A Social Media view in the entrepreneurship and startups landscape in Greece of 2012, as presented at Private Equity and Startups forum on 21st of June, Athens, Greece.

1. Results Driven Social Media Marketing
Social Media
& Entrepreneurship
in Greece
www.gnostix.gr © 2012

2. Greek entrepreneurship
& what the world is thinking!

3. Greek entrepreneurship
& what the world is thinking!
A meritocratic, export-oriented company is spoilt for choice in Greece. Try hiring engineers, or finding a great
designer in a place lice Silicon Valley. You’d think it’s the best place to find good people, right? Right, some of
the best are there. They’re working for Google and Facebook, they’re getting hired by the latest, hottest Y-
Combinator startup sex symbol. You’ll pay top dollar for the middle of the pack. In Greece, you ARE the hot
startup, the better workplace, the promise land that the best will try to get a job at. You’ll get the best dudes.
Remember, tech startups are mainly a war for talent.
Startups are becoming an actual career choice. Traditionally the Greek career dream has been to get a degree
and “settle in” at a government or corporate position for life. Greeks were risk averse and in days of prosperity
top talent would have to give up lucrative prospects to try the startup scene. Now, some of the best people in
market are either unemployed or insecure. There is less to lose, and entrepreneurship has become kind of
fashionable. Startups have a shot at attracting talent that was previously taken by the big boys.

5. "It's hard." That is how Peter Economides, a leading brand strategist of Greek origin, describes
seeing his country lampooned in the press. His solution: rebrand Greece, create an image that can
transcend the 'crisis' label, and change the future of the country.
In 2011, Panos Zamanis created the Hellenic Start-Up Association (HSA) with the goal of changing
how Greeks thought about business by providing support to new startups through a network of
professionals and events. Similarly, coLab workspace, created in 2012, provides startups with cheap
office space, meeting rooms, training events and a network of successful business connections to
motivate innovation. They have yet to have a business fail and have managed to help set up Athens
StartUp Weekend, Greece Entrepreneur Week and Ignite Athens -- all events to promote
entrepreneurship.
Efforts to fix up the city center, which suffers from structural damage and a 'bad name' following
frequent protests and heightened criminality, are crucial in rebuilding Greece's image. Most
notably, a project called 'Rethink Athens,' launched by the Onassis Foundation, calls on architects to
help rebuild the city center around Panepistimiou Street, making it more pedestrian- and bicycle-
friendly as well as cleaning up the area to bring back the inhabitants that once made it so vibrant.
The competition, which is open until September 12, 2012, invites architects from EU countries to
compete in two rounds that will eventually crown three winners -- and a new city center.

7. Some of the dozen small startups that do are world leaders in their field. BugSense, for instance, though
barely a year old, is used by more than 4,500 mobile developers around the world to track and analyse
crash reports from their apps. It recently turned down a £1m takeover bid.
TaxiBeat, a mobile app that allows taxi drivers to advertise where they are and passengers to hail
them, is doubling its business every two months and has expanded into Latin America and Scandinavia.
"Greece has always had bright minds, but for generations a public sector job was the only goal. Decent
pay, job for life, early retirement. That's no longer the case. And new technology – apps – mean people
can concretise their ideas."
The fact that public sector salaries have been cut by around 40%, and that civil service pensions are
anything but secure, has acted as a "powerful disincentive" to a state sector career, says Kasselakis.
The Open Fund has just advised the Greek government on a new law making it quicker, easier and a lot
less scary to start up and register a company.
"We're driving change from the bottom up. But it can't be just one way; we need top-down change too.“
"Greece, has reached rock bottom now. The clientelist system, all those companies that relied on
political sponsorship, are having to fend for themselves – there's no more money. It's survival of the
fittest, and quality will out. It's actually not a bad time to start a business."

14. Parking Defenders

15. Greece Insiders

17. Investments – Before Election
Potential of “Grexit” gives investors pre-
election jitters– investors watch elections
closely and seek closure
Shares slip ahead of elections as investors
remain tentative

18. Investments – Before Election
Pre-election: “Greece is unlikely to exit the Euro.”
Despite talk of a Greek exit from the euro, the
country’s odds of staying are good and the knock-on
effects of the situation in financial markets could
generate buying opportunities.
“Doomsday” scenarios: A Grexit would almost
certainly lead investors to flee stocks. One
financial analyst says the Standard & Poor's 500
index could drop 15 percent in weeks.

19. Investments – Before Election
Or not… “Investors See Limited Euro Fall If Greece Leaves - Barclays Survey”.
The factors that usually make currencies collapse are just not there, a Greek exit "is the
single biggest factor for depreciation, but it's not big enough to cause the currency to
collapse.“

20. After Election - Initial Relief
Greek vote boosts Asia stocks but Europe muted
“Greek election results unlikely to slow crisis”
“Investors, Take A Moment To Cheer Pro-Bailout Party's Victory”: Investors across the globe
may find some initial relief in Sunday's Greek elections, but the ultimate market reaction is
hard to predict because political conditions in the recession-ravaged country remain volatile
Stocks plunge the day after: 3 stocks including
Telefonica, HP, and Oracle:
No Greek exit, no calm for investors.

21. After Election – Short Lived Relief
Greek doomsday avoided, but still plenty for
investors to fret about…
Spanish Yields Surge; Greek Relief Wanes : The
sharp rise in benchmark Spanish bond yields just
hours after a purportedly 'market-friendly' Greek
election result is the clearest indication that Spain
is the focal point for market anxiety about the
euro zone.
What next? More dark clouds…
Back to worries about Spain and a distrust in the
euro zone in general. ..
Investors expressed relief over the Greek election
results on Sunday, but they quickly turned their
attention to the structural problems in southern
Europe – Spain’s banking and fiscal problems in
particular

22. Investments – After Election
And for investors: Investors advised to transfer wealth from paper to real assets and safe bets such as
companies that make products and provide services that people buy no matter how bad the economy
gets. And standard advice is to avoid doing anything rash, such as suddenly pulling your money out of
stocks to guard against a worst-case scenario. i.e. don’t react to headlines!
REUTERS: Still too early to say whether investors willing to commit funds for investment in Greece and
the privatization plans in place. “Privatization needs a robust government”
Conclusion : the bumpy ride for financial markets isn't over yet

24. Influencers

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