SCALEUP DESK
WHAT COUNTS? HOW DO YOU COUNT IT? MAKE IT COUNT!
Financial Leadership for scaleups
The FS Partners Scaleup Desk is an experienced team of entrepreneurs and financial experts who have worked for growing organizations. As financial experts, we support startups on demand and peer to peer. Founders can focus on their core business tasks, while the finance and governance duties are in trustworthy hands.
We provide dedicated tools to scale and can take over the following roles:
· Sparring Partner for Founder(s)
· Financial Expert
· Project Manager
· CFO on Demand
· Board Secretary
· Board Member
who
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/425777_FSPartner_Anna_Wozniak_1564_sRGB_DL-1.jpg)
Anna Wozniak
ANNA WOZNIAK
Strategic Financial Planning and Analysis
Fundraising and Transaction Advisory
Execution Frameworks
Scaling International Operations
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/424271_FSPartner_Christian_Nauer_V2_sRGB_DL.jpg)
Christian Nauer
CHRISTIAN NAUER
Fundraising
Special Situations
Board Management
Financial Storytelling
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/425777_FSPartner_Isabelle_Weber_0825_sRGB_DL.jpg)
ISABELLE WEBER
ISABELLE WEBER
Financial Operations & Strategy
Accounting & Consolidation Expert
Internal Controls Expert
Liquidity Management & Budget
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/425777_FSPartner_Leandro_Aeschlimann_0713_sRGB_DL.jpg)
LEANDRO AESCHLIMANN
LEANDRO AESCHLIMANN
BI & Data Analytics
System Integrations
Master Data Solutions
CTO & CIO Consulting
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/425777_FSPartner_Lukas_Gysin_0611_sRGB_DL.jpg)
LUKAS GYSIN
LUKAS GYSIN
Fundraising & Grants
Accounting & Audit Expert
Board Management
Founders coaching
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/424271_FSPartner_Thomas_Schlup_sRGB_DL.jpg)
Tom Schlup
TOM SCHLUP
Fundraising
Mergers & Acquisitions
Accounting & Controlling Expert
Financial Storytelling
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/429987_FS_Partners_David_Gruetter_13098_476x700px_sRGB_DL.jpg)
David Grütter
DAVID GRÜTTER
Partner
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/425777_FSPartner_Anna_Wozniak_1564_sRGB_DL-1.jpg)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-left.png)
Anna Wozniak
Associate Partner
- Scaleup CFO/COO for 7+ years
- Raised CHF 40+ million from VC, CVC, and Angels
- Series A,B,C | Venture Debt | Bank Loans | Grants
- Executed a trade sale process with a Fortune 500 company in collaboration with a Silicon Valley investment boutique
- Experienced in company building scaling organizations, particularly in international settings
- Identification and implementation of strategic and commercial improvements to drive shareholder value
- Implemented multiple KPI / OKR frameworks including reporting dashboards and BI tool implementation
- Supported several scaleups
- SaaS | Clinical Research IT SaaS | Healthcare IT and Data
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-right.png)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/424271_FSPartner_Christian_Nauer_V2_sRGB_DL.jpg)
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Christian Nauer
Senior Partner
- Entrepreneur for 12+ years
- Experienced both as founder (CEO / CFO) and investor
- Conducted due diligence for 20 years · Raised CHF 10+ million
- Pre-Seed | Seed | Series A | Bridge Funding
- Negotiated exits
- International merger | Trade sale | Soft landing (asset sale)
- Supported 12 scaleups
- Fin Tech | SaaS | E-Commerce | Data as a Service | Food Tech
- Board member for 10+ years
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-right.png)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/425777_FSPartner_Isabelle_Weber_0825_sRGB_DL.jpg)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-left.png)
Isabelle Weber
Associate Partner
- Entrepreneur for 5+ years
- Experienced both as founder (CEO / CFO) and investor
- Managed several fundraisings with 700 shareholders (above CHF 4.6 million)
- Implementation of new acquired company
- Restructuring with a saving of 30% monthly fixed costs
- Developing and implementing cost center model, reporting and KPIs
- Supported several scaleups
- SaaS| E-Commerce | HR Services | IT Services | Financial Service provider | Trading Company
- Board member for 2+ years
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-right.png)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/425777_FSPartner_Leandro_Aeschlimann_0713_sRGB_DL.jpg)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-left.png)
LEANDRO AESCHLIMANN
Associate Partner
- Entrepreneur for 2+ years
- Experienced both as founder (CEO / CFO) and investor
- Business Intelligence Program Manager
