0:00:15.067,0:00:17.201
Let me ask you something.

0:00:17.401,0:00:19.560
When you were young kids,

0:00:19.560,0:00:21.782
what was your plan,

0:00:21.782,0:00:25.242
the dream, the path[br]that you wanted to follow?

0:00:25.452,0:00:29.872
Becoming an astronaut,[br]a doctor, a scientist?

0:00:30.462,0:00:32.302
Well the plan goes like this:

0:00:32.462,0:00:36.779
you go to school, study hard,[br]go to university, get good grades,

0:00:36.779,0:00:39.049
then a master's, a PhD possibly,

0:00:39.049,0:00:41.352
and then a good job somewhere big.

0:00:41.352,0:00:45.343
I don't know, Microsoft,[br]Google, NASA, whatever.

0:00:45.343,0:00:46.539
That was my plan too.

0:00:46.539,0:00:48.739
But let me take you back in time.

0:00:49.678,0:00:53.980
Six years ago, I was 16 years old,[br]and I loved technology.

0:00:53.980,0:00:57.812
I wanted to experiment a lot[br]and try many, many, many things.

0:00:58.656,0:01:01.484
So I created my own "lab."

0:01:03.256,0:01:04.496
That's it.

0:01:04.496,0:01:06.526
(Laughter)

0:01:06.526,0:01:08.739
So, ah, when I was in high school,

0:01:08.739,0:01:12.998
I had a friend who also loved[br]experimenting with technology,

0:01:12.998,0:01:17.782
and he was just like me,[br]so one day while we were at class,

0:01:18.656,0:01:23.409
a physics teacher of him[br]comes to me, and he tells us both,

0:01:24.907,0:01:26.202
"Hey guys!

0:01:26.202,0:01:28.941
There are some people[br]trying to experiment with me,

0:01:28.941,0:01:31.361
and I would like you to join us."

0:01:31.361,0:01:35.771
So I went there, we started working[br]with him in his lab on different projects.

0:01:35.771,0:01:39.912
It was super boring at the beginning,[br]until one day he came to us and he said,

0:01:39.912,0:01:41.431
"Hey guys!

0:01:41.431,0:01:46.207
In the old days, there were some guys[br]trying to produce electricity from soil.

0:01:46.207,0:01:48.057
So why don't you try this out?

0:01:48.057,0:01:50.347
Maybe it will open doors for you."

0:01:50.347,0:01:51.954
And without a second guess,

0:01:51.954,0:01:55.344
we decided that[br]that was a fun thing to do.

0:01:55.344,0:01:57.044
So we started working on it,

0:01:57.044,0:02:00.794
and in three months, both of them, [br]they stopped working with me.

0:02:00.842,0:02:03.672
We had literally no results,

0:02:03.715,0:02:05.246
and, you know, I felt like

0:02:05.246,0:02:07.386
there was something[br]pulling me towards this,

0:02:07.386,0:02:10.646
so I kept on trying a little bit more.

0:02:11.100,0:02:16.351
To be specific, one year later, [br]I had my first proof of concept,

0:02:16.648,0:02:20.231
which was a huge table full of soil

0:02:20.736,0:02:24.922
that was barely enough[br]to light a small very, very tiny light.

0:02:25.158,0:02:27.188
That was just a very first step,

0:02:27.188,0:02:30.568
but it was enough to convince[br]some people to help me more.

0:02:30.720,0:02:35.868
My first investment they got[br]was 100 euros from another teacher,

0:02:35.868,0:02:39.162
that he wanted me to join[br]a national school competition.

0:02:39.690,0:02:41.697
So, I did as he told me.

0:02:41.697,0:02:44.984
I went to the competition,[br]and I realized something very important.

0:02:44.984,0:02:46.674
People actually like my idea.

0:02:46.674,0:02:48.665
They don't think anymore that I'm crazy.

0:02:48.665,0:02:51.285
Well, they actually think [br]because of my plans,

0:02:51.285,0:02:55.875
but they are convinced now that maybe[br]there's something in that technology.

0:02:57.542,0:02:59.693
One year more passed,

0:02:59.693,0:03:04.284
and then a night before[br]my final national school exams,

0:03:04.284,0:03:05.859
which is, by the way,

0:03:05.859,0:03:08.895
one of the most important things[br]defining my career,

0:03:08.895,0:03:09.997
I decided that "Hey,

0:03:09.997,0:03:12.732
I don't want to study anymore.[br]Let's leave this,"

0:03:12.732,0:03:15.330
and I wanted to do[br]something about my project.

