Interview with Walter Regli – new CEO of Startups.ch
As of the beginning of September 2014 Walter Regli is new CEO of Startups.ch. Read up on the changes and growth perspectives of Startups.ch in the following interview.
Walter Regli
Mr. Regli *, what changes will we see with your management style at Startups.ch?
Basically, little will change – we will continue working to offer a perfect service for startups and want to provide our clients with a wide range of services. From founding a company over all paper work to organizing an IPO.
Which topics will you focus on in the next 3 years?
Our online services portfolio of Startups.ch is mostly implemented in the way our founder envisioned it when starting up the company. The idea was to offer all kinds of legal corporate transactions online; so as I said everything from starting up a company till doing an IPO.
The main focus will clearly lie in the quality control of our services (we now have 10 subsidiaries and eight independent agents). I want to ensure that any of our clients receives the best advice possible in each branch and each company formation remains something unique.
Moreover, I will work on increasing the visibility of Startups.ch; we want bring Startups.ch to mainstream costumers that want to found their company in any kind of industry (including low-tech sector). These start-up foundations are the most important business pillars for us.
Also the relationship with our partners is key; here we have to build synergies and leverage joint marketing activities.
How do you implement this?
The quality assurance we will ensure through focused training and visiting our consultants at work. I will certainly increase my presence at the branches and regularly attend counseling sessions to assure myself that all new companies receive the same excellence of advice.
In terms of awareness we will double the marketing budget over the next three years enabling us to launch entirely new advertising opportunities.
Furthermore, I will devote myself to the care and development of our partner relations such as colleges, universities, trade associations, technology parks, CTI etc.
How important are partnerships for Startups.ch?
Our partners are of fundamental importance to us; particularly PostFinance, AXA Winterthur and Swisscom. Our business model is based on partnerships with major brands.
It is also is very convenient for our client companies, when they have access to an experienced team and essential basic things such as a bank account, Internet and insurance. This saves them time.
Our partners also pay for part of the founding expenses enabling Startups.ch to compete with low-cost providers while offering a much wider range of services than these competitors.
What are your goals in the next three years?
We want to continue to grow the company founding pillar at 10-15% per year.
In the field of company registration changes, we will however grow much faster; if only for the fact that we have already founded more than 8,000 start-ups and these companies (together with companies that were not founded with us) have been getting in touch with us for all kind of structural changes. Quantitatively, I cannot estimate the growth yet.
In the area of income from legal additional services I would also like to achieve a growth of about 20-30%; the main focus is on the contracts as well as the brand protection or brand defense.
We will grow in terms of business consultancy; here the main focus is for foreigners who want to resettle in Switzerland and people working in the high-tech area.
Does Startups.ch offer startup financing services? How far is Startups.ch in this area?
We have had several discussions with potential partners in the past. I can well imagine that in this area with right partner we can launch a new service.
Financing start-ups out of Startups.ch pocket are not planned in the near future.
Can you handle these growth perspectives with the existing staff?
No, we will need to increase in all areas. Currently Startups.ch together with our sister company Findea has about 30 employees. We will increase the headcount in the next three years by around 20-30 employees.
You’re with Startups.ch since it’s beginnings in 2005 – you miss something out of the old days?
It was certainly a very exciting time – we were pioneers in this area to some extent – but I do not miss this time. We spent a lot of time explaining and persuading our potential clients that founding a company online is safe and professional and that through online technology we are able to offer a reputable service.
Today the situation has become much easier and we were able, thanks to the rise of the Internet, to scale our business model.
*About Walter Regli:
Walter Regli studied law and economics at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). He started working for Startups.ch in 2006. He entered the company in a consulting position and then he became head of the legal department. He is married and father of two children.
