EP #525 - Pascal Sollberger & Adrian Adank: Turning Word of Mouth Into a Scalable Business

Timestamps:

02:25 - Why Angels Invest Beyond Returns

05:40 - Spotting the Gap in Word of Mouth Marketing

10:00 - Investing in Founders, Not Just Ideas

18:48 - Scaling from Switzerland to Europe (and Beyond)

This episode was co-produced by SICTIC, the leading angel investor network in Switzerland.

Episode Summary:

Pascal Sollberger is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Hypt, a Swiss startup helping businesses harness word-of-mouth referrals at scale. With a background in marketing and sales, Pascal co-founded Hypt after noticing that no software effectively managed personal recommendations. Adrian Adank is a Business Angel at SICTIC, where he was considered the most active Business Angel (2024), as well as has held multiple leadership positions in Swiss companies. He is currently the CFO at Fabromont.

In this episode, Pascal and Adrian share the story of how a late night conversation led to a long-term founder-investor partnership. They discuss how Hypt grew from a marketing frustration into a SaaS platform trusted by banks and insurers, and how word-of-mouth can outperform social media ads by a factor of five. Adrian explains why he invests in founders with grit and selling power over academic credentials, while Pascal reveals how focus, storytelling, and sales discipline helped Hypt reach its first million in ARR.

The conversation dives deeper into Hypt’s go-to-market strategy, their shift from restaurants to financial services, and the importance of trust in a world of AI-generated content. Adrian outlines what metrics matter to investors and how defensibility in SaaS comes from execution, not IP. Pascal reflects on scaling beyond Switzerland, securing international investors, and staying true to their “go big or go home” culture. Together, they unpack how startups can balance growth ambition with focus and why building trust, not just traction, is what ultimately scales.

The cover portrait was edited by ⁠⁠⁠Smartportrait. ⁠⁠⁠

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