0:03:15.330,0:03:19.120
So I started searching on Google [br]for anything that has to do with research,

0:03:19.120,0:03:21.610
innovation, banking -

0:03:21.610,0:03:25.223
I don't know, anything that might[br]give me money or advice.

0:03:25.223,0:03:28.543
Back then we didn't have the term [br]"startup" that much in Cyprus,

0:03:28.543,0:03:31.260
so it was something new for me.

0:03:31.260,0:03:33.280
I sent over 50 emails,

0:03:33.280,0:03:36.813
and from those 50 emails,[br]I got back five replies.

0:03:36.813,0:03:39.557
Two were a "no" in a nice way,

0:03:39.557,0:03:42.930
and three were,[br]"Yes maybe, let's hear more."

0:03:43.346,0:03:47.416
One of those companies was -[br]luckily enough it was from Cyprus.

0:03:47.416,0:03:50.196
So I decided that[br]"Hey, why not try this out?"

0:03:50.196,0:03:52.631
I sent them an email,[br]we arranged a meeting,

0:03:52.631,0:03:55.471
and then I went there[br]with a much better prototype.

0:03:55.471,0:03:57.461
And I managed to convince them

0:03:57.461,0:04:00.159
to work together for the next[br]one and a half year.

0:04:00.837,0:04:04.037
By the end of that time,[br]we participated in Web Summit.

0:04:04.037,0:04:07.017
Now, Web Summit is a huge conference,

0:04:07.017,0:04:08.888
especially when it comes to startups,

0:04:08.888,0:04:11.292
maybe it's one of the best in the world.

0:04:11.800,0:04:14.419
There were more than[br]60 thousand participants

0:04:14.419,0:04:16.360
and companies from all over the world.

0:04:16.360,0:04:20.610
All the top names: Google, Microsoft, [br]Instagram, Facebook, Gary Vee,

0:04:20.610,0:04:21.874
whatever you can imagine.

0:04:21.874,0:04:23.631
Everybody was there.

0:04:23.631,0:04:24.746
On day one,

0:04:24.746,0:04:27.023
I had some prototypes and a small booth,

0:04:27.023,0:04:29.190
and I was presenting to some investors,

0:04:29.190,0:04:31.474
and it didn't go that well, to be honest.

0:04:31.474,0:04:34.934
I don't know, it was my first time[br]talking to real investors.

0:04:35.885,0:04:38.190
The second day was a pitch competition.

0:04:38.190,0:04:41.905
That pitch competition,[br]you start from 1,500 companies,

0:04:41.905,0:04:45.332
and then you manage, after [br]three rounds, to get to the finals.

0:04:45.332,0:04:47.682
I don't know how or why[br]or what happened exactly,

0:04:47.682,0:04:50.552
I don't remember,[br]but I made it to the finals.

0:04:50.552,0:04:53.518
The finals was actually[br]pitching in the arena,

0:04:53.518,0:04:55.495
this one you see in the picture.

0:04:55.495,0:04:59.215
That was actually[br]in front of 15,000 people,

0:04:59.215,0:05:00.691
global media coverage,

0:05:00.691,0:05:03.495
so it was something really scary for me.

0:05:03.495,0:05:05.675
I never dreamed of talking[br]in front of people,

0:05:05.675,0:05:09.548
especially my first time[br]being in front of a judging panel.

0:05:10.085,0:05:13.386
Anyway, I remember[br]a few hours before the pitch,

0:05:13.386,0:05:16.840
they gave me a wristband[br]that said "Speaker Guest,"

0:05:16.840,0:05:20.340
and that wristband,[br]well, it had magic powers.

0:05:20.340,0:05:23.010
You go to the backstage,[br]you raise your hand like this,

0:05:23.010,0:05:24.875
and security personnel go like this,

0:05:24.875,0:05:28.295
and you enter to the celebrities,[br]and you see something huge there.

0:05:28.295,0:05:29.295
All the big names.

0:05:29.295,0:05:30.955
I remember seeing Gary Vee there.

0:05:30.955,0:05:35.125
Oh! Me and Gary Vee in the same room![br]That was something I never expected.

0:05:35.125,0:05:38.565
So, as you can imagine,[br]I used this magic power wisely,

0:05:38.565,0:05:42.809
so I went in and out, in and out,[br]in and out, and I feel like this.

