Greece said “No” to austerity. How do you vote?

The last days including the Greek referendum just confirmed some of my assumptions and made things far clearer:

1. The Greek nation is sick and tired of the ongoing austerity measures. The bailout was obviously asking for more cuts. So it was a No-Go.

2. The current level of Greek debt is unsustainable. Even if it was not the case at the beginning of the year it just became such after the long stalemate.

European politicians will surely be unhappy with the vote but have to respect it. They can agree on some more reductions but in the end:

1. More European countries will use this precedent as the base for making their case. I would compare this to opening the Pandora Box for the EU as such.

2. There is a growing negative sentiment in Europe towards Greece because of the tough negotiation practices and harsh rhetoric. I must admit this is instigated by the media but that does not change a lot.

For me the later is probably the most important piece of the puzzle. Politicians may agree or not for more favourable bailout conditions. Yet, going against the dominant view among Europeans will be a political suicide so I doubt they will do. So my question to you is:

If the rest of Europe makes its own referendum tomorrow, would you agree to bail out Greece at more favourable terms?

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Mentoring at Techstars

Last Friday I had the pleasure to sit down with an impressive crowd here in Berlin. I was talking to the first Techstars cohort which brought a wide range of marketplaces and software/infrastructure as a service businesses. For quite some years this has been a core expertise of mine and I could provide startups with metrics, conversion hints plus a number of other insights. I found it surprising I could contribute to some other solutions too e.g. app security. But in the end it is not only about sector expertise but also about network and introductions you can make.

These talks have reminded me about two common patterns with startups.

1. Business Intelligence

Startups start gathering and analyzing metrics too late. Founders, metrics show your understanding of your own business. And investors base their investment decisions on metrics e.g. traction, growth etc.. Not measuring the drivers of your business adds to your risk as investment and eventually hinders your investment rounds and valuation.

2. Viral Growth

Founders often ask me how to scale their marketing and sigh how expensive is to acquire qualified traffic. At the same time I see perfectly plausible platforms just missing one brink in order to grow organically. So my advice may sound too philosophical but is quite applicable to many of you: Founders, grasp your platform fully and fix that missing brink to virality first. Money facilitates growth but does not create it.

Special Kudos to @Jens, Brian and the Techstars team. I found the organisation, location and team very strong and focused. Was also pleasantly surprised by the many follow ups from founders. I wish them all the luck and of course I will deliver to my commitments as agreed.

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Yes, we can!

Was badly needing some free space the other day and while cleaning up my hard drive found this little jewel.obama

Every few months I go over the google results to check what pops up against my name and this one definitely caught me by surprise. I believe it confirms that Obama and I get quite a lot of exposure in the media recently. 🙂

Thank you Google that definitely made me jump into the weekend with a big smile.

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A bit about Stark Founders – my new endeavour

Many people ask me that question. And it always takes me quite some time to explain. The one liners I have compiled with time still cause puzzled faces or the common polite nodding. Let me try again then. And this time I will take all the time in the world for this.

As you may now in the past I have held positions at KPMG, 3M, Rocket Internet, and hey even did some work for Google (more on LinkedIn). That being said in 15 years I got to know a total of 10 businesses varying in size from startup to Fortune500.

The “multitasking machine” I am, I never really limited my activities to just my corporate career. In the last 10 years actively engaged with startups as a mentor, besides that I co-founded some. To be truly successful in startups you need to dedicate fully and this obviously could not happen with a demanding full time job during the day.

Luckily my last job was with Rocket Internet which in its core is a gigantic startup factory. Having had the chance to build their technology hub in Portugal exposed me on a daily basis to tenths of high-growth ventures. In the end it was like a dream come true as I was working in an area I am really passionate about and Rocket was paying me to do it.

After 3 years at Rocket and its successful IPO it was time to do something of my own. I loved what I was doing before so why not keep doing it. This is how Stark Founders was born. I did not want to build the next incubator, accelerator or raise a fund but rather build 1 or 2 companies a year either from my own pool of ideas, or together with a founding team. And to be honest this very simple concept seem to work very well. More on successes in later posts.

Before I tell you what can we do for entrepreneurs, let me pinpoint what do we stand for:

People, Culture and Ideas

Simply said if you convince us that you are a true believer in what you do, have the capacity to make it happen and your motivation stems from the desire to make the world a better place, you are welcome to join us.

Why do we think we are special? First, we really work with entrepreneurs, shoulder to shoulder. This is very different from just providing you with a desk and free perks. We work on your business plan, and by work we mean challenge it daily until it becomes bullet proof. We help you build your MVP, platform and infrastructure, we help you set up your marketing, email, social media campaigns. We even go out with you and do the first sales together. Not to mention the many hires and face-to-face meets with experts we bring in to help you make things work. Second, we are good at all these areas because we have a partner network of proven businesses that support us professionally in every single area. You venture will be treated as if our own e.g. your product won’t be developed by interns but from a team of experienced developers with strong leader and substantial track record.

All this comes in strong contrast with existing portfolio models in incubators and other structures. We go by the motto less is more and stay focused, do one company really well.

This is all for today. Hope the read was not too long, feel free to share your opinion and comment.

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Hello world!

I know. Many people will say: “Oh, come on, Hristo. Now you are going to blog us to death too”.

Well, there is just too much fun stuff happening not to share it. And honestly this is not just a friendly act to give back but also a selfish attempt to collect all my experiences and thoughts so I can access them some day again.

I promise you one thing though: I am not going to talk about my lunch, how I felt in the morning or post videos of adorable pets.

Yet, I do expect that you will find some of my views often different from yours. In that case you are welcome to say what you think. Under one condition: be friendly and respectful – this is and will stay a place for well-intended discussions.

Enjoy!

P.S. Please do take a look at my company builder  Stark Founders, our next company GoGoKite and our friends Online Timesheets.

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