{"id":13877,"date":"2015-05-21T15:50:24","date_gmt":"2015-05-21T19:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=13877"},"modified":"2020-03-30T18:38:59","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T22:38:59","slug":"for-board-studios-a-calculated-risk-pays-off-big-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/for-board-studios-a-calculated-risk-pays-off-big-time","title":{"rendered":"For Board Studios, a calculated risk pays off big time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Telling your company\u2019s story might sound easy, but it\u2019s something that many small businesses find a struggle. Konstantinos Papakonstantinou, who founded Board Studios<\/a>, is on a mission to help companies simplify their message and explain exactly what they do.<\/p>\n

With an Ivy League education and a lengthy career in finance, Papakonstantinou helps companies by producing videos that put their products and services in front of potential customers. Board Studios works with high-profile clients like Alibaba and PepsiCo.<\/p>\n

We chatted with this WeWork Fulton Center<\/a> member about the one big lesson he learned after starting his business and the risks he\u2019s taken to propel his company forward.<\/p>\n

WeWork: Where are you from originally, and can you briefly describe your<\/strong>
\npath to what you’re doing now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Papakonstantinou: I was born in Athens, Greece, and I came to the U.S. in 1997 to attend college at Harvard for my undergraduate studies and then later Harvard Business School. I spent 10 years in finance, working in investment banking, private equity, and hedge funds. Then in 2012, I was inspired to make the leap into entrepreneurship and started Board Studios.<\/p>\n

WeWork: Did you have an “Aha!” moment when you knew that you wanted to start your own business?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Papakonstantinou: I wanted to start my own business for many years before I actually took the plunge. Finance affected that decision in two ways: it makes you very conservative, and you\u2019re always calculating risks. It also pays really well, so the opportunity cost of being adventurous is very high.<\/p>\n

I took a very measured approach. I started the business while working at a hedge fund, built the website on my own until I got a paying client, reinvested the money for a better website, and so forth. I quit when I started making more money on this “side” business than at the hedge fund.\u00a0I find building my own business infinitely more fulfilling and rewarding than finance.<\/p>\n

WeWork:<\/strong> Would you consider yourself an entrepreneur and creator? And what<\/strong> does being one mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Papakonstantinou: Absolutely.\u00a0Being an entrepreneur means having a vision for something new, executing that vision, and leading others towards the\u00a0same vision. A creator comes up with something out of nothing. The toughest thing is working without parameters, diving into the unknown without a lifesaver. You have to figure out every day how to best allocate limited resources, how to augment these resources, and how to compete against incumbents.<\/p>\n

WeWork: What has been your biggest screw up so far and how did you recover?
\n<\/strong>
\nPapakonstantinou: Hiring\u2014and firing\u2014has been a real challenge in the past.\u00a0I was very hopeful that I had found the right person and jumped in with both feet. I offered a very high salary and all the support I could muster. I knew it wasn’t working, but I kept giving it one more shot when I shouldn’t. Since then, I have become much more decisive.<\/p>\n

WeWork: What is the most challenging part of your job, and how do you keep yourself from burning out?
\n<\/strong>
\nPapakonstantinou: I haven’t found anyone to replicate parts of the job I was doing before, and now I’ve added people on sales and business development, so we’re expanding.\u00a0I’m trying to balance the day-to-day operations, managing people, and figuring out how to evolve. I haven’t figured it out yet!<\/p>\n

WeWork: Has there been a point when you’ve decided to take a big risk to move forward?
\n<\/strong>
\nPapakonstantinou: On January 1, 2015, we went all in, making a big jump for the company. We opened a new office, hired two people, invested in SEM and on an outbound sales coach. Already, we have nixed SEM and outbound sales coaching, albeit at a substantial cost. For our size, that was a very big bet.<\/p>\n

Our culture is to always make bets and test new things. Our latest bet is a content marketing innovation: We’re producing video summaries of our favorite books, which are distributed for free to subscribers<\/a>. We’re incurring a big expense without charging anyone for the value we’re delivering. The bet is that by showcasing our production capabilities, we’ll win new clients and it’s starting to work!<\/p>\n

WeWork: Your favorite drink to start or end the day?
\n<\/strong>
\nPapakonstantinou: I wish I had a good one for you, but I start the day with a high-protein shake, hoping to prove Tim Ferriss’ weight loss theory right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Telling your company\u2019s story might sound easy, but it\u2019s something that many small businesses find a struggle. Konstantinos Papakonstantinou, who founded Board Studios, is on a mission to help companies simplify their message and explain exactly what they do. With an Ivy League education and a lengthy career in finance, Papakonstantinou helps companies by producing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":887,"featured_media":13880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43903,43911],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-stories","category-member-spotlight"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFor Board Studios, a calculated risk pays off big time<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Konstantinos Papakonstantinou, who founded Board Studios, is on a mission to help companies simplify their message and explain exactly what they do.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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