For Gerion Treska, the unpredictable world of entrepreneurship came naturally. The desire to explore the day-to-day workings of businesses has always been present in him, even though he was raised to behave well and follow the rules, which he says is nothing new for Albanian and Balkan societies.
“However, I have not been able to feel good about myself by always being compliant. I have had entrepreneurial experiences since a very young age because distinguished people allowed me to explore the daily tasks of their business, which involve being a waiter, salesman, tour guide, etc. “, Treska tells The Recursive.
While learning the ropes, Treska had worthy teachers, such as Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist, civil society leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, whom he met in 2012.
“It was the pivotal moment when I started working on the personal entrepreneurship journey as well as the local ecosystem,” he recalls.
Today, Treska is the Sales Director for Tirana-based mobile and web development company Almotech, as well as the Program Director for Junior Achievement Albania, a non-profit organization dedicated to preparing young people for employment and entrepreneurship.
However, he still considers himself a “baby entrepreneur”, especially since there is a long road to success in countries like Albania.
In an interview for The Recursive, he shares his thoughts on what lies ahead for the Albanian startup ecosystem and the many startups, companies and founders exploring the entrepreneurial path in the Balkan country.
The Recursive: What are the most important steps for the Albanian startup ecosystem? What have you observed over the past few years?
Gerion Treska: “I’m working on a startup” is now a jargon phrase among mostly young people in Tirana. I am very happy every time I hear this phrase, but the “why” you want to open a startup is still not very clear.
We have a lot of small businesses in our economy, this could be for many reasons, “be your own boss”, “don’t need to depend on others”, etc. This same large number can lead to confusion between creating a startup and building a business.
So we started “poking” the startup world and launching a sort of community/ecosystem. What pleases me is to see a considerable number of training programs, imitating incubators or accelerators, present not only in Tirana but also outside Tirana.
The second most important step is that we finally have some successful bootstrapped startups like Pubr. This means a lot to the ecosystem as a model of perseverance that builds sustainable growth. On the other hand, we also have a few startups that have been on the investment radar for some time, drawing attention to both the ecosystem and the country itself.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the founders in Albania?
The Albanian founders are stubbornly determined to stay on the market! This can be a great inner skill when you’re a founder, both in the short and long term. But it can also cause a lot of problems when it comes to teamwork, investor preparation, etc. As soon as they have an idea or see a working concept in another market, they think it’s something that can be adopted or implemented in the local market. , despite many market factors.
The illustration of this is numerous software agencies in Tirana. Most of them started as a startup team, with an idea, but when they realized the market was small or it was not so easy to expand into international markets, they began offering services to third parties, creating software, websites, digital services. marketing, etc.
But they also lack perseverance. Stubbornly staying in the market sounds good, but due to the structure of the market, its size, its bureaucracy, its informality and corruption, it is not easy to stay in the market.
These factors and many others help test and strengthen the perseverance of those who choose not to give up, but to continue. Sometimes we give up at the very beginning because on paper everything looked good, but things changed early on in the implementation.
Which verticals and solutions are essential for Albanian startups and do you see a potential first unicorn in the country?
There is a trend in Albania to turn all young people into programmers and coders. This worries me because agriculture and tourism suffer from the lack of concrete solutions, support and labor. This is why I believe that technology and innovation can provide effective and intuitive solutions to solve these problems.
Because of brain drain, it became difficult to understand the verticals. Departures mean less labor and more technology to “stay in the market.” This could also be a good opportunity for decision-makers to refocus their strategies and work plans. Education also plays a big role, both formal and informal.
If we have a unicorn, it will simply be because the founder sacrificed a large part of their life and that of their partner to get there. The ecosystem cannot and does not know how to “raise” a unicorn. As long as investing in Albania is perceived as high risk in SMEs, let alone startups, real investors will be very reluctant to approach Albanian startups, or will have them incorporated elsewhere, outside Albania.
What are your goals for 2023, and those of the Albanian startup ecosystem as well?
The main goals of the players are to continue to nurture people by providing them with networking, education and know-how to start their startup or business wherever they are.
It would be too ambitious to think that within 5 years we will have the first unicorn, due to the slow development of the ecosystem. If by the end of next year we have two more scalable and successful startups like Pubr, it will be a good sign of growth.
However, all future comparisons and projects must have a clear vision. Albanian founders must increasingly participate in international startup competitions, events, conferences and trainings. This exposure helps shape the founder’s mind and perspective on what they will or are building.
Nothing is done alone or alone, which is why you need to move from the solopreneur mindset to the team mindset. Hopefully this exposure will also increase the awareness of the Albanian ecosystem towards possible angel investors or venture capital firms.