Meet Jan Appenzeller and Andreas Weidel, Co-Founders of Shaperwise

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

Since our platform launch in April 2024, we have been onboarding top independent consultants from across Europe, but are not limited to this. We continuously refine platform features based on client feedback. We are very agile and adapt the platform to the needs of our clients. Our goal for 2024 is to validate our concept, demonstrating that Shaperwise delivers  benefits to both clients and consultants.Long term, we want to redefine how companies find consultants, while also providing a solution for the new way of working where we see a trend of companies hiring more and more consultants for specific challenges and only developing a core team as permanent employees. To enable such a transformation, we believe that AI is a necessary building block.

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

Despite being a new startup, our biggest success has been the rapid onboarding of top consultants from Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Spain, and Canada. These experts span areas such as IT, Cybersecurity, Financial Services, Startups, Strategy, Pharma, Automotive and Healthcare. The growth is better than we ever thought.

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

Looking back, we would follow the same approach again. Our biggest learnings from the past are the importance of doing little steps and proving each step. If it is wrong, adapt.

Both of us have a similar working style when it comes to development: we love to work with hypothesis which we formulate sharp and crisp – then we take it like a sports challenge. We tackle each hypothesis and prove it right or wrong. Agility and focus are crucial, as is knowing your customer to target the right audience effectively. IBuilding Shaperwise reinforced the importance of this old rule is. Additionally, we’ve learned that without a professional network it will be very hard to get in touch with the right individuals.

What motivates you to continue your business every day?

If clients and consultants register and give us feedback that the idea and the platform is great that is a huge motivation booster. Also if we recognize that users are actively using our platform and the processes are working as we designed them. That is simply amazing.

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

Start as lean as possible – whiteboards and paper are enough at the beginning. Talk to your envisaged clients and to friends outside of your team as soon as possible to get constant feedback. Stay adaptable and focused on your goals, and constantly reassess your approach. Understand whether you work best independently or as part of a team, and build your team accordingly. Keep your initial team small and set clear milestones to maintain focus. Don’t get discouraged if things take longer than expected; that’s a normal part of the process.

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

We think it is a great opportunity to meet similar people, exchange ideas and motivate each other. We really like such initiatives. Both of us are very social individuals – we love to explain, we love to be challenged and we love feedback. We feel that SSA is a place where we are not alone in our characteristics and our aims for the future.

Supporting such communities is very important since powerful networks are the key to strengthening innovation and competitiveness in Switzerland. Only together can we become better.