Some weeks ago, Laurent Haug hold a presentation at an entrepreneurship school on what he learned during his 20 years as an entrepreneur. Laurent is a Swiss entrepreneur, who notably sold his startup (CoComment) to Swisscom in 2006 and started the famous Lift Conference (#1 innovation conference in Switzerland) 10 years ago. His motto is to “help people find ideas, and ideas find people”. He’s current active as a Venture Partner at Anthemis (a VC specialised in fintech) and Partner at MKS Alternative Investment (a seed investment company based in Switzerland).
I first met Laurent back in 2009 and we collaborated for the organization of the 2nd and 3rd “Venture Night” at Lift (I convinced the boss of the technology park I was working for to sponsor the night…). He’s an inspiring and friendly guy and a very sharp business man… Still based in Geneva, he’s currently spending most of his time in London. A bit more difficult to meet… but he’s the kind of guy who is building the necessary international bridges we definitely need to foster the Swiss startup scene!
But back to his presentation. He humbly recognized that his presentation is heavily inspired by Sam Altman’s excellent course on How to start a startup. It’s definitely a good, insightful piece to read (and read regularly)… that I will also definitely use to teach entrepreneurship to my kids (if they decide to become an entrepreneur…). Discover it hereafter!