“Job creation comes from young companies.”
“Out of pure passion!” That’s Michael’s answer to why he co-founded Redalpine in 2006: “Isn’t it incredible to experience how an idea develops into an enterprise? Founders typically start with nothing more than a story and a vision that has to be convincing enough to inspire investors and employees to believe in them.”
During his Ph.D. in molecular biology he soon realized that his interests were much broader. This led him to joining The Boston Consulting Group. During that time, in the dotcom bubble, he made his first steps as a business angel. “I lost more money than I gained, but that only heightened my enthusiasm for startups,” he laughs. Consequentially, in 2003 he joined Prionics, one of the early Swiss role-model startups. Following his passion, he eventually changed the sides of the table to focus entirely on venture capital – because it’s in the hot spot of his interests: “firstly, science, innovation, and technology; secondly, entrepreneurship; and thirdly, the financial world.”
Michael sees venture capital as an indispensable driver of the future economy. “Statistics shows that companies older than five years cumulatively don’t create jobs anymore,” he says. “Job growth comes from young companies.” And that means from startups with visionary founders.
Michael has two daughters and enjoys sports, as does nearly everyone at Redalpine. “And I also like working in the garden,” he says. No wonder: after all, he likes to see his undertakings grow and bear fruits.