Meet our Ambassador Dominika Wojtanek

Please tell us more about yourself.

I spent a decade building engineering teams from scratch for North American and European companies opening offices abroad. Now I run placementist, a consultancy helping founders and growing companies hire well and build the people processes that support it, all grounded in an evidence-based approach to how teams are built and run. I recently joined Startup Nights as Head of People to contribute to the Swiss startup community.

Which sectors, technologies, or topics drive your interest in the startup ecosystem?

I built AI teams before the field became fashionable. Deep tech interests me broadly too, robotics especially, after moving to Switzerland. I’m interested in how to build early-stage teams that last, why neurodivergent talent remains overlooked, and how people processes drive ROI in early-stage companies.

Can you share a success story or a highlight of a startup you’ve been closely involved with?

A greenfield engineering office for Box in Poland, a US brand with no local recognition when I started. I led recruiting for core teams vital to Box’s business (data platform, SRE & cloud, search) as we scaled from a handful of engineers to 200+ in under two years. Retention sat at over 90% three years after I’d left, the number I’m proudest of.

What do you think are the biggest opportunities and challenges for Swiss startups today?

The biggest opportunity is in the people. What struck me when I arrived was how many driven people here actively want to build things, and how early that starts. Universities turn out founders who’ve been chewing on hard problems since they were students, with dense scaffolding around them, including university spinout programmes and a high density of mentors. Coming from a market where almost none of that existed when I was at university, the contrast is hard to overstate.

The challenge is competition for that same talent. EU hubs have closed the gap, Paris or Warsaw now make compelling offers to engineers who once looked to Zurich first. Big-name arrivals like OpenAI or Anthropic cut both ways. In the short term, they outbid most early-stage founders for senior hires. Long term, the upside compounds: they bring senior talent into the country who later become founders, train people on hard problems across deep tech, and add credibility that makes Zurich easier to sell to talent abroad.

The ecosystem itself still has to keep fighting for the policy wins that move real numbers today, not just in a decade.

What inspired you to become an SSA Ambassador, and how do you see your role in supporting our mission to empower Swiss startups to succeed?

What stood out to me about SSA was how much it does to keep Swiss founders connected and supported. Becoming an Ambassador was a way to contribute through what I know best: helping startups build strong technical teams, design solid people practices, and avoid the hiring mistakes that founders only spot in retrospect.

If you could share one piece of advice with startups and entrepreneurs, what would it be?

Your first ten hires set the ceiling for what your company becomes. Pick people whose strengths cover what you can’t do, not what you already do well, especially those willing to challenge you.

How do you envision the future of the Swiss startup ecosystem, and what role would you like SSA and its Ambassadors to play in it?

Switzerland has the engineering depth and the founders. What’s missing is the connective tissue between talent, capital, and policy. SSA is already that bridge, and as Ambassadors we can make it stronger, putting founders in front of the right people and pushing the ecosystem to be visible beyond its borders.

What value do you see in being part of the Swiss Startup Association?

SSA keeps me close to the people whose work I value and to what they’re struggling with. There’s a depth of insight there that no report or panel captures. Personally, they’re good company: creative under pressure, willing to try, and brave enough to keep going even when nervous about it. I find that genuinely interesting.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

A meaningful share of my work focuses on neurodivergent and underrepresented talent, groups that conventional hiring systematically misses. This pool is highly undervalued, and founders who tap into it gain a real edge. Anyone interested in knowing more is welcome to reach out.

Connect with Dominika on LinkedIn!