Greek Stuff

I've participated in several (successful and failed) efforts aimed to connect folks in Greece with the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Contact me if you do something similar and think I can be of any help. I used to write down some thoughts on this blog, but this happens less and less frequently lately.

Educational Trip

Students from Greek universities spend one week at a top US university to experience the academic life, and try to bring the things they like back home. They are hosted by fellow Greek students, attend classes and labs, visit companies (like Google and Facebook) and meet several folks from the wider university and local community. We started the program back in 2010 with 9 students at Stanford, and by 2016 more than 100 students have visited Stanford, Berkeley, UCSD, MIT and Georgia Tech. Many congrats to participants for being selected, Corallia, the Edu-Trip committee, and sponsors for taking care of logistics and fundraising, and most important the local students in US universities who open their homes and spend time hosting and mentoring guest students.

Related Links

Edu-Trip Website | Article by Kathimerini (Greek)

Silicon Valley Greek Seed Fund

SVGSF started by Greeks in Silicon Valley aiming to support entrepreneurs from Greece (through seed investments, mentoring, and access to Silicon Valley's ecosystem). Logistics didn't work well and it currently operates mostly as an easy way to reach several Greek folks in the Bay Area.

Related Links

SVGSF Website

Bridge the Gap - Enterpreneurship in Greece Conference

Bridge the Gap was a 3-day conference organized by the Hellenic Association at Stanford in 2009 to introduce the enterpreneurial status-quo in Greece to like-minded people in Silicon Valley. More than 20 people came from Greece representing start-ups, incubators, investors and goverment authorities, and met with more than 200 local attendees (executives, investors, academics, students, enterpreneurs). Bridge the Gap established a network of like-minded people, fostered synergies between Greece and Silicon Valley, and planted the roots for subsequent programs (such as the Educational Trip).

Hellenic Association at Stanford

During my stay at Stanford I was a member (and at times president and IT admin) for Stanford's Hellenic Student Association. This meant many barbeques, and occasionally meeting Greeks visiting Stanford. Hell.A.S., its members, and support from the university are the main reasons all of the above-mentioned activities ever took place.