

Swisslaunch: A Swiss Y Combinator clone - cx01
http://www.swisslaunch.com/en/swisslaunch

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cletus
Launched by three students? What expertise and experience exactly do they
bring to the table? Part of what makes YC so sight after is the guidance of PG
& co.

Specifically to Switzerland, having lived there it has a problem more extreme
than the US: it's very hard to work there. It's become easier for EU residents
but harder for everyone else.

Switzerland is expensive but doesn't have the health insurance problems the US
does (health insurance is mandatory and affordable) but labour laws are a bit
of aroblem (in that it could be hard to fire someone).

The laws around company formation and financing I know nothing about there.

The cost of living is high but, in real terms, isn't that different to New
York, even San Francisco.

If you compare Switzerland to its neighbors, Germany is much cheaper but far
more restrictive on labour laws. France is expensive with similar problems.
The UK is probably the freest in this sense but is expensive with huge
infrastructure problems. Internet is probably cheapest in the UK (for Europe)
and fastest to the US.

~~~
harryf
Living in Switzerland as a UK expat, I know the tech scene around Zürich
fairly well. I haven't heard of these guys before but they're based in Basel
so perhaps they haven't done the rounds yet.

There is certainly a need for this. Tech funding can be difficult to find I
understand or of the "we'll invest in you once you're a safe bet" kind.
Investing in biotech is much more developed, giving Switzerland's pharma
industry, and there are signs that biotech investors are starting to show
interest in tech startups but it's not there yet.

Would say what makes Switzerland attractive is being able to find highly
educated engineers. While the ETH Zurich is highly respected, there are other
less high profile schools turning out great hackers.

And there is enough experience around to get your startup off the ground and
reaching a healthy turnover. What's lacking for web startups is experience
scaling up to international markets; most of the successful startups I've seen
tend to succeed only in local markets.

~~~
o1iver
Hey just saw your post. I couldn't find you email address in your profile, so
I had to post here. I also live in Zurich (engineer from ETH actually), want
to get together for a beer sometime? Would be happy to meet a fellow HN-reader
:-)

~~~
harryf
Hi o1iver - catching up... Great - feel free to get in touch via twitter -
@hfuecks is me.

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bobds
The application form is not working, that is if you manage to find the link in
the first place.

Bootstrapping in Switzerland seems like an attractive proposition but does it
make sense from a bootstrapper's point of view? Why not hop on a train and go
to one of the cheaper countries next door?

~~~
onv38421
Well, maybe freedom is worth something ([
[http://www.freeexistence.org/freedom.shtml?Property=4&Dr...](http://www.freeexistence.org/freedom.shtml?Property=4&DrugRights=3&Taxes=3&Corruption=3&Speech=4&Inflation=3&LtdGovt=3&Business=3&GunRights=3&Reverse=false)
]).

