1. Digital Entrepreneurship in Greece
and how to startup
Apostolos Apostolakis
RELOAD GREECE
Imperial College Dec 2013
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2. APOSTOLOS: STARTUPS FOR A LONG TIME
1998 Cofounder e-shop.gr
2009 Cofounder Openfund.com
2011 Seed investor, advisor Taxibeat.com
2012
Cofounder e-food.gr
2012
Cofounder doctoranytime.gr
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3. Circumstances/opportunities in Greece
How to startup
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4. INTERNET SERVICES ADOPTION LAGGED…
Job
listings
Computer
etailing
2000
Online
banking
2002
House
listings
Social
networks
online
travel
2004
Online
insurance
car
listings
clothing/
shoes
etailing
2006
2010
2012
Year of adoption in Greece
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5. …ALLOWING ROOM FOR DISRUPTION
Full doctor profile review and
online appointment booking not
possible before July 2012
Online delivery-food ordering was
possible only by the end of 2011
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6. INTERNET VENTURES HAVE LOWER CAPITAL
REQUIREMENTS…
•Low product development cost
•Efficient marketing
•Disruptive
enjoy virality /social marketing
•Appeal to a larger market
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7. …EVEN MORE SO IN GREECE
•Lower IT wages
•Lower rents
•Startups in Greece are used to lack of
support
Case study
After 26 months and 2,5
million euro funding
•More than 10,000 taxi drivers
•200,000 rides per month
•Active In Greece Brazil Mexico
and France
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8. …AND OFFER FAST BUSINESS DEPLOYMENT
Within 14 months
•1800 available doctors
•books 1000 appointments per
month
Within 22 months
•900 restaurants
•12 cities
•receives 1500 orders per day
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9. GREEK CRISIS:AMPLE TALENT OPEN TO
NEW EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
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10. CIRCUMSTANCES HELP BUILD UP A WAVE
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11. THINGS STARTED JUST A FEW YEARS AGO
Until 2007 no recurrent technology meetup in
Greece
Until 2009 no seed investing fund in Greece
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12. MANY MAJOR STARTUPS HAVE LAUNCHED
IN THE LAST 2 YEARS
Raised more than 5 million euro
funding for Greek operations
Raised 1,85 million USD funding,
active in more than 10 countries
Profitable startup sold to SPLUNK
2 seed round total 400K
Traction in Greece Brazil and Spain
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13. AND THEN EVEN MORE …
167 STARTUPS MAPPED @Greekstartups.com
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14. WE ARE JUST IN THE BEGINING..
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15. #MeetUatReload
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16. OPPORTUNITY FOR ENTREPRENEURS: LAUNCH
OR WORK FOR DISRUPTIVE PROJECTS
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17. MANY AVAILABLE RESOURSES
Co-working spaces
Accelerators/Incubators/Advisors
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18. FUNDING IS EASIER…
Odyssey
Venture
Partners
Angel
investors
First Athens
fund
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19. Circumstances/opportunities in Greece
How to startup
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20. 6 QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
1 Product
2 Innovation/differentiation
3 Market (size/ competition)
4 Team
5 Implementation plan
6 Investment required
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21. … BETTER IN WRITTING
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22. 1 WHAT IS THE IDEA/PRODUCT
Has to be easy and comprehensible
 Consumer has limited time and short attention span
Elevator pitch
What is www.doctoranytime.gr ?
It is a service that allows you to identify , find extensive information about
(cv, patient opinions, cost per visit etc) and book an appointment with
a doctor
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23. 2 WHAT IS THE BENEFIT/INNOVATION
CONSUMER BENEFITS
RESTAURANT BENEFITS
Easy to order
New customers
•No need for catalogues
•No need to call and wait
•Internet users
•Marketing spend based on results
Choice
Less expenses
• More restaurants
• Rated restaurants
Better prices
• Restaurant offers
•No need for leaflets
•Less telephone load
Promotional activites
•Easy and fast rollout of offers
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24. 1-2 HOW TO COME UP WITH AN IDEA?
Personal need
• Rated dentist near me:
Friends’ needs
• Baby sitter :
• Pet hotel
LISTEN / LOOK AROUND YOU
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25. 3 MARKET SIZE AND COMPETITION
Market

13,000 taxis in Athens: 200,000 rides per day
10% penetration means 20,000 rides per day
•
0,75 euros per ride means annual sales for Athens
around 5 million euros
Competition

Radiotaxi

Old habit
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26. 4 TEAM
Before STARTUP
During STARTUP
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27. 4 TEAM IS VERY IMPORTANT
REQUIREMENTS
1 Complementary skills
 ΙΤ (Web development)
 Marketing
 Sales/Business development
2 Confidence among team members in their
 Competencies/skills
 Moral values
 Commitment to the project
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28. 4 WHERE TO LOOK FOR TEAM
Coworking spaces
• 123P
• Colab
• Cube
Accelerators
• EGG
• Metavallon
Technology meetups
• Opencoffee
• Reload Greece
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29. 5 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Web/mobile development
Operations plan
• Customer support
• Merchant support
Marketing plan
• Internet
• PR
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30. 6 INVESTMENT REQUIREMENT
Even a lean startup needs investment
example
IT platform
Merchant acquisition
Marketing (internet,PR)
Running costs until breakeven
40,000 euros
30,000 euros
70,000 euros
110,000 euros
Total upfront investment
250,000 euros
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31. 6 WHERE TO GET FUNDING
Friends fools and family
Venture capital/ Angel investors
• Openfund2
• PJtech catalyst
• First Athens
• Odyssey venture partners
Incubators
• EGG
• Microsoft innovation center
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32. SUMMARY :IT IS A LOT OF WORK AND IT
IS RISKY IS IT FOR YOU?
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33. YOU CAN WORK FOR A STARTUP…
http://workablehr.com/jobs/greekstartups
Many startups look for people are great schools
and meeting places
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34. …OR YOU CAN CREATE ONE
Summarizing
if you create your own startup
and look for funding …
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35. …GET IN THE OTHER PERSON’S SHOES
WOULD U INVEST YOUR MONEY IN
YOUR IDEA?
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36. DO YOUR HOMEWORK…
Idea/Product
Market size
Go to market plan
Operational needs + Capital needs
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37. … IT SHOWS RESPONSIBILITY TO
YOURSELF AND YOUR LISTENER
Build credibility
Respect other people’s time
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38. ADVANCE YOUR IDEA TO PRODUCT ON
YOUR OWN
Seek funding at the latest possible stage
Faith in your product
Less dilution
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39. THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK

APOSTOLOS
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