Greece and Europe's Moment
This summer I was in Thessaloniki for the first time, visiting the founders of Baresquare , whom we had decided to invest in a few years back during lockdown. You can get to know someone quite well via Zoom - but only that. Getting to know someone very well is something else. It's the nuances. The spontaneous things that you miss if you can’t share space with them. I will not forget Baresquare founder Georgios Grigoriadis ' endearing way of interacting with a young boy who approached us late one balmy summer evening, as we were about to order our dessert at a restaurant. The boy was trying to sell us lighters, and Georgios grew concerned and asked if he could call the boy’s parents to make sure he should be out this late. The boy’s eyes sparkled as he recited his father’s number by heart to Georgios, who called to make sure everything was ok. Indeed, the boy was supposed to be out that evening -? he was helping support his family.? So we all bought some nice lighters that evening.
On the way back to the hotel we experienced one of the most beautiful full moons I had ever seen over the sea. Georgios then proudly explains to me: This is what Greece is known for - the most beautiful full moons and as the cradle of democracy. Joining the Baresquare offsite the following day, I became convinced that Greece will also become famous for Baresquare. The entire team is dedicated to building the best analytics platform to run websites without interruption and to locate problems early. I met incredible developers and technologists there and experienced generous hospitality. Fortune 500 companies from all over the world use Baresquare with technology developed in Thessaloniki. I’m proud that b2venture is one of the first venture firms to invest in a Thessaloniki startup and am super long on this city’s prospects. It has a storied history going back to Biblical times and has persevered through austerity after the financial crisis of 2008. Much like Lisbon, which has become an important node in the Europe ecosystem, this city’s people are willing to fight, work hard and not compromise on quality.
Thanks to Olga Deikou, for capturing our time together with your fabulous pictures. It is extraordinary that Baresquare can work with such an outstanding artist you are!??
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And thanks to the entire Baresquare team for being so open and hospitable to me.?And see you soon, Giorgios - on 21 September in Berlin for our btov Portfolio Day 2022. This year’s theme is "Europe's Moment", and I am looking forward to spending time with hundreds of like-minded entrepreneurs and investors from our btov community!
PS: Here a short video about Baresquares' offsite including learnings from rowing world champion Nikolaos Gkountoulas