When Armenians decided to move out of Armenia in the early 90s during the “dark and cold” years, they rarely came back. In fact, much of the time they would adopt this idea of abandoning Armenia altogether as the country was seen as a lost cause in the eyes of many Armenians.

 

Sometimes however, there are those who maintain their loyalty to their nationality and do all they can to uplift and uphold Armenia through their profession. Of these, there are few examples better than Samson Avetian. 

Despite having the education, professional cohort, and expertise to flourish beyond Armenia’s borders, Samson with his Harvard MBA chose to flourish Armenia instead, here’s how.

 

 

Samson was born and raised in Yerevan and his family immigrated to Sweden in 1992 when he was 11 years old. He would go on to attend Stockholm University and then achieve his MBA from Harvard University in Boston. All the while never giving up on his sights towards Armenia.

 

“It was always my goal to move back” said Samson when he started talking about his time spent away from Armenia. Yet, unlike most Armenians who love the country from the diaspora, Samson did more than visit every so often. He leveraged his ambition, education, and career towards growing Armenia.

 

 

When Samson officially returned in 2010 he would eventually find himself co-founding an Angel investor club and after gaining the necessary expertise and network, he started an investment platform called Eqwefy. 

Eqwefy is a platform that allows the average person to invest in startups. Much like how Angel Investors and VCs fund startups for a portion of the company, Eqwefy lets individuals fund startups anywhere from $25 and up. In return, investors receive a portion of the startup on par with the amount they invested. Essentially if someone were to invest by buying a stock, the average person could now invest directly into Armenia’s startups.

Samson helped create a way to give the average Armenian resident a chance to partake in the growth of Armenia’s tech ecosystem. Samson would explain how there is a goal to shift Armenians’ attitude towards money from a consumer mindset into an investment mindset.

 

More than that, like a true repat, Samson’s efforts with Eqwefy has helped bring the diaspora even closer to Armenia by giving individuals overseas the potential to see a major financial return by investing in Armenia. 

 

When asked, why after all the successes that he could have outside Armenia, did he want to return to Armenia, Samson spoke about the independence of Armenia, and how it has to be preserved. “There’s no reason why Armenia can’t succeed,” he said, truly believing in the potential of Armenia. It soon became clear that Samson’s goals were beyond financial, and part of the reason he remained in Armenia was “the quality of life.”

 

“Armenia enriches your life” he said as he was explaining how he created for himself opportunities that he would likely not have had in another country. Samson noted some of his success. such as, teaching at AUA and still lecturing there from time to time as well as writing a book on the Armenian economy, aptly called ARMENIA'S ECONOMY: THE NEXT 25 YEARS : 3 Ways to Restructure: the Ugly, the Bad and the Beautiful. These successes, among others, are things that Samson was not likely to have ever accomplished beyond Armenia.

 

Becoming a repat can be challenging. You’re often leaving the home you lived in most of your life, facing endless challenges on a routine basis and often left to fend for yourself. But it is because of those very same challenges that many repats, like Samson, have come and remained in Armenia to overcome. By overcoming those obstacles, you gain a new home and help shape a better Armenia for the world to enjoy.