#021 - How you can benefit from a multi-corporate accelerator, with Patricia Schlenter, David Emmerth of Kickstart Accelerator, Switzerland

The Hardware Entrepreneur

I had a duo-feature interview with Kickstart Accelerator from Switzerland, Patricia Schlenter, responsible for Program Lead and David Emmert, head of one of the verticals of the program.

In a previous episode, we had Brinc on the show, an IoT accelerator. This time we feature another accelerator, which has a wider range of disciplines they’re handling, but still, also hardware topic comes up in their portfolio of companies.

Now a little bit about my guests. As for Patricia, she received her Bachelor’s from Bocconi University, Milan, Italy and her Master’s in Energy, Trade of Finance from Cass Business School, London, UK. She subsequently worked in the shipping industry in London, then started her own fashion accessory company. Shortly afterwards she became a co-founder for a Venture Capitalist’s startup in Berlin, Germany.

David on the other hand has a background in biology and economics and likes to create and work with people with lots of energy. When he is not busy with Kickstart, he's working on his own startup "Imagine Cargo" in the area of sustainable logistics.

In this episode we’ll discuss what they do, all the verticals they have, what their differentiating factors are from other accelerators, the corporate partners they partner with, the steps a startup would go through when working them. They explain their business model, what disruption means for David and many more.

Please have a look at the detailed highlights below and enjoy listening. Raw transcript is available at: https://www.thehardwareentrepreneur.com

• An overview of one of Europe’s largest multi-corporate accelerators – [3:24]
• What does a Vertical Lead and a Program Lead do in Kickstart Accelerator? – [5:03]
• How David defines disruption – [6:00]
• The selection process of Kickstart Accelerator – [7:20]
• David walks us through their programusing an example from food vertical – [8:40]
• The unique features of Kickstart Accelerator – [10:08]
• The accelerator’s business model and why David thinks it’s sustainable in the long run– [11:08]
• Switzerland’s drive to catch up with startup innovation – [12:30]
• What are the sources of inspiration of Patricia and David? - [13:48]
• If you could time travel and go back in time to your early 20s, what information would you give yourself? – [15:40]
• Books which had the biggest impact on their career and entrepreneurial thinking – [16:25]
• Morning routines and creative chaos – [17:00]
• Some striking cultural differences in their work that they had to overcome– [18:00]
• What is the best way to reach Patricia and David? – [19:28]