0:05:42.809,0:05:43.939
(Laughter)

0:05:43.939,0:05:46.799
It was fun, to be honest,[br]being a celebrity even for a while.

0:05:46.799,0:05:51.080
So, long story short, [br]the pitch went better than expected,

0:05:51.080,0:05:54.940
and by the end of that pitch, [br]my life was changed.

0:05:54.940,0:05:58.710
The day before, I was begging[br]investors to listen to me,

0:05:58.710,0:06:01.571
the day after, investors[br]were knocking at my door.

0:06:01.571,0:06:04.601
Not the average ones, big ones.

0:06:04.601,0:06:09.391
Big companies were discussing[br]millions of dollars in deals with me,

0:06:09.391,0:06:10.654
and it was something huge.

0:06:10.654,0:06:13.878
I mean, I was 19 years old, [br]and I never imagined this.

0:06:15.137,0:06:16.660
Now, you might think -

0:06:16.660,0:06:18.597
yeah, there's the picture.

0:06:19.869,0:06:23.212
Now, you might think that after this

0:06:23.212,0:06:25.347
I had the happiest life,

0:06:25.347,0:06:27.107
making millions and millions,

0:06:27.107,0:06:30.627
and living happily as ever[br]an entrepreneur did,

0:06:30.627,0:06:35.937
but the truth is that I overestimated [br]my abilities, my experience in business,

0:06:35.937,0:06:37.782
and my trust in people.

0:06:37.782,0:06:41.382
And that had a huge, huge cost to me.

0:06:44.482,0:06:48.092
Long story short, the project got paused.

0:06:48.092,0:06:51.202
I lost four years of my work for nothing.

0:06:51.202,0:06:55.760
The only thing that was left for me[br]was the knowledge I got from there,

0:06:55.760,0:06:57.610
and nothing more.

0:06:57.610,0:06:59.585
You can imagine[br]how depressing that was:

0:06:59.585,0:07:00.930
being 19 years old,

0:07:00.930,0:07:03.636
having to deal with such big failure,

0:07:03.636,0:07:06.868
and knowing that it's not your project[br]that was not good enough

0:07:06.868,0:07:09.960
but the circumstances around you.

0:07:09.960,0:07:11.552
It was terrible.

0:07:12.380,0:07:15.213
For a few months, I had no energy[br]to do anything, literally.

0:07:15.213,0:07:19.709
I was like skipping school,[br]skipping actually university,

0:07:19.709,0:07:22.729
not meeting my friends,[br]not doing anything specific.

0:07:22.729,0:07:25.496
So a few months later,[br]I heard about a competition

0:07:25.496,0:07:27.939
called "NASA Space Apps Hackathon."

0:07:27.939,0:07:30.438
It's a global hackathon,[br]organized by NASA,

0:07:30.438,0:07:33.029
and they give you some problems[br]that you need to solve,

0:07:33.029,0:07:34.755
and if you solve them good enough,

0:07:34.755,0:07:37.789
you go to the globals,[br]and then if you win ...

0:07:37.789,0:07:41.268
you get an invitation[br]to Cape Canaveral for a rocket launch.

0:07:41.268,0:07:43.659
I was like, "Whoa! That's nice!"

0:07:43.659,0:07:46.212
So, to be honest, I never -

0:07:46.749,0:07:49.903
I thought that, okay,[br]winning is impossible, it's a big thing,

0:07:49.903,0:07:54.628
but why not try to get on my feet again[br]and see what I'm capable of?

0:07:54.924,0:07:58.266
Until that time, everyone was doubting[br]my skills as a team leader,

0:07:58.266,0:08:00.479
or as CEO, or anything like that,

0:08:00.479,0:08:03.500
so I was like, "Hey! Let's try[br]and see what happens!"

0:08:03.500,0:08:06.659
I mean, what's the worst case scenario?[br]Losing a competition.

0:08:06.659,0:08:09.707
So I organized a team of 17 people.

0:08:09.961,0:08:12.730
From solo entrepreneur to 17-people team;

0:08:12.730,0:08:14.422
it was a huge difference.

0:08:14.422,0:08:16.050
And they were from different ages,

0:08:16.050,0:08:18.162
different backgrounds,[br]different mentalities.

0:08:18.162,0:08:20.157
It was ... a mess.

