These are the Hi-Tech Greek women who are overcoming the crisis. Even today, female entrepreneurship encounters stereotypes of the male-dominated market.
Many women may be at the helm of empires or CEOs of leading corporations, but globally, women remain a minority in the corporate hierarchy. However, in the brave new world of technology, this outdated status quo seems set to change.
It's not just the example of Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, who became the most high-profile "transfer" on the technology planet when she switched from Google in 2012. Hundreds of women around the world are finding in the digital market fertile ground without "anchors" to develop their ideas and create their own business.
For now, women who "run" start-up businesses do not outnumber men, but analysts consider the field ideal, since here the "good idea" has no... gender! Recently, the impressive Hollywood star Eva Longoria spoke at the famous WebSummit in Dublin, urging women to spread their wings electronically. "We live in a global community and technology is the best way to share your ideas," she said characteristically and then addressed the hi-tech ladies in the audience: "I want to challenge all the women here today to become mentors..."
Longoria, who dedicates much of her time to inspiring women's movements around the world to dynamismally claim their role, is probably unaware that Greek women are leading the way in the start-up . "The Sunday Nation" met with women who have made small but steady steps in the technological arena, finding out why Longoria's vision in Greece can become a reality.
From mothers to mothers
Katerina Lambrou is one of the three founders of the digital platform for finding professionals for children from 0 to 16 years old, Nannuka.gr. Together with Natalie Levi and Lela Dritsa, careerists who were active in the fields of marketing, advertising and public relations, they joined forces about a year and a half ago, deciding to implement their original idea. The platform already carries distinctions, such as the fact that it represented Southern Europe in the so-called “Olympic Games of start-ups”, the final of the “Get In The Ring” competition. “We are all three mothers and bloggers. This specific product arose from our own needs and we realized that the Greek family needed an online service where parents can, with one click, book an appointment with specialists free of charge and then evaluate their experience,” explains Ms. Lambrou.
“We currently cover sixteen different specialties (midwives, educators, teachers, child psychologists, trainers, etc.). We essentially wanted to make the everyday life of working parents easier.” Recently, the female-led start-up presented its idea at WebSummit, the largest Internet technology event in Europe, with thousands of visitors and businesses from all over the world. “There we met people who have the potential to take our work forward.
Among the speakers who participated in the conference were executives from Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, as well as the famous actress Eva Longoria. Her speech stood out because it referred to female entrepreneurship and the opportunities offered by the Eva Longoria Institute to women, who constitute only 15% of the start-up community. The public's response proved that our service comes to provide a solution to the needs of parents throughout Europe. After all, this was our goal when the site was translated into English. "Nannuka" to travel abroad", concludes Katerina Lambrou. Of course, not everything is rosy in the technological arena. The space may operate more "merit-based", but the competition is very high and distinction does not come easily: "Initially there are difficulties, but if someone is determined to work with enthusiasm, they will progress. A start-up must have positive results in a short period of time, otherwise the chances of survival decrease...".
The artists' right hand
"Women have the ability to process multiple levels of information and provide practical solutions. Start-ups, beyond a good idea and technological knowledge, need good management. And we are excellent at this. Where we struggle is in taking risks. We can find our place in this field, express ourselves freely and spread our talent," says Maria-Louiza Laopodi, co-founder of the electronic platform Cultinet.com, which is just a few months old. Together with Anna Amorgianou and Elena Pouggia, they created this specific service, which connects managers and artists with the aim of facilitating collaborations in art, in other words, making artistic production sustainable.
“With our own humble knowledge, we created the online service. We started with the desire to serve art professionals and we are evolving. I participated in an acceleration program for young entrepreneurs and it helped me in practice to shape my idea. I was working in the management of cultural projects and during the crisis, with the reduction in funding in this sector, I wanted to see what was happening in this area and mainly to see if entrepreneurship could help culture and the arts get out of the crisis. There was a gap in management. I thought that if culture had better management, it could have more sustainable projects,” explains Ms. Laopodi.
On Cultinet.com, the artist and the manager create a profile and then the requests are matched. “Essentially, this is a professional… meeting between artists and managers. This way, the artists will be able to focus on their work and the managers can create new collaborations. So far, we have started with the visual arts sector.” Although in its early stages, the Cultinet.com team has already participated in the “Creative Business Cup 2014” entrepreneurship competition and was among the ten finalists. And more to come…
Doctoranytime.gr
The award-winning portal that opens the doors of… clinics
When Eleftheria Zourou decided to create the online platform Doctoranytime.gr, she was fully aware of the risk she was taking. The idea came from a personal need to book some medical appointments for preventive examinations once she reached “the pivotal age of 30,” as she says. Then she realized that it was a time-consuming process. At the same time, she traveled to Uganda and revised her worldview. She quit her job, she was a marketing manager in a multinational, and together with two friends they created their online business.
"I wanted to help change the lives of my fellow human beings," she explains. "I had no contact with the technology sector, but ultimately anyone who wants something can make it happen. There are currently nine women working in the 15-member team. It was lucky, but I find that we are organized, consistent, methodical and have a higher degree of emotional intelligence," she adds.
Immediate response
The co-founder and general manager of Doctoranytime.gr, an online service through which one can immediately arrange an appointment with the doctor of their choice, free of charge, dared and in a short period of time saw results. Every month, 2,000 to 2,500 medical appointments are "booked" through the site. "The percentage of women who create start-ups is small, because the price is high at all levels. You need to dedicate yourself to this work. I remember many times I faced ridicule. However, women can express themselves freely through this type of work. Besides, we have good business thinking and can stand out in this space," adds Ms. Zourou.
Doctoranytime.gr has been awarded as the best Electronic Market in 2013 and 2014 by the “E-volution” Awards competition. It has also won an award in the “I bank innovation and technology” competition. “On September 24, I had the honor of presenting our service at the European Parliament, in front of the then European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Nellie Cruz. Doctoranytime.gr. was selected at a pan-European level as the best health service and its way of operating as a role model for similar health services throughout Europe.”.
Source: ethnos.gr
