With love for science and a strong affinity for business, Dr. Kleanthis Xanthopoulos moved from Greece to Sweden and ultimately to the States, where he found his way to the biotech industry. 20 years later, he successfully built 4 start-ups, introduced 3 biotech companies to NASDAQ, formed many strategic alliances with large pharmaceutical companies while continuing to follow his dream of delivering a drug to the market.
During our interview, he shared his journey, struggles, and regrets as a successful immigrant, CEO, investor, and board member. He also shared many lessons for individuals building their success in the biotech industry and the business world.
He firmly believes that immigrants are pre-conditioned to succeed as entrepreneurs because they do something many others haven't done. They are invested in learning and developing themselves, which is what entrepreneurship is about!
"To succeed as a CEO, not just the company founder, you need to very quickly accumulate many other skills. And one of the most important things is to always always be open to learning. Never let your ego go between you and potentially a successful outcome. And learning means you learn from your peers, you learn from the people working with you, people working for you, the people you work for."
This is one of the many lessons Kleanthis shared with Empowering conversationZ listeners. If you are looking to build and expand your business in a competitive market such as the biotech industry, we strongly recommend listening to the entire 35-minute episode where he shares many lesson and critical steps to build a successful business.
As we know, success has a different definition for every individual. According to Dr. Xanthopoulos
", the pursuit of happiness and success is defined by the individual characteristics of the person you looking for. But it starts by having self-respect and a vision of what you want to be. What is it that you want to contribute to the society you immigrating to? What are your goals? Not just the short term but an overall goal. And is this a country you are immigrating because ultimately you want to live and grow old into that country, or is it transient immigration? So I think the advice I would give is: think hard on what is it that you want to accomplish. And make sure you do that in a way that self respect your core values. That you never deviate from. And by that, I mean it's not the means of getting somewhere but also how you get to that point."
Based on that, do you feel successful?
Are you contributing to your society, especially during what seems to be the most grueling time?
Are you feeling peaceful at your core? I not; after listening to Kleanthis's story, we suggest listening to Michael's story, a Forensic Psychiatrist who provides many insights on creating meaningful happiness despite the current struggles. And if you are a perfectionist, we want you to put less pressure on yourself and manage your perfectionism by learning how to live a less perfect life.
To hear Dr. Kleanthis Xanthopoulos complete interview, click on the link below and subscribe on YouTube, iTunes or Stitcher to be updated on other successful immigrant stories. You can also follow us on Instagram for daily tips on growing in your career.
Do you know a successful immigrant that inspires you? That you like to learn from? Help me bring your favorite person on the show by nominating an immigrant here.
If you liked this episode, we think you will benefit from Nelson's Story or Dr.Daneshmand's story (Super successful OBGYN and a founder of Miracle babies)
If you haven't adapt to the life during pandemic and you are in search of solutions to immigrants common problems. listen to my special episode where I share many insights on entertaining kids, managing your stress and becoming more efficient while working from home. and Don't forget to download the cheat-sheet that comes with it!
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