Michael Hadjijoseph: Cyprus feels like a place with untapped potential in tech and startups

“Cyprus feels like a place with untapped potential in tech and startups, and I’d love for my next chapter to somehow contribute meaningfully to that ecosystem,” UK-based Cypriot entrepreneur Michael Hadjijoseph reveals.

Having enjoyed success with Stagedoor, an app that brings personalised access to London theatre news, reviews, and tickets to mobile phones all over the world, and which was acquired by British multinational entertainment group Trafalgar Entertainment Group (TE) in 2022, Hadjijoseph recently stepped away from the company.

In an interview with CBN, Hadjijoseph talked about what comes next for him professionally, while also sharing his view of the Cyprus tech scene.

In addition, Hadjijoseph gave his take on the current trends impacting the consumer products and user experiences sector.

You recently exited Stagedoor, a successful venture you co-founded. Walking away from something you created must be difficult. How do you know when it's time to move on?

From the early days at Stagedoor, we knew we were filling a clear gap in the market and likely building towards an eventual acquisition. So when that moment came, we felt we were somewhat going to be prepared, at least on paper. But in practice, stepping away from something you’ve poured a decade of your life into is never simple - it’s a process.

For me, the real signal came when I started asking myself some honest questions: Am I still energised by this? Am I contributing in the most meaningful way? Am I utilising my time and energy to the max? What is it that truly motivates me at this point in my life?

I’ve always loved the early stages — small teams, fast execution, out-of-the-box problem solving with full autonomy. Over time, I realised that’s where I do my best work. Letting go was difficult, but it also brought back a renewed sense of pride in what we achieved – and a fresh excitement and clarity for the future.

Seeing the momentum in AI over the last few years, only amplified that shift. I felt a strong pull to return to building—this time with new tools, fresh ideas, and a renewed perspective.

I don’t know how much you can reveal about the reasons behind your decision but can you tell us about what may be coming next for you?

After 10 years in theatre ticketing, I felt I’d made my contribution to that space. Letting go was tough, but also liberating—it gave me the chance to reflect and realign with what truly excites me now.

Since wrapping up at Trafalgar, I’ve been intentional about not rushing into the next thing. I’ve been working through the Japanese concept of Ikigai with a coach—a framework that helps you explore the intersection of what you’re good at, what you love, what motivates you, and what the world needs. It’s been a powerful, eye-opening process. It’s rare to have the space and time to do that, so I wanted to make the most of it.

Alongside that, I’ve been speaking with people across my network, exploring industries, and researching big problem areas that intrigue me—looking for the next spark for my next venture. About half my time is dedicated to this “discovery work”, while the other half is more hands-on: working with early-stage startups, companies and mentoring founders, which I really enjoy.

Cyprus feels like a place with untapped potential in tech and startups, and I’d love for my next chapter to somehow contribute meaningfully to that ecosystem. While it’s still early to define what my next venture will be, one theme is clear: I’m drawn to building from zero—especially when it means creating challenger brands that solve real problems in unique ways.

What do you think will be some of the main challenges to starting a new venture?

I see two main types of challenges.

The first is specific to second-time founders. After going through the full journey—from idea to exit—you come out with a set of “battle scars”. You’ve seen the highs, the lows, and the risks up close.

That experience is incredibly valuable but it also makes you more analytical, cynical and cautious, which can slow down the decision-making around what to build next. That fearless optimism of the first-time founder is not there to help you just jump into the unknown. The upside is that your choices tend to be more grounded and intentional which can lead to higher success rates.

The second challenge relates to the pace of innovation right now, especially in AI. Things are moving so fast that it can be harder to know where lasting value will emerge, particularly at the application layer (building on top of the foundational large language models).

It reminds me of the early App Store days, but now the landscape feels far less defined. Back then, the opportunity to build something valuable felt clearer. Today, with large language models evolving so rapidly, there's a real risk that anything you build today could be made obsolete by the next OpenAI / Google update.

To build something meaningful today, you need sharper foresight and a strong sense of where these foundational models are heading—and how quickly they’re evolving.

To what extent do you believe your previous experience will help you on new projects?

Generally, second-time founders tend to have a higher success rate—largely because they've already been through the full journey. They know what to prioritise, what to avoid, and how to move faster and more efficiently.

A big part of that advantage comes from the network you’ve built the first time around. You don’t need to start from scratch—you have trusted teammates, supportive investors, and experienced collaborators who can help accelerate things, especially in the early stages. Even the way you're approached by VCs & Investors changes; there's more credibility and trust from the start.

Personally, Stagedoor taught me what it really takes to go from an idea to an acquisition. This involved building a world class team, finding product–market fit, scaling B2C channels, building a brand from the ground up, and—perhaps most importantly—how to persevere when things get tough. Those lessons have made me more pragmatic, more decisive, and much more resilient when operating in uncertainty.

That kind of muscle memory will definitely play an important role in my journey ahead.

Following the acquisition, my last three years as Director of Strategy at Trafalgar Entertainment also gave me a whole new lens. Seeing how a private equity–backed company operates, where the focus is often more on profitability, systems, and long-term value as compared to the startup world, which is more focused on rapid out of the box problem solving, experimentation, and blue sky thinking.

Marrying those two perspectives—startup agility and resilience with commercial savviness—feels like a powerful foundation for whatever comes next, but of course there are no guarantees here!

More widely, what do you consider to be some of the most exciting current trends in your sector?

I’m particularly fascinated by how AI is reshaping consumer products and user experiences —not just in terms of what these products can do, but also in how the companies behind them now operate. We’ve entered a new era where missions that once required full teams, can now be tackled by very small teams or even solo founders. The barrier to entry has dropped dramatically, and the speed of iteration has skyrocketed.

This isn’t just an incremental shift—it’s a full-blown platform change. The next five years will offer incredible opportunities to build entirely new categories of products and experiences. These kinds of innovation cycles only come around every 10 to 20 years, and I genuinely feel this is one of them. It’s a wave I don’t want to miss.

What’s particularly exciting is how much the narrative has flipped. Just a few years ago, if you pitched a consumer product to VCs, you would often be met with scepticism—the space was seen as saturated and overplayed. But with AI in play, everything is suddenly back on the table. It's opened a whole new frontier, and that kind of creative reset is incredibly exciting.

Separately, I’m also intrigued by what’s happening in blockchain, particularly the tokenisation of real-world assets, which I believe could fundamentally change how we access and invest in traditional markets like real estate and private equity.