Niko will unfold his path from NTUA to investing in Discord & Snap in Silicon Valley as a VC a few years later

The IEEE Greece Section in cooperation with the Biomedical Simulations and Imaging (BioSim) Laboratory of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the IEEE NTUA Student Branch organizes a lecture on Wednesday, 17 March 2021, at 5 pm entitled “From NTUA to investing in Discord & Snap in Silicon Valley as a VC a few years later” which will be given by the ECE-NTUA alumnus, Niko Bonatsos, managing director at General Catalyst.

Abstract: How an engineering and research heavy background can lead to a career in startups and venture capital. What are the skills required to break into Silicon Valley and VC in particular? What are VCs looking for when they are investing in tech startups? Europe is emerging as a great player in the world of startups now that Silicon Valley is a mindset! How can today’s undergrad and graduate students seize the day.

Biography: Niko Bonatsos is a managing director at General Catalyst, a venture capital firm that partners with founders from seed to growth stage and beyond to build companies that withstand the test of time. Working from the firm’s San Francisco Bay Area offices, Niko focuses his investment strategy on finding first-time technology founders with strong product instincts, a robust appetite for learning, and a desire to create innovations with the potential to benefit millions. In his nine years with GC, Niko has been instrumental in the firm’s investments in Audius, ClassDojo, Collective, Cover, Discord, Dubsmash (acquired by Reddit), Hive, Livongo Health [acquired by Teladoc (NYSE: TDOC)]), Microverse, Paribus (acquired by CapitalOne), Remote, Sleeper, Snap (NYSE: SNAP), and Wag! among others. Prior to joining General Catalyst, Niko attended Stanford University as a Fulbright Scholar earning an MS in Management Science and Engineering. He has studied in several countries, earning additional degrees in Manufacturing Engineering & Management and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and worked as a part of the R&D team for Yokogawa Electric Corporation in Japan. Find Niko on Twitter and LinkedIn.

To attend the lecture, please use the link.