EP#523 - Christian Greis & Nicolas Abelé: Cash, Control, and Consequences: The Real Cost of Startup Growth

Timestamps

12:16 — Bootstrapping mindset, MVP building, and milestone-based rounds.

17:50 — The trade-offs of bringing VCs on board versus angels.

27:58 —  Honest discussion of founder stress, cash flow, and mental health.

41:46 — Final takeaways and practical advice for first-time founders.

This episode was produced by Founders Hive — a community of founders, experts, and investors driving entrepreneurship in Switzerland. We support early-stage startups in becoming investment-ready and guide them through the fundraising journey.

 

As a partner of the Entrepreneurship Training programme, empowered by Innosuisse — Switzerland’s innovation agency — we contribute to strengthening startups, SMEs, and research institutions in their innovation and growth.

Visit https://innosuisse.founders-hive.ch/ to learn more about Founders Hive, empowered by Innosuisse.

Episode Summary

Christian Greis is a dermatologist, surgeon, and founder of Derma2Go, a tech health startup providing high-quality online care for dermatology services and skin diseases. Nicolas Abelé is a serial entrepreneur and Co-Founder/CEO of SONIX, a communication and entertainment platform for gamers. Both founders bring very different perspectives on building startups: one through a bootstrapped, lean growth approach rooted in healthcare, and the other through venture-backed scaling in the gaming industry.

Together, they dive into the trade-offs between fundraising versus bootstrapping, exploring what it really takes to finance and scale a company in Switzerland. Christian explains why he pursued smaller rounds and revenue-driven growth, highlighting the mental health benefits of staying lean. Nicolas shares how SONIX leveraged investor support while remaining capital-efficient, even turning competitors’ billion-dollar fundraising into free market education they could piggyback on.

The discussion covers the realities of working with VCs versus business angels, the pressure founders face around cash flow, and how different industries (regulated healthcare vs. consumer gaming) shape financing strategies. Both emphasize the importance of smart money, efficient spending, and milestone-driven fundraising, while offering advice to first-time founders deciding which financing path fits their company and personality best.

The cover portrait was edited by ⁠Smartportrait. ⁠

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