On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Nektarios Liolios, a true FinTech trailblazer, a passionate entrepreneur, and a dedicated mental health advocate.

In this episode, we'll dive into Nektarios' wealth of experience and insights on the evolution of FinTech, building thriving startup communities, investing in early-stage ventures, and fostering a more inclusive and mentally healthy entrepreneurial landscape.

KEY TAKEAWAYS          
When I started the accelerators we were riding the first wave of glorified entrepreneurship in 2011-13. Startups were cool, & we created artificial pressure around building things faster than in the wild. There were glimpses of people struggling, but I really didn’t take them too seriously. The real understanding of how bad people's mental health was affected in the early stages of building a business wasn’t something I was fully aware of. But It became clearer to me as we progressed with building these programmes.
In 2018 I lost my Dad the day after I finished work at the accelerator, I had to deal with the mess that comes with leaving behind a big chunk of my identity. I thought, perhaps there’s room to do something about this & I joined a woman I knew who had started Founder Anonymous within the VC fund she worked with to give founders the space to talk about how hard it actually is.
There’s a bag of things: Identity, loneliness, imposter syndrome, co-founder conflict, there are so many things that naturally happen in life that are concentrated within the world of building a startup & these people are completely left to their own devices & deal with these challenges. I got into entrepreneurship in my mid-40s, so I already feel I was a little more prepared for these things than younger entrepreneurs who haven’t had a lot of life experience. But, I wasn’t expecting my identity to be so messed up.
The challenges between someone who works in the corporate world compared to someone who works in the entrepreneurial world are different, especially for founders. You don’t have the same support system. In the corporate world, you can take some time off, and talk to HR, there may even be support initiatives. But founders are very specific kinds of animals, it takes a particular type of makeup to become one in the first place. Research shows that entrepreneurs are more likely to have anxiety, depression, and neurodiversity manifestations (ADHD, bipolar) in their family history.



BEST MOMENTS

‘The outside picture is that startups are cool & the hustle is cool & you need to ruin yourself because the potential returns of a successful startup isn’t comparable to corporate life, I want to demystify that.’
‘We were part of the problem; we cared about the business, we didn’t care about the people behind the business.’
‘We want to build a business where we don’t want to kill ourselves. That doesn’t mean we’re not working hard, it means being allowed to say I’m struggling. Authenticity is important.’
‘There’s a link between wanting to be your own boss & experiencing certain mental health issues.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Nektarios Liolios is a visionary FinTech entrepreneur, investor, ecosystem builder, and mental health advocate with a passion for driving positive change.

His work has taken him around the globe, closely collaborating with hundreds of entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses in London, New York, Singapore, Dubai, Amsterdam, and Melbourne. His dedication to entrepreneurship, collaboration, and improving lives has earned him recognition as a FinTech veteran and a spot on the Pride in FinTech Powerlist 2023.

LinkedIn

Innovate Finance

The Future Farm

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. 

Twitter

LinkedIn

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Email

Website

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Nektarios Liolios, a true FinTech trailblazer, a passionate entrepreneur, and a dedicated mental health advocate.
In this episode, we'll dive into Nektarios' wealth of experience and insights on the evolution of FinTech, building thriving startup communities, investing in early-stage ventures, and fostering a more inclusive and mentally healthy entrepreneurial landscape.
KEY TAKEAWAYS          
<ul>
<li>When I started the accelerators we were riding the first wave of glorified entrepreneurship in 2011-13. Startups were cool, &amp; we created artificial pressure around building things faster than in the wild. There were glimpses of people struggling, but I really didn’t take them too seriously. The real understanding of how bad people's mental health was affected in the early stages of building a business wasn’t something I was fully aware of. But It became clearer to me as we progressed with building these programmes.</li>
<li>In 2018 I lost my Dad the day after I finished work at the accelerator, I had to deal with the mess that comes with leaving behind a big chunk of my identity. I thought, perhaps there’s room to do something about this &amp; I joined a woman I knew who had started Founder Anonymous within the VC fund she worked with to give founders the space to talk about how hard it actually is.</li>
<li>There’s a bag of things: Identity, loneliness, imposter syndrome, co-founder conflict, there are so many things that naturally happen in life that are concentrated within the world of building a startup &amp; these people are completely left to their own devices &amp; deal with these challenges. I got into entrepreneurship in my mid-40s, so I already feel I was a little more prepared for these things than younger entrepreneurs who haven’t had a lot of life experience. But, I wasn’t expecting my identity to be so messed up.</li>
<li>The challenges between someone who works in the corporate world compared to someone who works in the entrepreneurial world are different, especially for founders. You don’t have the same support system. In the corporate world, you can take some time off, and talk to HR, there may even be support initiatives. But founders are very specific kinds of animals, it takes a particular type of makeup to become one in the first place. Research shows that entrepreneurs are more likely to have anxiety, depression, and neurodiversity manifestations (ADHD, bipolar) in their family history.</li>
</ul>
 
BEST MOMENTS
‘The outside picture is that startups are cool &amp; the hustle is cool &amp; you need to ruin yourself because the potential returns of a successful startup isn’t comparable to corporate life, I want to demystify that.’ ‘We were part of the problem; we cared about the business, we didn’t care about the people behind the business.’ ‘We want to build a business where we don’t want to kill ourselves. That doesn’t mean we’re not working hard, it means being allowed to say I’m struggling. Authenticity is important.’ ‘There’s a link between wanting to be your own boss &amp; experiencing certain mental health issues.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Nektarios Liolios is a visionary FinTech entrepreneur, investor, ecosystem builder, and mental health advocate with a passion for driving positive change.
His work has taken him around the globe, closely collaborating with hundreds of entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses in London, New York, Singapore, Dubai, Amsterdam, and Melbourne. His dedication to entrepreneurship, collaboration, and improving lives has earned him recognition as a FinTech veteran and a spot on the Pride in FinTech Powerlist 2023.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nekliolios/">LinkedIn</a>
<a href="https://www.innovatefinance.com/profiles/nektariosliolios/">Innovate Finance</a>
<a href="https://www.thefuturefarm.co/">The Future Farm</a>
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, &amp; commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers &amp; accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor &amp; multi-award winner. 
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There are 100,000 FinTech ventures out there. These include FinTechs, InsurTechs, HealthTechs, WealthTechs for instance. And the number keeps on changing every month. One statistic that remains the same is that 25% of these ventures have received investment and support from the financing world. 75% of these businesses are seeking financing support from top investors as well as commercial collaboration opportunities with corporations. 



Through this podcast series, I would like to demystify the world of corporate venturing, including venture capital investing and corporate venture capital investing for the masses, and give intrapreneurs, inspiring investors, and young ventures, the strategies, tools, and techniques to grow and scale their business by understanding how corporations and corporate investors think… as well as how unicorns are built. 



So, listen in, share and comment as you see fit.

There are 100,000 FinTech ventures out there. These include FinTechs, InsurTechs, HealthTechs, WealthTechs for instance. And the number keeps on changing every month. One statistic that remains the same is that 25% of these ventures have received investment and support from the financing world. 75% of these businesses are seeking financing support from top investors as well as commercial collaboration opportunities with corporations. 
 
Through this podcast series, I would like to demystify the world of corporate venturing, including venture capital investing and corporate venture capital investing for the masses, and give intrapreneurs, inspiring investors, and young ventures, the strategies, tools, and techniques to grow and scale their business by understanding how corporations and corporate investors think… as well as how unicorns are built. 
 
So, listen in, share and comment as you see fit.

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