Παρελάσεις, Ευρώπη και Πατριωτισμός

Παρακολουθώ τη δημόσια συζήτηση που γίνεται σχετικά με τις παρελάσεις, τόσο τις μαθητικές όσο και τις στρατιωτικές. Στην Ελλάδα της οικονομκής κρίσης οι στρατιωτικές παρελάσεις είναι μάλλον μια πρόκληση. Την στιγμή που δεν έχεις χρήματα για την παιδεία και τη υγεία είναι πέραν του παραλόγου να ξοδεύεις εκατομμύρια ευρώ για άρματα μάχης και αεροσκάφη που θα "τονώσουν το εθνικό αίσθημα".

Οι μαθητικές παρελάσεις φοβάμαι πως ήταν και παραμένουν ένα εργαλείο δημιουργίας μιας ψεύτικης συνείδησης που πολύ έχει ταλαιπωρήσει την Ελλάδα. Θα επανέλθω στο ζήτημα αυτό σε επόμενο άρθρο, καθώς το θέμα των στρατιωτικών παρελάσεων κρίνω πως είναι πολύ σημαντικότερο λόγω του τεράστιου κόστους τους και της σύνδεσής τους με το κύμα εθνικισμού.

Οι στρατιωτικές παρελάσεις, πολύ περισσότερο με τη συμμετοχή μηχανοκίνητων τμημάτων, είναι πανάκριβες και ανούσιες. Δεν προσφέρουν τίποτα. Πέραν όμως του ανούσιου και προκλητικού του θέματος, είναι και εξόχως παραπλανητικές. Η ιστορία διδάσκει πως οι στρατοί που παρελαύνουν εντυπωσιακά δεν είναι απαραίτητα και εκείνοι που κερδίζουν τις μάχες - η φράση "αυτοί είναι για τις παρελάσεις", μάλλον κάτι άλλο μαρτυρά.

Η γενιά μας σήμερα αντιμετωπίζει προκλήσεις μεγάλες. Είναι ώρα λήψης καθοριστικών αποφάσεων και μέριμνα όλων μας οφείλει να είναι οι αποφάσεις αυτές να είναι προοδευτικές, να πάνε την κοινωνία μπροστά. Η βαθιά και ουσιαστική Ένωση της Ευρώπης σε ένα ενιαίο, ομόσπονδο κράτος είναι αναμφισβήτητα μια αληθινά προοδευτική επιλογή που απαντά στα ζητήματα της γενιάς μας και των γενεών που θα μας ακολουθήσουν. Δεν χωρά επίσης αμφιβολία πως χρειαζόμαστε νέους συμβολισμούς, νέα σύμβολα που θα μας οδηγήσουν στην πορεία αυτή. Νομίζω ότι η 7η Μαΐου 1945 μπορεί κάλλιστα να αποτελέσει ένα σύμβολο για την βαθιά και ουσιαστική Ένωση της Ευρώπης.

Ποτέ άλλοτε στην πρόσφατη ιστορία της η Ευρώπη δεν ενώθηκε τόσο αποτελεσματικά όσο για την αντιμετώπιση της ιδεολογίας του θανάτου, του ναζισμού. Δύση και Ανατολή, Βορράς και Νότος έδωσαν το αίμα τους σε μια υπέρ πάντων μάχη που είχε τελικά θετικό αποτέλεσμα, παρά το γεγονός ότι ο ναζισμός είχε για ένα διάστημα πρακτικά κυριαρχίσε σε όλη τη μεγάλη μας χώρα.

Σήμερα, που οι τελευταίοι συμπολίτες μας με ζωντανές αναμνήσεις του μεγάλου πολέμου σιγά σιγά περνούν στην ιστορία, η σημασία της 7ης Μαΐου 1945 γίνεται σημαντικότερη από ποτέ. Δεν θα επιτρέψουμε στον εθνικισμό ποτέ, μα ποτέ, να αναβιώσει στην Ευρώπη. Η νέα μεγάλη μας χώρα θα είναι μια υπερδύναμη ειρήνης, ισότητας, πολιτισμού και δικαιοσύνης.

Στο πλαίσιο αυτό θα καλωσόριζα θερμά την κατάργηση των στρατιωτικών παρελάσεων σε όλη την Ευρώπη και την αντικατάσταση τους από μια και μόνο λιτή, στρατιωτική πανευρωπαϊκή παρέλαση στις Βρυξέλλες την 7η Μαΐου κάθε έτους, με τη συμμετοχή ενός επίλεκτου πεζοπόρου τμήματος από κάθε μέλος της Ένωσης, η οποία θα καθιστά σαφές προς όλες τις μεριές πως αν οποιοσδήποτε διανοηθεί ποτέ να επαναφέρει την ιδεολογία του θανάτου στο προσκήνιο θα λάβει απάντηση σκληρή, ισοπεδωτική από τον Ευρωπαϊκό λαό που για πάντα θα τιμά την παράδοση των νικητών της 7ης Μαΐου 1945.

Πατριωτισμός σήμερα είναι ο Ευρωπαϊσμός. Οι εχθροί του έθνους θέλουν την απομόνωση και την οπισθοδρόμηση. Ο Ευρωπαϊσμός, ο Πατριωτισμός της εποχής μας, χρειάζεται τα ισχυρά του σύμβολα και η πανευρωπαϊκή στρατιωτική παρέλαση της 7ης Μαΐου μπορεί να αποτελέσει ένα από αυτά.

Entrepreneurship and Universities: More on my IVLP / ANB13 experience

New York City

October 1st, 2013

Tom Leighton, the SAT problem and changing Universities in Europe to support entrepreneurial growth and job creation

Tom Leighton is a very special person. Being a Professor of Applied Mathematics at MIT, ranked as the best university in theworld in Computer Science & Engineering, he also is the founder of Akamai, the company which revolutionized multimedia delivery over internet in the late 90s, actually creating the unified video-voice-image internet experience that most of us enjoy today.

The "SAT problem" is one of the most difficult mathematical problems in the field of Boolean Algebra, which largely forms the core of Computer Science. At many Universities around the Globe, SAT problem is taught at the final year of the curriculum as an advanced topic.

