An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Learn to acknowledge yourself — Self-doubt is often one of many reasons people feel pressured. I know it’s hard to acknowledge yourself because you may think you aren’t enough. But no one is perfect so, learn to acknowledge the good in yourself.

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing William Cohen.

William founded My GRE Exam Prep with a vision to help aspiring learners navigate their exams with flying colours, helping students achieve their dreams. He graduated with a master’s in electrical engineering, received a full scholarship from the American University of Beirut (AUB). Throughout his experience with universities, he can recall the number of times he has had to take standardized tests and exams for each of his study pursuits, such as the GRE, IELTS, and TOEFL. This inspired him to start the website and begin providing this resource to students across the globe.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I’d love to share a bit about myself. So, since I was a child, I’ve been striving towards excellent grades and aiming for scholarships to let my parents rest easy. It was a struggle constantly choosing studies over playing with my friends but, there were times when I let go and enjoyed my life as a kid.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Many quotes inspire me each day but if you’re asking for my favourite one, it would be “The biggest lesson I had in my life was failure” — Tim Rice. As someone who kept chasing after success, I read this quote one day, and it changed the way I think ever since. Failure was never inevitable, and when I failed, sometimes I thought I was missing something or wasn’t good enough. However, reading that quote, I realized all the things I learned from my failure. If it wasn’t for those mistakes, I don’t think I would be the person I am today.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I’m not a fan of books, but I read ones that catch my interest. One such book was “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” — Angela Duckworth. This book helped me stay on track during the starting years of opening my company. It was a hard time for me during those years since I was new to the business world. After someone recommended this book, I gave it a shot, and Angela helped me learn how passion and perseverance can go hand-in-hand.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

Yes, there is no shortage of ideas but, you can combine those ideas to create something better. I suggest finding people who think alike and have the same goal as you. If you want to open a company, you need to have helping hands. Rather than trying to do everything by yourself, take in talented people and make use of the ideas given too.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

There is no doubt that an idea you thought of is already patented and has been used for a long time. However, rather than feeling discouraged, you need to further research that idea. Find out all about the benefits and drawbacks that idea has and how you could make it better. Without research, it would be difficult to turn an idea into something.

For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.

Searching for manufacturers can be easy if done right. You should pay attention to check whether they operate in the US (or the state you reside in). If they do manufacture in your state then you hit the jackpot. Several manufacturers agree to build your product at the right prices so, negotiation is key. You should do a little back search on the manufacturer you’re going for and ensure their previous records are clean.

As for patenting your idea, you need to conduct an in-depth patent search. If your idea has yet to be patented by someone else, you should find a good patent agent to help you with the details. Refrain from wasting your time and money trying to build something you think no one has thought of because that will only waste your effort.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

1. Mistakes are meant to be made — When starting a business, you will make mistakes no matter what. That shouldn’t bring you down because, in every line of work, mistakes are inevitable.
2. Don’t compare yourself with others — Sometimes, people compare themselves to others stating their weaknesses or strengths. Rather than doing so, simply look at yourself. Don’t judge or try to compare yourself with someone because not one person is the same.
3. Learn to acknowledge yourself — Self-doubt is often one of many reasons people feel pressured. I know it’s hard to acknowledge yourself because you may think you aren’t enough. But no one is perfect so, learn to acknowledge the good in yourself.
4. Let go of perfection — When working as a business person or in any other career, don’t strive for perfection all the time. There will be times when you want something to be perfect but, rather than holding that pitch or project back because you want perfection, get along with it.
5. Learn to depend on others — When you start, you don’t trust people easily, and thus, you would rather do things by yourself than ask for help. But you shouldn’t do that all the time. A company has several employees because it needs people to work together towards a certain goal.

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

First off, research as much as you can about the aspects your product will have. When you are certain and have a clear image of what you want to produce, try asking for advice from your friends and family. If they think you may be on to something, go ahead and figure out what market you want to launch your product into and start building a prototype.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

Although I didn’t go for a consultant, if you feel like you need some guidance and advice in regards to what you’re doing, go ahead and contact one. You might need someone who can help build your company or shine some spotlight onto your product the right way. But if you’re experienced in that field and have enough knowledge, I recommend saving up that money.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

Personally, bootstrapping is a better and more convenient option than venture capital. Bootstrapping focuses more on saving money to use it when necessary; venture capital shines a light on spending. While you can go for either option, it is safer to opt for bootstrapping since it shows you how to make the money you’re going to save.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

My company often helps with charity work now and then. We try to donate as much as possible during times of need. While we strive towards higher revenue, we never fail to give back to the society that helped us get to where we are today.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I would say standing up against racism. Yes, some movements support fighting racism but in today’s world, there is no harm fighting to support them even more. People should understand that no matter what race you are, at the end of the day you are still a human being. Rather than fighting against people with colour or different heritages, maybe utilise that energy to do something that benefits the world.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

If possible, I would love to have dinner with Margot Robbie. She is my all-time favorite actress and, I’d be thrilled to even talk to her. I watched her movies since she debuted and love the way she portrays the character perfectly. The way she acts shows the dedication she has towards her career and, she really inspires me as a person.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

---

Making Something From Nothing: William Cohen Of My GRE Exam Prep On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.