Tech Investing (Autumn Semester 2024)
A course on venture capital for the next generation of mission-driven tech entrepreneurs & investors. Co-organized by ETH Zurich and HSG.
Abstract
Technology has the potential to transform our society. But without the right team & funding, some break-throughs will never see the light of day. This seminar helps aspiring student/research entrepreneurs to understand how to fund the path from research into practice. The examples and cases will be primarily from software, AI, health, sustainability, and other deep-tech ventures.
Learning Objectives
After attending this course, students will be able to:
- Explain the differences between VC and founder thinking
- Evaluate if a start-up is suited for venture capital (“VC readiness”)
- Evaluate founder friendliness of term sheets
- Determine funding needs & strategy for a start-up from research to first round
- Write and evaluate an investment memo
Content
The seminar features guest speakers from leading venture capital firms and start-ups. The course embraces a unique perspective combining technology and investor thinking. We invite motivated students from ETH, HSG, and other universities to join that are interested in how VC works to fund big ideas. The learning experience is hands-on & interactive thanks to a simulated investment committee case. Participants form interdisciplinary teams, get pitched by actual Swiss seed start-ups, create a deal memo and defend the case in front of a jury consisting of leading European VCs and investors. The seminar is structured in five days with the following themes.
Guest speakers & jury members
- Katharina Wilhelm, Index Ventures
- Thomas Dübendorfer, SICTIC
- Rasmus Rothe, Merantix
- Luca Del Medico, Redalpine
- Myke Näff, Übermorgen
- Jens Horstmann, Campus Founders
- Mark Windeknecht, World Fund
- Carmen Alfonso, Cocoa
- Julia Wagner, Positron Ventures
- Susanne Schorsch, Amadeus Capital
- Andreas Helbig, Atomico
- Viviana Gropengiesser, TalentKick
- Alex Mercandetti, Emerald VC
- Andrea Buhofer, Equity Pitcher
- Cornelia Gut, Startfeld
- Andreas Goeldi, B2Venture
- Jasmin Heimann, ex-Lightbird
- Cornelia Gut-Villa, Startfeld
- Pia Michel, Prima Materia
- and more ...
Main instructors
Alexander Ilic (Executive Director, ETH AI Center)
Swiss-German deep tech entrepreneur, researcher, and investor. Alex was a professor at University of St.Gallen (HSG), an e-Lab fellow at MIT, has two exits under his belt as entrepreneur (Dacuda, acquired by Magic Leap 2017) and investor (VAY acquired by Nautilus 2021), was named twice "Entrepreneur of the Year" (2011 by HSG, 2012 by EY) and won the Swiss Economic Award. He is passionate about helping talents to find their path to entrepreneurship as chairman of Talent Kick and board member of the student-run S2S Ventures.
Dietmar Grichnik (Professor of Entrepreneurship, Director Institute of Technology Management, University of St.Gallen)
Dietmar Grichnik is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Institute of Technology Management at the University of St. Gallen. He has held visiting professorships at ESADE Business School and the University of Melbourne, was a guest at Harvard Business School and taught at ETH Zurich. As a former banker, then entrepreneur, investor and coach, he supports university start-ups. His passion is entrepreneurship in all situations.
Cynthia Jurytko (Chairwoman, S2S Ventures & Business Angel)
Cynthia is the Chairwoman of S2S.VC, Switzerland's first cross-campus student-led venture fund. She also leads investment syndicates with a Micro VC that invests in mission-driven founders that leverage B2B technologies to shape the future biggest industries in order to make the world more sustainable, inclusive and healthy. As a Board Advisor she supports founders with her know-how and diverse network. Previously, she worked as a strategy consultant at Roland Berger and led the corporate spin-off activities at Valora Group.
Melanie Gabriel (Co-Founder Yokoy, Entrepreneur in Residence ETH AI Center)
Melanie Gabriel, Entrepreneur in Residence and Lecturer at the ETH AI Center, is a founder, board member, and angel investor. She co-founded Yokoy in 2019, a Swiss FinTech & AI company that grew to over 200 employees and raised over USD 107m from top venture capital firms like Sequoia and Balderton. She recently co-founded followthegradient.io to make startup knowledge more accessible. Melanie is a board member of Moodtalk and serves on various advisory boards. She holds a master’s degree in business management from the University of St. Gallen, was inducted into Switzerland’s 100 Digital Shapers Hall of Fame, and received the HSG Founder of the Year Award 2023.
Isabelle Siegrist (Board Member, S2S Ventures & Sandborn)
Isabelle supports the entrepreneurship team of ETH AI Center in connecting internationally with other startup ecosystems and investors. Isabelle Siegrist has been building and investing in over 30 startups since 2016, is a Forbes 30u30 Alumna (2019), studied Business Innovation at HSG, and conducts research today on using AI in VC decision-making at ETH Zurich. She teaches at various universities on entrepreneurship topics and has published a book on business building called “Leg Los!" with Beobachter Verlag.
Join as non ETH Student
Doctoral students of any Swiss university or students of EPFL, UZH, Uni Bern, Uni Basel can register (free of charge) as special student at ETH and therefore directly join the lecture. More info: https://ethz.ch/en/studies/non-degree-courses/special-students/
For any other request, please reach out to the lecture TA.