“Ideas are products in our industry”

Thomas: I was tired of working for a large company and wanted to be more independent and start my own business. I saw how many companies and IT service providers were offshoring their core competencies. With ti&m, I wanted to keep core competencies, expertise and value creation in Switzerland. Our focus has always been on holistic, vertically integrated solutions along our customers’ value chain. I didn’t want to produce a piecemeal work, but rather implement projects from start to finish and be innovative — in customer solutions and our own products.

Luisa: Thomas is an optimist, very performance oriented, and extremely resilient — especially when he wants to achieve goals. That’s why I never doubted that ti&m would be a success.

Luisa: He is very happy with ti&m, despite the stress and pressure he sometimes has to endure. He has definitely found his professional calling and his happiness as an entrepreneur. Happiness in life as a whole certainly doesn’t just depend on your career, but for Thomas, starting his own business was definitely better than remaining an employee.

Thomas: When ti&m grew to around 180 employees, I sensed that I had to decide whether to continue expanding or remain small and focused. Continuing to expand means scaling up, leading by values, delegating and no longer wanting to do everything yourself. It’s a transition that’s not easy to manage and cope with, but it’s also a lot of fun!

Thomas: As a Swiss company, it is not enough to scale up in terms of employee numbers alone; you also need to scale up in terms of ideas. And ideas are products in our industry. It was therefore clear to me that ti&m would invest in its own products as soon as we could afford to do so. And we are still doing that today. This spring we launched Open Datastack, the most advanced end user-centric business intelligence solution with the best cost-benefit ratio on the market.

Thomas: I’m tough, very resilient. But about once a quarter — even if it’s only for five minutes — I get really annoyed about everything that ends up on my desk. My only real regret as far as self-employment is concerned is that I didn’t make the move sooner.

Thomas: There are quite a few things. I often talk to her about my ideas, but also about my worries. Luisa usually disagrees with me, especially on social issues. And so we have a long discussion.

Thomas: I still do programming from time to time, currently with Python for AI topics, sometimes with R. And somehow, despite everything, I am closely involved in many projects, whether it’s brainstorming, finalizing or troubleshooting, and hopefully always part of the solution. I also often exchange thoughts and insights with experts, discuss new topics, and learn new things from young talents.

Thomas: I always try to learn from my mistakes and am then able to put them behind me. I also don’t hold grudges against others — I don’t have the time for that. I prefer to invest that time in new topics. What I would certainly do better today with ti&m is to work with outside capital. Today, I am glad that we are our own masters, but strategic investors could have significantly accelerated our growth. On a personal level, I should have set aside more time for my family; unfortunately I did a very poor job of that.

Thomas: There have been countless fantastic moments, and hopefully there will be many more to come. What makes me happy are satisfied customers, situations in which we achieve a successful turnaround, and finding and discussing new solutions and products. But of course, every shake the lake or art@work event is a great moment. I also have very fond memories of our first hack an app in Lenzburg, which I personally led at the time.

Thomas: I wouldn’t want to be without any of them, from the agility of water sports at shake the lake to modern art to the typically Swiss ski event or the Xmas party. But shake the lake is a tad cooler than the others! I really enjoy water sports — and I think it’s great to be able to welcome guests to our brilliant surf base on Lake Zurich for a day.

Thomas: My advice to entrepreneurs and founders is: Always listen to feedback, but don’t let it sway you from your values. Build on talent, not hierarchy, do your job with passion and inspire your teams to do the same. And sure, setbacks hurt. But as an entrepreneur, all that matters is the next day. The sun will rise again and new opportunities will present themselves.

Thomas: As my role will be filled from within the family, we will carry today’s promise to our customers and our employees into the future. I want to give the next generation space so that I can eventually step back completely and make way for something new.

Eleonora: he decision isn’t totally final yet, but there’s a firm declaration of intent. We know many of the ti&m employees personally, have been small shareholders for years and are therefore privy to all board and AGM issues. And of course we are also closely attuned to the concerns and topics that matter to our parents.

Damiano: We have also both worked at ti&m. We are already involved in some events, such as the hack an app award and various internal events. In terms of content, our studies at HSG have given us a solid foundation in administrative law and managing boards of directors.