iKeyBnB: An interview with Nikolaos Christianos
Nikolaos Christianos iKeyBnb Co-founder & CEO (L), Athanasios Bitsinis COO & Co-founder (R)
Barna Hub
Today we sat down with Nikolaos Christianos, the CEO & Co-founder of iKeyBnB and spoke about business, Barcelona and a great selection of networking events in the city.
iKeyBnB is an exciting startup based in Barcelona. Founded in January 2017, it offers hosts and holidaymakers the opportunity to hand over keys securely, without wasting time.
Nikolaos, it’s over to you!
140 character pitch
iKeyBnB is a secure 24/7 automatic key exchange service for vacation rentals, saving you time and offering convenience!
The iKeyBnB Offer
Visit our website (https://www.ikeybnb.com/) and sign up and with the coupon hubbublabs to get a FREE trial of the iKeyBnB service.
If you have family, friends or colleagues who might be interested in exchanging their keys in a secure and easy way with their guests, spread the word!
Down to business
What made you want to be an entrepreneur?
I grew up in a business environment and I think the fact that both my mother and my grandfather were entrepreneurs made it easier for me to take the decision and start iKeyBnB.
Also, working in multinational companies for more than 5 years and experiencing the corporate environment meant I wanted to see something different.
I can tell you now with certainty that building your own startup is indeed quite different!
How did you come up with the idea for iKeyBnB?
The idea for iKeyBnB was born 2 years ago. My co-founder and I had different experiences as Airbnb hosts and guests and, after talking, we realised that people waste a significant amount of time during the key exchange.
The fact is, at some point we’ve all had a delayed flight, been stuck in traffic, or we’ve just not been available at a particular moment. These delays can cause big problems for you when you’re an Airbnb host waiting to give someone the keys.
I remember an instance when a friend of mine wanted to stay in my flat in Barcelona in August, but I was away on holiday, as were all of my friends, so I had no way to hand over my flat keys to them.
With iKeyBnB we want to solve this problem and give back to people some of their lost time.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given when it comes to business?
Do it and don’t be afraid of trying out your ideas, however crazy they might sound!
I think this is really important, because the most difficult part of any business is the first step – the part where you make up your mind and actually say “Go for it!”.
Barcelona Insight
What Barcelona events (business or otherwise) do you regularly attend?
Barcelona is a city with a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem and there are lots of business (and non-business) events every day. This means selecting the ones that really add value to you can be a really challenging task.
After almost a year here, I have attended the Facebook Marketing Barcelona MeetUp, Vacation Rental events, organised by VrTech Events, various events organised by MOB, events from Access Silicon Valley and Barcelona Lean Startup Circle, as well as the Barcelona Startup Grind ones.
Then, when I want to relax and exercise at the same time, I play basketball at Barcelona Basketball Meetup.
What does Barcelona do better than anywhere else in the world, in your opinion?
In my opinion Barcelona provides the perfect work-life balance – and this is not easy to find in other places in Europe.
This balance, together with a developing startup ecosystem, makes Barcelona a really attractive place to live in and start a business.
What do people who have never been to Barcelona need to know about the city?
Barcelona has its own unique identity as a city. It combines the Mediterranean and southern European mentality with the central/north European organisation.
It is also a multicultural city and people who come here for the first time fall in love with it. Often so much so that they try to find a way to move here, which is what happened in my case!
Hubbub: Thanks Nikolaos, it was great chatting with you!
Find iKeyBnb Online
https://www.facebook.com/iKeyBnB/
https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/10590050/
https://www.instagram.com/ikeybnb/
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