Before starting my IVLP/ANB13 program in Washington DC, I paid a visit to Boston, Massachussets. I was informed there about the following two facts:

1. Tom Leighton teaches the SAT problem to MIT students during their 1st or 2nd year of studies (!)
2. The notes which Leighton distributes to his students mention his affiliation both to MIT and to Akamai . In other words, the MIT students while studying one of the hardest topics of their curriculum, proudly learn that their Professor has been the Co-founder of Akamai.

As far as teaching the SAT problem at 1^st year students is concerned, I will only comment that MIT’s ranking as No1 in the World in Computer Science & Engineering is anything but accidental. Many European Technical Universities used to include very strong mathematics in their curricula. Some of them still do so. It is rather obvious that keeping doing so and even increasing the difficulty level of the offered studies will only be good for Europe, in the new super-competitive global landscapes. Practical experience and learning tools, which must find its way to the Universities, must always be accompanied with solid theoretical background.

In this article however I shall focus to point [2], which in my opinion has a terribly high importance in understanding the changes that must take place in higher education in Europe in order to boost entrepreneurship and, via it, quality jobs creation. As a matter of fact, Universities in Europe have always been of high academic quality and more orless remain as such. Unfortunately though, in Europe we observe low entrepreneurial activity directly related with the academic and research ecosystem, which has created at least the following two consequences:

1. A “start-up migration wave”, where most of the high-potential start-ups in the EU have either moved to the US or plan to do so, and ,
2. A terrible opportunity cost has occurred in terms of quality jobs which could have been created, but actually they haven’t.

A rather disappointing fact is that linking the academic & research world with “the industry” has been a top priority for the EU Commission since quite a long time. Tens of billions have been spent in the RTD support programs in a number of “Framework Programs”, results however have been anything but satisfactory. In my opinion the main cause of this phenomenon is the following contradiction:

“While funding rules actually ask for “commercialization plans” and “partnerships with the industry”, in real terms the academic and research community simply does not appreciate entrepreneurship. If Tom Leighton had been a Professor in Barcelona, Munich, Lisbon, Toulouse, Athens or Milano, it is very likely that many of his students, as well as many of his fellow professors, would not like at all his double affiliation on his notes, as Professor of the University and Co-founder of Akamai.”

A so-much-19^th-century philosophy of not “mixing academic with for profit activities” is actually the highest barrier of European universities in their way towards being the knowledge hubs of sustainably growing entrepreneurial ecosystems.

During my IVLP/ANB13 program I had the privilege of visiting a number of leading American Universities, such as Georgetown, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Denver, Southern Methodist University and Columbia University. At all of them, literally ALL, it was very obvious that the academic environment not only is entrepreneurship-friendly but it actually is designed to boost entrepreneurship and to promote the "culture of failure". Very few European Universities can really make a similar claim - If any.

Being in the fifth year of the financial crisis in Europe and having general unemployment in the South higher than 25%, as well as youth unemployment is some cases (Spain, Greece) higher than 50%, it is now the time to look at the ugly truth and do something about it. The ugly truth is that while the number of well educated young Europeans increases constantly, very many of them fail to find a quality job, while on the same time the industry complains for having difficulties to find the right talent to cover their needs. It’s rather safe to conclude that there’s a growing gap between market needs and education provided by our educational system, both in terms of formal knowledge, and, more importantly, in terms of culture.

Donald Rumsfeld had talked about “Old Europe” almost one decade ago. It was probably one of the very few cases where I had agreed with this US politician. Europe is old, indeed. Behaves like an old person, it is slow moving and ultra-conservative. If we don’t do today some radical changes in our educational system, in economic terms Europe can only hope to a slow death. In that unfortunate event, the best-case scenario for Europe will be to become a huge open-air museum for Chinese tourists. The game is not over (yet) however, there still is time for changes which can bring Europe back to global leadership, given that these changes will be implemented soon and with high level of determination.

The World’s economy becomes increasingly knowledge intensive. We have to adapt to this reality and turn our universities to the knowledge hubs necessary to boost the “economy of creativity and collaboration”. NYC, the rising star of the tech world, does exactly the same as discussed in our recent meeting with Nancy Ploeger, President of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, during my IVLP/ANB13 program in the US. 

It is quite interesting that, although NYC launched its start-up strategy only few years ago, now it is an almost equally developed ecosystem with the San Francisco Bay Area and rather more developed than Boston - Where there is a huge tradition of high tech universities. That is probably because the City of New York made a wise choice: They played on their strength! 

Unfortunately, we Europeans do not play on our strength but seem to prefer the copycat way - that is to dream for many of our regions to become "the Silicon Valley of Europe". One can easily name 10+ European regions dreaming/aiming to become the Silicon Valley of Europe. On the other hand in NYC nobody ever dreamed of becoming "the Silicon Valley of the East Coast". What is the result of those two different choices? Today NYC competes with the Silicon Valley at -almost- equal terms while those European regions still remain miles behind. This situation could easily be described as the "Silicon Paranoia".

Many analysts in Europe have suggested a number of necessary measures for promoting high growth and innovative entrepreneurship aiming to the sustainable creation of quality jobs. They refer to increasing seed/risk financing, improving bankruptcy legislation, adding entrepreneurship courses in all of the educational levels and realizing the single European market for businesses. The analysts are right in their recommendations; however such measures will unfortunately fail unless a major cultural and political shift take place.

Students and fellow professors in Barcelona, Munich, Lisbon, Toulouse, Athens or Milano, as well as anywhere else in Europe, not only shouldn't be skeptic with seeing a European Professor having an entrepreneurial affiliation together with an academic one, like Tom Leighton does with MIT and Akamai, but they should strongly encourage and be highly proud of academics and researchers who managed to create sustainable, growing companies on the basis of cutting edge technology and research in European universities.

If we reach that point, if every European student starts dreaming of an entrepreneurial endeavor instead of a corporate career, a hugely important step for Europe will have been made. Europe does not lack the financial, neither the human nor the symbolic capital necessary to become the global leader in high growth and innovative entrepreneurship. All of the parts of the puzzle are just in front of us. We only need to put them in order and inspire a new entrepreneurial culture, making the youth of Europe to dream of realizing their creativity in sustainably growing businesses.  

