From Startup Weekend Athens to Y Combinator Startup School: My journey as a member of Displaced
This article is about “Displaced”, a social startup project, StartupWeekend winner and Y Combinator Startup School graduate, aimed at helping displaced people through audio news and social networking tools.
On this day in 2018, the 1st Startup Weekend Athens: Audio and Radio Innovation — 2nd edition of Entrepreneurial Journalism concluded, a rather fulfilling, educational and creative event focusing on innovative audio tools, music and radio.
I was lucky enough to learn about this initiative through the organizers of the organizers’ team, Betty Tsakarestou, (associate professor and Head of #ADandPRLAB at Panteion University), Dr. Stavros Kaperonis (Laboratory Teaching Faculty of Panteion Univerisity) and Domnika Skreta, Head of Marketing, Communication and Digital Strategy of Antenna Music, and with the encouragement of assistant professor Dimitra Iordanoglou, who was one of the mentors of this 3-day event.
Following my registration, I attended the event with some of my classmates, not knowing the creative group projects we were about to become a part of. The event took place at Impact Hub, located at the heart of Athens. The place was ideal for networking, brainstorming sessions and pitching ideas, powered by numerous sponsors and media sponsors.
From the very first minute, I knew I was in for a forward-thinking, out-of-my-comfort-zone experience. After a small introduction to the event’s schedule, and various fun activities about entrepreneurship and pitching ideas (all led by the event’s facilitator, Simone Demelas), we were introduced to some of the attendees’ startup ideas surrounding audio and radio, ideas the event would center itself around. Through 30-second pitching sessions, we were introduced to the concept of “Displaced”, initiated by Sara El-Khalili. The core idea was driven by social entrepreneurship, aiding forcibly displaced people with audio information, which captured the attention of many, including mine. Quickly enough, a group of 5 Panteion University students had joined Sara’s human-centered vision, and our journey through the world of startups had officially begun.
Our task for the remaining 2 days was anything but simple: build our startup idea, complete the business model canvas, validate the market of Displaced, research funding sources, experiment with digital prototyping and organize a pitch deck. For all steps, there were thorough workshops and sessions with numerous mentors from different sectors. What I found to be very helpful was that through different mentors, we were exposed to equally different angles, often contradicting ones. This resulted in a more holistic approach regarding various business-related matters.
As we were working on the startup’s main direction, including a mobile app that would arm displaced people with audio information in various languages, as well as networking tools, one core problem lingered: generating revenue. Sara always reminded us of the humanitarian vision behind Displaced, underlining that advertisements and sponsored content would not work in the context of a social startup helping displaced people. How would we cover the many costly activities behind Displaced, such as the app itself, translators, journalists, and other partners?
Thankfully, we explored different alternatives such as prioritizing local talent for the app development instead of outsourcing, NGOs and volunteering groups that help social startups, donations/crowdfunding, etc.
Another core challenge was validating the market, as we had to better understand our target group’s needs and wishes. This proved to be difficult, due to the nature of our idea, but with Sara’s language skills and industry-specific knowledge, as well as the teams’ problem-solving direction, we were able to get some decent insights.
During the concluding day of the event, optimizing the business model canvas and our pitch deck simultaneously was our main concern, but with each member focusing on their individual skills and strengths, we were able to power through. I found myself mostly aiding Sara with our presentation, putting my love for detail to good use.
Sara was the one to officially pitch Displaced, knowing the idea and the vision behind it inside and out. The presentation went fantastically, evoking positive reactions from the audience and the judges.
After a suspenseful break, the winners were announced and Displaced earned 1st place of the 1st Startup Weekend Athens: Audio and Radio Innovation — Entrepreneurial Journalism. Our prizes included a 12-month professional plan with Radio Jar, 4 months incubation and consulting services by Impact Hub, and a 6-month mentorship plan with Antenna Music and AD & PR Lab. These prizes covered a wide range of the world of audio and radio innovation.
One of my key takeaways from Startup Weekend, apart from our pleasant victory, was the plethora of social entrepreneurship projects, and how well-received they were by the audience and the judges. It shows how much both the market and potential customers are in favor of social innovation.
With one team member choosing to depart from Displaced, we began speculating quickly enough about our next steps and experimenting with the platform of Radio Jar. Though our initial project did not include radio services, we found many of its services rather useful to test audio content and its live transmission to a digital audience. In the meantime, through Sara’s initiations, some domains had already been secured for Displaced, and some foundational designs (such as our Logo) were created.
These, as well as other challenges and opportunities, were discussed at our initial sessions with Impact Hub and AD&PR Lab/Antenna Music. Through the former, we got some insights about similar initiatives and how we could either utilize them or learn from them to introduce Displaced to the market more easily. Through the latter, we were greatly encouraged to establish Displaced’s digital presence through social networking accounts and compelling, consistent storytelling about our journey and milestones.
The journey of Displaced took a rather interesting turn when Sara encouraged us to apply to Y Combinator Startup School. There was a thorough application process, both for each individual member but for the entire team as well. During the individual application process, there were many thought-provoking questions, such as how I’ve managed to “hack” a real-life system and turn it in my favor.
As for our group application, one of the requirements was to shoot a pitch video for Displaced, which was prepared rather quickly and with excellent coordination.
After getting accepted to Y Combinator Startup School, Sara, as the leader and founder, represented the team at the frequent virtual sessions with the team of YC and the rest of the accepted applicants/startuppers, briefing us about important information and suggestions. Additionally, Y Combinator Startup School offered a database with plenty of educational material regarding startups, which seemed rather interesting and spot-on.
Eventually, we had to prepare a second video as a team, which was created thanks to Sara’s coordination. After the 10-week program, Displaced graduated from Y Combinator Startup School, gaining wonderful experiences and knowledge from the US top accelerator.
In the meantime, our leader had initiated another great milestone for Displaced. Specifically, Sara attended the Techfugees Global Summit 2018 in Paris and acquired insightful knowledge about using modern technology to help displaced communities. Some interesting moments and highlights from the event were communicated by Sara to the rest of the team through our Displaced WhatsApp group.
Her work did not stop there, as Sara was exploring different ways of kickstarting our app. More importantly, she delivered pro-bono journalism training to a group of refugees in Athens on producing multimedia stories that carry the voices of refugees, putting their issues on the media, policy and public agendas. She trained the group to build their capacity to eventually launch/run the platform. The foundational vision behind that was Displaced being an app ran by displaced people, for displaced people.
Despite the great initiatives and achievements of Displaced, both through Startup Weekend and through other endeavors, some fundamental obstacles had surfaced, regarding scheduling issues and personal challenges. As the team consisted of working professionals and undergraduate students, balancing different responsibilities, priorities and needs with startup entrepreneurship was easier said than done. In January of 2019, Displaced was unanimously put on hold.
As I reflect back on this wonderful, challenging journey, I’m grateful that I stepped out of my comfort zone and explored an entirely different sector and met wonderful people along the way. If I had one tip for students and young professionals who aspire to experiment with entrepreneurship, would be to research similar initiatives and always step out of your comfort zone.
Displaced Team: Sara El-Khalili (Leader and Founder) | Marios Moros | Andriana Kapatou | Marissa Moumouri | Giannis Spiliopoulos | Eddie Kaca
