Gimena Uhrich (Buenos Aires, 1984)

Founder of INHAUS, a digital talent agency with offices in Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile and Barcelona.

“As a graduate in Business Administration and Human Resources, I have a background in Talent Acquisition, a background in Services and Consulting, and a real passion for data, marketing and technology.”

TB: What is the purpose of your project?

GU: We aim to unite opportunities and expectations, accompanying people and organisations in their professional projects. To be a real connection between talent and business.

TB: A good idea you have had.

GU: Working by listening to people. That’s where great stories come from.

TB: A bad professional experience.

GU: Being in spaces where creativity and diversity of ideas were not valued. In any case, I have learned a lot from each experience.

TB: The best advice you’ve ever been given.

GU: Trying and failing is much better than never having attempted at all.

TB: An inspiration.

GU: Photography and trekking. From the heights everything has a different perspective.

TB: A start-up (other than your own).

GU: Nuwe, a startup that promotes challenges and events in the technology community, accompanying the inclusion of women in the digital world.

TB: A book to recommend.

GU:”Many Lives, Many Masters” by Brian Weiss.

TB: A series or film or song that defines your moment in life.

GU: “Viva la vida” by Coldplay.

TB: A recipe, a meal, a restaurant.

GU: Italian food, especially desserts. And restaurants with great views of Barcelona are my favourite.

TB: A city, a journey.

GU: Without a doubt, the trip I made to the West Coast of the USA a few years ago with my family, when one of my daughters was still very young. It was quite an adventure.

TB: Where would you invest 100k?

GU: In projects that provide solutions to environmental problems and promote access to health globally.

TB: And a million euros?

GU: I would love to produce series or documentaries with stories of entrepreneurs, to inspire those who are just starting their own project and need confidence and drive.

TB: If you weren’t an entrepreneur…

GU: I would be thinking about how to become one.

TB: What is Tech Barcelona for you?

GU: A true community of entrepreneurs that promotes activities and initiatives to share experiences, get to know new projects and, above all, get inspired, as well as continuing to position Barcelona as the home of digital talent.

Jordi Esquerigüela (Barcelona, 1981)

Founder and CEO of the digital marketing agency Jevnet, specialised in paid media, organic traffic and inbound strategies. He also teaches at La Salle’s MsC in Digital Marketing and is a mentor for technology startups.

“I am interested in innovation and technological evolution, in any field”.

TB: What is the purpose of your project?

JE: I am fortunate to belong to a generation that lived through the Internet disruption. As I learned, and the ecosystem evolved, I understood that most businesses needed to work on their digital presence and, at the same time, make their services or products known through digital media. It was clear to me that I wanted to help all the people who wanted to advance digitally in their businesses. This was the first step, and the constant evolution led me to offer organic positioning and advertising services.

TB: A good idea you have had.

JE: To start the Jevnet project with a clear and defined purpose.

TB: A bad professional experience.

JE: I have always believed that we should learn from bad experiences: although there are no bad experiences, only opportunities.

TB: The best advice you’ve ever been given.

JE: Dream big, but always awake.

TB: An inspiration.

JE: I am inspired by nature, sport and people who are able to overcome bad times with passion.

TB: A startup.

JE: Because of their values, I would choose MiCuento, a collaborative reading platform for children, and Hannun, an emerging furniture and handmade decoration company.

TB: A book to recommend.

JE: “Una hormiga en París” by Marc Vidal and “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek.

TB: A series or film or song that defines your moment in life.

JE: For better or worse, I’ll stick with the series “Mad Men” and the song “Pa amb oli i sal”, by Balumut.

TB: A recipe, a meal, a restaurant.

JE: Without a doubt, my father’s paellas.

TB: A city, a journey.

JE: Edinburgh: for its history, castles and incredible nature.

TB: Where would you invest 100k?

JE: In Jevnet.

TB: And a million euros?

JE: In startups with a high social impact or where innovation fills a need.

TB: If you were not an entrepreneur…

JE: I would strive to be one.

TB: What is Tech Barcelona for you?

JE: It is the place where the entrepreneurial, technological and digital ecosystem of the city of Barcelona must be for its growth to be sustainable and guided.

Paola Pardo (Barcelona, 1996)

Ingeniera informática y cofundadora de Qbeast, una spin-off del Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) dedicada al análisis de Big Data a través de su solución Open Source, un sistema de indexado multidimensional que permite examinar grandes volúmenes de datos de forma productiva.

“Dedico mi tiempo a divulgar sobre el Open Source, las nuevas tecnologías de datos y las series, libros y películas que me gustan”.

