2000

Dot-com bubblehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble

The dot-com bubble (also referred to as the Internet bubble and the Information Technology Bubble) was a speculative bubble covering

roughly 1995–2000 (with a climax on March 10, 2000, with the NASDAQ peaking at 5132.52 in intraday trading before closing at 5048.62) during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the Internet sector and related fields. While the latter part was a boom and bust cycle, the

Internet boom is sometimes meant to refer to the steady commercial growth of the Internet with the advent of the world wide web, as

exemplified by the first release of the Mosaic web browser in 1993, and continuing through the 1990s.

Τα πάντα στην Ελλάδαέρχονται καθυστερημέναΤο ίδιο και το dotcom bubble!

Περιβάλλον

• Καθηγητές από Αμερική– Μιλούσαν για το dotcom bubble, χωρίς ναξέρουν ότι είναι bubble

• Ομάδα «Ατλαντίδα»– Οι ανταγωνιστές!

• Pointer-Soft!– CS256 «Εργαστήριο ΤεχνολογίαςΛογισμικού»

It all started as a joke

• Πολύ σοβαρό όμως!• Αποφασίσαμε να «κάνουμε εταιρεία» τονΙούλιο 2000

• Οι 4 καλύτεροι programmers του CSD– akritid, hargikas,mvasilak,venturas

Τι θέλαμε;

• Να είμαι αφεντικό του εαυτού μου• Να έχω μερίδιο στην υπεραξία τηςεργασίας μου

• Να έχω ευέλικτο ωράριο

• Να κάνω κάτι ενδιαφέρον• Να μην εκτελώ εντολές ενός ανίδεου

Critical Publics

• Email Αύγουστος 2000:– Ψάχνουμε κόσμο που ξέρει Python, ναδουλέψει με Zope

• Απάντηση tsigos@csd.uoc.gr– Γιατί να πληρώνετε ΙΚΑ;– Θέλετε να κάνουμε outsourcing;

MoU

• Τέλη Αυγούστου υπογράψαμε το ιδρυτικόMoU

• 5x14+1x30• Guaranteed revenue 40,000,000 GRD by

Dec 31st 2001

• Μπριζόλες στα Κιούρκα!

Τι κάναμε όντως;

• Software development σε Zope• Τεχνικές προδιαγραφές από τον Vladimir

Petrovic• Λειτουργικές προδιαγραφές από τονΜιχάλη Παναγιωτάκη

• A real nightmare

Projects

• www.mod.mil.gr• www.hnms.gr• www.emporiki.gr• www.yme.gov.gr• www.zenon.gr• www.criticalpublics.com• a.s.o.

Products???• WebSecure™

• VoteSecure™– http://www.springerlink.com/content/y6cfc0jn4g12k9d

c/?MUD=MP

• AuctionSecure™

• Απολύτως καμία σχέση με τηνπραγματικότητα

Anazhthsh Sunergatwn apo thVirtual Trip Ltd.

Mια εμπνευσμένη ιδέα!

• Δεν θέλουμε να γίνουμε μια εταιρεία 500 ατόμων!

• Θέλουμε να γίνουμε 10 εταιρείες 50 ατόμων!!!

Διαζύγια

• Δεκέμβρης 2002, Critical Publics

• Μάρτης 2003, Vtrip team– akritid stayed as a freelancer for 6 months– venturas stayed as a permanent freelancer for

2 years– hargikas stayed as occasional freelancer– mvasilak did not stay at all

«Φιλαράκι, αν δεν εμπιστεύεσαιεσύ την εταιρεία σου, θέλεις νατην εμπιστευτούμε εμείς;»

HBR got it right!

• Ο επιχειρηματίας πριν αποφασίσει τιπρέπει να κάνει στην επιχείρησή του, πρέπει να αποφασίσει τι πρέπει να κάνειστη ζωή του!

• Διαφορετικές προσδοκίες– Option A, Option B, Option C

Μια νέα σελίδα

• Απρίλης 2003– Ασπρόπυργος: Θανάσης Παραθυράς, Βαγγέλης Μιχαλόπουλος

• Μάιος 2003– Ασπρόπυργος: Ελένη Πάστρα– Ηράκλειο: Μανούσος Μπουλουκάκης

(Τεχνικός Διευθυντής), Λεωνίδας Παπαδάκης, Πασχάλης Παντελέρης, Δημήτρης Κούκης, Γιώργος Κάππος, Λευτέρης Τριμίντζιος, Στέλιος Γάσπαρης, Τίνα Κατελανή

Είχαμε budget για όλουςαυτούς;

Πρφανώς όχι.