In a very few words, it is time for Europe to put creativity and innovation above job security, as far as employment is concerned. Once we do this, it will not take long till a number of Akamai-level companies will be created around Europe and their proud founders will be teaching and inspiring the next generation of European entrepreneurs. Like Tom Leighton of Akamai does in MIT.

Dimitris Tsigos is the founder of StartTech Ventures, a start-up incubator in Athens, Greece . A serial tech entrepreneur and pioneer in seed financing, currently serves as President of YES – European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs. He also is the Founder of the Hellenic Start-up Association and a Board Member at the European Business Angel Network. In 2012 he was nominated as one of the 40 European leaders under the age of 40 years. Dimitris recently participated to the IVLP / ANB13 program organized by the U.S. Department  of State and Entrepreneurs' Organization.

Tom Leighton, SAT problem, Επιχειρηματικότητα και κρίση στο Ελληνικό Πανεπιστήμιο

Αναδημοσίευση από το ΕΜΕΑ.gr

Ντάλλας, Τέξας
27 Σεπτεμβρίου 2013

Tom Leighton, SAT problem, Επιχειρηματικότητα και κρίση στο Ελληνικό Πανεπιστήμιο

Ο Tom Leighton δεν είναι ένας καθόλου τυχαίος άνθρωπος. Καθηγητής Εφαρμοσμένων Μαθηματικών στο ΜΙΤ, το καλύτερο πανεπιστήμιο στον κόσμο στον κλάδο της πληροφορικής, είναι ταυτόχρονα και ο ιδρυτής της Akamai, της εταιρείας που πραγματικά μεταμόρφωσε το internet στα τέλη του περασμένου αιώνα δημιουργώντας την εμπειρία που οι περισσότεροι από εμάς γνωρίζουμε σήμερα με την απρόσκοπτη μετάδοση video και εικόνων.

Το «SAT problem» είναι ένα από τα πλέον δύσκολα προβλήματα μαθηματικών στο πεδίο της πληροφορικής («άλγεβρα Μπουλ»), το οποία στα τοπικά προγράμματα σπουδών διδάσκεται στο 4^ο ή 5^ο έτος – εάν και εφόσον φυσικά διδάσκεται.

Στην πρόσφατη επίσκεψή μου στη Βοστώνη πληροφορήθηκα τα ακόλουθα δυο γεγονότα:

1. Ο Tom Leighton διδάσκει το SAT problem στους φοιτητές του ΜΙΤ του 1^ου και του 2^ου έτους (!)
2. Στις σημειώσεις που δίνει αναφέρει στην ιδιότητά του «Καθηγητής ΜΙΤ» και «Ιδρυτής Akamai»

Το σημείο (1) θα το σχολιάσω σε κάποιο επόμενο άρθρο. Θα περιοριστώ να πω μόνο πως η θέση του ΜΙΤ στην κατάταξη των πανεπιστημίων διεθνώς δεν είναι τυχαία, ότι μέχρι πριν λίγα χρόνια τουλάχιστον το μαθηματικό υπόβαθρο των Ελλήνων αποφοίτων ήταν από τα ισχυρότερά τους σημεία και ότι για κάποιο περίεργο λόγο το «σύστημα» εκπαίδευσης έχει βαλθεί να το καταστρέψει αυτό το ισχυρό σημείο – Κι ας είναι/ήταν από τα λίγα εναπομείναντα.

Το σημείο (2) όμως κρίνω πως αξίζει ιδιαίτερης προσοχής. Οι φοιτητές του ΜΙΤ είναι υπερήφανοι που Καθηγητής τους είναι ο ιδρυτής της εταιρείας που μεταμόρφωσε το ίδρυμα. Αλήθεια, πως θα ένιωθαν οι φοιτητές του ΕΚΠΑ, του ΕΜΠ ή ακόμα και του Πανεπιστημίου Κρήτης σε μια παρόμοια περίπτωση; Θα αντιδρούσαν θετικά ή αρνητικά;

Πέρασα στο Τμήμα Επιστήμης Υπολογιστών του Πανεπιστημίου Κρήτης το 1996. Ήταν και παραμένει ένα από τα κορυφαία ιδρύματα της χώρας στον κλάδο της Πληροφορικής. Εκεί είχα την τύχη να γνωρίσω τον αείμνηστο Στέλιο Ορφανουδάκη, Καθηγητή του Τμήματος και Πρόεδρο του Ιδρύματος Τεχνολογίας και Έρευνας. Εκτός των αυτών των ιδιαίτερα σημαντικών ιδιοτήτων ο Στέλιος Ορφανουδάκης είχε και μία ακόμα, την οποία σήμερα κρίνω σημαντικότερη: Ήταν ο άνθρωπος που εμπνεύστηκε και έκανε πράξη την Forthnet, την εταιρεία που έφερε το internet στην Ελλάδα – καθώς και μια από τις πρώτες στην Ευρώπη.

Αναρωτιέμαι λοιπόν, εάν ο Ορφανουδάκης το 1998, στο μάθημα της Ρομποτικής το οποίο δίδασκε, στις σημειώσεις του έβαζε διπλή ιδιότητα, κατά τα πρότυπα του Tom Leighton το 2013, «Καθηγητής Τ. Ε. Υπολογιστών Π.Κ.» και «Ιδρυτής Forthnet», ποια θα ήταν η αντίδραση των φοιτητών; Ποια θα ήταν η δική μου αντίδραση στο υποθετικό αυτό σενάριο;

Το διάστημα εκείνο ήμουν Πρόεδρος του Συλλόγου Φοιτητών Τ.Ε.Υ./Π.Κ. και εκπρόσωπος των φοιτητών του Π.Κ. στη Σύγκλητο του Ιδρύματος. Φοβάμαι πως, παρά τη μεταγενέστερη δραστηριότητά μου, αντί να υποδεχόμουν με ενθουσιασμό την κίνηση αυτή μάλλον θα ήμουν σκληρός επικριτής της – ίσως μάλιστα να οργάνωνα και φοιτητικές κινητοποιήσεις εναντίον της.

