By Paul Snatchko
Dimitris Kouvaros remembers how meeting Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian taught him an important lesson for business success.
“Just be super nice to people no matter what,” Dimitris said was his take-away from an early encounter in which Ohanian was approachable and helpful.
Dimitris (called “Dimitri” by many) was one of Joynture’s earliest members in 2014. He’s part of the team behind Huddle Metrics, a software-as-a-service tool that provides users with data to make better decisions. Huddle Metrics’ platform combines surveys with some sharing and community features akin to what is seen in social media.
At just age 22, Dimitris has been active in the New York City technology community almost since his first years at Baruch College in Autumn, 2010.
He began with a research position at PrivCo. “That’s where I got to know what makes a company a company,” he said. From PrivCo, Dimitris joined Silicon Valley Bank‘s New York City office where he went from working on internal projects to serving as an ambassador for SVB in the city’s tech ecosystem through the end of last year.
In 2013, Dimitris became further immersed in the NYC tech scene when he took part in a three-month Techstars program as well as Startup Weekend‘s three-day hack-a-thon. “I need to love you longer than three days,” he remembers telling the Startup Weekend leaders, who proceeded to make him one of the group’s organizers in the Big Apple. (The next Startup Weekend hack-a-thon is April 17 to 19.)
More recently, Dimitris helped to found TechBrunch NYC, an invite-only, curated Sunday brunch for industry leaders. (The second brunch is coming up this Sunday, February 22.)
Dimitris grew up in Flushing, Queens, and attended St. Francis Prep. His family has lived in the borough since the late 1980s when his parents immigrated to the United States from the Island of Lesvos in Greece. They still live in Queens, although now in Whitestone (not far from the bridge of the same name). The eldest member of the household is Dimitris’ paternal grandmother, Despina, age 91.
“‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ is not a movie, it’s a documentary,” he said, joking about life in a Greek-American family. “But, instead of Windex, the go-to products are Olive Oil and WD40 for hardware.”
Being Greek might have been helpful for looking older in some business situations, he thinks. “Thank God I’m Mediterranean – I have the ability to grow facial hair immediately.”
Dimitris said he’s been pleased to see Joynture’s growth. “It’s been great to see the expansion of the space,” he said. “I love the vibe here. The diversity of people and companies here is amazing.”