Personal Development

From kickboxing to the lion's den

Marcel Rösch, the likeable storyteller, intrapreneur and entrepreneur from Thun, has been known at Swisscom for a long time. With the help of the Kickbox intrapreneurship programme, he was able to successfully implement his idea and is now the founder of "help2type". However, no challenge seems too great for him, which is why he entered the ring of lions with his start-up last week as a gladiator. He spoke to us about his experiences, lessons learnt and the next steps.

By Fabienne Puppin

4 November 2022

For a long time, Marcel actually felt that he was not yet ready to face the lions on television. He decided to take part anyway with the aim of attracting more attention to his product. However, he is already an experienced pitcher thanks to his Kickbox Goldbox status and his participation in the Swiss Innovation Challenge. In addition, he prepared meticulously for the potential investor questions, because as Marcel himself says: "When you face a situation that is challenging for you and where you don't know exactly what you're getting yourself into, there's really only training beforehand." To do this, he studied past episodes of Höhle der Löwen, noted down the most difficult questions and thought about sample answers. He also carried out dress rehearsals with two investor friends, during which they put him through his paces with their questions and thus prepared him for the upcoming challenge.

In the lion's den

There is a relaxed atmosphere in the preparation room, other start-ups are on site and people are chatting to each other. After almost four hours of waiting, the time has come. Full of joy, but also slightly nervous, Marcel steps into the ring. Apart from a small slip of the tongue, his pitch goes perfectly and the lions and the audience are delighted. Thanks to his intensive preparation, he was able to answer every question with the right answer, as he says himself: "I didn't go into the ring unarmed. I knew exactly what to use and how to use it so that it would be an enjoyable outing and I would come out alive." In the end, however, it was not enough for an investment, as sales of the product were too low.

What happens next

The appearance on "Höhle der Löwen" was nevertheless a complete success for him and brought him new attention. It is still uncertain in which direction his start-up "help2type" will develop - they will have to "go over the books" again.

The feedback and new ideas from the jury members are the most valuable lessons he has learnt from the programme: "It's always important that you don't just talk about the topic in your own bubble, but that you get totally different opinions. Because they help you move forward." In principle, Marcel advises future intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs to always remain true to themselves when choosing their business partners - it's better to forego a collaboration than to sell your soul. Ultimately, what counts is that you work with passion and are prepared to tackle new challenges with agility.

Thank you for the inspiring exchange Marcel! The Kickbox Team.

Summary of learnings & tips from Marcel's experience

Obtain feedback from external people who can provide you with new ideas and input.
"Don't believe everything you see" - TV programmes in particular only present clips that do not reflect the whole reality.
When choosing your business partners, make sure that they share the same values. In this sense, it is better to do without help than to sell your soul.
Preparation, preparation, preparation - this applies not only to a pitch on "Höhle der Löwen", but to all difficult life situations.
Trying things out as a start-up: "If you don't make any mistakes as a start-up, then that's the biggest mistake of all."
Work on a project with passion and enjoyment - you have to be passionate about it, but have fun at the same time.

Swisscom Kickbox:

Swisscom employees who have an idea can easily start and grow it with Kickbox. The physical box contains:

a starting credit of CHF 1,000
20% of working time for 2 months
a manual that explains the idea validation process and provides valuable tips

In a multi-stage process and accompanied by a coach, the idea is driven forward, pitched to juries and, in the best case, approved for the next stage.