Lecturers & Coaches
All modules of the CAS ELTV are designed and directed by senior faculty members and lecturers from the ETH domain. ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne bring together their entrepreneurship experts to deliver contemporary knowledge and insight to the CAS participants.
Accomplished practitioners and industry experts with proven experience in relevant domains join the program to bring new perspectives to the teaching and ensure the successful coaching of our participants.
Prof. Bart Clarysse
Chair of Entrepreneurship, ETH Zurich
Program Director of the CAS ELTV
Module Leader: Strategy & Entrepreneurship, New Venture Finance, Legal & Venture Growth
Bart Clarysse is professor for entrepreneurship at ETH Zurich. Prior to joining ETHZ, Bart held positions at Imperial College London, Nottingham University and Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School.
Bart’s current research interests evolve around three pillars: (1) venture evolution of technology ventures, (2) how corporations innovate and design effective corporate entrepreneurship programs, and (3) how novel technologies (e.g., blockchain, AI) impact the organization of venturing activity and generate new opportunities.
Bart has been an executive teacher for several multinationals such as KLM, Belgacom, Recticel, USG People, Johnson & Johnson in corporate venturing and innovative turnaround strategies. He is also a founder of several high-tech start-ups in businesses such as digital cinema, mobile internet and venture incubation.
Bart has co-authored the book "The SMART Entrepreneur" (external pageeBook on Amazon), which is used in entrepreneurship education across leading European Business Schools.
Prof. Marc Gruber
Chair of Entrepreneurship & Technology Commercialization, EPFL
Module Leader: Entrepreneurial Marketing & Sales
Marc Gruber is a full professor at the College of Management of Technology at EPFL where he holds the Chair of Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization (ENTC). Between 2017 and 2021 Marc has also been Vice President for Innovation at EPFL.
Marc regularly publishes research on innovation, strategy and entrepreneurship in leading academic journals. In an independent research study on the most impactful entrepreneurship scholars (Gupta et al., 2016), Marc was ranked among the worldwide top 5 researchers in entrepreneurship for the 2000-2015 period.
He has also co-authored the book “Where to Play: 3 Steps for Discovering Your Most Valuable Market Opportunities” (external pageeBook on Amazon), which introduces the Market Opportunity Navigator – a practical business tool that recently got added to ‘Lean Startup’ toolset by Steve Blank and is used by tens of thousands of startups and established firms to improve their capabilities in opportunity identification and new wealth creation.
Dr. Jana Thiel
Senior Researcher, ETH Zurich
Module Leader: Entrepreneurial Leadership & Teams
Jana obtained her PhD in Entrepreneurship from EPFL, with a focus on technology entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. Prior to joining ETHZ, she held academic positions at ESADE Business School and at Maastricht University.
Jana’s research interests focus on new venture strategy. She is particularly interested in (1) the cognitive underpinnings of strategy formation and technology-application choices, (2) strategies to manage uncertainty, and (3) how to organize team production in entrepreneurial contexts (uncertainty and ambiguity).
As a co-founder of a social marketing SaaS business, Jana acquired insight into B2B start-up strategy, growing and internationalizing venture operations, customer experience management, investor pitches, and anything between operational excellence and stupid mistakes. These experiences allow Jana to coach entrepreneurs both with an understanding of relevant insights from management research and an appreciation for the reality of a new venture.
Dr. Maria Gradillas
Senior Researcher, ETH Zurich
Module Leader: Scaling New Ventures and Sustainable Business Models
Maria's research focuses on two main areas: technological change and sustainable development. In the area of technological change, she is interested in the processes that support successful innovation, particularly in a digital context. In the sustainability area, she nvestigates how organizations improve their environmental, social and governance performance through strategic practices, technological innovation, and new business models.
Maria is a Co-founder of Vital Designs, a start-up that uses digital technologies and recycled materials to create designs with reduced environmental impact.
