Startup life is synonymous with crisis. Until a startup finds a working business model and a way to impose itself on the market, there is crisis after crisis. Clients leave, employees resign, competitors attack, investors betray, etc. Ben Horowitz, who is a thought leader on startup-related matters, distinguishes peacetime and

The other day, I found myself in my favourite stationery store just around the corner from where I live, and at the counter there was a lady talking with the owner. She was glowing in pride because that evening, she was about to visit a very important and rich person,

One early summer Sunday afternoon we were having lunch by the sea in Glyfada, suburbs of Athens, Greece. Few tables from us, there was a family — a man in his mid-thirties and his parents, also having lunch. They ordered an expensive fish and a nice bottle of wine. We knew

My product is not good enough, clients are not buying. It’s easier for the competition, they are better than me. My team is not good enough. My pitch deck is not good enough, investors are saying no to me. My idea is not good enough. My startup is unworthy

In the beginning I thought persuasion was a skill. For me, it’s not just some skill you see in a movie and you wish you had it. I have it. And I am grateful for the last decade of experience and for what it thought me: persuasion is not

When I first created a startup, I would come to work at 9 am in the morning, and would head home at midnight. I also worked on week-ends because during the week I would have a lot of meetings and then I used the weekends to sort out paperwork and

In my first startup, at the beginning we were offering software you could run on your own premisses, paying us a licence. It took quite an effort to integrate, and despite admiration from experts  in our field, we didn’t have much commercial success. Major clients were interested but they

I’ve always thought of myself as a very confident person. I see confidence as a part of who I am. It goes very far, to the point that when in doubt, I don’t recognise myself in my actions and I get into all sorts of out-of-character behaviours. For

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”  ―     Joseph Campbell I am a total planning freak. I once caught myself saying to a friend “spontaneity is much better when we plan for it — you know,