Audacity, resilience, the will to create and to leave a mark – are traits of a successful entrepreneur. Daniel Vila Boa and Vasco Portugal, both Técnico alumni, shared their successful experiences at the 6th edition of Alumni E. Stories, held this Tuesday, April 23rd, at Técnico. This edition of the Alumni E-Stories is part of “Road2EIA @ Técnico – How to be an innovator!, a programme organised by the Technology Transfer office that aims to inspire students to chase their entrepreneurial ambitions. The event had the support of Santander Universities.
According to Vasco Portugal, co-founder of Sensei Tech and Information Systems Engineering former student, “truth in business isn’t always obvious, especially when we work in innovative projects”. “The experience we gain throughout the years makes us understand our clients”, he added. Highlighting the importance of Sensei’s team, he confessed that his partners have technical skills and personality traits that fit in very well. “We complement each other’s personalities. The combination of these skills – individual and technical – is the secret behind our success”, he said.
“I never wanted to be an entrepreneur, it was never something I planned, it just happened,” recalled Daniel Vila Boa, founder of Chilltime and Computer Science and Information Systems Engineering former student. Entrepreneurship came naturally into his life while he was still a Técnico student. “I remember that my notebook pages were divided into two parts: my ideas and the notes I took in class. The first one was always more fulfilled than the last one”, he recalled. Daniel Vila Boa talked about the wide range of services provided by his company and some mistakes that he had made, which allowed him to consolidate learning allowing him to “have some new insight in certain moments”.
As mentor of the European Innovation Academy (EIA), Daniel Vila Boa shared the benefits of participating in this programme. “EIA has a very well-structured basis and allows you to create your company or simply to have an entrepreneurial spirit at work”, said the founder of Chilltime. He also highlighted the network of contacts as the most important benefit: “You will meet top professionals from all over the world, who will be the bridge between you and the business world”. Vasco Portugal stressed “the importance of networking for a successful career, namely for entrepreneurship: It’s important to have very good people on our side who help us building that great idea into a very successful business, but it’s also important to have a network of contacts that can turn that idea into a reality very quickly”.
