Opening Doors

Students’ Business Club – University of St. Gallen

Opening Doors is a podcast brought to you by the Students’ Business Club at the University of St. Gallen. By inviting todays’ leaders and talking about their journey to where they stand today, we want to make their learnings and experiences accessible to everyone.

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  1. #3 – Urs Wietlisbach, founding Partners Group, the perfect entrepreneur, giving back, HSG Alumni

    02.12.2022

    #3 – Urs Wietlisbach, founding Partners Group, the perfect entrepreneur, giving back, HSG Alumni

    In this episode we welcome Urs Wietlisbach. At the end of his first day at the SQUARE as a personality in residence, he shares his path to where he stands today. We cover how he left Goldman Sachs to become self-employed and talk about the founding process of Partners Group. Wietlisbach tells us how the three founders made the perfect entrepreneur when put together. We also talk about financially giving back – especially to the HSG foundation. Wietlisbach was one of the first to contribute to the building of the SQUARE and he expresses how private funding helps the University of St. Gallen to keep the high rankings it has. Timestamps (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:04) Personality in residence at SQUARE (00:01:23) Professional background (00:02:53) Studying at HSG (00:03:52) Wish of becoming self-employed (00:04:33) Who opened doors for you? (00:05:35) For whom do you want to open doors? (00:06:24) Swiss Sports Aid Foundation (00:07:18) Entrepreneurship as a banker’s son (00:10:14) Fraud in the founding process (00:10:51) Learning through mistakes or success (00:11:21) Most rewarding moments (00:13:21) Work-life balance (00:15:28) HSG Alumni (00:16:30) Private funding of SQUARE (00:17:43) Summer sport or winter sports? (00:17:56) Safe and predictable or risky but exciting? (00:18:04) Early stage or established player? (00:18:14) Hard skills or soft skills? (00:18:23) E-Mails or phone calls? (00:18:30) Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs (00:19:24) Outro

    20 Min.
  2. #2 – Uli Sigg, setting the first framework for doing business in China, gaining trust as a Swiss person, the importance of not always interfering

    25.10.2022

    #2 – Uli Sigg, setting the first framework for doing business in China, gaining trust as a Swiss person, the importance of not always interfering

    This episode’s guest is Uli Sigg. During his stay at the SQUARE as a personality in residence, he tells us about his various professional milestones. They go from journalism, diplomacy and building the first Joint Venture in China to collecting art and vice-chairing the Ringier Group. Further, he gives us deeper insights into how life was in China in the 70s and 80s. We cover how he, as a Swiss person, gained trust in China. We also talk about how he set the framework for doing business and investing in China at a time where no one had envisioned what it once would become. Sigg tells us, how he brought some Chinese traditions and attitudes into his own life and businesses, such as listening more and leaving some things as they are without always intervening. Timestamps (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:12) Personality in residence at SQUARE (00:01:55) Key takeaways from SQUARE (00:02:25) Law studies in the 60s  (00:03:30) Professional background (00:07:31) Joint Venture in China (00:09:18) Most rewarding moments (00:11:13) Are setbacks more important than victories? (00:11:58) Life in China in the 70s/80s (00:14:25) Gaining trust as a Swiss person (00:16:33) The importance of listening (00:18:07) Leaving things where they are (00:20:15) Business or Art? (00:20:37) Entrepreneurship or official? (00:20:45) Switzerland as a mediator or proactive player? (00:20:57) Fondue or Beijing duck? (00:21:02) Summer or winter? (00:21:12) Anything you would like to say to our listeners? (00:21:26) Outro

    22 Min.
  3. #1 – Ambassador Jürg Lauber, career path in diplomacy, finding compromise, Swiss neutrality, work-life balance

    03.10.2022

    #1 – Ambassador Jürg Lauber, career path in diplomacy, finding compromise, Swiss neutrality, work-life balance

    In this episode, Ambassador Jürg Lauber tells us about his career path up to the point of diving into the diplomatic world and becoming Head of the Swiss Mission. We cover how essential it is as a diplomat to leave the meeting room once in a while to gain insights into operational ground work. Lauber reviews why it is important to be prepared to grab any opportunity in the international world of diplomacy. He also gives us his definition of neutrality regarding the role of Switzerland in the UN. We discuss the process of finding compromise within a large group of countries and stakeholder, giving the cybersecurity negotiations as an example. Further, he elaborates on his work-life balance and the large variety of professional and ethnic backgrounds in diplomacy. Lastly, the Ambassador shares what he thinks a student of diplomacy should have as a basic skill set. Timestamps (00:00:00) Introduction (00:01:56) Professional background (00:04:33) Ground vs. office work (00:06:13) Importance of ground work (00:07:10) Who opened doors for you? (00:09:12) When preparation meets opportunity (00:09:51) Shift towards cybersecurity (00:12:27) Opening up the negotiations (00:14:56) Finding compromise (00:18:07) Swiss neutrality (00:19:59) Dealing with frustration (00:21:13) Variety of backgrounds in diplomacy (00:22:04) Advice to self in retrospective (00:22:43) Assessment & importance of integrated thinking (00:24:58) Work-life balance (00:26:29) Skillset for students of diplomacy (00:27:11) Outro

    28 Min.

Info

Opening Doors is a podcast brought to you by the Students’ Business Club at the University of St. Gallen. By inviting todays’ leaders and talking about their journey to where they stand today, we want to make their learnings and experiences accessible to everyone.