Is Greek tech entrepreneurship a viable career path for Computer Science graduates? That’s a very common question among students of Technology.
“Motivating and inspirational. It makes me want to research more about entrepreneurship opportunities in Greece. And specifically, Heraklion.”
That’s what one student at the Computer Science Department from the University of Crete told us when asked for feedback on the speech. At Starttech Ventures, we are thrilled about the new countless opportunities given to Computer Science graduates in Greece. This is why this past week, we went to the University of Crete to speak to the Computer Science Department (CSD) students about scale-up tech entrepreneurship.
Starttech Ventures’ CEO, Dimitris Tsingos, gave a lecture on not only the global market trends in entrepreneurship, but also to encourage engagement within the Greek and European tech entrepreneurship community. Having graduated from CSD himself, it was a great opportunity for Dimitris to go back to his undergraduate stomping grounds. After the lecture followed large quantities of pizza and beverages and lots of networking!
A few words about the Greek tech entrepreneurship scene
There is an immense amount of talent within the Greek tech community. And that’s due to the excellent quality of relevant higher education available in Greece. After a €400 million made available to Greek entrepreneurs by Equifund, a huge opportunity has been created for Greece to become an up and coming hub in the Eastern Mediterranean.
A sort of pessimistic approach to innovation has been instilled in the minds of our youth. That’s due to the financial crisis in Greece. Talking with the students and professors at CSD however, we were pleased to hear positive outlooks on Greek tech entrepreneurship. And to see many ambitious people interested in innovation, as well. Dr. George Papagiannakis, Associate Professor at the Computer Science Department and Co-Founder of OramaVR, said:
The relationship between universities and research centers with startups and innovation is not only a visible escape from the financial crisis. It also is a necessity for the termination of brain-drain. And for the reorganization of the Greek economy, as well.
This is why we are so confident and invested in creating a stronger sense of community within the computer science/engineering, etc. students of the Greek university system. Specifically, in terms of our relationship with the University of Crete and the city of Heraklion. We are coming back to Crete for good with additional full time positions and many events to come!
Main Takeaways from the speech
Validated learning is the only true metric of progress. In the beginning phases of a start-up’s journey towards an MVP, or towards scaling up, the only way to build your company and product is through validated learning. This means obtaining feedback from your customers or early adopters. And applying it to your business plan. Remember that when talking about tech entrepreneurship, you have to fall in love with the client and their problem; not your solution.
After all, your product is not ‘the product,’ it’s the ‘business model.’ As a creator, you must not emphasize too much on your creation; rather, on the reason why you have created it. To solve someone else’s problem. Only then can you be more confident that you will succeed as an entrepreneur.
We love organizing and hosting meetups. And any other events for the people within the Greek tech entrepreneurship community to interact. Which is actually why we try to do it as much as possible. And that’s why we organize events like the Athens Python users meetup and the Athens Support Driven meetup, in the first place.
Expect more from us
We are planning on organizing many more lectures like the one given at CSD. And the one at the National Technical University of Athens a few weeks prior. We are planning to do it all over technical universities in Greece. Additionally, we are very excited to be currently organizing a student hackathon, conferences, pitching events and a start-up workshops for university students. Our goal is to encourage the involvement and growth of students and graduates in the Greek tech entrepreneurship community. Stay tuned for more updates. And if all this sounds of interest to you, please do not hesitate to send us an email. Stay updated!