2003

• Emporiki Bank• Super Markets ΑΡΙΑΔΝΗ• ΕΜΥ• Sbokos Hotels Group

• Νοέμβριος 2003: Ίδρυση Επίγνωσις!

2004

• Γραφείο στην Αθήνα, Κοδριγκτώνος• Υλοποίηση iTrust, INNO-UTILITIES• Έναρξη υλοποίησης SOLO Gateway

(Virtual Trip Multi Server: VTMS)• Έναρξη υλοποίησης Insurance Manager• Ολυμπιακό Έργο ΕΜΥ

2005• Μεγάλες στιγμές Ι• Εξαγορά 70% της Infomap AE

– Έργα δημοσίου– GIS

• Σημαντικός αριθμός έργων ΓΓΕΤ• PLASTIC & NoAH / FP6• Mobile Vision!• Κατερίνα Καστρίτη!• Πρώτες πωλήσεις Insurance Manager• Aggressive Marketing

– Caravel Events, Comdex

2006• Μεγάλες στιγμές!• Έργο Διαβατηρίων

– «Ολοκληρωμένο Πληροφοριακό Σύστημα Διαχείρισης ΈκδοσηςΑσφαλών Εγγράφων»

• Conn-X View, OTE• Γιώργος Δραμιτινός, Φώτης Λιοτόπουλος, Rajan Barara• Συνεχίζουμε επιθετικό marketing• Κατεχάκη!• Γραφείο Θεσσαλονίκη• Ίδρυση NGLS

• eFront gets SCORM certification

2007• The Virtual Trip Group!

• Το eFront γίνεται open-source• Παίρνουμε πολλά έργα δημοσίου• Πληροφοριακά συστήματα• Business Processes• Εσωτερικό Λογιστήριο• Εντατικότατο Marketing• Ίδρυση IT Center, TS Consulting

2008

• Το SOLO Gateway βγαίνει στην αγορά• Συμμετοχή στη CeBIT!• Ίδρυση MVNS SA

– Mobile Social• Ακόμα πιο εντατικό marketing• Το eFront κάνει τις πρώτες εξαγωγές

2009

• Η κρίση έρχεται απειλητικά• Ολοκλήρωση νέου κύκλουχρηματοδότησης

• Ίδρυση Virtual Trip Spain – Andrew Hughes

• To eFront 7-πλασιάζει τις εξαγωγές του• 100 εγκαταστάσεις Insurance Manager

Entrepreneurial Ecosystemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurial_ecosystem

“An entrepreneurial ecosystem is a group of non-competing companies, including start-ups, established companies and one or more coordination entities, which share the same vision, values,culture, strategy and business processes and decide to form an organization in order to explore economies of scale in business

functions such as business development, financing, market analysis, marketing communications, IT / MIS infrastructure, human capitalmanagement, legal support, financial & accounting management”

© Dimitris Tsigos | Virtual Trip, November 29th 2009

Σήμερα;

Virtual TripEntrepreneurial Ecosystem

Next Generation Angel Investments Fund and Startup

Accelerator

Innovation

• One of the most heavily overloaded terms of our era

• Everybody is talking about innovation, few really understand it, even fewer do materialize it

• No, it’s not about the next Nobel Prize– Neither it’s about nicely set-up spreadsheets

resulting to amazing EBITDA…

What is the value of an idea?

Zero.

An idea turns valuable after – or, in the process of – materializing it.

Have people run out of ideas?

• Absolutely, not.• People just do not try to turn their ideas to

sustainable business activities.• Plethora of reasons:

– Lack of entrepreneurial culture in the society– Barriers by the legal system– Access to capital– Access to market

If you have to choose?

You do need both

• A startup needs Customers much more than it needs Capital

• However, securing financing in the very early stage is an “if and only if” condition

What else does a startup actually need?