Με την σκέψη αυτή στο μυαλό μου διακατέχομαι από ανάμεικτα συναισθήματα απογοήτευσης, θλίψης ακόμα και πανικού. Αν εγώ ο ίδιος, που δυο χρόνια μετά ξεκίνησα ένα start-up, με μεγάλη υποστήριξη από τον Στέλιο Ορφανουδάκη και όλη την τότε ακαδημαϊκή κοινότητα,  μάλλον θα ήμουν αρνητικός στο υποθετικό αυτό σενάριο, πόσο μάλλον τα παιδιά, οι φοιτητές που δεν έχουν καμίαν σχετική κατεύθυνση; Γιατί άραγε η κοινωνία μας είναι τόσο αρνητική στην επιχειρηματικότητα;

Ακόμα και αν δικαίως η κοινωνία είναι αρνητική προς την επιχειρηματικότητα, αφού ως «επιχειρηματίες» προβάλλονται εγκληματίες του κοινού ποινικού δικαίου, γιατί αυτήν την ύστατη ώρα δεν βλέπουμε την ανάπτυξη της οικονομίας της συνεργασίας και της δημιουργικότητας ως τη μοναδική διέξοδο από τα τεράστια προβλήματα που αντιμετωπίζουμε;

Η Ελλάδα έχει πολλούς ερευνητές που θα μπορούσαν να είναι στη θέση του Tom Leighton. Τόσο στην Πληροφορική όσο και σε άλλα γνωστικά αντικείμενα. Ο αείμνηστος Στέλιος Ορφανουδάκης ήταν ένας από αυτούς.  Αντί όμως να τους ενθαρρύνει, αντί να τους προτρέπει να πραγματώσουν τη δημιουργικότητα και την επιστημονική αριστεία τους παράγοντας προστιθέμενη αξία για τη χώρα και δημιουργώντας ποιοτικές θέσεις εργασίας, αντίθετα τους αποθαρρύνει συστηματικά, τους θέτει στο περιθώριο και τους κάνει σαφές πως αν «επιχειρήσουν» θα «μπλέξουν». Πολύ απλά λοιπόν, οι Έλληνες ερευνητές δεν βρίσκουν τον δρόμο της αξιοποίησης των ερευνητικών τους αποτελεσμάτων στην οικονομία με αποτέλεσμα αφενός η οικονομία να εξαρτάται πλήρως από τις εισαγωγές αφετέρου τα πανεπιστήμια να δημιουργούν στρατιές ανέργων.

Τι μπορεί να γίνει; Πρώτα απ’ όλα κάθε Έλληνας φοιτητής πρέπει να μάθει για τον Tom Leighton, την Akamai και το SAT problem – το οποίο πρέπει να  ζητά να το διδάσκεται, μαζί με άλλα απαιτητικά θέματα, νωρίς στις σπουδές του. Πολύ περισσότερο, ήδη από την πρωτοβάθμια και δευτεροβάθμια εκπαίδευση πρέπει οι νέοι να αποκτούν επιχειρηματική παιδεία. Να ανακαλύπτουν τη χαρά της δημιουργίας μέσα από τη μελλοντική επαγγελματική τους αποκατάσταση.

Με λίγα λόγια λοιπόν πρέπει να καταστεί συλλογικό μας όραμα αφενός η κατακόρυφη αύξηση του ποιοτικού επιπέδου των σπουδών (άρα, κάποιοι φοιτητές να μην τα καταφέρνουν  και να το αφήνουν ή να δοκιμάζουν κάτι άλλο), αφετέρου οφείλει να ανοίξει ο δρόμος της σύνδεσης της επιστημονικής αριστείας με την επιχειρηματική καινοτομία.

Η Ελλάδα σήμερα είναι σε πολύ δύσκολη θέση. Έχει όμως το ατελείωτο συμβολικό της κεφάλαιο καθώς και εξαιρετικό ανθρώπινο κεφάλαιο. Το οικονομικό κεφάλαιο που λείπει θα βρεθεί με τον ένα ή τον άλλο τρόπο. Οι προοπτικές είναι εξαιρετικά καλές αρκεί να αφυπνίσουμε τη δημιουργικότητά μας και να αναπτύξουμε την οικονομία της συνεργασίας και της δημιουργικότητας πάνω σε υγιείς βάσεις.

Αν τα κάνουμε όλα αυτά, ελπίζω πως ο φοιτητής του 2013 όχι μόνο δεν θα αντιδράσει αν δει έναν νέο Στέλιο Ορφανουδάκη να είναι Καθηγητής του και ιδρυτής μιας καινοτόμου εταιρείας, αλλά θα είναι υπερήφανος για εκείνον, για το ίδρυμα και θα φροντίσει να προοδεύσει ώστε να γίνει ακόμα καλύτερος από εκείνον – και γιατί όχι, να κάνει ακόμα καλύτερες, βιώσιμες και αναπτυσσόμενες επιχειρήσεις.

Θα το πω όσο πιο απλά γίνεται: Η θέση των επιχειρήσεων σήμερα είναι μέσα στις Σχολές! Προς Θεού, όχι για «cheap labor» φοιτητών που φτιάχνουν web sites («e-Government Portals») αλλά για επιχειρήσεις τεχνολογιών αιχμής που παράγουν στην Ελλάδα, δημιουργώντας πολλές και ποιοτικές θέσεις εργασίας, και πωλούν τις υπηρεσίες και τα προϊόντα τους σε ολόκληρο τον κόσμο.

Το ελληνικό πανεπιστήμιο πρέπει να γίνει κύτταρο της οικονομίας της οικονομίας της συνεργασίας και της δημιουργικότητας. Οι επόμενες Akamai σε όλους τους κλάδους θα μπορούσαν να ξεκινήσουν στην Ξάνθη, τα Γιάννενα, την Πάτρα και το Ηράκλειο.

Είμαι βέβαιος πως, αργά ή γρήγορα, οι επόμενες Akamai θα ξεκινήσουν ξεκινήσουν στην Ξάνθη, τα Γιάννενα, την Πάτρα και το Ηράκλειο.

