UBS Growth Advisory, says: "We want founders to get inspired by the entrepreneurial stories they hear at the SEF.Founder Conference. Hopefully, the growth mindset, risk appetite, and confidence of the international speakers, Ori Goshen from Israel and Zack Kass from the United States, will have an impact off on the Swiss founders."

Artificial Intelligence becomes a mandatory attribute in new businesses

In his fireside chat with Silvan Krähenbühl, Zack Kass, as former Head of Go-to-Market at OpenAI, encouraged founders to build AI products: "If you are not building an AI product right now, I am curious what you are building", he said. He pointed out how much of a difference it makes when operational inefficiencies are automated internally, concluding that with the help of AI, founders can keep their teams very small while still being able to scale their businesses.

Working in the field of generative AI also means that working at high speed is continuously necessary; the pressure to deliver new models never ends. Ori Goshen, founder of AI21, said it's not enough to do something innovative and deeply sophisticated once a year. As a genAI company, you don’t have few competitors in the field, but the ones you compete with are huge ones like Google, Microsoft, or Meta. In the field of AI, your company needs to announce something at least every six to eight weeks while simultaneously dealing with rapidly changing preconditions in the market and the technology so much that you end up thinking, 'I hope this week nothing comes out that will shake up everything again.'"

Mental health under pressure

Just hearing this, one can anticipate how much pressure and stress a founder must bear. Inevitably, the topic of mental well-being comes up and therefore is discussed on stage in a dedicated panel with three founders of whom two have been through a burnout experience themselves. In the case of Levent Künzi, founder and CEO of Properti, it all began with small things like forgetting the names of employees and making mistakes with simple e-mails. Kevin Baxpehler reports similarly about his early signs of mental struggles. "I lost patience easily, didn't listen well, burst out in anger, and couldn't relax my mind." Both of them say that strictly taking time for oneself is a game-changer. Doing sports, spending time outdoors, reading a book, or simply saying no to things that aren't a priority helps to get through hard times, especially in the long run.

From a science perspective, founders should be aware of the pitfalls of chronic pressure and stress. Dr. Barbara Studer, renowned neuroscientist and also founder with teaching and research activities at the University of Bern recommends counting on meaningfulness, knowing one's purpose, and sticking to one's values to avoid negative stress. An awareness of balance is crucial to being kind to yourself and still being ambitious. Having fun and taking business seriously can go hand in hand. "Don't stop acting like a human: Be funny, be mindful, and keep your balance. You are not a robot." And last but not least: “Keep in mind, who you are. You are not your business.”

The conference ends on a positive note

With this, the fourth edition of the SEF.Founder conference gets wrapped up by moderator and host at Swisspreneur, Silvan Krähenbühl: "There were two key takeaways that stuck with me: Firstly, when it comes to mental health, it's all about balance. Secondly, these days, you don't need much to get started with your own business thanks to generative AI." Before the founders get access to the networking evening with the C-level leaders of Swiss companies from the Swiss Economic Forum, Lukas Frösch, Director of Entrepreneurship at NZZ Connect, concludes: "I talked to many self-reflected and passionate founders, which makes me optimistic about the future of their founder journey. To me, the Swiss founder community seems resilient enough to keep going when the going gets tough."

Impressions

All impressions of the SEF.Founder Conference can be found here.

The Speakers

Ori Goshen

Co-Founder & Co-CEO of AI21 Labs
Keynote

Ori Goschen is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of AI21 Labs, a company dedicated to building foundation models and AI systems tailored for enterprises. Prior to AI21 Labs, he founded Crowdx in 2009, a network analytics company that was later acquired by Cellwize. There he launched Tawkon, a consumer mobile application used by millions globally. At Fring, a leading provider of VoIP and messaging services that was acquired by Genband, he served as Product Manager and led the development of the first purpose-built Voice-over-IP (VoIP) and messaging app for iPhone and Android. Ori brings over 15 years of technology and product leadership

Zack Kass

Futurist
Fireside Chat

Zack Kass is recognised as one of the leading minds in the field of applied AI. His thought leadership and tech-optimistic views have been featured in numerous publications including Fortune, Newsweek, Entrepreneur, AdAge and Business Insider. Zack Kass was Head of Go To Market at OpenAI. He has spent more than 14 years in the AI space with companies like Figure Eight, Lilt and OpenAI. His mission is to ensure that businesses and governments actively participate in the AI-driven future by demystifying AI, making it accessible and understandable to everyone, and helping leaders navigate the rapidly evolving environment. Outside of the corporate world, Zack is a staunch technology optimist and an advocate of AI's potential to revolutionise human society and reduce suffering.

Hanna Olzon Åkerström

Co-Founder, Co-CEO & Creative Director at Soeder
Founderstory | "Overcome the challenges"

Hanna Olzon Åkerström, Co-Founder and Creative Director at Soeder, has pioneered the sustainable personal care industry from Zurich.  As Co-CEO, she focuses on strategic expansion and new market penetration. With a solid foundation in science and architecture from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, her entrepreneurial journey began alongside Johan, her partner and co-founder. Together they founded Soeder, driven by a shared passion for creative, impactful solutions. As a former architect and project manager, her expertise blends design thinking with business acumen, ensuring Soeder's commitment to sustainability and quality.