TB: ¿Cuál es el propósito de tu proyecto?

PP: Tanto los datos como el estrés en los ingenieros están creciendo, y necesitamos ser más eficaces a la hora de organizar la información y las personas.

TB: Una buena idea que has tenido.

PP: Empezar a cuidar la salud mental.

TB: Una mala experiencia profesional.

PP: Encontrarse con que la mayoría de equipos (técnicos y no tan técnicos) están formados por hombres desalienta un poco. Pero soy positiva: cada vez se organizan más eventos para impulsar materias STEM en mujeres.

TB: El mejor consejo que te han dado.

PP: No pasa nada si te equivocas.

TB: Una inspiración.

PP: Suena a tópico, pero mi equipo. Y el último disco de la Rosalía.

TB: ¿Qué te preocupa?

PP: No ser capaz de ayudar a todo el mundo.

TB: Una startup (que no sea la tuya).

PP: Amalfi Analytics. Ayudan al sector médico a gestionar mejor las cargas de trabajo con machine learning e inteligencia artificial. Hoy en día, después de todo lo que hemos pasado, es muy importante poner el foco en mejorar los procesos de la forma que sea.

TB: Un libro para recomendar.

PP: “Gente Normal”, de Sally Rooney. Me lo estoy leyendo ahora, y da una perspectiva muy natural sobre la evolución de las relaciones.

TB: Una serie o película o canción que defina tu momento vital.

PP: La comedia “Silicon Valley”. Ahora entiendo muchas cosas que pasé por alto al verla.

TB: Una receta, una comida, un restaurante.

PP: Las albóndigas en salsa de tomate que hace mi abuela.

TB: Una ciudad, un viaje.

PP: Una ciudad, Barcelona. Un viaje, el Interrail que hice con 18-19 años.

TB: ¿Dónde invertirías 100k?

PP: En formación. Siempre quedan ganas de aprender.

TB: ¿Y un millón de euros?

PP: Siento ser imparcial, pero en Qbeast.

TB: Si no fueras emprendedora…

PP: Me dedicaría a cualquier cosa relacionada con la escritura.

TB: ¿Qué es para ti Tech Barcelona?

PP: Un espacio para dar voz a todo el ecosistema startup de la ciudad. Es apoyo y solidaridad.

Consulta otros TB Members Calling aquí.

Aleix Lagares Tané (Olot, 1992)

With a Marketing and Digital Communication Degree from the UPC and a Master’s Degree in Brand Strategy and Creative Management from the UPF, Aleix Lagares is CEO of Ayonow, a digital communication and marketing agency founded in 2017 with his partner Paola Moragas. In 2018 they founded Dopuo, a SaaS for local businesses. “After a lot of pivoting, and with a pandemic in between, we managed to launch a new ‘click&collect’ software in 2022, which we presented at 4YFN”.

“I spend three to four hours a week researching and testing B2B SaaS: I don’t know if it’s a pleasure, an addiction, or a bit of both. Also, as an Apple fan, I was one of the first to get the iPhone 2G and all those that came after it. I talk about my passions on Twitter”.

TB: What is the purpose of your project?

AL: As a digital and communication enthusiast, Ayonow allows me to play in many fields and not only in one way. As for Dopuo, I am obsessed with digitising a non-digital sector such as local businesses in order to fight against digital superstores.

TB: A good idea you have had.

AL: To change university career.

TB: A bad professional experience.

AL: Pushing someone away from a project. I think it’s the worst, not because you have to tell them, but because of the process of losing confidence in them and not being able to stop it until it becomes unbearable.

TB: The best advice you’ve ever been given.

AL: Go back to study.

TB: An inspiration.

AL: I read three inspirational cases about ADHD, which motivated me to change my life. If there are any parents with children with ADHD reading this interview, send me a DM on twitter and I’ll give you notes.

TB: A start-up.

AL: Heura: clear and purposeful branding.

TB: A book to recommend.

AL: I’m not much of a book person, I’m more into papers or dense newsletters. But I have to recommend “42 hours” by Ferran Boix. In it, Ferran explains how he survived 42 hours lost in the mountains during one of the worst snow storms at -20ºC.

TB: A series or film or song that defines your moment in life.

AL: The documentary “The dilemma of the networks”. Trying to get the good out of the Internet, exposing the bad.

TB: A recipe, a meal, a restaurant.

AL: Any pasta, with carbonara or pesto. Or a good cheesecake from Joncake, which is very close to Pier01. And PUR from Nandu Jubany.

TB: A city, a journey.

AL: Without a doubt, Hanoi in Vietnam.

TB: Where would you invest 100k?

