Meet our Premium Member: Julian Liniger – CEO & Co-Founder of Relai

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing one of our Premium Members: Julian Liniger – CEO & Co-Founder of Relai. It’s always great to see our Startup Members succeeding, and to learn about their how and why. Read on to find out more about Relai and be inspired by their story!

 

Introducing the Startup: Relai

Relai is Europe’s easiest bitcoin app – made in Switzerland. Within 1 minute and without any registration, you can buy, sell, auto-invest, send, receive, and hold bitcoin. The startup was founded in July 2020 and has now grown to 20 full-time employees.

 

What are your plans for 2022/2023? What is your long-term vision?

In 2022, we will improve the product a lot, with many exciting features like for example instant & 24/7 bitcoin investing via additional payment methods (Paypal, credit card, Apple/Google Pay). In 2023, we will scale the business internationally and add as many new fiat currencies as possible.

Our long-term vision is that everyone in the world is able to get into bitcoin easily within 1 minute.

 

What has been the biggest success that you have achieved in your startup?

Raising our 2.5M CHF seed round from renowned VC investors such as Redalpine Ventures, and being able to deliver on our promises with that money, was the biggest success for us so far.

If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently? What are your biggest learnings?

I would focus more on the product and less on marketing at the beginning. My biggest learning so far was that even though both product and marketing are important from day one, and none of them should be neglected, the product should get more attention and resources until product market fit is really reached, and only then it makes sense to invest more heavily in marketing.

 

What motivates you to continue your business every day?

Seeing thousands of people using – and dozens of people working – on our app every day. Knowing that what we are doing really adds value to a community. And the strong belief that bitcoin is the best savings technology ever invented and everyone should have access to it.

 

One piece of advice for someone who is just starting out with their startup?

Fall in love with the problem, not the solution. Listen and observe your first (potential) users intensively, even obsessively. Build, measure, learn, repeat. Rather launch too early than too late. If you are not embarrassed by your MVP, you have launched too late. Perfectionism is your enemy. Focus gives speed. Revenue trumps everything.

 

What does it mean to you to be a member of the Swiss Startup Association? 

Personally, It makes me feel connected to the Swiss startup (founders) ecosystem and helps me build my network and to exchange experiences with startup peers. Professionally, it is good to know that there are organizations like the Swiss Startup Association representing the needs of startups in politics.

I definitely recommend joining the Swiss Startup Association since it gives every early stage startup founder access to a great and valuable network through well organized events and other initiatives. For example, I try to participate in all the founders dinners, which are excellent networking events for like-minded founders! Plus it is a way of giving back to the startup ecosystem, and startups should get together to represent their needs in politics through such associations.

 

A big thank you to Julian Liniger and the Relai team for sharing your story with us!
If you want to know more about Relai, visit www.relai.app

Would you like to be portrayed as well? Become a premium member now, and our team will contact you shortly!

News

Other, related articles you may like

Become a member today

Join us as a member and enjoy various benefits that will take your startup to the next level!

Join the movement!

Subscribe to our newsletter

Other things in mind than becoming Enabler? Don't worry, leave your email address and we'll get back to you soon.