Theofilos Vasileiadis: A contemporary “polymath”

This has to be one of the most dramatic interviews I had to do.

On our first appointment I couldn’t make it due to extreme traffic conditions, and on the second one, I arrived 30 minutes late, which made a bad impression and left me with just 30 minutes of “interview” time.

Luckily, Theofilos was very kind and understanding.

On top of that, my expectations were totally met, he delivered.

He always aspired to be something great and he still keeps on delving in new business opportunities all the time. Ever since he was a little boy, he had been very curious.

Theofilos started publishing a college magazine targeting students, and from that he ended up creating the first “job board” website in Greece, called kariera.gr. After 10 years or so, in 2007, they made probably the first important Greek “exit” for a startup.

Since then, he hasn’t stopped learning and as a matter of fact, he is still attending various classes in Harvard every year.

So even with 30 minutes at my disposal with this guy, what did I learn?

Read on..

Sports and Business

On the high end levels of champions in sports, there seems to be a similar set of characteristics, with the best entrepreneurs.

• Grit
• Determination
• Hours of practice (reps as Arnold says)

Athletes have a great mindset and practice their skill relentlessly, no matter if it’s raining outside or they had a bad day at work, or they had a fight with a friend or a loved one.

We are not machines, we are still dominated by our feelings and emotions, but still, we need to overcome any obstacle if we want to be the best at what we do.

In my opinion, being an athlete, solidifies this mindset. If you find a sport that excites you, try to practice it as much as possible and track your performance. The self-discipline that you will develop, will help in all the areas of your life.

Reading

Probably the most boring advice you can give to someone is to read. It sounds so empty, yet it’s one of the most valuable things you can do as a person.

Reading is giving you a first hand experience, straight from the eyes of an accomplished man in his field. There are just so many books from great people out there, that makes it very hard to think otherwise.

My personal favourite, though, is that you get to “connect” easier with other well-read people. For example, as soon as Theofilos mentioned talent and how it’s not enough, I said I had read “Outliers” by Gladwell and of course he knew about it and we talked a bit over the “10k hours of practice”. This shows credibility on both ends, and it gave us one more reason to enjoy our conversation.

Teaching is educational

Theofilos aspires, also, to be a teacher in the near future, and he has practiced this skill some years ago by teaching seminars.

As life works in mysterious ways, almost a year ago, I was invited as a lecturer at a series of coding schools, organized by Vassilis Velkos. A great friend who was working for Kariera, the same company that Theofilos built and sold some years ago.

From my experience, teaching is an art on its own and you get to learn so much both about your craft and yourself. Try to be respected and known in your area of expertise, and you will find opportunities to give back.

My final piece of advice, would be to watch Theofilos’ ted talk and his presentation in Yeah conference, because he shares a lot about his journey so far. He is a very inspiring person and I am so happy to have met him.