Ο Δημήτρης Τσίγκος είναι ιδρυτής της StartTech Ventures, θερμοκοιτίδας επιχειρήσεων υψηλής τεχνολογίας. Ήταν στους ιδρυτές της Virtual Trip, του πρώτου φοιτητικού start-up, και στη συνέχεια συμμετείχε σε πλήθος άλλων επιχειρήσεων πληροφορικής. Είναι Πρόεδρος της Ευρωπαϊκής Συνομοσπονδίας Νέων Επιχειρηματιών και Πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής ΈνωσηςΝεοφυών Επιχειρήσεων ενώ έχει επιλεγεί στους 40 Ευρωπαίους ηγέτες κάτω τηςηλικίας των 40 ετών. Αυτό το διάστημα συμμετέχει στο Πρόγραμμα IVLP/ ANB του Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών των ΗΠΑ.

European Federal Republic: The time has come!

Over the last years when the European Union has been facing the challenges imposed by the so-called "global financial crisis", it has been made clearer than ever before that something must change in the EU. I could say that it is more obvious than not that there is an extreme necessity to get Europe truly united.

The 20th century has been a very bad one for Europe. A century of wars, genocides, tragedies and distractions. The European Union that we know today has been the previous generation's response to the unprecedented catastrophe caused by the two World Wars which practically started in Europe. The mission of the previous generations has been accomplished and Europe has lived almost seven decades of peace and prosperity.

Recently though, the financial crisis has initiated a process of questioning the European peace miracle. Vast segments of the middle class in European States, especially at the South, enter into poverty creating an ideal ground for the rise of nationalism. A massive return of nationalism would definitely led to the dissolution of the European Union and rather sooner than later to the Third World War. The consequences of this are too severe to let them come to reality.The rise of the neo-nazi movement in Greece, a country which lost almost 10% of its population to help the free people defeating the Nazis, serves as the ultimate example of how wrong things can go if a wrong political and economic model is followed for long time.

The current EU model is based on the concept of intergovernmentalism. Today, in 2013, we Europeans can keep pretending that this so much 20th century intergovernmentalism approach works. The ugly truth however is that it doesn't work at all. A new approach is needed.

We all know it, Europe is old (that actually is one of the few wise words ever said by Donald Rumsfeld). Europe does behaves like an old person. Slow moving and uber-conservative. Young Europeans have completely different dreams for their lives. No, we do not aim to becoming citizens of a huge open-air museum. We envision Europe as a great, united country, as a super-power of justice, equality, democracy and culture. A dominant factor of fairness and stability in the international affairs. A growing economy with financial and ecological sustainability.

This dream, might not be that far away from reality given that young Europeans stand up and talk with loud and clear voice. On the contrary, it is absolutely feasible. Europe does have the financial, human and symbolic capital necessary to make that dream come true. It only lacks the required political will. Actually, those who lack that will are the national governments, more or less frightened in sight of sharing some parts of their authorities and responsibilities and managing them via a supranational, federal structure. The reality is however that the vast majority of Europeans not only is ready to accept this federal approach but rather is about to demand it!

The question to be asked to the youth of Europe is very simple: "Don't you thing that it is about time to turn Europe young again? Don't you think that it is about time to start the process of creating the European Federal Republic?". As far as I am concerned, I do think it is about time to do so and I'll put all of my energy and resources to make this dream come true, remaining confident that thousands of other young Europeans will also do the same.

Uniting Europe is the major challenge of our generation and I'm absolutely confident that we shall positively respond to it. At the end of the day, it is all about making a life worth living. 

What entrepreneurship is all about? My IVLP experience (so far!)

That email arrived unexpectedly.  It was from the US Embassy in Athens, Greece, asking for a meeting. I didn’t have any cooperation with the Embassy so far thus I got a kind of surprised. The meeting took place few days later and it was a very fruitful one. After a short introduction, I was informed about the State Department’s IVLP program and was asked if I would be interested in considering it. “Of course I’m interested in it”, was my immediate reaction, “but, you know, I’m not allowed to go. I don’t have a passport and I can’t have one because of my pending military service duty”.

I have to admit that  the level of surprise on the faces of the people in front of me, made me for the very first time to think that it might be a good idea to finally tick that box which was pending for almost eight years.

After my positive response, I took care of the required documentation and I was informed that I would receive an answer “in few weeks”. Going back to the office that day I was thinking that even if I was not finally selected, perhaps it would be a good idea to take advantage of the legislation for a 45-days-only military service for those who have turned 35 and, at last, get my passport. At the end, being a serial technology entrepreneur for 13 years and missing a visit to the US is probably equal to a Muslim who has never been in Mecca.

I joined the Greek Army as a Signal Corps soldier on March 21st and my last day in the camp was on May 7th. It is such a peculiar coincidence that while I was driving on my way back from the camp, leaving behind an interesting – very short, thank God – military experience I received the call from the US Embassy saying that “you’ve been selected for the IVLP – A New Beginning Program” and “you will be in the US from September 14th to October 5th”.

Frankly, that day could not get any better!

Right the next day, May 8th, I was at the Passport Issuing Authority in Athens applying for my passport. Got so excited to get it three days later – as well as a little bit proud of the passport issuing system that Virtual Trip had delivered few years ago. Just two weeks later I visited London, UK. It was feeling so great to be able to travel out of the Schengen area again!

Time flies much faster that we tend to believe.  September arrived so quickly. I had made the decision to go to the US one week earlier, speaking to the CloudBeat 2013 conference in San Francisco and meeting the tech / innovation community in the SF Bay Area and in Boston. It was just great! I was very excited for finally making it to be there and meeting global leaders in the tech business. Interestingly, I also felt proud of what the startup community has already achieved in Greece and other EU regions, given the huge difference in availability of risk financing  - which in the US is at least 5x more than the EU!

Arriving in Washington DC on Saturday evening September 14th I was ready to meet entrepreneurs from 29 different countries who were also participating to this program. I soon realized that it would be much better than expected! The spectrum of participants is amazingly wide. From France to South Sudan, from Portugal to Burma and Bangladesh, from Greece to Argentina and Thailand as well as from Hungary to Cambodia and Kenya, it is just an amazing mixture of cultures, nations, experiences and lifestyles!

