Why Great Tech Isn’t Enough: Robotics, Startups & VC | Max Vogt
Max Vogt of Swisscom Ventures on backing technical founders, robotics beyond the lab and what Switzerland can learn from technology deployment in Shenzhen.
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Key insights: executive summary
- Great research needs a route into everyday use. Max sees Switzerland as a robotics hotspot, but wants more opportunities to test and deploy technology outside the lab. His reference point is the scale of adoption he has seen in Chinese cities such as Shenzhen.
- The person behind the pitch matters. In face-to-face meetings, Max wants to understand a founder’s motivation, presence and relationships with other people. The market can be studied afterwards; time together helps build confidence in a relationship that may last years.
- Technical depth works best with flexibility. Max values founders from ETH, EPFL and leading research teams. His advice is to stay committed to the problem while remaining willing to change the proposed solution.
- Robotics is already useful, while some startup ideas may be early. Max points to robotics in logistics infrastructure as evidence of real adoption. He still questions whether every ambitious, well-funded solution is ready for its market today.
- Helping people is a thread through his career. Supporting students at St John’s College in Hong Kong gave Max a sense of purpose that he connects with helping founders: find exceptional people and help them move forward.
- Venture capital is judged over years. Max describes a fund aiming for around six new investments annually after considering hundreds or thousands of companies. The ultimate test is the money returned to investors, and cooperation across the ecosystem can help companies along the way.
“I found my role early on in my life, which is to find exceptional people and just help them in any way possible.”
“Falling in love with the problem, I think, is extremely important.”
What does a VC look for beyond the pitch deck?
Max uses in-person meetings to understand the founder as a person. He is interested in what drives them, how they interact with others and why they care about the company they are building.
A presentation can communicate the market and product. Being together provides a different kind of information: how someone listens, behaves and builds relationships. For Max, this helps establish trust before entering a long investment relationship.
He describes preferring some deeper, less transactional conversations at events over filling every available slot with a pitch meeting. The aim is to understand who he might be working with through the difficult parts of building a company.
What should technical founders take from this conversation?
Max is enthusiastic about the research talent coming out of ETH, EPFL and frontier technology teams. He describes robotics researchers whose technical ability is matched by the drive to become founders.
His advice is to fall in love with the problem and avoid becoming too attached to a supposedly perfect solution. A team’s technical strength gives it options; listening to the problem helps it decide which option is useful.
For founders moving from research into a company, that means staying open to changing the product while keeping a clear understanding of the need it is meant to address.
What did Shenzhen teach Max about technology deployment?
Max describes visiting Shenzhen as feeling like walking into the future. Delivery drones, infrastructure and everyday convenience made an impression because the technology was visible in ordinary life.
He distinguishes this from seeing an impressive system in a lab or inside a company. His observations concern particular modern urban areas, and he explicitly acknowledges that rural areas are different.
The lesson he brings back to Switzerland is about deployment. A strong research base creates possibilities, but cities, companies and customers also need ways to put those possibilities into use.
Is robotics hype, or are some companies simply too early?
Max sees robotics already operating as part of logistics and daily infrastructure in China. That makes the usefulness of robotics tangible to him.
His reservation concerns timing. Some startup solutions attracting substantial funding may still be a few years early, even if the wider direction is promising. He does not see that as a reason to give up ambitious goals.
The distinction matters for physical AI: a field can have proven applications while an individual product still needs time to become practical. Max also points to labour shortages and demanding tasks involving precision, dexterity and manipulation as areas where robotics can address real needs.
How can Switzerland bring more robots into everyday life?
Max sees Switzerland as a robotics hotspot that attracts investors from across Europe. He believes its research is comparable with leading Chinese labs and ahead in some areas.
What he wants to see more of is adoption outside research settings. Delivery robots that fly, walk or drive need opportunities to operate, including permissions and engagement with the authorities.
The conversation also addresses safety and controlled testing. Max’s ambition is to learn how to deploy more technology while preserving the qualities that make Swiss cities attractive places to live.
How did helping students shape his approach to venture capital?
While living in Hong Kong, Max became a residential tutor at St John’s College alongside his full-time job. The role involved helping students navigate life, decisions and difficulties, including separation from family during COVID.
He describes it as an older-brother role that gave him a deep sense of purpose. Finding exceptional people and helping them became a theme he could carry into other work.
That connection helps explain his interest in the people around a company: learning what someone needs, making useful introductions and supporting their development.
What does success look like for a venture fund?
Max describes reviewing hundreds or thousands of companies each year while aiming for around six new investments, alongside follow-on investments in existing companies. Those are the figures he gives for his fund in the conversation.
The work involves learning about technology, meeting founders, helping companies and analysing opportunities. Max calls it his dream job while describing his own working weeks as roughly 60 to 80 hours.
The financial outcome takes much longer to become clear: a fund is ultimately judged by the capital it returns to its investors. Along the way, Max values cooperation with other VCs. Even when another firm backs a company he admires, he wants the founder to succeed.
Who is Max Vogt?
Max Vogt is an Investment Manager at Swisscom Ventures. Raised in Zürich, he studied law before moving to Hong Kong, where he completed a master’s in technology and intellectual property law and worked with startups. He also held a leadership role at St John’s College in Hong Kong, supporting its student community. In this episode, he connects those experiences with his interest in technical founders, helping people and bringing promising technology into use.
Episode show notes
Max Vogt’s route into venture capital took him from Zürich and a law degree to Hong Kong, startup work and a student community that helped him find a sense of purpose. Today, at Swisscom Ventures, he brings that interest in people to conversations with technical founders.
During this drive, Max and Justinas Mišeikis discuss the person behind the pitch deck, why founders need to stay flexible about their solution, and the gap between strong research and technology that becomes part of everyday life. They also explore robotics and physical AI, lessons from Shenzhen, the demands of a VC’s working week and why competition between investors can coexist with support for the wider ecosystem.
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