#SummerSeries: 5 questions for Rasmus Nutzhorn Viemose—radical innovator, transformation expert, and outdoor enthusiast

10.08.2020 08:30, Isabelle Mitchell

During the summer months, we ask people who inspire the Swiss startup ecosystem to provide the Venturelab community with food for thought, inspiration, and recommendations for summer 2020—and beyond. Up next, sharing his thoughts on entrepreneurship is Rasmus Nutzhorn Viemose, mountaineer, mover of people and organizations, and Global Vice President Sustainability and Future Innovation at Ricola.

Rasmus is Global Vice President Sustainability and Future Innovation at Ricola, the CEO of RICOLAB—Ricola’s independent radical innovation laboratory—and the Head of the St. Gallen Center for Business Transformation and Innovation. The innovation and transformation expert combines his extensive background in leadership, sustainability, and corporate innovation with his soft spot for humans and nature and focuses on solutions that positively impact humans in an ever-changing technological world. Rasmus, who is married with two daughters, is an avid snowboarder, mountaineer, and hyper health freak.



Rasmus, how will you spend your summer this year? 
My wife and kids will drive north, to Denmark, to visit family for two weeks before returning home to Switzerland. Lots of reading and long conversations over dinners in gardens under trees. Then back in Switzerland, where we will work, swim, hang, hike, bike, and play as we normally do.

Reflecting on the year so far, what do you see as the most critical challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs? 
It has been a wild extension of 2019; it seems that the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity just keep increasing. With COVID-19, we got a completely unforeseen “gift” of radical change that we now have to adapt to. It is both challenging and difficult. It is also amazing, and there are many opportunities to do things significantly different than before. Maybe not everything should go “back to normal.”
 
What is the essential principle for mastering challenges as an entrepreneur? 
The ability to deal with unforeseen challenges, hold multiple perspectives, and still have the ability to function. We have to let go of ego and self-pity; very, very few things turn out as we think they would. It is a constant learning journey: we build, we ship things, we learn from reality, and we adapt. Always. The ones that can learn the fastest are the ones that get the furthest.
 
What book would you recommend founders and entrepreneurs to read this summer – and why? 
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear. Having good habits as an entrepreneur is crucial to staying sane in the chaos we are in. Sleep well, eat well, train well, have time for your friends, family, and for yourself. These things do not happen by themselves. It requires a wild amount of consistency to show up in the entrepreneur’s arena.
 
What can startup founders learn from you when they follow you on social media? 
Not a lot. I am passively on LinkedIn, clap at things here and there. Facebook is passive. Twitter has always been my go-to news stream; however, lately, I am finding it hard to stand the polarization, so I share very little. TikTok is a no-go for the time being. Snapchat never happened. Reddit is only for reading. If you follow me on Instagram, you might learn that family is everything and that we are all striving to have balance, love, and meaningful relationships. It is “just us hanging out.”

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