- SAP TM Implementation Responsible for Europe
- Senior IT Project Manager / Deputy OPS Director
- SAFe® certified Product Owner / Product Manager
- 12 end-to-end ERP Implementations
- Hands-on Software Development Skills
- Supported 4 scaleups
- Health tech | Social Marketing | Consulting | Marketing Gamification
- Board member for 4+ years
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-right.png)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/425777_FSPartner_Lukas_Gysin_0611_sRGB_DL.jpg)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-left.png)
Lukas Gysin
Associate Partner
- Entrepreneur for 8+ years
- Experienced both as founder (CEO / CFO) and as auditor
- Mentoring for founders
- Raised CHF 75+ million (convertible & equity)
- Grants | Series A, B and C
- Supported several scaleups in different industries
- AI | Big Data | E-Commerce | EdTech | ICT | FinTech | HealthTech | SaaS| Virtual Reality | Retail
- Managed his own rising startup uniqFEED through all different startup company life stages, incl. successful transition fading out as CEO & Founder
- Board room experience for 14+ years
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-right.png)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/424271_FSPartner_Thomas_Schlup_sRGB_DL.jpg)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-left.png)
Tom Schlup
Partner
- 10+ years’ experience as accountant, controller and corporate finance manager
- Project lead in 10+ buyside M&A deals with experience in due diligence, development of business cases & financial models, company valuation, deal structuring & contract negotiations and post-merger integration
- 3+ years lead of a scaleup programme including consulting and providing investment documentations to credit boards at banks for startup investments
- Supported 20+ scaleups in business strategy, financial storytelling, fundraising, and implementing dashboards
- Digital marketplaces | SaaS | E-commerce | Trading companies | HealthTech | HighTech
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-right.png)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/429987_FS_Partners_David_Gruetter_13098_476x700px_sRGB_DL.jpg)
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-left.png)
DAVID GRÜTTER
Partner
- 10+ years’ experience as Managing Director & European Board Member, Head of Marketing, Head of IT, Head of E-Business, Head of Telesales, Head of Sales Operations and Assistant to Group Chief Information Officer
- Expert in Organization & Corporate Strategy, Digital Business & Strategies, Communication, Sales Management & Organization and Application Product Management
- 4+ years of international professional experience in marketing, sales and IT in leading positions
- Fluent in English, French, German and Spanish
- Expert for diverse ERP, BI & Data and MDM Systems
- SAP | SAP BW | QuilkSense | MS Power BI | Tableau | STEP by STIBO Systems
![](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/arrow-right.png)
ANNA WOZNIAK
Associate Partner
![425777_FSPartner_Anna_Wozniak_quad_1564_sRGB_DL 425777_FSPartner_Anna_Wozniak_quad_1564_sRGB_DL](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/425777_FSPartner_Anna_Wozniak_quad_1564_sRGB_DL.jpg)
Strategic Financial Planning and Analysis
Fundraising and Transaction Advisory
Execution Frameworks
Scaling International Operations
- Scaleup CFO/COO for 7+ years
- Raised CHF 40+ million from VC, CVC, and Angels
- Series A,B,C | Venture Debt | Bank Loans | Grants
- Executed a trade sale process with a Fortune 500 company in collaboration with a Silicon Valley investment boutique
- Experienced in company building scaling organizations, particularly in international settings
- Identification and implementation of strategic and commercial improvements to drive shareholder value
- Implemented multiple KPI / OKR frameworks including reporting dashboards and BI tool implementation
- Supported several scaleups
- SaaS | Clinical Research IT SaaS | Healthcare IT and Data
CHRISTIAN NAUER
Senior Partner
![424271_FSPartner_Christian_Nauer_V2_eciRGBv2_DL 424271_FSPartner_Christian_Nauer_V2_eciRGBv2_DL](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/424271_FSPartner_Christian_Nauer_V2_eciRGBv2_DL-1-scaled-e1677592060613.jpg)
Fundraising
Special Situations
Board Management
Financial Storytelling
- Entrepreneur for 12+ years
- Experienced both as founder (CEO / CFO) and investor
- Conducted due diligence for 20 years · Raised CHF 10+ million
- Pre-Seed | Seed | Series A | Bridge Funding
- Negotiated exits
- International merger | Trade sale | Soft landing (asset sale)
- Supported 12 scaleups
- Fin Tech | SaaS | E-Commerce | Data as a Service | Food Tech
- Board member for 10+ years
