Meet Stefan von Rohr, CEO of GrowThrust

Please tell us about GrowThrust

At GrowThrust, we help startups focus on what is most important in their current phase, highlighting to them their strengths and growth potentials, as well as KPIs to measure their progress over time. We leverage AI technology to complete market research for the startups within minutes to assemble a wide variety of information – market trends, relevant industries, stakeholders, regulations, down to possible industries to sell to, their needs and potential personas, as well as highlighting potential competitors and possible prospects in the business area. We don’t plan to stop our support here.

We are three people who started working on GrowThrust in February 2022. We founded GrowThrust as we believe there is a lot of potential in entrepreneurship regardless of country or continent, and there are too many pitfalls for founders which ideally, should not be the case. More often than not, we have noticed that startups are heavily influenced by business angels, investors, coaches, programs, and clients that everything seems important and they easily lose sight of what their priorities are at a particular stage/moment/phase.

Our data driven approach enables a peer learning process, where successful startups share their data on which areas they have placed focus and emphasis on to get to the next stage of development. We believe if we only manage to help one more founder to be successful to challenge the ominous quote of 1:10 of startups surviving.

Tell us more about your plans for 2024 and what is your long-term vision.

This year we aim to find our product market fit, respectively adjusting our version 1 to the feedback we’ve received. We’ll challenge our current goals and check the target groups again. In the longer term, we want to be the companion of thousands of early-stage companies worldwide using our technology to choose the right focus, have all the necessary information ready for decisions, find matching skills to solve their challenges and help them win new clients. We hope to be used for reports to relevant stakeholders to save time.

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

During our first run, we received great feedback from startups in Switzerland and Germany about us identifying their current challenges. These conversations have been a blast hearing that what we try to achieve reall, is something that is needed and will help founders in their daily operations. This reaction has been underlined by acceleration programs seeing the value of being able to analyze whole batches and their own efficiency, as well as eliminating unnecessary courses for startups which already have the knowledge, saving time for founders to focus on the right priorities.

If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?

We were very fast and close with the market to validate our ideas and co-create – as only together we can be successful – or differently spoken: only the startups’ success is our success. If I look back we could have been more offensively pushing forward the automatization of our process and the MVP2. We tend to be too slow in adapting, testing the market with solutions, thereby losing too much time with the adoption of our technology.

What motivates you to continue your business every day?

Seeing founders who use our solution to save time and focus on the right priorities to be successful, survive and ultimately thrive in this crazy world.

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

There would be tons but I guess for me it would be two elements: Look for diversity in your co-founders, I think it’s just more fun. Having 3 alike thinkers doesn’t generate fun and different ideas and perspectives to problem solve. Speak to possible clients about your idea. Sure, it’s all still hypothetical, but it is a useful process to go through. I talked to dozens of startups and acceleration programs before having the first MVP ready. Also, don’t hesitate to give your services a price tag – positive feedback is easy, if you’re a test client that uses it for free.

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

We joined the association in 2022 as we believe that the startup community is very important. We need to learn from each other and not make the same mistakes twice (or at least too many times) Personally, I like the SSA’s spirit and goals. They have done so much in the past 2 years.

Would you recommend joining the Swiss Startup Association?

Yes, as mentioned, it opens a network of experience which is worth hundreds of hours.

Have you ever visited the events of the Swiss Startup Association?

I’ve frequently participated in the online sessions during lunch breaks and the founders dinners. The Founders Dinner is a great platform to network with more experienced entrepreneurs as well as fellow founders. The Founders day in April was great, I really liked the speaker lineup. I would recommend going to all of them but think first of what you want to achieve.

Is there anything that we haven’t asked you that you would like to share with the community?

No, happy about any personal contact on stefan@growthrust.ch, we are interested in every dialog with startups we can get –talking to each other opens new viewpoints and solutions for challenges.

Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn

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About the Swiss Startup Association

The Swiss Startup Association (SSA) is the umbrella organisation and the voice of Swiss startups. As a sector-independent non-profit organisation, the SSA gives startups a strong voice vis-à-vis politics, business and the public and works to improve the conditions for startups in Switzerland.
Beyond its political engagement, the SSA fosters a community for startups, recognizing the unique challenges they face. Through networking opportunities, educational sessions, and practical services, the SSA collaborates with industry partners to offer tailored support and valuable resources to guide founders on their entrepreneurial journey.

Join the Swiss Startup Association! Tap into our member benefits, the comprehensive Investor List and get full access to our events. By becoming an SSA Member you enjoy discounted tickets to our Big Founders Dinners and the SSA Founders Day.

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