Marina Hatsopoulos – An Inspirational and Influential Tech leader

Marina Hatsopoulos is a successful entrepreneur, investor, writer, wife, and mother. Her contributions to Greece have been widely recognized, and last year Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis honored Marina with the presidential decoration Officer of the Order of Beneficence. Marina is an entrepreneur with a background in mathematics and music from Brown University and MIT. She founded Z Corporation, a pioneering company in 3D printing, and has sat on the boards of various public and private corporations. She has also been an «angel investor» and advisor to several startup and innovation organizations in Greece and Cyprus. I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with her during the MIT Global Startup Workshop in Athens. 

■ Marina, growing up did you always want to be an entrepreneur?

Actually, as a child, I wanted to be a writer. As a teenager, I wanted to be a professional piano player. And finally, I decided I wanted to be a technology entrepreneur. My father was a technology entrepreneur, so we had lots of discussions at the kitchen table about that.

■ Women are caught in a “vicious cycle” of underrepresentation in startups. How can we empower women and change this?

This starts with getting more girls into math and science in school, then getting more young women into technology in college. This is already happening; at MIT, 50% of the undergraduates in Mechanical Engineering are women. Many of these women will now be empowered to pursue tech startups after they graduate.

■ Did you have any problems advancing in your career because you were a woman? How did you overcome them?

I was blessed with excellent (male) mentors, through school, college, and my career, who challenged me, pushed me, and supported me. I think they appreciated having a girl in the classroom who loved Math, a young woman in the lab pursuing Mechanical Engineering, and a woman in the male-dominated world of Wall Street finance.

■ You have accomplished so many different things in your life. What challenges you today?

Writing is a huge challenge for me. I love writing, and it holds great meaning for me, but trying to get each piece published requires tremendous fortitude to withstand all the rejections! It is a real struggle, but I keep pushing.

■ Over the last 10 years, the Greek startup ecosystem has seen significant economic growth with the launch of accelerators and Greek VCs, international funds investing in Greek startups, and acquisitions by large foreign companies. What’s next?

There is excellent research happening in universities and research centers around Greece. Researchers historically have pursued getting their work published instead of commercialized. What’s next for Greece is for professors and other researchers to realize the potential for using their research to solve real problems in the world. It will require them to build teams outside the universities to devote full time to creating products for the marketplace. This has huge implications. Developing so-called “Deep Tech” startups takes much longer than other startups, and requires larger investments, but it has enormous potential for impact.

■ What advice would you give to young women entrepreneurs?

Don’t be afraid of rejection or failure. Also, don’t be afraid of conflict. Leading a startup demands strength, to listen and learn, and make tough decisions. Pleasing everyone is not always possible especially for a leader. Finding a mentor who is maybe one or two steps ahead (not fifty steps ahead!) can also be very helpful. Finally, you can learn a lot by reading all the classic startup books like, “Crossing the Chasm,” and “Innovator’s Dilemma.” In the end, if you are trying to do something very innovative, you will face many people who don’t understand what you’re doing, or who doubt you. Learn from them, but don’t let them touch your spirit and your drive.