In addition to faculty coaches (Prof. Bart Clarysse, Dr. Jana Thiel, Dr. Tomas Brenner), experienced industry mentors and coaches will accompany participants' personal and business development, depending on project trajectory.
Business Coaches
Dr. Dragan Grabulovski
ETH Entrepreneurship Coach
With a PhD from ETH, Dragan has become a serial entrepreneur and biotech consultant. He is a long-term coach and mentor at ETH Entrepreneurship. Dragan comes with specific experience in growing and funding biomedical ventures and related businesses.
Michael Stucky
ETH Entrepreneurship Coach
Michael Stucky is an experienced executive in deep-tech ventures who comes with long-term business coaching and mentoring experience at both the ETH Wyss Center and ETH ieLab, now ETH Entrepreneurship. Michi comes with specific expertise in venture finance and how to structure funding of deep-tech ventures.
Dr. Tomas Brenner
Program Director of ETH Pioneer Fellowships
Dr. Tomas Brenner is an innovation and technology expert who has worked in startups as well as scale-ups in multiple international contexts. Since 2016, he is leading the ETH Pioneer Fellowship program, and oversees the selection and the skill and competence development of the pioneer fellows.
Dr. Adrian von Orelli
Agile Innovation Coach & Managing Partner at Pragmatic Solutions
Adrian von Orelli has many years of experience in high-tech product development. He has coached international teams in cultural and business model transofrmation projects. In the CAS he supports the lean startup coaching for demand-driven innovation projects. Adrian obtained his doctoral degree from ETH Zurich.
We will be working together with the external pageKets de Vries Insitute -- a consulting firm that specializes in organizational development and transformation. The institute has worked with top management teams and senior leaders from a broad range of industries all over the world. Through the institue you will be able to access highly qualified and trained leadership coaches who will work with you through a tailored personal development program.
Here, you can external pagedownload a Whitepaper on the Kets de Vries Approach and Services.
List of Guest Lecturers & Speakers in the 2020/21 Program
- Jana Nevrlka, external pageLinkedIn Profile
With a legal background and first-hand experience in the challenges of building functioning new venture teams, Jana founder the consulting company external pageCofounding.info that helps aspiring entrepreneurs to navigate team building issues. She authored the book "Cofounding the Right Way" (external pageeBook on Amazon). Jana joins the on-campus workshop of Module 2 with actionable workshop elements around cofounder contracting.
- Jürgen Heyman, external pageLinkedIn Profile
Jürgen Heyman is a strategic consultant and independent advisor on sales strategy and business development. He has built a business around helping customers build and grow their business through improving their approach to: channels (direct or indirect channels), local sales teams, pre sales functions, a solution selling approach. Jürgen is part of the on-campus workshop of Module 3.
- Irene Walsh, external pageLinkedIn Profile
Irene is director at Messagelab and and experienced executive and venture coach who specializes in communication training incl. public speaking skills as well as devloping skills and competencies around delivering engaging investor pitches. Irene is part of the communication training during our study trip.
- Stefano Ciampolini, external pageEntrepreneur and Venture Investor
Stefano is a healthcare entrepreneur and co-founder of Healthcare Capital Partners, a London based private equity and corporate finance advisory firm specializing in life sciences and healthcare. Stefano joins as topic matter expert and venture coach during our study trip.
- Leo Grünstein, external pageLinkedin Profile
Leo Grünstein has been the cofounder of several startups in materials and technology hardware in the UK and Switzerland. He is also Chairman LG Capital AG, a family office holding company that focuses on company building/incubating and investing in startup companies. Leo joins as topic matter expert and venture coach during our study trip.
- Eugène De Groot, external pageLinkedIn Profile
Eugene is Head of Executive Education Programs at EPFL. In his long industry career, Eugene has held director and general manager positions in renown corporations such PSG and IBM. Eugene joins as topic matter expert and venture coach during our study trip.