AL: In Dopuo. Now I have to sweep for home.

TB: And a million euros?

AL: I would diversify. One part in property, one part in B2B SaaS startups and one part for personal enjoyment, which is also very important.

TB: If you were not an entrepreneur…

AL: I guess I would be a planner in a national agency.

TB: What is Tech Barcelona for you?

AL: Tech Barcelona has been the home that has welcomed us in our gallop through Barcelona, and it makes me think that it is like our work home. Also knowledge, disruption and change. The best of the quadruple helix in a single thinking space.

Check out other TB Members Calling here.

Laura Urquizu (Pamplona, a few years ago)

CEO at Red Points, a solution that fights counterfeiting, piracy and online phishing.

Adventurer, entrepreneur and traveller. “We are a family of five, four humans and a furry one. The driver of my career has always been digital transformation: first as a consultant, then as an executive in large corporations, then as a venture capitalist and finally as an entrepreneur.

TB: What is the purpose of your project?

LU: Doing your bit in the fight against online fraud.

TB: A good idea you have had.

LU: The most recent one: starting to say ‘no’ to issues that steal my energy.

TB: A bad professional experience.

LU: Harassment by a boss I had years ago.

TB: The best advice you’ve ever been given.

LU: Practice meditation every day.

TB: An inspiration.

LU: A mountain, in all its versions, inspires me every weekend.

TB: A startup (other than your own).

LU: Anyone who bootstraps and reaches 10 million turnover.

TB: A book to recommend.

LU: Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”.

TB: A series or film or song that defines your moment in life.

LU: “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, by Morcheeba.

TB: A recipe, a meal, a restaurant.

LU: Artichokes with ham, Navarra style. And the Rodero restaurant, in Pamplona.

TB: A city, a journey.

LU: As a city, Barcelona. As a trip, always nature. And if I had to choose a specific place, I would choose the Grand Canyon of Colorado.

TB: Where would you invest 100k?

LU: In the education of my children.

TB: And a million euros?

LU: In Red Points.

TB: If you weren’t an entrepreneur…

LU: I would love to be a writer and learn from other lives.

TB: What is Tech Barcelona for you?

LU: Exceptional support for entrepreneurs. If it did not exist, it would have to be invented.

Nadia Gumà Bruque (Sabadell, 1986)

CEO and founder of NaturLove, an online shop specialising in products to maximise pleasure in sexual relations and products that help treat the main sexual problems.  “After finishing my studies in Business Administration and a postgraduate degree in Communication Management, I went to England to start my professional career. I have worked for more than ten years in digital marketing in various international companies, including the UK’s leading eCommerce company for sexual wellness products”.

“I have an entrepreneurial and leadership personality, and I am passionate about creating projects with a social impact, such as NaturLove and the Sex Education Film Festival”

TB: What is the purpose of your project?

NG: NaturLove is a project that helps all those who have a sexual dysfunction to achieve wellbeing. There are still people who refuse to talk about sexuality, and even less about sexual dysfunctions, so there is a lack of knowledge and education on the subject.

TB: A good idea you have had.

NG: Undertaking and creating my two projects.

TB: A bad professional experience.

NG: When I had to leave a company that closed down.

TB: The best advice you’ve ever been given.

NG: “Always believe in yourself!”.

TB: An inspiration.

NG: I am inspired by Jane Goodall, a woman activist and feminist with a successful career dedicated to fighting for animal rights and the climate crisis.

TB: A startup (other than your own).

NG: Heura. I love the concept, its environmental impact and the success it is having.

TB: A book to recommend.

NG: George Orwell’s “1984”.

TB: A series or film or song that defines your moment in life.

NG: The song “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed. I think every day can be perfect if you have a positive mind.

TB: A recipe, a meal, a restaurant.

NG: I love Mexican food. My favourite dish is my grandmother’s cannelloni. And I really like to try tasting menus in restaurants.

TB: A city, a journey.

NG: My favourite city is London, where I lived for 8 years. As for my favourite trip, I travelled alone in Southeast Asia.

TB: Where would you invest 100k?

NG: In creating NaturLove own brand products.

TB: And a million euros?

NG: In the internationalisation of NaturLove. And a holiday for me, because I’m sure I’ll need it to recharge my batteries 🙂

TB: If you weren’t an entrepreneur…

NG: I can’t not be an entrepreneur, as I am one in my personal life too. In fact, my decision to move to England or to travel alone for six months are clear examples of this.

TB: What is Tech Barcelona for you?

NG: An association that promotes entrepreneurship and helps companies.

Check out other TB Members Calling here.