It does get even better though! Not only there’s a hugely wide spectrum of cultures and origins but participating entrepreneurs greatly differ on scale, stage, sector, industry, maturity and a number of other aspects. They are, or probably the look, so very much different!

After two weeks of living, working and traveling with those amazing people, a very surprising feeling has come to the surface. They are all so different. We are all so different. Despite those differences however, either being a successful female serial entrepreneur and investor in France or an early-stage male start-up entrepreneur in Paraguay, you still face the same challenges at business, personal and family level. The challenges are similar simply because they have to do primarily with people and, yes you got it right, people are the same around the Globe regardless of skin color, religion or culture. People can be passionate but still vulnerable. People can be leaders and followers. People can create, but can also destroy. People are sometimes brave, some other times cowards. People are just people.

To be an entrepreneur is to be creative in a financially sustainable model working with other people. You can’t be an entrepreneur working alone. It is your co-founders, your employees, your customers, your investors, your suppliers. It is also your spouse, your partner, your siblings, your kids, your friends. It is all about people. It is all about managing relationships, communication and expectations with the human beings around us that actually define an entrepreneur.

This thought has been strong enough to absorb me for a while. I thought I had got it and that I should focus my energy to managing relations with the people around me. Suddenly, during the “forum” session organized by the Entrepreneurs’ Organization chapter in Denver, Colorado, I realized that I was wrong. We like it or not, it is not managing relationships, communication and expectations with the people around us that actually defines an entrepreneur. It is only about managing the relationship with your own self. Managing your own dreams, vision and expectation. It might sound simple but, trust me, is way the hardest part of the entrepreneurial game.

Once you’ve done this, however, then only sky is the limit – Perhaps, not even sky.

Μαζί τον φάγαμε (;)

Δεν πάει καιρός από τότε που ένας από τους κυρίους υπευθύνους της νέας ελληνικής τραγωδίας με περίσσεια θράσους και αλαζονείας μας πληροφόρησε ότι "μαζί τα φάγαμε". Μας είπε λίγο ως πολύ ότι όση ευθύνη έχει για την κατάρρευση η ολιγαρχική κάστα που διαχειρίστηκε τις τύχες της χώρας την περίοδο που ονομάστηκε "μεταπολίτευση, άλλη τόση έχει και καθένας από εμάς, από τους - κατ'όνομα και μόνο - πολίτες αυτής της Ελλάδας.

Είναι πραγματικά απίστευτο τι αποδοχή βρήκε η προπαγανδιστική αυτή τελειότητα. Πώς κάθε Έλληνας ξαφνικά μπήκε στη θέση του ενόχου, ενόχου για αδικήματα πολύ μεγαλύτερα από εκείνα που όντως του αναλογούν. Σίγουρα ευθύνεται ο Έλληνας που εκχώρησε τις ευθύνες που απορρέουν από την ιδιότητα του Πολίτη και οικιοθελώς - μάλλον - μεταβλήθηκε σε κρατίτη. Σε ένα άβουλο ον που ικανοποιούταν με τη "σιγουριά του δημοσίου" την ώρα που το τρίγωνο της καταστροφής έκανε το πάρτι του.

Δεν είναι όμως έτσι. Για παράδειγμα, ποιοι ευθύνονται για την Μικρασιατική Καταστροφη; Οι οπλίτες, οι ναύτες και οι -λιγοστοί, τότε- αεροπόροι ή μήπως η στρατιωτική και πολιτική ηγεσία της εποχής; Το ίδιο εύρος και βάθος ευθύνης έχει ο αρχιστράτηγος και το ίδιο ο τελευταίος στρατιώτης; Είναι να απορεί κανείς για το με πόση ευκολία προκαλείται η κοινή λογική.

Οι ευθύνες για την νέα ελληνική τραγωδία έχουν όνομα και επώνυμο. Αρχίζουν πρώτα και κύρια με το "Κωνσταντίνος Σημίτης" και πολύ σύντομα ακολουθεί ο "Θεόδωρος Πάγκαλος" και ο "Γεώργιος Παπανδρέου ο Β'". Φυσικά βέβαια δεν είναι λιγότερες οι ευθύνες και του άλλου μιζοκόμματος, προεξάρχοντος του "Κωνσταντίνου Καραμανλή του Β'" και φυσικά ενός εκ των υπουργών του, του "Αντώνη Σαμαρά".

Παράλληλα με τον παραλογισμό του "μαζί τα φάγαμε", γίναμε μάρτυρες ενός ακόμα παραλογισμού, πολύ μεγαλύτερου και πολύ πιο επικίνδυνου. Κάποιοι επέλεξαν να παίξουν με τα πιο επικίνδυνα ένστικτα των ανθρώπων που βρίσκονται σε απόγνωση. Άρχισαν υπόγεια να χρηματοδοτούν και να προβάλλουν τις Καρικατούρες του Θανάτου. Τις είδαμε στα μεγάλα τηλεοπτικά κανάλια και στις κορυφαίες εφημερίες. Είδαμε τις αγιογραφίες τους. Πήγαν να μας πουν ότι οι Καρικατούρες του Θανάτου δεν είναι "και τόσο κακές τελικά". Εξάλλου, "η Ελλάδα δεν χωράει άλλους μετανάστες".

Μετά από χρόνια, όταν αποκαλυφθεί η χρηματοδότηση και το σχέδιο προβολής της Καρικατούρας του Θανάτου θα μείνουν πολλοί άναυδοι.

Ήταν φυσικά θέμα χρόνου να συμβεί το μοιραίο. Μια από τις Καρικατούρες του Θανάτου έκοψε σκληρά και άδικα το νήμα της ζωής ενός συμπολίτη μας. Ξαφνικά, όλοι έμαθαν τις συμβαίνει. Όλα τα κανάλια, οι εφημερίδες, το "πολιτικό" προσωπικό, είδαν το "αληθινό πρόσωπο του φασισμού" και κάνουν ότι περνάει από το χέρι τους να μας προστατέψουν.

