Does Greece Stand a Chance?

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It was an amazing experience, with a lot of lessons and a great deal of inspiration. The question that remains is, does Greece stand a chance?

Judging from what I experienced the three days of the event, it does. A new cultural shift is taking place, where people no longer expect everything to be taken care of for them. New ideas are surfacing and a startup culture is growing. If Greece is to get out of the situation it is, it can only happen with the bright minds of the people that are creating new ideas and by targeting the global marketplace.

Some points of advice for the people starting up in Greece:

• Focus. I said it yesterday and I'll say it again. Because you are speaking to a global marketplace, doesn't mean you are targeting 7bn people. Focus on a niche so you can start.
• Create a pay it forward culture. Your little black book should be open and you should be focusing on connecting other people.
• Collaborate with others, learn to be open and to work in teams.
• Follow the advice from our manifesto.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Are You in Love?

This post is a result of a discussion I had with Katerina during the weekend at STARTup live Athens. It turns out that was also the topic of her talk at the end of the event.

What brought up this topic was the approach someone had taken with his project. He had worked on it for a long time, had not made any commercial progress and just wanted to finish it and sell it. My immediate response was that he would fail. Why? Because there was no longer any love.

If you are going to start something from scratch and make it a success, just dedication and perspiration will not cut it. You need to be in love with what you are doing. If you are not, when everything starts failing and you reach a critical point, you will quit. It's only love to what you do that can keep you going when everything else has failed.

If you are in love with what you are doing, then awesome! If not, then you probably need to take some time off and reconsider things.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

minimoko @ STARTup Live Athens #1 This Weekend!

With 29 ideas already subitted, the event will surely be buzzing with people and innovations. As part of the mentor team, I will be available to listen, give feedback, offer advice & an expert opinion, criticise and help the teams simplify!

Looking forward to meeting all the teams at the event!

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

minimoko @ STARTup Live Athens #1

In November STARTup Live will take place for the first time in Athens! This is an opportunity not just to work with others but also give hope to boosting the Greek ecosystem.

As stated on their site "In short, people from different backgrounds come together to present ideas, listen to new thoughts, work their asses off and get to know each other. This is steroids for your idea. Pitch, form your team, work, get feedback from startups, experts and mentors, present what you have achieved in front of about 150 people including experts from all over Europe. The process is accompanied by coaches, business angels, start-up entrepreneurs and all other participants. You get to know all these people in an informal way, usually standing there with a beer in hand hooking up with your future investors or mentors."

The team behind the event has asked us to join them to mentor the teams so that they produce projects that matter, help them simplify and give them inspiration.

Tickets are just €15 and include food and drinks so if you are in Athens or can travel to Athens during these days, head over to the booking page and get your tickets.

See you there!

Posted by Harry Mylonadis