Marc Lite (Barcelona, 1978)

Graduated in ADE and MBA from Esade, he was an intern at Infonomia and HP, brand strategy director at Summa, and is co-founder of Firma, the branding and innovation agency behind the image of Tech Barcelona. He is an academic collaborator at Esade, Blanquerna, Elisava, Foxize… and founder of Minds of Tomorrow, as well as a fan of surfing, trail running and architecture.

TB: What is the purpose of your project?

ML: Creating brands with a positive impact on society.

TB: A good idea you have had.

ML: Founding ‘Creatives for the Future’ in 2019, an initiative that brings together the Spanish creative industry for its transformation towards sustainability, and which today brings together more than 500 professionals and agencies.

TB: A bad professional experience.

ML: Luckily I have had few, and from all of them I have learned that if a project generates doubts from the first day, it is better not to start.

TB: The best advice you’ve ever been given.

ML: There are no such things as projects, there are just clients.

TB: An inspiration.

ML: Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia and ‘1% for the Planet’, activist, surfer and climber.

TB: What are you worried about?

ML: That we learn little from what has happened to us, and fall into the same business and social mistakes over and over again.

TB: A startup.

ML: Rivian, a US manufacturer of electric off-road vehicles.

TB: A book to recommend.

ML: “Canto jo i la muntanya balla”, by Irene Solà. Or “The Hummingbird”, by Sandro Veronesi.

TB: A series or film or song that defines your moment in life.

ML: “Un minut estroboscòpica” by Antònia Font.

TB: A recipe, a meal, a restaurant.

ML: Chicken Teriyaki (by Rosalía 😉 )

TB: A city, a journey.

ML: Any surfing getaway, whether in the Canaries or Hossegor, or far away in Costa Rica.

TB: Where would you invest 100k?

ML: In some of the local startups I work with and with a global purpose: Incapto, Karibou, Honext…

TB: And a million euros?

ML: I don’t have that much money to invest, so I haven’t thought about it yet.

TB: If you were not an entrepreneur…

ML: I would try to become an architect, an apprentice architect or an intern in an architectural firm.

TB: What is Tech Barcelona for you?

ML: The most authentic and sensible energiser in the digital entrepreneurship sector.

Check out other TB Members Calling here.

Adela Martínez (Valladolid, 1975)

Founder of Huertos in the Sky, a startup that transforms Barcelona’s rooftops into sustainable urban gardens to recover these disused spaces in the city. “I’m a telecommunications engineer, but I consider myself a ‘digital artisan’ because I’m interested in the balance between the digital and the artisan. Maybe that’s why, after many years in the UK working in multinationals like Avaya and Microsoft, I became a freelance in the tech world and promoted Huertos in the Sky, whose aim is to transform Barcelona’s empty rooftops into sustainable urban gardens”.

TB: What is the purpose of your project?

AM: We have to reconnect with what is essential, with nature, or we will go mad. Because we humans need it.

TB: A good idea you have had.

AM: To create an association of people who promote “48 hours of agriculture and urban greenery” in Barcelona, a festival to discover the benefits of sustainable food generated in the city.

TB: A bad professional experience.

AM: When you realise that you no longer fit in a company.

TB: The best advice you’ve ever been given.

AM: Be yourself, and trust the universe and your intuition.

TB: An inspiration.

AM: Be part of CovidWarriors, an association that was born to fight against Covid-19.

TB: A startup (other than your own).

AM: I really like Biome Makers, by Spanish founders, which uses advanced technology to understand the DNA of soils and improve their quality, helping farmers.

TB: A book to recommend.

AC: Bruce Lipton’s “The Biology of Belief”. A cell biologist talks about the relationship between genes and our thoughts. Can our bodies change if we re-educate the way we think?

TB: A series or film or song that defines your moment in life.

AM: “Kiss the Ground”, a Netflix documentary that envisions the solution to climate change in soil regeneration.

TB: A recipe, a meal, a restaurant.

AM: My list of the best potato omelettes in Barcelona – just ask me!

TB: A city, a journey.

AM: Kyoto. And trekking in Nepal, especially climbing Everest base camp.

TB: Where would you invest 100k?

AM: I am an unconditional fan of La Fageda and its founder Cristóbal Colón. So, there.

TB: And a million euros?

AM: In a portfolio of companies that are born with a purpose of social and environmental impact, and use technology to achieve it.

TB: If you weren’t an entrepreneur…

AM: I would probably join one of the companies above.

TB: What is Tech Barcelona for you?

AM: A range of possibilities. A place to find a community of inspiring people who share their passion for technology and Barcelona. Plus, they have great afterworks!