ISABELLE WEBER
Associate Partner
![425777_FSPartner_Isabelle_Weber_0825_476x700px_sRGB_DL 425777_FSPartner_Isabelle_Weber_0825_476x700px_sRGB_DL](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/425777_FSPartner_Isabelle_Weber_0825_476x700px_sRGB_DL-1.jpg)
Financial Operations & Strategy
Accounting & Consolidation Expert
Internal Controls Expert
Liquidity Management & Budget
- Entrepreneur for 5+ years
- Experienced both as founder (CEO / CFO) and investor
- Managed several fundraisings with 700 shareholders (above CHF 4.6 million)
- Implementation of new acquired company
- Restructuring with a saving of 30% monthly fixed costs
- Developing and implementing cost center model, reporting and KPIs
- Supported several scaleups
- SaaS| E-Commerce | HR Services | IT Services | Financial Service provider | Trading Company
- Board member for 2+ years
LEANDRO AESCHLIMANN
Associate Partner
![425777_FSPartner_Leandro_Aeschlimann_0713_sRGB_DL 425777_FSPartner_Leandro_Aeschlimann_0713_sRGB_DL](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/425777_FSPartner_Leandro_Aeschlimann_0713_sRGB_DL.jpg)
BI & Data Analytics
System Integrations
Master Data Solutions
CTO & CIO Consulting
- Entrepreneur for 2+ years
- Experienced both as founder (CEO / CFO) and investor
- Business Intelligence Program Manager
- SAP TM Implementation Responsible for Europe
- Senior IT Project Manager / Deputy OPS Director
- SAFe® certified Product Owner / Product Manager
- 12 end-to-end ERP Implementations
- Hands-on Software Development Skills
- Supported 4 scaleups
- Health tech | Social Marketing | Consulting | Marketing Gamification
- Board member for 4+ years
LUKAS GYSIN
Associate Partner
![425777_FSPartner_Lukas_Gysin_0611_476x700px_sRGB_DL 425777_FSPartner_Lukas_Gysin_0611_476x700px_sRGB_DL](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/425777_FSPartner_Lukas_Gysin_0611_476x700px_sRGB_DL-1.jpg)
Fundraising & Grants
Accounting & Audit Expert
Board Management
Founders coaching
- Entrepreneur for 8+ years
- Experienced both as founder (CEO / CFO) and as auditor
- Mentoring for founders
- Raised CHF 75+ million (convertible & equity)
- Grants | Series A, B and C
- Supported several scaleups in different industries
- AI | Big Data | E-Commerce | EdTech | ICT | FinTech | HealthTech | SaaS| Virtual Reality | Retail
- Managed his own rising startup uniqFEED through all different startup company life stages, incl. successful transition fading out as CEO & Founder
- Board room experience for 14+ years
TOM SCHLUP
Partner
![424271_FSPartner_Thomas_Schlup_sRGB_DL_quad 424271_FSPartner_Thomas_Schlup_sRGB_DL_quad](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/424271_FSPartner_Thomas_Schlup_sRGB_DL_quad.jpg)
Fundraising
Mergers & Acquisitions
Accounting & Controlling Expert
Financial Storytelling
- 10+ years’ experience as accountant, controller and corporate finance manager
- Project lead in 10+ buyside M&A deals with experience in due diligence, development of business cases & financial models, company valuation, deal structuring & contract negotiations and post-merger integration
- 3+ years lead of a scaleup programme including consulting and providing investment documentations to credit boards at banks for startup investments
- Supported 20+ scaleups in business strategy, financial storytelling, fundraising, and implementing dashboards
- Digital marketplaces | SaaS | E-commerce | Trading companies | HealthTech | HighTech
DAVID GRÜTTER
Partner
![429987_FS_Partners_David_Gruetter_13098_476x700px_sRGB_DL 429987_FS_Partners_David_Gruetter_13098_476x700px_sRGB_DL](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/429987_FS_Partners_David_Gruetter_13098_476x700px_sRGB_DL-1.jpg)
- 10+ years’ experience as Managing Director & European Board Member, Head of Marketing, Head of IT, Head of E-Business, Head of Telesales, Head of Sales Operations and Assistant to Group Chief Information Officer
- Expert in Organization & Corporate Strategy, Digital Business & Strategies, Communication, Sales Management & Organization and Application Product Management
- 4+ years of international professional experience in marketing, sales and IT in leading positions
- Fluent in English, French, German and Spanish
- Expert for diverse ERP, BI & Data and MDM Systems
- SAP | SAP BW | QuilkSense | MS Power BI | Tableau | STEP by STIBO Systems
Why
- Implement tools tracking financial and operating metrics to orient yourself (Scaleup ready)
- Grow confidence in your decisions (Pitch ready)
- From telling your story to shaping your reality (Practice ready)
Why we take your call
We are entrepreneurs who love to help and believe in using data to support intuitive decision making, even in unchartered territories.
