Behind the Jury: Perspectives from Venture Kick Jury Member David Brown
04.11.2025
Venture Kick plays a crucial role in transforming the startup ecosystem in Switzerland by providing essential support to ambitious entrepreneurs and accelerating high-potential ventures. A key component of this initiative is a diverse jury comprised of seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders who contribute their expertise, insights, and unwavering commitment at every stage of the selection process. In this interview series, we engage with members of the Venture Kick jury to explore their motivations, the criteria they use to identify promising startups, and their visionary ideas for the future of innovation in Switzerland. Meet David Brown, a former internet entrepreneur, now a deep-tech angel investor and member of the Innosuisse Innovation Council.
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A brief introduction of David Brown
David Brown co-founded an Internet startup (buyat.com) as the CTO in 1998 and survived the first Internet bubble and bust to then exit to AOL in 2008. Over the past two decades, he has established himself as an angel investor in deep-tech startups in Switzerland, while also serving on several boards. He was SECA angel investor of the year in 2016. Currently, Mr. Brown is a member of the Innosuisse Innovation Council and serves as the chair of the Bridge Proof of Concept panel. In addition to his leadership roles, he is updating his technical expertise by studying online in the Applied Data Science and Machine Learning program at the EPFL Extension School.
David, can you tell us what brought you to the Venture Kick jury and what has kept you engaged over the years?
It’s continually inspiring to see new generations motivated to solve meaningful problems as entrepreneurs. I believe in planetary boundaries, the need to move to a sustainable circular economy, and I believe that technological innovation, as promoted by Venture Kick, is a core part of that.
What makes the Venture Kick program stand out in the Swiss startup ecosystem?
It really is true to its name and “kicks” startups forward. It has done this at scale and consistently for a long time now.
What do you enjoy most when interacting with founders during the jury sessions?
You get to see forward-looking young people - they are not expecting my generation to fix the problems we caused/exacerbated, but are themselves powering ahead to fix them.
In your opinion, what are the three key success factors a startup should fulfill?
Any startup has to navigate 3 phases to be successful. Initially, it needs a compelling idea and a strong team to get momentum going. Then it has to determine the value it can bring to potential customers. Then, to grow, it has to figure out how to sell efficiently to these customers and scale up.
Which global developments do you believe offer the most opportunities for Swiss startups today?
Deep-tech is my general interest, and I think that Switzerland’s deep-tech ecosystem is nicely positioned to respond to an increasingly complex and technological world.
What are some of the most pressing challenges that Swiss founders face today?
I think that it’s mostly about navigating the 3 phases above. For the vast majority of startups, this means financing from investors, and it’s very easy to spend too much time on this instead of building the business.
What keeps you optimistic about the next generation of startups?
This is one of the great reasons for giving time to Venture Kick on the jury – Over 15 years, I’ve witnessed how each generation gets stronger.
If you could add one thing to the Swiss startup ecosystem, what would it be?
I believe it's essential to integrate the startup ecosystem with the broader economy. Established Swiss companies and the government should embrace innovation from startups by purchasing their products and services instead of viewing them as too risky. While this situation is improving, it is still not as seamless as it is in places like Silicon Valley.
David Brown co-founded an Internet startup (buyat.com) as the CTO in 1998 and survived the first Internet bubble and bust to then exit to AOL in 2008. Over the past two decades, he has established himself as an angel investor in deep-tech startups in Switzerland, while also serving on several boards. He was SECA angel investor of the year in 2016. Currently, Mr. Brown is a member of the Innosuisse Innovation Council and serves as the chair of the Bridge Proof of Concept panel. In addition to his leadership roles, he is updating his technical expertise by studying online in the Applied Data Science and Machine Learning program at the EPFL Extension School.
David, can you tell us what brought you to the Venture Kick jury and what has kept you engaged over the years?
It’s continually inspiring to see new generations motivated to solve meaningful problems as entrepreneurs. I believe in planetary boundaries, the need to move to a sustainable circular economy, and I believe that technological innovation, as promoted by Venture Kick, is a core part of that.
What makes the Venture Kick program stand out in the Swiss startup ecosystem?
It really is true to its name and “kicks” startups forward. It has done this at scale and consistently for a long time now.
What do you enjoy most when interacting with founders during the jury sessions?
You get to see forward-looking young people - they are not expecting my generation to fix the problems we caused/exacerbated, but are themselves powering ahead to fix them.
In your opinion, what are the three key success factors a startup should fulfill?
Any startup has to navigate 3 phases to be successful. Initially, it needs a compelling idea and a strong team to get momentum going. Then it has to determine the value it can bring to potential customers. Then, to grow, it has to figure out how to sell efficiently to these customers and scale up.
Which global developments do you believe offer the most opportunities for Swiss startups today?
Deep-tech is my general interest, and I think that Switzerland’s deep-tech ecosystem is nicely positioned to respond to an increasingly complex and technological world.
What are some of the most pressing challenges that Swiss founders face today?
I think that it’s mostly about navigating the 3 phases above. For the vast majority of startups, this means financing from investors, and it’s very easy to spend too much time on this instead of building the business.
What keeps you optimistic about the next generation of startups?
This is one of the great reasons for giving time to Venture Kick on the jury – Over 15 years, I’ve witnessed how each generation gets stronger.
If you could add one thing to the Swiss startup ecosystem, what would it be?
I believe it's essential to integrate the startup ecosystem with the broader economy. Established Swiss companies and the government should embrace innovation from startups by purchasing their products and services instead of viewing them as too risky. While this situation is improving, it is still not as seamless as it is in places like Silicon Valley.
Additional Links
- Behind the Jury: Perspectives from the Venture Kick Jury Member David Kurmann
- Behind the Jury: Perspectives from Venture Kick Jury Member Dr. Bettina Ernst
- Behind the Jury: Perspectives from Venture Kick Jury Member Christer Bergstroem
- Behind the Jury: Perspectives from the Venture Kick Jury Member Luca Bolliger
- Behind the Jury: Perspectives from Venture Kick Jury Member Jim Pulcrano