When Colleagues Become Friends, They Become Business Partners. Then They Start Ideoli Group, Inc.
09/01/2016 | Georgios Stroumboulis

Years in the making. Countless hours invested. A passion only you and your business partner share when creating a new company… from scratch.
Enter: Ideoli Group, Inc.
In 2008, I met my now business partner, Chris Hartswick, as we just joined a startup team in the LED lighting space. Who would have thought that nearly 8 years later, we would be doing it all over again under our own rules this time.
The saying “too many cooks in the kitchen” best illustrates what happens when too many people are involved in the decision-making process... and we experienced this first hand. We always talked about the next steps and the next big thing and decided that our new company would be everything we dreamed of.
Starting with a clean slate, new mortgages and new babies to feed for each of us… we decided to take the plunge and break off from our previous venture. Perfect timing right? SURE!
Ideoli who?
We launched ideoli group, inc. A name we created over several months of discussions and rebuttals in New York City… a name and a logo that represents so much of who we are as people and as a brand. Ideoli is a designer, manufacturer and collaborator of custom furnishings and lighting products for international retail, restaurant, hospitality and commercial brands looking to invigorate their spaces.
Launching this year has been the most exciting/scary/exhilarating experience of my business career so far. When you have so much on the line to lose and new mouths are dependent on you, it is a natural motivator to do nothing less than survive.
Our network of partners (who are friends) has been instrumental in helping us quickly get out there and win some major business form some of the world’s most reputable brands. And we are just getting started.
The overall theme we set out before launching was creating an environment of open communication and an environment where we make the rules. After dealing with several types of different personalities in our careers, we decided to make it a rule to NOT WORK WITH ASSHOLES. A rule we are passionate about and stick to.
With offices in New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai and satellite offices in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Guadalajara, I have been living on planes and experiencing some pretty fantastic new cultures. Make sure to follow us on social media to stay up to date on our happenings and projects.
Get social with #ideoli #invigorateyourspace: Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ideoligroup), Twitter (https://twitter.com/ideoli), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ideoligroup/), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/ideoligroup) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/ideoli).
Finally, here are a couple videos explaining who we are, what we do and how we do it.
BouliBrand is a boutique marketing + entrepreneurship + communications + branding movement focused on creating vibrant, purposeful and revenue-generating media experiences on a partner-by-partner basis. With strategic partnerships in New York, Toronto, Athens, Los Angeles, New Delhi and Shanghai, we work directly with savvy, driven and optimistic clients wanting to produce fresh platforms of communication and target nouveau markets internationally with their startup businesses and services. BouliBrand is propelled by Georgios (George) Stroumboulis (Γιώργος Στρουμπούλης) - an internationally seasoned marketing professional with tangible business experiences across multiple industries and diverse cultures. To learn more about BouliBrand, Georgios and the stimulating team spearheading the BouliBrand movement forward, get in contact at www.BouliBrand.com, www.Facebook.com/BouliBrand, www.Twitter.com/Stroumboulis (@stroumboulis), www.Instagram.com/Stroumboulis (@stroumboulis), www.LinkedIn.com/in/Stroumboulis, www.YouTube.com/Stroumboulis or www.Pinterest.com/BouliBrand. We all have opinions, thoughts and comments about various topics in our daily lives. Stroumboulis likes to write about his in this Opinion / Blog section. Topics and commentary may include: business, culture, Hellenism, entrepreneurship, start-ups, development, branding, marketing, financing, investment and many others. To suggest new blog ideas, please contact Georgios via his contact page at BouliBrand.com.
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