Doing business with a baby: Daniela Marino, CEO CUTISS

19.06.2018 10:05, Robynn Weldon

In May 2018, the Venture Leaders Life Sciences spent a week in Boston to meet investors. One of the team members is Daniela Marino – CEO and co-founder of CUTISS, a UZH spin-off that develops personalized skin grafts. She’s also a mother, and figured out a way to reconcile family life and business trip.

The roadshow was an invaluable experience, allowing Marino to expose her tissue engineering business to a major life sciences hub, to build her entrepreneurship skills and her network at the same time. So missing out wasn’t an option. We asked her about the challenges of being a "mumpreneur".

How do you reconcile family life and business trips?
I have been married to a mechanical engineer since 2010, and we have two kids. Mia is six and Enzo one. When my father passed away in 2015, I decided to bring my mom to Switzerland to help me out. She is the reason I can multitask so well, dividing my attention between family and business. She helps me from day to day with the kids and the house.

My husband has a great job that allows him to compensate overtime with leave, so that he can also join my business trips, because I always travel my way… meaning family comes with me whenever possible. This gives me stability and enables me to more efficient while working abroad. When I know my family is with me, right around the corner, I do not have to worry.

What are the challenge of running a startup with a family?
Being a mother and being a CEO require the same soft skills. One needs to be organized, find money, entertain and keep the team focused and passionate about the vision, one needs to be a multitasker and a fast decision maker, never lose your cool, never panic and react positively to stress. Having a company is like having three kids for me! It was my decision to bring all three to life, and I am now responsible for making them all three grow and flourish.

When did you consider becoming an entrepreneur?
In 2012 we received CHF 9 million from the EU to run clinical trials, and when I saw that the first results were good, I decided to start a company to acquire more funds, in order to take the project all the way to the market. I was on an academic path and gave myself three months to test my business idea… and here I am!

How did you organize your Venture Leaders roadshow?
When I got the email that told me I was accepted in the program, I was very happy and the first person to know it after me was my daughter! “Mia, we’re going to the US!” She was very happy! I got in touch with the organizers to make sure that doing it my way would work for them, and I was glad to see it was not a problem. Then I called my husband and told him to book the dates off work.

Thanks to Venturelab, I was able to manage a great investors roadshow, expose my business to a new market while keeping my family close to me. 



And how do you see your future?
I love my family and I love my business. Life is not always easy, but together we have power. Teamwork!