Είναι μια πραγματικά πολύ βολική κατάσταση για τα μιζοκόμματα. Το τέρας ξύπνησε και κόβει βόλτες στην πόλη. Θα έρθουν τα μιζοκόμματα καβάλα στο άσπρο άλογο, θα εξοντώσουν το τέρας και θα σώσουν την Ελλάδα. Σε λίγο θα πρέπει να ζητήσουμε και συγγνώμη στα μιζοκόμματα που τα κακολογήσαμε και να τα ευχαριστήσουμε για την αυτοθυσία τους.

Να προσπαθήσουμε λοιπόν να βάλουμε τα πράγματα στη θέση τους: Οι Καρικατούρες του Θανάτου δεν είναι τίποτα άλλο παρά οργάνωση εγκληματιών του κοινού ποινικού δικαίου. Δεν χρειάζεται να γίνει τίποτα άλλο με δαύτους παρά να εφαρμοστεί ο νόμος - θα φάνε όλοι τους αρκετά χρόνια φυλακή. Περιέργως όμως εδώ και καιρό ο νόμος δεν εφαρμόζεται και τώρα προβάλεται ως κορυφαία των επιτυχιών η απλή, αυτονόητη εφαρμογή του.

Ταυτόχρονα όμως, στέλνοντας τις Καρικατούρες του Θανάτου στη φυσική τους θέση, δεν πρέπει να ξεχνάμε σε καμία περίπτωση το ποιοι είναι οι υπεύθυνοι τις κατάρρευσης του νέου ελληνικού κράτους, της δυστυχίας που βιώνει ο λαός μας και των δεινών που θα αντιμετωπίσουμε τα επόμενα χρόνια. Όπως είπαμε παραπάνω, οι υπεύθυνοι έχουν όνομα και επώνυμο όπως και τα μιζοκόμματα έχουν όνομα: "ΠαΣοΚ" και "Νέα Δημοκρατία".

Η Ελλάδα έχει ανάγκη την αλήθεια. Η αλήθεια είναι το όχι στη λήθη. Δεν θα ξεχάσουμε λοιπόν και θα προχωρήσουμε μπροστά με μυαλό καθαρό και αυτοπεποίθηση ισχυρή. Θα ανακτήσουμε την ιδιότητα του Πολίτη, θα δημιουργήσουμε Πόλεις, Πολιτισμό. Το χρωστάμε στους χιλιάδες που έχυσαν το αίμα τους για τη χώρα μας, με τελευταίο από αυτούς τον Παύλο Φύσσα, ο οποίος θα εμπνέει για πάντα κάθε ελεύθερο άνθρωπο.

Thoughts of a European serial start-up entrepreneur before going to the Silicon Valley

Originally posted on http://blog.vtrip.net/?p=244

The Greek experience, the Silicon Paranoia and the need for a European start-up growth model

I launched my first start-up, along with four more co-founders (Periklis Akritidis, Nikos Ventouras, Miltos Vassilakis and Charalampos Gikas) and Critical Publics on September 5th 2000, exactly 13 years ago. Being at the age of 22, I had 9 courses left to complete my Computer Science degree by that time.  When Virtual Trip was founded, it was all about doing “what they do in the US” and “why not doing the same in Crete, Greece” since “we can”.

To put simply, we did it because we could do it. We also did it because we loved doing it. Nothing could motivate us more than responding successfully to challenges. In this context, the challenge of “establishing and running a company” was the greatest one we could ever imagine.

The MoU with Critical Publics was crystal-clear: During the first 12 months they would assign us web development subcontracts of $150,000 at a person-month rate of $3,000. I know that it doesn’t sound as a great deal. However for the five of us, all undergraduate students of computer science, $3,000 was an amount able to cover our personal costs not only for one month but for a couple of quarters. In other words, it was looking as an amazingly high monthly income.

Nothing went as planned, of course. The contracts assigned were not at the amount of $150,000 but “only” $120.000. Also, the corresponding period finally was 15 months, instead of 12. Last, we learned the very hard was what overhead in running a business is as well as that in our lovely country we had to pay “advance payment for next FY taxes” equal to 80% of our first FY corporate tax. But at the end of the day, going strictly according to plans spoils all the fun.

We did have fun, really great fun, enough to make us overcome barriers, one after the other. We also had the privilege to work with a dozen of the largest customers that we could ever get in Greece – as subcontractors to Critical Publics most of the times. 

Then the crisis started. The Greek IT market has been in crisis long before the national economy. It actually never recovered the Greek stock-market bubble explosion in 2002. In 2003 we got a velvet divorce with Critical Publics and then shortly after that I got one more velvet divorce with my co-founders. I will ever be grateful to my vtrip co-founders and to Critical Publics for making this journey happen. Without them, vtrip would not be here. Being super frank however, I have to say that I never had a single second thought in my decision to move forward, even when I was left completely alone, sometime in Q2/2003. 

Going global has been in our mind from the very beginning. That was thanks to Critical Publics strategy. Our web sites and marketing material was in English-only. Working language was English. We knew that scaling of our business could only happen with international projects. We even worked in international projects, a streaming video portal in Turkey (!), as early as in December 2000. 

However, we soon realized a very important aspect of international business in our sector: Going global requires products. Services do not scale. So, in 2003 we started thinking of the products that would take us around the Globe. On the other hand, in order to create products you need to work for a significant amount of time without having any revenues, thus you need investment. Being practically impossible to raise risk capital in Greece in 2003, the concept behind our “entrepreneurial ecosystem” was born as a response to an extreme necessity. 

Trying in learning is second to none. Knowledge is hidden in failure. We’ve failed repeatedly and notoriously. Fortunately, that has made us learn a lot and, guess what, we’re still alive. Numerous mistakes have been made, none of them was proven fatal. From the “IT Center” stores to the “StudyBox” portal, we’ve lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in our corporate venturing projects as well as terrible amounts of time and energy. However, knowledge gained from those ventures let us succeed in others, like eFront e-Learning and AbZorba Games.

The Silicon Valley model is about failing fast. I don’t believe in failing fast, hence I don’t believe in the Silicon Valley model. Failing fast basically means many things. First of all, it means that there’s practically unlimited investment capital around. There’s nothing unlimited on Earth however, besides human’s stupidity. This discussion about “unlimited” investment capacity reminds me of the “unsinkable Titanic”, now resting at the bottom of the Atlantic. Second, failing fast means that the entrepreneur is somewhat disconnected from the fate of her/his own creation. Third and most important, it is similar to being in the lab and running from one experiment to the other without giving the time to study the results. What is the meaning of doing many experiments if you don’t devote the time necessary to learn our of the results of each one of them?