- We are curious and ask questions.
- We excel at creating solutions.
- We are tenacious and get things done.
How
As curious individuals we keep asking questions. We believe in iterative ideation processes and taking on different perspectives not falling for the “obvious solution trap”. Seeing through the jargon of experts we are careful to translate it for you. We can manage different stakeholders and mediate between them as we are aware of the varying interests.
We have been in your shoes and can leverage our own experience as entrepreneurs. Benefit from our learning curve by picking our brain or “stealing” pages from our playbook to deal with growth challenges. As a team, our sample size is materially greater than that of a single individual. We can provide you with plausible benchmarks to validate your scaleup recipe.
We understand that it’s your show and don’t “cheat” or take short cuts. Of course, we have templates and preferred modus operandi. But we map your reality and help you navigating it finding your own answers.
Own your financial story, innovate and be creative – but don’t re-invent the wheel regarding operations. We take care of operational improvements with and for you. We size up your operations so you can grow into them removing growth constraints. We walk the walk and don’t just talk (or send you slides) but provide relief by taking care of operational tasks and implement processes as project managers.
what
Our offering and roles
![fspartners_scaleupdesk_paper](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/fspartners_scaleupdesk_paper.jpg)
Identify | Financial Experts
Identify what matters (“What counts”). Call us to schedule an ideation workshop with our Financial Experts to investigate a specific question and to benchmark your aspirations. For CHF 850 (plus VAT), you will walk away with a status quo analysis and a high-level roadmap to address the findings. But more importantly, you will gain trust in your hypotheses.
Examples:
How long is my runway?
How much cash do I need to raise?
Can I get non-dilutive funding with my business plan?
Which key performance indicators “KPI” support my vision?
Which key results shall I use for my annual objectives and key results “OKR”?
Which investors shall I talk to?
Which tools could I use to have scalable accounting and reporting infrastructure?
![fspartners_scaleupdesk_pm](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/fspartners_scaleupdesk_pm.jpg)
Implement | Project Managers
Together, as part of our workshop, we have identified an action plan. Hire us as Project Managers to implement scalable routines. Get scaleup ready and tell your financial story (“How do you count it”). As a rule of thumb, you may expect project costs under CHF 10k (plus VAT) and tangible results in less than 1 month.
Examples:
Ready data room for investor due diligence
Updated financial plan
Dashboard with financial and operational KPI
Investor reporting framework
Internationalization strategy
Onboarding of auditor
![fspartners_scaleupdesk_hands](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/fspartners_scaleupdesk_hands.jpg)
Accelerate | CFO on Demand
We have worked together as part of workshops and projects and know each other well. As your CFO on Demand, we provide operational relief enabling you to focus on where you matter most (“Make it count”). We have your back looking out for upcoming challenges and keep your “corporate house” in order. We raise questions in time and serve as your interface between the management team, stakeholders and external experts. Leverage our network to source investors, hire key roles and sell to B2B clients.
Examples:
Support in managing your fundraising process
Selection and roll out of new digital tools, including documentation of requirements
Managing your board of directors, including maintenance of board minutes
Tax rulings and transfer pricing
Launching new subsidiaries
Implementing and managing employee participation plans
Drafting term sheets and support in shareholder agreement negotiations
Consolidation of financial statements across group structure
User Stories
Don’t take it from us, here’s what our clients have to say about us
![librio_ed](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/librio_ed.jpg)
Librio
Confirming Financial Story
Goal Librio: Make the pitch deck and financial model “investor ready so that the numbers back up the story.”
