The terraces
Care, layer by layer. Human-made stone walls support a living landscape—a reminder that growth needs foundations.
Our roots · Our horizon
Born in Lavaux.
Built to go further.
Living Scale Up is a Swiss AI venture studio. We design AI-native companies, test their assumptions and pair them with accountable human leaders.
Our home gives us a point of view. Our ambition reaches beyond it.
Explore the story
01 / Why Lavaux
A long view,
made practical.
Above Lake Geneva, the Lavaux vineyard terraces tell a story of cultivation, not instant creation. Their origins reach back to the 11th century; their value depends on continued care. UNESCO recognises the landscape as a centuries-long interaction between people and their environment. Explore the UNESCO listing ↗
For LSU, this is more than a backdrop. It suggests a discipline: build sound foundations, work with the conditions in front of you, and improve what the next season inherits. Patient does not mean slow. It means making today's work useful tomorrow.
What it means for a venture
Start with a customer problem worth solving. Build repeatable operations. Let experience improve the company—not just the next presentation.
A landscape to learn from
Stone. Water.
A wider horizon.
Lavaux brings a human-made vineyard landscape into contact with the lake and mountains. These are the surroundings that inspire our long view.
The lake
Space to look outward. Lake Geneva opens the view—an invitation to look beyond the immediate task or market.
The Alpine horizon
Perspective at a distance. Mountains frame the view across the water, while the work in the foreground still asks for attention.
02 / Why the canton of Vaud
Where possibility
meets purpose.
Lavaux belongs to Vaud, the Swiss canton around Lausanne where research, design and entrepreneurship sit close together. EPFL, the University of Lausanne and ECAL bring distinct perspectives to this environment: engineering, business and society, and design. The canton supports connections between higher education, technology transfer and industry. Explore Vaud's innovation environment ↗
That setting matters because an AI capability is not yet a company. A company needs a useful product, a workable business model and someone willing to take responsibility for it. LSU's role is to bring those questions together from the beginning.
What it means for a venture
Shape the technology, customer experience and route to market as one design. Technical sophistication matters when it becomes useful work.
The institutions named here describe our regional environment; they are not presented as LSU partners or endorsers.
03 / Why Switzerland
A clear base.
An open outlook.
Swiss roots.
Human responsibility.
International ambition.
Switzerland is our home base. Living Scale Up Sàrl has a clear legal identity, a named founder and a direct point of contact. For us, building from here means making responsibility as deliberate as the technology.
Switzerland's multilingual character also offers a useful lesson: a shared system does not require everyone to think, speak or work in the same way. We carry that perspective into venture design—common operating principles, with respect for local language and business context. Read the Swiss multilingual context ↗
What it means for a venture
Make decision rights clear. Give agents defined permissions. Keep a useful learning record. Know which human is accountable when a decision matters.
Our venture design direction includes Swiss-hosted infrastructure and open-weight models. Hosting, data flows and provider responsibilities are venture-specific; our Swiss base does not make every tool Swiss-hosted. AI disclosure · Company details
The people behind the idea
A small human core.
A clear human lead.
Fabien Lopez founded Living Scale Up in July 2026 and runs the studio from Lavaux. The ambition is to give experienced leaders the operating leverage of AI-native companies, without making leadership disappear.
Our living-company model combines an agentic operating core, a learning record and accountable human direction. People set purpose, exercise judgment and retain responsibility for irreversible decisions. BuddyLeader is LSU's first venture.
04 / How we build for international markets
Earn the
next market.
Our ambition is international; our starting point is specific. The model we are building connects a Swiss studio base with venture leaders and specialist builders wherever the work requires them.
Digital products and operating knowledge can travel. Customer understanding still has to be earned locally.
Our intended approach to international expansion
Start somewhere real.
Choose a defined customer group and a problem that matters in its daily work. A large addressable market is not a substitute for a specific need.
Connect the right people.
Pair human leadership and domain knowledge with specialist builders. Define responsibilities, shared documentation and handovers for distributed work.
Learn in the market.
Test with real customers, in their language and context. Check demand, delivery economics, data needs and local operating requirements. Simulation tests assumptions; it does not establish real customer demand.
Adapt what works.
Carry useful operating patterns forward. Revisit product, pricing, distribution and governance for the next market. Expansion is a decision supported by evidence, not a copy-and-paste exercise.
Global scale begins with a business that matters somewhere.
Explore building with LSU →The practical questions
Rooted here.
Clear everywhere.
Where is Living Scale Up based?
Living Scale Up Sàrl is a Swiss AI venture studio founded by Fabien Lopez in July 2026. The studio is based in Lavaux, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland; its registered address is in Paudex.
Company details →Can I build with LSU from outside Switzerland?
LSU's model is designed for distributed leadership and specialist collaboration. Whether a specific role can be carried out from another country depends on that venture's customers, responsibilities and operating requirements. Discuss location and terms with the studio before committing.
Explore the leadership model →Does a Swiss base mean all LSU technology is hosted in Switzerland?
No. Swiss-hosted infrastructure and open-weight models are a venture design direction. This website uses a global CDN, and studio work can involve international AI providers. Hosting, data flows and provider responsibilities need to be specified for each venture.
Read the AI disclosure →For company definitions and evidence boundaries, see Facts, sources and definitions.
Bring your perspective
The next chapter
needs a human lead.
Have an industry problem, a leadership ambition or a craft the next venture needs? Start a conversation.