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Switzerland government raises investment funds to support Swiss startups

swissinfo.ch

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Re: Switzerland government raises investment funds to support Swiss startups

#61

Post by bogomipz »

tmsldd wrote: post #26
bontoJR wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

I understand your point. Yeah.. this is king of a ecosystem.. which needs to be balanced. The good news about the report is that it shows a mindset shift.. Switzerland is stable, warm (people) and radiates freedom .. for sure it is a good candidate to become the next hub.

What are the visa policies? Are they conducive to tapping into a global labor pool?

Re: Switzerland government raises investment funds to support Swiss startups

#62

Post by throwawaymanbot »

mschuster91 wrote: post #8
fla wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not much a matter of cost of living but rather cost of the Swiss Franc versus other currencies. Currently, the swiss Franc is very strong, therefore making any Swiss product expensive to the exterior. It can become a huge problem for an economy based on trading with neighbors.

> It can become a huge problem for an economy based on trading with neighbors. Exactly. Switzerland has just 8.5M people living there, while the US has 322M and Germany 82M. If Germany were expensive, for example, it'd still have a sizable inner-country market while Switzerland does not.

The EU has 510 Million.

Re: Switzerland government raises investment funds to support Swiss startups

#63

Post by ponyfleisch »

siscia wrote: post #28
1wd wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Yeah sorry... Still my point holds...

> Yeah sorry... Still my point holds...

not really, no. the opposite, actually. while not an all time high, it is pretty high in the 10 year context and it did affect export industries.

Re: Switzerland government raises investment funds to support Swiss startups

#64

Post by siscia »

ponyfleisch wrote: post #63
siscia wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah sorry... Still my point holds...

> Yeah sorry... Still my point holds... not really, no. the opposite, actually. while not an all time high, it is pretty high in the 10 year context and it did affect export industries.

What industries where effected the most?

Re: Switzerland government raises investment funds to support Swiss startups

#65

Post by tmsldd »

bogomipz wrote: post #60
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…

Spotify did it and they started in a in a European country of a similar size. A lack of market didn't stop them. Can you say why Switzerland would be different?

Hopefully it won't be different. All I want to say is: a startup here has to internationalize from the beginning, assume costs and expose itself to early competition. But if you see the funding history of Spotify [1], they got quite a lot of foreign funds. In the end, for the business side it doesn't really matter where the money comes from ;)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify#Funding

Re: Switzerland government raises investment funds to support Swiss startups

#66

Post by bogomipz »

tmsldd wrote: post #65
bogomipz wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spotify did it and they started in a in a European country of a similar size. A lack of market didn't stop them. Can you say why Switzerland would be different?

Hopefully it won't be different. All I want to say is: a startup here has to internationalize from the beginning, assume costs and expose itself to early competition. But if you see the funding history of Spotify [1], they got quite a lot of foreign funds. In the end, for the business side it doesn't really matter where the money comes from ;) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify#Funding

>Hopefully it won't be different. All I want to say is: a startup here has to internationalize from the beginning, assume costs and expose itself to early competition"

Sure but why is that any kind of impediment? You have the whole continent sitting there. Hasn't the EFTA made access to those other 28 countries easier?

One of the things that I think Spotify did well was building a buzz, so much so that people were using VPNs to get accounts. It was a real news item when it finally became available in some countries such as the US.

I thought that Deezer was building up a similar anticipatory buzz as an EU export a while back. However, I think they may have waited too long.

Re: Switzerland government raises investment funds to support Swiss startups

#67

Post by 1wd »

jevgeni wrote: post #31
1wd wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

There's a slight error there. SNB was buying foreign currency to lower the CHF exchange rate in an effort to protect the Swiss export industry.

Yes, sorry, I meant to write [not rise to].

Re: Switzerland government raises investment funds to support Swiss startups

#68

Post by 1wd »

siscia wrote: post #64
ponyfleisch wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yeah sorry... Still my point holds... not really, no. the opposite, actually. while not an all time high, it is pretty high in the 10 year context and it did affect export industries.

What industries where effected the most?

Mechanical and electrical engineering industries were seriously affected, according to Swissmem: https://www.swissmem.ch/en/news-medien/news/mem-industrie-di...

According to Credit Suisse, "nearly all sectors of industry are affected", especially the Mechanical Engineering industry, but also Metals and Food Industries, Hotels, Catering and Retailing: https://www.credit-suisse.com/ch/en/articles/articles/news-a...

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