How to Nurture a Growth Mindset With Apostolos Apostolakis From Venture Friends

He is known as the Guru of the Greek startups. Our next guest Apostolos Apostolakis is partner at Venture Friends, the first 100% private venture capital fund in Greece with successful exits and soonicorns like Blueground and Spotawheel in their portfolio. 

Today, Venture Friends has spread its impact not only throughout Europe but also to South America and the Middle East. 

Apostolos has a vast portfolio as an angel investor. But before that he was a serial entrepreneur, tapping into niches like e-commerce. Apostolos has studied civil engineering and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. He discovered his passion for business in the US and believes education is crucial to properly grow your business and broaden your experience. Apostolos kickstarted his career as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group. 

In his conversation with Desy Karapchanska, he shares his lessons learned along his journey from consultancy, to entrepreneurship, to the world of VC. 

Apostolos explains that his approach to entrepreneurship has been one of taking calculated risks.  A professional environment that keeps the values of communication and learning from example is what helps out for a compelling problem-solving mentality. “Learning is constant. In our job you’re learning all the time and then this knowledge becomes relevant for other people”, Apostolos Apostolakis shares. 

In the episode he also reflects on his experience as an investor trying to spot the next unicorn, talks about the role of intuition in making investment choices and his offers his view on how to scale a company globally.  

Watch the previous episode as Irina Dimitrova, CFO and partner at LAUNCHub Ventures shares her secret for a successful career in the world of venture capital.