Next in our series introducing the Guides behind ACCEND is Panagiotis Konstantinopoulos, Project Manager at the Regional Development Fund of the Region of Western Greece, based in Patras.
Panagiotis designs and manages EU projects in innovation, entrepreneurship and business development, and his expertise is in innovation management and transfer.
How does he describe being a Guide? Part traffic manager, directing each company in the right direction, and part help centre, giving companies the information they need and passing it on to the right people.
His favourite part of the role was hearing about innovative products and services first-hand from the people who developed them.
His advice for founders selling to cities and public buyers:
"Arm yourself with a lot of patience. Patient founders will inherit the earth."
And the most common mistake he sees scaleups make when expanding across borders:
"Lack of focus."
Thank you, Panagiotis, for everything you've done for the ACCEND companies.
When he isn’t helping innovation companies, Panagiotis can often be found with his family enjoying the Greek seaside!