FS Partners Approach: Ideation workshops and financial model draft
In a series of workshops, Ed Russel (CEO Librio) and Christian Nauer (Scaleup Desk FS Partners) reviewed Librio’s track record identifying key variables that support the firm’s growth ambitions. Diving into the behaviors of the different cohorts it was found that the firm has accumulated an extremely sticky and engaged community of fans, a truly remarkable success for an e-commerce venture. Subsequently, Christian implemented a detailed financial model based on the growth levers identified that was subsequently used as the basis for a customized fundraising strategy.
Ed’s take on it
«FS Partner's service was tailor made for Librio as a company transitioning to scale but without the budget or workload for a full time CFO. Christian showed an incredible depth of understanding in our business and not only created an impeccable financial model but also gave the management team an entirely new insight into the driving factors behind our business.»
![onedoc_arthur](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/onedoc_arthur.jpg)
OneDoc
Business Intelligence Dashboard
Goal OneDoc: Dashboard for daily financial data analysis and tracking performance of different license plans
FS Partners Approach: Connect Data of existing systems into a Power BI app
Leveraging OneDoc’s existing financial model and its underlying KPI framework, developed in an earlier project with FS Partners, Leandro Aeschlimann (Scaleup Desk FS Partners) gathered Arthur Germain’s (CEO OneDoc) core questions and requirements towards the dashboard in a series of workshops. Based on this, a data model and a visual mockup was established. For the MVP, it was decided to connect data from Bexio into a Power BI app. Once published, further changes were made based on OneDoc’s requirements.
Arthur’s view
«Leandro did an outstanding job understanding our requirements, building connectors to extract data from our existing software and consolidate it into a powerful and actionable dashboard. Leandro's business understanding and technical expertise were invaluable to the success of the project. Thanks to the dashboard, we are able to better understand our financials, including our revenue sources and customer segmentation and see the evolution per month, quarter and year. FS Partners’ dedication to finding the best possible solutions and delivering robust structures was evident throughout the project. Leandro's suggestions and inputs on best practices across different markets and businesses were also greatly appreciated.»
![digt](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/digt.jpg)
DIGT
Non-Dilutive Funding
Goal Digt: Close the deal with the bank for debt funding
In particular, DIGT was faced with the challenge of developing a financing strategy in line with its growth and ownership strategy and mapping it out in an adequate financial plan that would meet the demands of potential investors.
FS Partners Approach: Ideation workshops to identify funding options and amend financial model to cater to banks’ requirements
Tom Schlup (Scaleup Desk FS Partners) assisted DIGT's Finance Team in discussing their financing options and refining their financial plan. The financial model was extended with an integrated balance sheet and cash flow planning and the effective capital requirements as well as the intended use of funds were derived. On this basis, the expected cash flows of the planned growth could be planned and plausibly presented over several years and a sound basis for argumentation could be developed.
How DIGT experienced the FS Partners Support
«The cooperation with FS Partners has been extremely valuable and sustainable for Digt AG. Christian and Tom have not only supported us in the creation and specification of our financial model, but are also straightforward and solution-oriented advisors who are intensively involved with our strategy and business model. Together we develop solutions to position ourselves optimally for future challenges.»
![Lionstep_Logo_pos-(2)](https://www.fspartners.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Lionstep_Logo_pos-2.jpg)
Lionstep
Flexible Financial Expertise
Goal Lionstep: Access to senior financial knowhow to support internal finance resources
FS Partners Approach: CFO on Demand
Over the course of several years, FS Partners supported Lionstep to scale. As CFO on Demand, Isabelle Weber (Scaleup Desk FS Partners) helped Claudia Bolliger-Winkler (CEO Lionstep) setting up the financial structure and processes to be able to continue growing. Isabell also accompanied the firm through the yearend closing and its first audit. Additionally, Isabelle provided operational relief by taking care of global daily and monthly cash management, budgeting, lead and coordination of the subsidiaries’ financials, and monthly reporting and consolidation.
Next Step
Book a free call to pick our brain or schedule a workshop