Timestamps:

8:48 - Building a startup in tissue engineering

11:23 - Building a foodtech venture studio

15:49 - The underrated challenge of making phone calls every day

23:44 - Why having an analytical mind is crucial

26:41 - The importance of mentorship

This episode was co-produced with the ⁠⁠Female Founders Initiative⁠⁠.

The conversation originally took place at the Rise Up Summit 2024.

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About Lida Ahmadi & Adam Korczak:

Lida Ahmadi is the founder of Sproutd, a foodtech venture studio partnering with corporates to tackle current food system challenges. She holds an MA in Accounting and Finance from HSG and co-founded Snäx in 2018 (acquired by FELFEL in 2023) before beginning her new venture in 2024.

Adam Korczak is the co-founder and CEO at Treeless, an ETH Zurich Spin-off developing microorganism-based cellulose materials with the goal to end plastic pollution. He holds a PhD in Biomedical/Medical Engineering from ETH and started his company in 2021, right after finishing his degree.

During their chat with Merle, Lida and Adam reflected on the skills which have bolstered their unique founder journeys. The abilities needed to build a successful startup were not always what this pair of founders expected: Lida recalls being surprised and feeling challenged by the need to develop her analytical mind and to gain the habit of making data-based decisions, and Adam remembered how difficult it was at first to have to make such a inordinate amount of phone calls every single day.

Both founders value the technical skills they learned in school, but most of all they appreciate how their education taught them resilience — the ability to cope with stress.

Adam continues to scale Treeless successfully and Lida is currently working on a new project that is still in stealth mode.

Resources Mentioned:

⁠Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman⁠ (Lida Ahmadi)
The cover portrait was edited by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.smartportrait.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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