0:08:20.157,0:08:22.684
I remember, one of the local[br]competition organizers,

0:08:22.684,0:08:25.160
he came to me, and he gave me[br]his hand and he says,

0:08:25.160,0:08:29.430
"I bet that with such a team,[br]there are only two options:

0:08:29.430,0:08:34.418
You will either do something great,[br]or you're going to be a big failure.

0:08:34.418,0:08:35.628
And I bet on the second."

0:08:35.628,0:08:38.418
I was like, "Whoa! What a motivation!"

0:08:38.418,0:08:39.768
(Laughter)

0:08:39.768,0:08:41.184
I mean, come on!

0:08:41.184,0:08:44.584
You don't go out and say this thing[br]to somebody who is just starting,

0:08:44.584,0:08:47.792
especially after a kind of[br]a depressing moment, so yeah.

0:08:48.257,0:08:50.181
The challenge was on, again.

0:08:50.712,0:08:54.038
Long story short,[br]it was a huge, huge thing.

0:08:54.038,0:08:57.262
Those 48 hours, we were[br]having like lots of trouble,

0:08:57.262,0:09:01.059
fighting with other teammates,[br]some of them, they still hate me for this,

0:09:01.985,0:09:03.571
but at the end of these 48 hours,

0:09:03.571,0:09:06.418
we managed to get[br]only the third place locally.

0:09:06.418,0:09:10.755
I mean, come on, out of 10 teams,[br]third place, that's disappointing.

0:09:11.825,0:09:14.123
That's not something that I wanted.

0:09:14.832,0:09:18.270
But anyway, we got the ticket[br]to the global competition,

0:09:18.270,0:09:20.359
so there was a chance.

0:09:21.149,0:09:27.848
So next, we had five weeks of huge,[br]troubling, I don't know how to call it,

0:09:27.848,0:09:29.462
but it was something weird.

0:09:29.462,0:09:32.018
I had to deal with so many[br]problems at the same time.

0:09:32.018,0:09:34.289
Fighting with this one,[br]fighting with that one.

0:09:34.289,0:09:36.240
Everybody used to hate me at that moment.

0:09:36.240,0:09:38.912
Even my friends, they didn't have[br]energy to deal with me

0:09:38.912,0:09:40.890
when I was like super angry all the time,

0:09:40.890,0:09:43.780
waking up, making phone calls,[br]and all these things.

0:09:43.780,0:09:49.808
So, anyway, by the end of that,[br]again I don't know how or why,

0:09:49.808,0:09:54.356
maybe, hard work, some people call it [br]hard work, some people call it luck,

0:09:54.356,0:09:57.746
we were the global winners,[br]something we never expected.

0:09:58.428,0:10:02.900
And we got a really nice [br]invitation from NASA.

0:10:02.900,0:10:07.343
That was something amazing. I mean,[br]come on! Seeing an invitation from NASA?

0:10:07.343,0:10:11.724
And I'm an engineer, so I was like [br]"Whoa! This is quicker than I thought."

0:10:12.710,0:10:16.743
But here the problem, the big problem,[br]actually, had just begun

0:10:16.743,0:10:19.582
because we had only three weeks

0:10:19.582,0:10:24.197
to raise almost 80,000 euros[br]of sponsorship from Cyprus

0:10:24.197,0:10:26.398
to cover the expenses of 17 people

0:10:26.398,0:10:30.104
flying to Cape Canaveral for a week[br]to experience the rocket launch,

0:10:30.104,0:10:32.595
so it wasn't something easy at all.

0:10:32.595,0:10:35.605
I mean, I don't know what happens[br]in other parts of the world,

0:10:35.605,0:10:38.862
but in Cyprus, it's next to impossible.

0:10:38.862,0:10:44.846
Again, many lost and won battles[br]and by the end of the day, we made it.

0:10:45.212,0:10:47.741
The big adventure, NASA!

0:10:48.372,0:10:51.846
I can keep talking about this[br]for hours and hours and hours:

0:10:51.846,0:10:54.602
the people we've met,[br]the things we've seen,

0:10:54.602,0:10:57.216
the mentality of us that changed,

0:10:57.216,0:10:59.081
the way we see life after that.

0:10:59.081,0:11:00.713
Everything was changing

0:11:00.713,0:11:03.151
because maybe for some people[br]it's a small thing,

0:11:03.151,0:11:05.726
but for us, it was a huge,[br]huge achievement.

