Through your organization (Industry Disruptors Game Changers) you represent ideas which touch upon the fields of entrepreneurship, technology and innovation. Does Greece really possess the necessary background to invest in the development and growth of such fields?
Michalis Stagos: First and foremost, Greece possesses the basic ingredient, which is talent. There are many talented people, very capable minds and that is the starting point. Is there an appropriate legal framework? It’s not ideal. That’s where much work needs to be done. At the same time, however, during these last six years, an ecosystem has been created. There is money and investment, and in addition there have also been accomplishments. Between five to six years, groups were bought out with very high values, and apart from that, they create subsidiary hyper-values. For example, you have TaxiBeat in Daimler Benz, e-food in Delivery Hero and so on.
So, you believe that despite the unfavorable conditions of the last years, Greece remains a “melting pot” of ideas and knowledge, which so happens to cause a constant renewal, a ceaseless change. Why is this happening in your opinion?
M.S.: I think that “unfavorable” is a little unfair if compared to what is happening during the last 6-7 years. The conditions of the crisis which created this whole hardship are certainly unfavorable for both our generation and young people in general, and many were forced to leave, they are unfavorable concerning the framework on which they venture, as I said before. On the other hand, when you see the outcomes after six years, the only thing you can have is hope, and everyone is going to embrace this hope, politicians and talented people alike, and everyone will believe in it while becoming vehicles themselves in order for the country to transform into something very dynamic.
What is your opinion concerning Brain Drain? Do you consider the recent years’ trend of young Greeks going abroad right or would it be better if they stayed in Greece?
M.S.: There is no right or wrong answer. Obviously, people who were in their 30s and wanted to follow a more promising career, were executives on their best phase and rightfully sought their luck elsewhere, in places where they would have a guide. Respectively, when the unemployment rate was 50%, young people would obviously look for a way out, in order to survive. I do not believe in the argument that Brain Drain is necessarily something bad. I think that circularity, getting out of your country, acquiring new experiences and images, getting up your quiver with provisions and later returning to venture as an entrepreneur, is something creative and dynamic. Of course, on the other hand the fact that I, as a small to medium size company, cannot find people, executives with adequate experience on my business field in order to be able to achieve my goals myself and grow competitively in an international setting, creates a problem. We have to create the conditions which will make people come back.
From your experience, could you share with us an example of an enterprise which was able to materialize and constitute a successful and functional business model, either in the Greek market or abroad?
M.S.: I see nothing negatively and always see the glass as half-full. Because that’s how you can achieve results. There are a lot of such examples in Greece. I told you about TaxiBeat. The important thing with TaxiBeat is not that it was bought off, but that Daimler Benz, adopted Greek technology. I could tell you about Innoetics, a research project from Athens, which was bought off by Samsung and at the moment we speak, the global voice of Samsung, Siri, speaks Greek. And not only does it speak Greek, but also an RND (research and technology) center is set up in Greece, which is going to hire 200 engineers. 200 engineers with South Korean wages. I could also tell you about many more examples of teams, which work hard and raise money from the Greek and international market, grow and actually create a new generation of entrepreneurs.
Regarding TEDxAUTH, what made you say yes to the invitation as a speaker?
M.S.: If you consider that I partly left the real enterprise part six years ago, from which I live and grow and I delved into the creation of a channel to help young people put their ideas into practice, it would be inconsistent to not accept an invitation from a university which tries to create and display of ideas that move the world forward.
Translation: Miltos Bizios
