What led the three of you to co-found Evorest together? Tell us how your paths crossed, and how your shared BCG tenure played a role in bringing you together.

The three of us met during our careers at BCG. Marc and I started at the company on the same day and we were soon staffed on a project together. One year later, Felix joined BCG as a visiting associate and I happened to be selected as his “buddy” to help him settle in. Throughout our tenure, the three of us worked together on various projects and often met at office activities. This allowed us to connect professionally as colleagues as well as on a personal level.

After working at BCG for multiple years, Marc decided to pursue his career in private equity and I joined a large Swiss bank. However, it was not long before we came up with the idea for Evorest. We knew that the most important factor in our entrepreneurial journey was to build a high-performing team that trusts each other and brings together the right capabilities. Having worked together at BCG, the three of us had developed distinct skillsets that are essential for starting a business, while sharing the same vision for our strategic direction.

— Gianluca Cottiati
Co-founder | Chief Operating Officer & Chief Product Officer
Evorest
(BCG Project Leader, Zurich, 2017–2020)

How do your individual strengths and expertise complement each other and shape your team dynamics? How has your personal BCG experience influenced the way you naturally divide leadership responsibilities?

Our roles at Evorest draw on our unique backgrounds and complementary skills. Marc leads sales and partnerships—expertise shaped by his strategy work at BCG and in private equity. Gianluca covers banking and legal, thanks to his financial institution's projects at BCG and tenure at Credit Suisse. I oversee tech and IT, leveraging my data science experience at BCG Gamma and analytical projects at BCG. While our paths at BCG were very diverse, our shared BCG mindset fosters structured approaches and a focus on high-impact tasks, which helps us balance strengths, trust each other’s judgment, and move fast.

— Felix Graule
Co-founder | Chief Technology Officer
Evorest
(BCG Consultant, Zurich, 2020–2023)

Please share a pivotal moment during Evorest’s founding and growth when your BCG experience helped you navigate a tough situation or decision—perhaps even when you might have had conflicting resolutions with each other—and how you turned that challenge into a strength?

In the early days of our company, we faced tough situations and problems to be solved on a daily basis. An important attitude, which we learned at BCG, is a strong sense of urgency to solve problems proactively and as fast as possible. In addition, we have a strong belief that there is a solution for every problem, even though it may look unsolvable at first.

One example is building a completely new product together with our partner bank, which seemed at times extremely difficult and required many fast iterations. In the process of building a product quickly, tough trade-offs needed to be made, such as which product features were crucial for go-live and which features could be added at a later stage.

Such discussion can also cause frictions within a team. During our time at BCG, we learned that such discussions should never be personal and instead should focus on finding the best solution for the company.

— Marc Schuster
Co-founder | Chief Executive Officer
Evorest
(BCG Consultant, Zurich, 2017–2020)

Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for Evorest, and how do you plan to navigate evolving trends in this space?

We strongly believe that rental deposits should not be “unproductive” on bank accounts for the rental duration of five to seven years. Instead, rental deposits should be used more meaningfully and be invested in ETFs so they can grow with the equity market. Due to the long rental durations in Switzerland, rental deposits have the right characteristics to be invested in ETFs. The growing financial literacy of the population and the increasing share of retail investors are fueling this trend. We believe that every tenant should be free to decide how to use his or her locked-up money.

— Marc Schuster
Co-founder | Chief Executive Officer
Evorest
(BCG Consultant, Zurich, 2017–2020)

What’s the secret to maintaining a strong working relationship as co-founders? What advice would you give to other BCG alumni considering starting their own venture?

Trust and respect are vital for any successful co-founding team. Our shared BCG background means we align on motivations, work ethic, and focus on results—forming a strong foundation for an intense yet stable partnership. Because our profiles differ, it’s natural to see who leads each domain—be it sales, banking, or tech—and we trust each other’s expertise. That mutual trust makes all the difference. For fellow BCG alumni launching a venture, find co-founders who share your values and bring complementary skills, not duplicates.

— Felix Graule
Co-founder | Chief Technology Officer
Evorest
(BCG Consultant, Zurich, 2020–2023)