Innosuisse trainer Nicolas Mosimann: ‘Most start-ups fail because of team-related problems, so choose your co-founders wisely!’

04.04.2022 07:00, Isabelle Mitchell

The Innosuisse Start-up Training in Business Growth and Business Creation equips entrepreneurs with the tools to build world-class start-ups. Around 30 times a year, the Innosuisse trainers—more than 160 entrepreneurs, investors, and experts—share their expertise and provide hands-on experience in tailor-made workshops for ICT, advanced engineering, medtech, and biotech start-ups. One of these trainers is Nicolas Mosimann, partner and co-head of the Startup Desk at Kellerhals Carrard. Nicolas and his team of experienced lawyers provide start-ups with specific and high-quality solutions covering all aspects of the entrepreneurial journey—from incorporation to financing rounds to exits. Find out more about Nicolas’s training sessions, his expectations of the participants, and his mom’s wise advice.

The Innosuisse Start-up Training comprises accomplished entrepreneurs, investors, and experts who help young companies accomplish their missions. Many Innosuisse coaches have built start-ups themselves, and all know the challenges and opportunities entrepreneurs face. To learn more about the experts who support the Swiss innovation ecosystem, we ask them to complete a short profile and choose at least eight questions from a questionnaire about their training session and their personal and professional life.
 

About Nicolas

Name: Nicolas Mosimann 
Location: Basel/Zurich 
Born in: 1979 in Basel
Graduated from: University of Basel, Dr. iur., in 2007, and University of Sydney, LL.M., in 2010
Job title: Partner and co-head of the Startup Desk at Kellerhals Carrard 
First touchpoint with Venturelab: It was around 2013/2014, when I hosted a Venturalab workshop on term sheet negotiations with my partner Karim Maizar.
 
“The Startup Desk at Kellerhals Carrard provides impactful, pragmatic, and top-notch legal and industry-specific advice for high-quality and growth-oriented start-ups.” 
 

About Nicolas’s Innosuisse training

How are you involved in the Innosuisse Start-up Training?
I share insights on the do’s and don’ts when raising funds from investors and when creating incentive plans for key employees with the participants of the Business Creation und Business Growth training modules.
 
What is your motivation to join the workshops as a trainer?
Helping founders through the jungle of VC terms and legalese to become successful fundraisers and improve their skills. At the same time, it is a great opportunity to learn from the founders’ experiences and challenges.  
 
What is the best advice you can give to start-up founders?
In general: Most start-ups fail because of team-related problems, so choose your co-founders wisely! When it comes to financing: Have a financing strategy, educate yourself, and understand all deal terms. 
 
What makes for a great workshop? 
I really like when there is a lot of spontaneous and lively interaction with the participants. It is the essence of an interesting workshop and a sign that we are discussing the topics that are actually relevant for the participants.  
 
What are your hopes for the participants? 
My hope is that the trainings will help the founders make the right decisions and avoid as many pitfalls as possible.   
 

About Nicolas’s professional life

What is your favorite productivity hack? 
Sticking to my to-do list helps me set the right priorities and reduce procrastination.  
 
Where and when are you most productive?
Definitely working from home in the evening: no meetings, no calls, just me and my laptop. 
 
What do you do when you are creatively stuck?
I go for a run or discuss the issue with one of my fantastic colleagues at Kellerhals Carrard. The best solutions are usually the results of diverse teams.  
 
How and where do you clear your mind?
Listening to music—reggae, rap, or classical music—or swinging kettlebells.  
 
What made you decide to start your business?
We realized that efficiently providing top-notch legal services to start-ups requires specific and interdisciplinary expertise. We were one of the first large corporate law firms in Switzerland that established a legal advisory unit dedicated to the needs of start-ups and venture investors. The Kellerhals Carrard Startup Desk is counting more than 40 active members today.  
 
What are your three favorite apps?
Spotify: Back in the day, my vinyl weighed a ton! 
Reddit: There are so many rabbit holes. 
GotCourts: Feels like vacation when I book a tennis court.  
 
Whom do you admire? 
Bill Gates (I know, not the best time to name him). When I read his book The Road Ahead in 1995, I was really struggling to understand what he was describing then: the revolution of the computer industry and the creation of the data superhighway we all know as the internet today. Back then, I could barely imagine how one could stream music or even videos. It is incredible how he was able to understand and describe these developments so accurately at that time.  
 
What is the best advice you have ever received?
My mother told me that you cannot please everyone.  
 
What is your greatest professional failure, and what did you learn from it?
Although this failure did not have any serious consequences, I remember when we founded our start-up desk, we randomly wrote letters to start-ups, offering our services. Not a single recipient replied, which would no longer surprise me today. Every beginning is hard!