The approach was simple: We invest in teams already working in our organization, committed to work together in a specific sector (i.e. mobile apps & services) and ready to take as many iterations as necessary till success finally arrive. Appropriate re-adjustments will of course take place in each & every iteration, since more knowledge will be uncovered in each round. The path from high-quality mobile video streaming over GPRS networks in 2005 to mobile social games in 2011 may sound awkward; however it’s nothing but the real story behind one of our greatest successes so far.

Our journey has been anything but easy. We leveraged earnings from services business, subsidies and debt financing to fund ten different corporate ventures. The overhead behind this operation was proven tremendously high. Imagine that we had created a services team of 60 people just for funding an R&D team of 12. In this context we’ve delivered some of the most complex and demanding software engineering projects ever taken place in Greece, like the passport issuing system. However, as the VC industry practically did not exist in 2003 in Greece, we had no other choice – not taking our chances, not moving forward, has never been considered as an option. 

Guess what: It seems to be working. Despite confirming the law of project management in that everything will take more time and cost larger amount than planned, we have made it. We have managed to fund ten companies, have already two start performers and four more companies with reasonably good chances. We have also created an incubator to support all those independent companies, we keep running our first services business, which also serves as a preferred beta tester of our companies new products, as well as we have invested in a leading co-working space for having premium access to new teams and fresh ideas. Of course, there’s one last step still missing: Either to exit from a venture or to somehow realize the return on the investment. We can reasonably hope that this moment is not far away and certainly claiming that is not the reason for being called “criminally optimistic” by me colleagues.

An archaic piece of legislation in Greece makes military services compulsory. Military service duration has been recently significantly reduced to nine (9) months, only. Yes, you’ve read correctly, it’s 9 months. When Virtual Trip was established, it used to be 21. Obviously I couldn’t leave my company and go to the army. When my studying-extension expired on Dec 31st 2005, I could not renew my passport any more, which in turn meant no traveling out of the Schengen-treaty area. Those 8 years felt like centuries. When turning 35 you have the option to serve 45 days only and then pay a fine for the pending 7.5 months. This is what I did this year. From March 21st to May 7th I served as a Signal Soldier in the Hellenic Army – Land Forces. On May 8th I applied for my passport and got it few days later. At last, the road was open.

I love basketball, like most Greeks do. I have dreamt of a basketball game that never took place – and unfortunately never will – between the original USA “dream team” and the unified Yugoslavia team – yes, that unprecedented, unique, superb team of Petrovic, Kukoc, Danilovic, Radja and Divac. I know that in this fictional game the “dream team” would probably still win, however that amazing Yugoslavian team was the only one on Earth who could play against them with real winning chances. Unfortunately, geopolitical decisions before the 1992 Barcelona Olympics did not let this game happen, leaving a bitter taste to the European basketball fans. 

In a similar way, having launched my first start-up at the age of 22 and being a serial entrepreneur and investor ever since, I’m about to go to the Silicon Valley and speak to a great event, CloudBeat 2013 by VentureBeat, feeling like a 36 years old European basketball player going to the NBA for a tournament of friendly games. “You work double for achieving half, because of the numerous barriers and obstacles”, a mentor from the USA had told me, “and that’s quite amazing”. 

Two weeks ago I was informed that one of our AbZorba Games titles topped the USA Apple Store in the “social casino” games, being No4 in card games and No75 in games. Moreover, it’s even more excited that today AbZorba Games will break the threshold of 2 millions downloads, most of them in the US. This is a small victory for our Athens-based team, a small victory of huge importance though. A proof of concept that being No1 in the World, even in a relatively narrow space such as social casino games, is possible indeed – without having to be physically in the Silicon Valley nor having received tons of capital from institutional investors. Who knows, Yugoslavia may had some real chances to make a great surprise!

Hersonissos is a popular tourist destination in the island of Crete, Greece, almost 30 km from the city of Heraklion where Virtual Trip was created. I remember going there in the late 90s and seen a fast-food called “McDelis”, having exactly the same colors and similar logo to the famous international brand “McDonald’s”. I remember that first it looked ridiculous and then it made me feel sad. Life is too short for not being authentic, for having a copied identity. Cretan Mediterranean diet is supposed to be one of the healthiest in the World, if not the healthiest. How does it make sense to be in the food business in Crete and prefer copying McDonald’s instead of creating your own, authentic brand, taking advantage of the Region’s symbolic capital? It absolutely makes no sense at all, likewise it makes no sense to try to become the “Silicon Valley of Europe” like many European Regions claim to be. They simply follow the “McDelis” way.

I’m going to the Silicon Valley on Sunday aiming to listen, to meet interesting people, to make new friends and to learn. I dream of building bridges between the Silicon Valley and Europe. I dream of a bidirectional flow of people, ideas, companies and capital. My vision is neither creating one more “Silicon Valley of Europe” nor of course to migrate to the Silicon Valley. My vision is to help in creating a European innovation ecosystem to be a proper peer to the Silicon Valley innovation ecosystem, positioned more to complement than to compete with it. 

Some important steps to this direction have already been made in London and Berlin. However, both of those cities have to realize the need for authenticity in the ecosystems they grow. Simply because authenticity is valuable and irreplaceable, because at the end of the day Europe does deserve and authentic start-up growth model.

The European start-up growth model should be all about sustainability. Sustainability in terms of financing, in terms of expectations and in terms of sector focus. Moreover, we have to make sure that start-up growth does return to the society, preserving the European quality of life as well as it does not lead to overconcentration of wealth, securing a well balanced society.

My first visit to the USA will have a duration of 28 days. Going there 13 years after starting – and still running – Virtual Trip feels just great. Being proud of what we’ve already achieved, I go there aiming to use our competitive advantage to the maximum: Learn fast, learn well. Last, I will always remember that Toni Kukoc was charismatic because of being better in passing than in scoring. So, I will try to do the same.