Dragon Seeds. Start-ups and successful pitching with Mr Harry N. Vafias

Ms Irene Nikolopoulou and Mr Angelos Roupas Pantaleon discussed with Mr Harry N. Vafias, Founder and CEO of Stealthgas Inc, Founder and CEO of Imperial Petroleum Inc., on “Dragon Seeds. Start-ups and successful pitching”. The first question to Mr Vafias was how to convince people, especially financiers, on a new business venture. Life is a non-stop pitch, a non-stop negotiation for Mr Vafias, and this applies to everything and every relationship. Persistence, timing, luck, good knowledge of the sector, negotiation skills are required. How does a young entrepreneur convince others? In the UK the attitude was different from that in the US. In the US they were excited by his age, once the project was solid, they had no problem investing in his project. He puts emphasis on the way a project is presented and the character shown by the entrepreneur. In shipping most owners are not very keen on technology, which also applies to Mr Vafias, as he prefers tangible products. As for the current juncture, he believes that shipping is now in a transition phase. A secret to his success is that he never gave up, he fought for his ideas, he closed his ears and moved ahead.