The StartTech Ventures presentation at the. Athens Startup Weekend University by Dimitris Tsigos

1. Materializing Innovation

2. Entrepreneurship. Why?
Athens Startup Weekend University
September 28th – 30th 2012
Dimitris Tsigos
Founder & CEO
StartTechVentures
dtsigos@starttech.eu | http://twitter.com/tsigos | http://www.linkedin.com/in/tsigos

3. What does it make you
cool?

4. To be sexy?

5. To be successful?

6. To be the best on earth?

7. Not really.

8. Who’s the happiest person
on earth?

9. Solon before Croesus

10. Kleobis & Biton!

11. The happiest persons on
earth
“In the legend, Kleobis and Biton were Argives, the sons of
Cydippe, a priestess of Hera. Cydippe was travelling
from Argos to a festival in honor of Argive Hera. The oxen
which were to pull her cart were overdue and her sons,
Kleobis and Biton, pulled the cart the entire way (45 stadia,
or 8.3 km/5.1 miles). Cydippe was impressed with their
devotion to her and her goddess and she prayed to Hera,
asking her to give her children the best gift a god could
give to a mortal. Hera ordained that the brothers would die
in their sleep, and after the feast the youths lay down in
the temple of Hera, slept and never woke. Herodotus, who
relates the story, says that the citizens of Argos donated a
pair of statues to the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi.”
«Μηδένα προ του τέλους μακάριζε»

12. Entrepreneurship is about
happiness
Why so many people unhappy?
Do we follow the right model?

13. From Pyramids to
Pancakes
• Josephine Green: “From command
and control to a truly flat world of
collaboration!”

14. • No we do NOT!
• “Insanity: doing the same thing
over and over again and
expecting different results.”
-Albert Einstein

15. Are YOU insane?

16. • If not insane, then we need to follow
the pancake model versus the
pyramid one
• In other words:
– It’s NOT about domination, but it is
about sustainability

17. Who could be Kleobis and
Biton today, in Greece?

18. YOU!

19. How?
• Think of real problem that many
people have
• Find an innovative way to solve it
• Get a team that shares the passion to
do it
• Making sure that the proposed solution is
sustainable
•As simple as that!

20. • Is it gonna be easy?
• Absolutely no!
• Is it gonna be fun?
•YES it certainly will!

21. • Entrepreneurship is about being
useful to another person. Something
so simple that makes you happy.
• It’s simple: Be useful!

22. Thank you 