Deep sea startups | Mick Hagen & Stavriana Kofteros | TEDxUniversityofNicosia

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. How can a Startup succeed? One way of finding out is by asking someone who has managed this – more than once. Mick Hagen’s first startup, Zinch, raised 5 million dollars. He then created Undrip and was selected to present at Techcrunch Disrupt. As if Zinch and Undrip weren’t enough, Mick is at it again. His current startup – Spatch, a decentralized communication protocol built on top of email. How does he do it? To succeed, especially if it’s a tech startup, one needs to look deeper at all the variables involved. Development, innovation, communication and a whole lot more. Stavriana Kofteros is a startup and entrepreneurship specialist in her home country of Cyprus. This talk is in a Q&A format where Stavriana asks Mick about how a startup can succeed.

After dropping out of Princeton University, Mick founded Zinch, an ed-tech company connecting students globally with opportunities in higher education. Mick helped Zinch grow to an international, 8-figure revenue-run-rate startup that served millions of students and 800+ colleges & universities worldwide. After six years, Zinch was acquired by Chegg (CHGG, NYSE) for $45mm. Mick is currently re-imagining digital communication (email) with his latest startup, Spatch.

Mick has been named to the v100 (Top high tech entrepreneurs) and Top 40 business persons under 40 by Utah Business Magazine. Mick's work has been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, US News, Washington Post, CNN, and ABC among others.

Mick has been a speaker and panellist at various industry events and conferences including TC Disrupt, TedX, and Entrepreneurship Forum. His writing has been featured in various newspapers and magazines, including Fortune Magazine and Techcrunch


Stavriana is the Special Entrepreneurship & Development Adviser and Deputy Spokesperson of a major political party. She is Curator of Startup Digest Cyprus, Startup Live Cyprus & Startup Weekend Cyprus Organizer, Startup Cyprus Initiative Evangelist, StartupLive Academy mentor and World Startup Report Ambassador to name a few.
Building on her experience as CEO of the Diogenes Business Incubator of the University of Cyprus, with over decade years’ experience in incubation and commercialization she holds degrees in Business Administration and Political Science from University of La Verne, California, and in Entrepreneurship Development from MIT. She has experience in management positions in a variety of industries, ranging from telecoms to advertising and business incubation. She was the Vice President of the Business Professional Women’s (BPW) Nicosia Club for 5 years, and Board member of the Cyprus Business Incubators Association. She coaches and teaches Entrepreneurship Development, Strategy & Business Planning, Business Management, Startup basics, Networking, Pitching and academic entrepreneurship. She expresses her views on the internet and directly through presentations on entrepreneurship, innovation and startups.


About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)