Switzerland government raises investment funds to support Swiss startups

Post by jevgeni » Wed, Jul 05, 2017, 11:40 AM UTC

1wd wrote: post #22

siscia wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, the Swiss franc is at one of its lowest points in the 10Y view [1] A Swiss franc is traded at roughly 1.09 Euros, I would say significant, sure, but not a deal breaker in high-tech industries. If we were talking about commoditized products I would have to agree but in our industries this is just not the case. [1]: http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=EUR&to=CHF&view=10Y

It's the other way around: EUR/CHF=1.09 means 1EUR=1.09CHF. > [2011 to 2015] the Euro was exchanging [at] CHF1.20. [Then] the exchange rate stabilised to between CHF1.05 and CHF1.08 to the Euro, due in large part to further intervention from the SNB which discreetly set about buying up foreign currency to ensure the franc did [rise to] new heights https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/money--money--money_sw...

Post by malthaus » Wed, Jul 05, 2017, 11:42 AM UTC

bontoJR wrote: post #18

tmsldd wrote: post #15

Although it is nice to have more funds available, which increases the competition among VCs, the main point is not lack of funds. I used to say that a good VC brings you two important things: money and market. Money alone doesn't bring you much (don't get me wrong ..). In my eyes that is the main issue in the startup scenario in Switzerland: lack of market. Having a population of about 8 million people means that you…

> Although it is nice to have more funds available, which increases the competition among VCs, the main point is not lack of funds. I agree on that, on the other hand I don't see the lack of market as a big problem. I like to take Spotify as example, it started in Sweden, which is a market comparable to the Swiss one in terms of size, but after the first prototypes and early versions, it went global almost immediatel…

Post by malthaus » Wed, Jul 05, 2017, 11:46 AM UTC

sebgr wrote: post #9

siscia wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dont think that Switzerland is more expensive than say San Francisco... While it is true that is one of the most expensive European countries the cost of living is very close to the one in the bay area...

I can confirm. Just moved from Zurich to San Francisco. Pretty much everything except rent is cheaper in San Francisco (food can be up to half price of what I paid in Zurich) but rent being such a major expense, it ends up being similar. Salaries are a bit higher in Switzerland though so one would save more on average there.

Post by ueroc » Wed, Jul 05, 2017, 11:54 AM UTC

bontoJR wrote: post #18

tmsldd wrote: post #15

Although it is nice to have more funds available, which increases the competition among VCs, the main point is not lack of funds. I used to say that a good VC brings you two important things: money and market. Money alone doesn't bring you much (don't get me wrong ..). In my eyes that is the main issue in the startup scenario in Switzerland: lack of market. Having a population of about 8 million people means that you…

> Although it is nice to have more funds available, which increases the competition among VCs, the main point is not lack of funds. I agree on that, on the other hand I don't see the lack of market as a big problem. I like to take Spotify as example, it started in Sweden, which is a market comparable to the Swiss one in terms of size, but after the first prototypes and early versions, it went global almost immediatel…

Post by kyledrake » Wed, Jul 05, 2017, 11:59 AM UTC