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!

Roger Sendra

General Manager of dentsu in Barcelona, an international corporation founded more than 100 years ago in Japan, and the first network of advertising agencies in Spain.

“I joined the company more than 20 years ago, when digital was a simple complement to brand management. Now that the differentiation of start-ups is fundamental, and new technologies allow us to get more out of decisions and optimize operations, we must not lose focus on people.”

TB: What’s the purpose of your project?

RS: To be happier and happier, and to make those around me happy.

TB: A good idea that you have had.

RS: The ones that haven’t been thought yet.

TB: A bad professional experience.

RS: During a period of my life I went through a period of significant stress and anxiety. Then I discovered mindfulness.

TB: The best advice you’ve been given.

RS: “Start caring more about you”.

TB: An inspiration.

RS: I am inspired by the people who are on my team, the people who accompany me.

TB: What are your concerns?

RS: I am increasingly concerned about people’s emotional state.

TB: A startup .

I could tell you many. I love HumanITCare, a solution based on Artificial Intelligence that allows you to connect the needs of patients with their doctors. Or ByHours, too, which allows you to make hotel reservations by the hour.

TB: A book that you’d recommend.

RS: “The emotional revolution”, from Imma Puig.

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

RS: From a professional perspective I would tell you “Black Mirror,” which has a dark point, but finds the positive side of things.

TB: A recipe, a meal, a restaurant.

RS: Italy and pasta.

TB: One city, one trip.

RS: I would say Italy, but there’s nothing like New York.

TB: ¿Where would you invest 100k?

RS: In my family.

TB: ¿And a million euros?

RS: In people. In the people who work with me.

TB: If you didn’t work in advertising and technology….

RS: It would help people to connect with the present moment. In a few years we will talk about mindfullness…

TB: What’s Tech Barcelona for you?

RS: Tech Barcelona has presented the city to the world: its entrepreneurship, its ability to do new things and think differently. It is also a point of inspiration for all of us who -in some way- are connected to it.

Check out other Members Calling here.