Greeks Pursue Their Own Recovery
希臘人自力更生追求復甦
By Niki Kitsantonis

ATHENS – For Natalie Kontou, 32, Greece’s economic crisis has led to something positive and unexpected.
對32歲的娜妲莉‧康托來說，希臘的經濟危機帶來了另一種令人意想不到的正面發展。

After losing her job at a magazine in 2011, at the peak of the crisis, she is now running a company with some friends, offering tours for a growing influx of foreign visitors to Greece.
她在危機最嚴重的2011年失去雜誌社的工作，現在與一些友人共同經營一家公司，為湧向希臘的外國觀光客規畫旅遊行程。

Since its start last spring, on a budget of 5,000 euros, or roughly $6,900, Athens Insider is now seeking financing to expand.
「雅典在地人」去年春季以5000歐元（約6900美元）的資金成立，如今正籌措資金以擴大營業。

With unemployment at a record 28 percent – above 60 percent for those under 24 – many Greeks have stopped waiting for those in power to put the country back on its feet.
希臘的全國失業率已達到創紀錄的28%（24歲以下年輕人的失業率超過60%）。如此局面下，許多希臘年輕人已決定不再枯等在位者領導他們的國家重回正軌。

Thousands of enterprises have buckled under the pressure of a recession now in its sixth year. But the government says more than 41,000 new companies were formed in Greece last year. Most were retailers or other businesses that few would consider innovators.
希臘已進入連續第六年的衰退，數千家公司在衰退的壓力下倒地。然而希臘政府說，去年成立的新公司超過4.1萬家。它們大多是零售商或只有少數人會認為具有創意的其他公司。

But Endeavor Greece, a nonprofit organization that supports entrepreneurship, counted 144 of entrepreneurial start-ups – a ninefold increase from 2010.
不過支持創業的公益組織「希臘努力」說，去年具有創意的的新設公司共有144家，是2010年的9倍。

About a dozen incubators are competing to foster the best business ideas, helping defray operating costs and offering mentorship. One, called Enter Grow Go, has taken Athens Insiders under its wing along with 20 other start-ups and is backed by Eurobank, the third-largest Greek lender.
約有十數個育成機構爭相構思最好的創業計畫，同時協助支付運作成本並提供建議。其中的「進入、成長、出發」集合「雅典在地人」與另外20家新創公司，而且擁有希臘第三大貸款銀行歐元銀行的支持。

In Athens, the newest private incubator is Romantso. There, dozens of designers, photographers and web artists pay around €300 a month to rent office space in an environment with an edgy aesthetic. Romantso supplements its income from the rent with proceeds from an on-site bar, sponsorships and paid seminars.
在雅典，最新的民營育成機構是「羅曼佐」。數十名設計師、攝影師及網路美術家各以約300歐元的月租，租用一個具備鮮明美學特色的辦公空間。羅曼佐以經營設在現場的一個吧台、接受贊助，以及開辦收費研討班補充租金收入之不足。

Vassilis Haralambidis, a 37-year-old graphic designer who opened Romantso, said his aim was to “stop the misery.”
創辦羅曼佐的37歲平面設計師哈拉朗比迪斯說，他的目的是「遏止悲慘」。

“We saw that people were numb, that the country was going in the wrong direction and we decided to do something,” he said.
他說：「看到人們麻木無感，國家誤入歧途，我們決定採取實際行動。」

The authorities are lending their support to the start-up movement, as they have in other European countries, like France and Spain, where youth unemployment is also high. The Greek government has reduced the bureaucracy and paperwork that have discouraged entrepreneurs in the past. New legislation, to come into force later this year, would allow a business to be officially set up in a single day.
當局支持這種趨勢，一如青年失業率同樣居高不下的法國與西班牙。希臘政府已經簡化曾經使創業者深感氣餒的手續與紙上作業。預定今年稍後頒行的新法律將使一家新公司可在一天之內設立完成。

Greece’s return to the financial markets with a five-year-bond offering on April 10 was met with overwhelming demand from investors, and government officials hailed the sale as proof that the country was recovering.
重返金融市場的希臘4月10日推出五年期債券，引起投資人熱烈搶購。希臘官員說，這是希臘已經開始復甦的鐵證。

A program subsidized by the European Union to support small and medium-size businesses, worth €1 billion is to be divided among more than 16,000 Greek beneficiaries this year. An additional €130 million in European Union-backed loans and venture capital programs has already been dispensed.
歐盟以10億歐元補助一項專門扶持中小企業的計畫，今年希臘的受益者將超過1.6萬個。另外一筆歐盟背書的1.3億歐元貸款及創投資金已經撥出。

Some aspiring entrepreneurs said they preferred to approach investors offering seed funding or venture capital firms that can offer expertise along with equity investments, rather than competing for European Union money.
部分具有強烈企圖心的創業家說，他們寧可選擇投資人提供種子資金或創投公司提供的專業知識與股票投資，意願高過爭搶歐盟的資金。

Several fledgling companies have succeeded, some with the initial help of Greek venture capital funds, which have invested €20 million in about 20 domestic start-ups over the past two years, according to the Hellenic Venture Capital Association.
有些新公司已經成功。其中一部分獲得希臘創投基金提供初步的協助。希臘創業資金協會說，過去兩年，這些創投基金已對大約20家希臘的新創企業挹注2000萬歐元。

Taxibeat – a mobile application allowing travelers to choose taxis on the basis of ratings by previous passengers – has been rolled out in France, Mexico, Brazil and Peru since its creation in Athens in 2011. After securing €3.5 million in Greek venture capital, it secured an additional €3 million last year from Hummingbird Ventures, a firm in London.
行動應用軟體Taxibeat使乘客得以根據之前的乘客車資費率選擇計程車，2011年在雅典推出，現在已經推廣到法國、墨西哥、巴西與秘魯。它先取得350萬歐元的希臘創投資金，去年又取得倫敦蜂鳥創投公司承諾的300萬歐元資金。

Bugsense, a Greek company that tracks software flaws in mobile phone applications, was acquired last year by Splunk, a Nasdaq-listed software company based in San Francisco.
希臘的Bugsense公司專門追蹤手機應用軟體的缺點，去年被舊金山的那斯達克上市軟體公司Splunk收購。

Such trailblazers are an inspiration to their fledgling compatriots, like Athens Insiders.
這些先驅可以激勵它們本國的新創企業，例如「雅典在地人」。

“I know it’s a gamble but we’re going to stick at it,” said Ms. Kontou, whose company is planning tours in five different languages and exploring its finance options. “If we young Greeks don’t try and create something new, who will?”
康托的公司正在規畫五種不同語言的旅遊行程，同時斟酌財源選項。她說：「我知道這是下賭注。可是我們必須堅持到底。如果我們希臘年輕人不努力創新，還能指望誰呢？」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/business/international/with-start-ups-greeks-make-recovery-their-own-business.html

2014-04-22聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報七版右