Dr. Barbara Studer

Speaker - memory researcher - entrepreneur
People & Culture | Mental Health Panel

Barbara Studer is a neuroscientist, entrepreneur and musician. She appears at congresses and corporate events, lectures at the University of Bern and other institutes, and is co-founder of Hirncoach AG, a company dedicated to mental fitness and health. Her mission is to communicate research findings in an understandable, practical and entertaining way. Her research focuses on mental fitness and health, memory training, transfer effects, personality, emotion and cognition, as well as creativity and stress regulation. For her, science is not just a matter of the head - it is the red carpet to the heart.

Kevin Baxpehler

Co-Founder at Remagine Ventures
People & Culture | Mental Health Panel

Kevin is an influential entrepreneur and venture capitalist with over 15 years of experience in the entertainment, gaming and media industries. As Co-Founder and managing partner of Remagine Ventures, an Israeli seed fund, he focuses on technology and interactive entertainment, with a keen interest in advances in AI. In particular, Kevin pioneered early investments in generative AI. An accomplished speaker, he provides deep insights into emerging technology trends and digital consumer behaviour. Kevin's previous roles include leading ProSiebenSat.1 Media's investments in Israel and founding Brightwire in NYC. He began his career on Wall Street, working for the Gerson Lehrman Group and Credit Suisse. 

Levent Künzi

CEO & Co-Founder at Properti
People & Culture | Mental Health Panel

Levent Künzi is the founder and chief executive officer of Properti, which was founded end of 2019. He has over fifteen years of experience in the real estate industry. With Properti he is dedicated to simplifying real estate transactions and scaling the platform ecosystem. Prior to Properti, he worked as Managing Director of a traditional Swiss real estate company, as Managing Director of the Austrian company, and as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the entire cross-border group. Levent is a member of Swiss Real Estate Experts and is recognized among the Top 100 most influential experts in the Swiss real estate industry.

Cyrill Gyger

CEO & Co-Founder at QUMEA
SEF.Growth Fireside Chat

Cyrill Gyger is the CEO of QUMEA, a leader in digital health technology. With a foundation in Computer Science and Engineering, his career has been driven by a deep enthusiasm for sensors, signal processing, and algorithms. Prior to co-founding QUMEA in 2019, he was instrumental in the growth and success of the sensor technology company Xovis. At QUMEA, Cyrill is at the forefront of transforming patient safety in acute care settings through a sensor- and AI-based early warning system in patient rooms. Cyrill is driven by product-centric innovation and committed to identifying not only fast, but sustainable growth.

Anna Windisch

CMO at QUMEA
SEF.Growth Fireside Chat

Anna, CMO at QUMEA, is a seasoned MedTech marketer with over 15 years of experience in healthcare strategy and business development. Previously at Philips, she led teams in the "General Care" sector that had a significant impact on patient monitoring solutions for acute care, driving revenues to over USD 100 million annually. Anna excels in global product launches and has participated in leadership programmes such as "DACH-Woman for More". Prior to QUMEA, she played a key role in scaling digital health startups. She is passionate about transforming the digital healthcare landscape to improve patient outcomes.

The Moderator

Silvan Krähenbühl 

Former CEO at Rentouch (acquired by Scaled Agile) | piplanning.io
Co-Founder and former CEO of Gymhopper (acquired by myClubs), Co-Founder of Unicorn Ventures, Business Administration degree of University of St. Gallen, Based in Zurich, Switzerland.

Programme for 6 June 2024

 TimeDescription
 Individual arrival
12.00 noonCheck-in | Welcome lunch at Restaurant Sapori, Hotel Victoria Jungfrau
1.00 pmDoor opening
1.30 pmWelcome note by Lukas Frösch, Director Entrepreneurship, NZZ Connect
1.45 pm

Keynote | "Success story and what if the going gets tough“ 

by Ori Goshen, Co-Founder & Co-CEO at AI21 Labs

2.10 pm

SEF.Growth Fireside Chat | "Insights through endurance" 

with Cyrill Gyger, Co-Founder & CEO at QUMEA and Anna Windisch, CMO at QUMEA

2.35 pm

People & Culture | "Mental Health Panel" 

with Barbara Studer, Levent Künzi and Kevin Baxpehler

3.00 pmCoffee break
3.45 pm

Founderstory | "Overcome the challenges" 

by Hanna Olzon Åkerström, Co-Founder, Co-CEO & Creative Director at Soeder

4.10 pm

Fireside Chat

with Zack Kass, Futurist

4.35 pmWrap-up Silvan Krähenbühl and Lukas Frösch
4.45 pmApero
4.50 pmMatchmaking
6.00 pmIndividual participation in the Networking Evening of
the Swiss Economic Forum

 

Review 2023

Two hundred founders and entrepreneurs gathered at the SEF.Founder Conference 2023 in Congress Center Interlaken to shape the future of entrepreneurship in Switzerland. It fostered innovation and created synergies for growth in an inspirational setting from noon until dawn. For the full review click here.