Entrepreneurship in Portugal
Jun 1 2010

I went to Portugal with 4 other colleagues (3 of us presented) to help give a workshop on incubation management and on-shoring opportunities for Portuguese technology companies to the US.  The UTEN program is also run through IC2 which the Austin Technology Incubator (where I work) is also under.

[Boat photo: Taken in Porto. These were the types of boats that people used to transfer port wine to different parts of the Europe and the world.  The bridge in the background I believe was built using the same material used to build the Eiffel tower.]

In my previous post on culture, food, and technology, I discussed a little bit about the culture which is very different than the US culture, and I believe culture plays an important role in entrepreneurship.  I don’t have a lot of time to write this up since I’m in Barcelona, Spain and will be heading outside soon to enjoy the weather, listen to people & pigeons, read, and write before I head back tomorrow so I’ll keep it brief:

The people we interacted with (incubator managers, professors, technology transfer officers) were all eager to learn how to help make their country more supportive of entrepreneurship.  Their government has allocated money to support programs like ours not just with UT Austin but also universities like MIT, Harvard, Cambridge, and Carnegie Mellon to help them in this mission.  We were there giving a workshop on incubation management that included exercises on negotiations, case studies, due diligence best practices when selecting companies, how to mentor companies, etc.

The cultural norms of late lunches, late dinners, arriving fashionably late, siestas and sometimes waiting for things to happen versus making things happen doesn’t always mesh with the capitalistc entrepreneurship traits we are so used to in the US.  The people in the roles above have a challenge ahead of them to help not just the entrepreneurs but the entities playing supportive roles to move faster and connect the dots in different ways than they are used to.  Many of them are so energized about their potential roles in making this happen and have made significant progress!  It’s hard for them, the government, and even us to appreciate how far they have come in the last few years and how much hard work is ahead of them.

[Man cooking photo:  This was taken in Porto outside of the restaurant I mentioned in the food, culture, technology post I mentioned above.  This entrepreneur was cooking sardines and bell peppers on the streets.]

The companies that are in their incubators today are not just technology related as most of us in the US understand them.  They include innovation in textiles, marine biology, foods, etc.  It will be fascinating to see how and if they can get the few entrepreneurs in their country who have made money on traditional businesses to take the risk on technology investments.

There are very few business angel investors and as I mentioned most of them are not used to investing.  Their wealth is also typically not as great as the investors in the US.  The venture capital market is virtually non-existent and I think most of the venture capitalists have home bases in other places in Europe or the US and will occasionally invest in a Portuguese company.

Overall I was impressed with the people, the program, and the vision.  I was so glad I had the opportunity to go and contribute to the success of the program. There are so many moving parts including a government under economic stress, as are other countries in Europe, but the fact that they have intelligently identified an opportunity to invest in knowledge enhancement in the world of entrepreneurship (dear to my heart) is in my opinion a very wise, long term strategic decision!

Author: Aruni | Filed under: entrepreneurship, travel | Tags: company incubators, portugal, portuguese entrepreneurship, uten program | 1 Comment »

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