Put your experience behind EPFL's next founders
Four ways for alumni and senior operators to help early-stage EPFL ventures de-risk faster. Pick the one that fits your time and your experience.
Why we back founders
EPFL backs founders as a strategic investment, not charity and not a public service. Turning research and talent into companies is how value, capability and jobs stay in Switzerland. The support de-risks a venture to its next real milestone: the first investor conversation worth having, the first pilot customer, the first competitive grant from outside EPFL. It is a bridge to that point, not a destination: the aim is founders who no longer need it.
That is where you come in. Your experience is a multiplier on the founder's own work, not a substitute for it. The four roles below are different ways to apply it, from a single sharp hour to a few months of companionship.
Fast Track is EPFL's route for fast-to-market ventures. It spans three programs: the Blaze Accelerator, the AI Track, and the Master Project in your Startup (PDM). Deep-tech ventures follow a separate Deep Track, so the founders you'll meet here are building for rapid market entry, not long research timelines.
We help founders increase validation so they reach a clearer, less-risky roadmap to scale, or kill the wrong project fast before more time is spent on it. Both are wins. The only failure is staying busy in the middle.
Choose your lane
Same goal, four intensities. A side-by-side recap of all four sits next to the form.
Blue Team Coaches
You can hold a standard without lecturing and want to walk a team through real de-risking.
Read more › High intensity, one hourRed Team Experts
You think natively in zero-to-one terms and enjoy reconciling a big claim with an empty starting position.
Read more › Spot expertise, on-callAdvisors
You have a specific edge or asset and can unlock a team in a single focused hour.
Read more › Inspiration, your cadenceSpeakers
You have a story or a message worth putting in front of EPFL founders and the community.
Read more ›Blue Team Coaches
The program's companion for a team. A Blue Team Coach walks a venture through structured de-risking over a few months, using a shared readiness framework, so progress is real and visible.
One coach follows a team across the whole arc, from baseline readiness assessment to closing session, holding the standard that real founders test their assumptions between sessions. You never own the hard calls alone: the program team holds the step-back conversations.
Red Team Experts
The Red Team is a standing challenge engine: experienced operators who red-team founders on the assumptions that actually carry weight. Not mentorship, not validation. Pressure-testing.
We match each founder to a Red Team Expert with the right hard-won experience, run one focused session, and our Blue Team Coaches hold the continuity so the challenge converts into follow-through instead of evaporating. The goal is to surface the weakest load-bearing assumption before the market or daily operations do it for them.
Advisors
One-off, high-leverage help when your specific profile matches a team's specific challenge. You bring clarity and, where you can, an asset the team can't easily reach.
Easy to confuse: both are a single on-call hour, matched per case, under NDA. The intent is opposite. A Red Team Expert challenges: attacks a load-bearing assumption and names what has to be true for it to hold. An Advisor helps: gives the team an answer, an opinion, or an asset it is missing. In one line: the Red Team Expert tells a founder where they're wrong; the Advisor gives them something they don't have.
They also differ on engagement. A Red Team Expert commits not to engage commercially with the startup (no investing in it, selling to it, or buying from it) for the duration of the EPFL support (up to six months); once that ends, they're free to proceed. An Advisor is free to engage from the start, and may keep advising or even invest.
Format & commitment
- One 60-minute session, on-call. We contact you when a team's challenge matches your profile.
- Accountability is built in. The team documents the follow-up actions and you validate them at the end of the call.
What you provide
- Clarity, honest feedback, and your personal opinion on strategic questions.
- Where possible, a personal introduction to a relevant contact, or access to a useful asset.
What you don't do
- No follow-up owed: your commitment ends with the session and what you offer in it.
- No endorsement of the project.
Contact us to clarify status. It can stay pro-bono within the program, or move outside it if there's investment interest; then terms are between you and the founders, without program involvement.
Recognition
- Listed in the advisor pool on the website.
- Invited to Launchpad events, and can be asked to speak.
Successful founders, top technical profiles, executives, strategy consultants, senior industry operators, and investors. The bar is seniority and noticeable achievement.
Speakers
Two kinds of voice: founders sharing an honest personal story, and professionals sharing hard-won expertise.
Format & commitment
- Launchpad talks and EPFL startup events. You choose the format, or suggest your own.
- A single talk or a recurring presence, your call.
- Audiences vary; the focus stays on EPFL founders and the wider community.
No standard fee; larger-scope events can be discussed. You get high visibility on our channels, and potentially a place in the founders club.
The same calibre as our advisors, plus a real desire to share a message and have impact.
Get on the bench
Pick your lane. We review every profile.
The four roles, side by side
| Role | What you do | Format & commitment | Recognition / token |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Team Coach | Companion a team through structured de-risking over a few months. | 7–10 check-ins over 3–6 months, ~20h / team. 1–3 teams in parallel. | 2,400 CHF / team (mandate). Listed on site, public mention after induction. |
| Red Team Expert | Challenge: pressure-test a founder's riskiest, load-bearing assumptions. | One adversarial session, 60–90 min, remote. On-call, per match. | 200 CHF / session (waivable when acting in a professional capacity). Public "red team" mention after 2 sessions. |
| Advisor | Help: unblock one specific challenge with an answer, an intro, or an asset you bring. | One 60-min session, on-call, per match. Optional follow-up. | Listed in advisor pool. Can be invited to speak. Recognition-based. |
| Speaker | Share an honest founder story, or hard-won professional expertise. | Talks, firesides, panels. A single talk or a recurring presence. | High visibility on our channels. Possible founders club place. |
How to join
Pick the role that fits and register online, or get in touch directly. Blue Team Coaches and Red Team Experts each have their own page; Advisors and Speakers apply on this one.
Not available right now? Register anyway to join the pool, with no commitment.
Prefer to just reach out? Marius Conti, Program Lead · marius.conti@epfl.ch.