Marc P. Bernegger entrepreneur at Innovatrs and co-founder of amiando, tells us how he started out. He is a Swiss serial-entrepreneur, founder and partner of several startups. He founded his first company at the age of 16 , founded the next company at the age of 20 and sold it to a stock listed media company eight years later.
amiando is the worldwide Software-as-a-Service platform for event management and ticketing. It serves over 70.000 events worldwide with innovative products like amiando Eventsites, amiando ViralTickets, amiando EasyEntry or amiando EventSense®.
Innovatrs: What made you do it? Why did you take the plunge, become an entrepreneur and give up that cosy corporate job?
Marc: I started my entrepreneurial career at the age of 16 and after that I realized that I never wanted to have a corporate job. It’s too much fun being an entrepreneur.
Innovatrs: What was the original @ha Idea and how has it evolved?
Marc: All my startups were created to improve certain missing elements and needs in society and in specific markets.
Innovatrs: What were your first steps after you fleshed out your @ha idea ? What was your first crisis or hurdle?
Marc: Finding the right idea, setting up the perfect team for that idea and having backup in terms of smart money and mentors sure helps when setting up a new company.
Also, it often takes longer than you plan for to get relevant revenues.Innovatrs: Is this your first business? Did any past experiences or good advice help you navigate the entrepreneur’s road to masochism?
Marc: No, I have set up several businesses and projects in the past.
Always believe in yourself and never stop pushing your idea. Also, the founding team needs to be flexible and agile, constantly listening to its customers while closely following the markets developments. It helps if you are also a potential customer of your own product. Sounds obvious – but its actually really important.
Innovatrs: What big ol’ failures have you had in the past and how have they helped you get to where you are?
Working with experienced consultants I leant that they often struggle to add more value in a start-up environment than the founders can figure out for themselves – but they’re really good at selling their CV. It´s nice to have experienced mentors but at the end of the day it is always the founders who make the difference between a nice idea and a real and successful business.
