The new face of Greece

     1) Please introduce yourself.

My name is Efstathios Kassios currently living and working in Athens. I returned back in Greece in 2010 after my graduate studies at Jonkoping International Business School in Sweden, with fresh ideas to start my own companies and projects. I have also been a music industry professional for 10+ years and a blogger since 2009. 

2) Where does the name of your Startups come from? 
 

Soundmap is metaphoric  for aggregating and showcasing the professionals and the companies from the Music Industry in Greece and Cyprus. So we are #soundmaping !

Hellene + Zorba The Entrepreneur are collaborating to promote the New Greece to a global audience. Zorba The Entrepreneur is also metaphoric for the evolution and the rise of the New Greece as compared to the Old (Greek crisis).

    Sailing Entrepreneurs is a brand new project to attract entrepreneurs from all around the world to sail in Greek Waters for a good cause. A pretty straightforward name.

      3) Which is the idea behind your Startups and your vision for the future? 

In Soundmap, we thought it would be important since there is a significant gap in the online market for the music industry to showcase professionals and companies offering products and services to musicians. Musicians have been the center of the universe online so we wanted to do something different and unique.

Zorba The Entrepreneur + Hellene.gr will be branding the best of Greece’s new entrepreneurs, artists, creatives, visionaries, to a global audience to offer global networking, promotion and even job creation in the long run.

Sailing Entrepreneurs is not a common sailing experience because the companies participating will become inspiration leaders for troubled Greek entrepreneurs. Sailing entrepreneurs will give birth to a knowledge sharing community, so this project is not just about experiencing the best holidays in Greece. 

4)    Which steps have brought you to build these startups? 
 

There are  so many free and cheap tools available nowadays online to build your company. You can test your ideas with a small cost  to balance the risk of scaling up through time. Also, choose your team carefully, maybe the most important factor in failing or succeeding…

5) At the moment your Startups’ target seems to be Greece and Cyprus. Do you have plans also for the rest of the world?
 

We are partnering with Dreamscape Global to bring our start-ups in US and expand globally.

6) Why do you think that building a music community is so important?  
 

Music communities are being leveraged by various companies around the world to communicate their products/services easier and engage with their customers. Music communicates your message in a very powerful way and attracts the right audience for your marketing goals. There’s always abundant creative energy, a plethora of fresh ideas and open mindedness in various music communities.

7) Last November you visited #FoundersAccelerating in Dresden. What have you taken back to Athens?

 

The international experience of course. Sharing knowledge, ideas with entrepreneurs and researchers from all around the world, speaking about their experiences with crowd-funding and exchanging ideas on how to fund our ventures. 

Many thanks Stathis for your time and for sharing your vision on the new Greece.
Angela Incampo