0:11:06.646,0:11:12.311
So, right after that, I decided that now[br]it was time to execute my bigger plan.

0:11:12.311,0:11:14.587
Doing something really[br]in the field of startups,

0:11:14.587,0:11:17.987
or, I don't know, doing[br]some innovation on my own.

0:11:18.719,0:11:21.250
So, currently, I'm 22.

0:11:21.250,0:11:24.510
I have two startups:[br]one in the space of mechanobiology

0:11:24.510,0:11:27.120
and the other one in the space of drones,

0:11:27.120,0:11:30.142
and things, I can say, are going well.

0:11:30.142,0:11:33.302
We still have many failures,[br]over and over again,

0:11:33.302,0:11:35.912
but who knows what time holds for us.

0:11:37.812,0:11:39.227
The truth is

0:11:40.487,0:11:43.802
there's always something [br]standing in your way.

0:11:43.802,0:11:49.512
Be it a person, a relationship,[br]a lifestyle choice, a roadblock,

0:11:49.512,0:11:52.252
a belief, a doubt, anything.

0:11:52.252,0:11:54.660
There's always something [br]standing in your way.

0:11:54.999,0:11:59.862
Our brains are hardwired to believe[br]that success and fulfillment

0:11:59.862,0:12:03.701
come from following[br]a path defined by society.

0:12:04.125,0:12:09.225
Go to school, then college, then master's,[br]then PhD, then a good job

0:12:09.225,0:12:12.795
that pays you enough so you can afford[br]most of the things you like in life,

0:12:12.795,0:12:15.355
and then put your kids on the same path.

0:12:15.355,0:12:17.540
But your purpose is more than that.

0:12:17.540,0:12:22.026
Your purpose is to step out,[br]stand up, and rewrite that story.

0:12:22.356,0:12:23.469
Make it count.

0:12:23.469,0:12:25.967
Make that story more fulfilling to you;

0:12:25.967,0:12:28.164
not to the person next to you.

0:12:29.097,0:12:32.024
Stop putting your dreams on hold,

0:12:32.024,0:12:34.177
thinking that "It's not the time,

0:12:34.177,0:12:37.231
I don't feel well prepared,[br]I don't feel good enough."

0:12:37.231,0:12:38.313
Those are all lies,

0:12:38.313,0:12:42.872
those are all excuses that you make[br]just because you fear trying.

0:12:44.039,0:12:46.104
You're belittling yourself[br]whenever you say,

0:12:46.104,0:12:48.336
"I'm not smart enough,[br]I'm not good enough,

0:12:48.336,0:12:50.255
I'm not old enough,[br]I haven't graduated,

0:12:50.255,0:12:52.231
I haven't done this,[br]I haven't done that."

0:12:52.231,0:12:56.159
There's nothing like a good timing.

0:12:56.383,0:12:58.755
Today is a good timing,[br]tomorrow is a good timing.

0:12:58.755,0:13:01.279
As soon as you start,[br]you'll get into that path,

0:13:01.279,0:13:03.369
and you'll fail again and again and again.

0:13:03.369,0:13:05.644
And that's what I do, and I keep doing it.

0:13:05.644,0:13:08.970
And until today, I can not say[br]that everything is perfect in my life.

0:13:08.970,0:13:11.575
I have many troubles[br]with all of those startups,

0:13:11.575,0:13:13.890
with my personal life,[br]with everything like that.

0:13:13.890,0:13:16.470
Everybody has this,[br]but it's up to you to change it,

0:13:16.470,0:13:18.910
it's up to you to make[br]something out of it.

0:13:18.910,0:13:23.040
And from every failure,[br]get some knowledge and move on.

0:13:23.040,0:13:26.430
And there's one advice[br]I would like you to keep from me:

0:13:26.430,0:13:29.571
whenever you think[br]about the reasons, the excuses,

0:13:29.571,0:13:32.681
try breaking them down into small pieces.

0:13:32.681,0:13:36.441
When you do so, you realize[br]that everything becomes clearer,

0:13:36.441,0:13:38.841
easier, and much better for you.

0:13:38.841,0:13:42.891
And you realize that there's really[br]nothing holding you back.

0:13:43.541,0:13:46.751
So, what's holding you back?

0:13:46.751,0:13:47.941
Thank you.

0:13:47.941,0:13:50.861
(Applause)

0:13:50.861,0:13:53.763
(Cheers)