• Management & Strategy Consulting• Mentoring / Coaching Services• Legal advisory• Marketing communications• Administrative Services• Infrastructure

– Focus to MIS / IT

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurial_ecosystem

“An entrepreneurial ecosystem is a group of non-competing companies, including start-ups, established companies and one or more

coordination entities, which share the same vision, values, culture, strategy and business processes and decide to form an organization in

order to explore economies of scale in business functions such as business development, financing, market analysis, marketing

communications, IT / MIS infrastructure, human capital management, legal support, financial & accounting management”

© Dimitris Tsigos | Virtual Trip, November 29th 2009

Ecosystem Services• Strategy – Advisory Services• Financing – Access to Capital• Business Development – Access to Markets• Talent Management• Financials & Accounting Management• MIS & IT Infrastructure• Marketing Communications• Legal Advisory• Business Administration• Offices / facilities

Background

Tα είπαμε όλααυτά!

Our Vision• “The Virtual Trip Entrepreneurial Ecosystem aims to be

recognized as a leading international start-ups incubator in the ICT sector.”

• Materializing Innovation

• “Our start-ups create value through high technology for their Customers and their socioeconomic environment”

Ecosystem Figures• Personnel: 5 → 45• Revenues: 100K€ → 10.5M€• International presence

– Antenna office in Madrid, Spain since January 2009– Subsidiary in Ohio, US since September 2009– Antenna offices in SF, London, Budapest, Brussels in 2012

• Broad spectrum of markets, products & services– Products: SOLO Gateway, eFront e-Learning, mVision,

Insurance Manager, Diagramma, OpenVote, S4Trips, Verita– Services: S/W Engineering, Systems Consulting, GIS, e-

Learning, Mobile applications– Markets: Mobile and Fixed-line Operators , Small & medium

businesses, Infotainment, Advertising, Education & Training, e-Government

The Virtual Trip Group• Incubation Services

– Entrepreneurial Ecosystem SA, www.entrepreneurialecosystem.eu• Services

– Virtual Trip Ltd, www.vtrip.net– Infomap SA, www.infomap.gr– Next Generation Learning Services SA, www.ngls.com.gr

• Vendors– Epignosis Ltd, www.efrontlearning.net– MVNS SA, www.mvns.mobi– AbZorba Games, www.abzorbagames.com– SOLO Gateway SA, www.sologateway.com– Insurance Manager SA, www.insurancemanager.gr– Diagramma Ltd, www.diagramma.in– S4Trips Ltd, www.s4trips.com– Verita Ltd, www.veritadv.com

• Distributors– Actech LLC, www.actechco.com– IT Center Ltd, www.itcenter.gr

• Antenna offices– Virtual Trip San Francisco, London, Brussels, Budapest

Management Team• Executive

– Dimitris Tsigos, Group Founder & Chief Executive Officer• www.linkedin.com/in/tsigos

– Thanassis Parathyas, Director Virtual Trip– Thanassis Papagelis, Director eFront e-Learning– Manos Moschous, Director AbZorba Games– Vangelis Mihalopoulos, Director SOLO Gateway– Giorgos Kripotos, Director Insurance Manager– Katerina Kastriti, HR Director

• Non – Executive – Prof. Christos N. Nikolaou, Non-Executive President

• Greek National Education Council, Rector of the University of Crete • www.linkedin.com/in/christosnikolaou

The Ecosystem Strategy

• 2000 – 2010– Investing in Internet Technologies start-ups

• 2010 – 2020 – Investing in Cloud Computing and Software-as-

a-Service start-ups

How has Virtual Trip been financed?

• We tried for the famous 3Fs– Unfortunately, we were limited to friends & family ☺

• Great support by the banking system– Not because of our innovation or extroversion, but because of

the revenue materialized out of the integration projects and thecollaterals that were offered

• Many services projects in Greece, both private and public sector

• 30+ R&D grants by the European Commission and the GSRT

• Not, it has not been efficient. It has worked, however.

The next step?• Looking for an IPO opportunity and /or a

strategic investor for Virtual Trip Holdings• Looking for receiving VC funding for mature

spin-outs, like eFront, SOLO Gateway and AbZorba Games

• Keep investing to existing ecosystem members and actively looking for investment opportunities in high-tech startups

• Focus to creating even better “access to market”channels and improving quality of offered ecosystem services

Thank you ☺