Miguel Vicente: “We are experiencing a technological revolution, in the form of artificial intelligence, that opens up a world of fantastic opportunities for entrepreneurs”

Within the framework of the new alliance between EAE Business School Barcelona and Tech Barcelona, EAE Barcelona Business Matters podcast moved to the School’s new Entrepreneurship and Innovation Hub at Pier01 in the Palau de Mar, to record a live conversation between Miguel Vicente, the Founder of companies such as LetsBonus and Wallapop and President and Co-Founder of Antai Ventures and Tech Barcelona, and the entrepreneur Judith Bayes, the Founder of Tramit Smart App, ranked on EAE Barcelona’s Top 10 female entrepreneurs in Catalonia, who is a student on the School’s Executive MBA.

The Business Matters began by mentioning Tech Barcelona’s new alliance with EAE Business School Barcelona. “At Tech Barcelona, we are really pleased because, at the end of the day, the alliance makes a lot of sense: we share the same DNA and objectives. Forbes ranks PIER-01 as one of the most important hubs in the world. Ultimately, our sector competes for talent and capital, basically talent. As such, all the talent development driven by EAE is hugely important for us, both in terms of the entrepreneurs who graduate from the School and the faculty of lecturers. I am sure that we will see one of the Catalan unicorns of the future come from EAE Barcelona”, explained the President and Co-Founder of Tech Barcelona.

During the conversation between the entrepreneurship guru and the entrepreneur behind the Tramit Smart App, Vicente shared a few tips for anybody starting up their own venture, emphasizing the importance of choosing strategic partners. “People tend to associate with others who share a similar background but the more diverse teams are in terms of skills and world view, the more powerful they are, because they complement each other. Look for people who commit to you”, he advised anybody planning to launch their own entrepreneurial project.

The second recommendation for aspiring entrepreneurs was “when you commit to something, really commit”. He then went on to underline the importance of the capacity to be flexible and agile when it comes to embracing change. “Be very flexible over the course of the evolution of the business and foster the capacity to change things as quickly as possible. When you start a new business model, a new company, you expect there to be lots of surprises and unknown factors to sort out. It is likely that the idea that you initially start off with changes because you realize that the customer is asking for something else and it is more profitable to offer other products”, he added.

On this point, the entrepreneur and student of EAE Business School Barcelona drew a parallel with mountain climbing: “You make it up a three thousand metre stretch, get used to the altitude, look around, go back down, climb back up a thousand metres, shore up your footing, all with a companion who you tie a rope to. If one of you slips, the other one is their to keep them up”.

Other topic that they discussed in the podcast by EAE Business School Barcelona was creating companies in contexts of crisis and uncertainty like the scenario we currently face. In fact, Vicente founded LetsBonus just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, while he set up Wallapop right in the middle of the financial crisis. “It is a great opportunity for developing new  business models, because the rules of competition in the sector no longer apply, so such times are just as good or even better”, he explained. Turning to the current situation, he added that “we are experiencing a technological revolution, in the form of artificial intelligence, that opens up a world of fantastic, incredible opportunities for entrepreneurs”.

WHAT SHOULD WE LOOK FOR WHEN INVESTING IN A BUSINESS? IN SEARCH OF UNICORNS AND CAMELS

Vicente now invests in a number of startups through Antai Ventures and, in the podcast, he revealed some of the qualities that he looks for in a project to invest in, such as the venture being run by a team of entrepreneurs, rather than by an individual on their own. He recommended looking for “a team of two or three people who have different perspectives and who, between, them, have all the capacities required from a business and technology point of view, as well as knowledge of the sector”.

“We prefer to invest in or support an A-grade team with a B-grade plan, rather than the other way around, because the team will have the capacity to make all the changes that are needed, turn things around and adapt”, he added. Another key factor he highlighted was “the team’s degree of commitment and passion” to the project.

When discussing the widespread idea that the success of an entrepreneur transforms their company into a unicorn, Vicente described the notion as “an irrational fever” that he largely blames on the impact of the media. Achieving a higher rating “is not an achievement that leads anywhere in itself, not even as a goal”. On this point, Vicente instead suggested that what we actually want is camel startups, which do not consume much capital and do not need reviving every year. A “camel” strategy is “a marathon” that builds value “every step of the way”.