How I got here - and why I now build, teach and share.

Early life

The work came before the titles.

I grew up in a modest town across the Tagus from Lisbon. My parents separated when I was three, and my family went through serious financial difficulty during my early childhood. Things became more stable later, with support from extended family and my stepfather - but those early years shaped how I think about money, security and what it means to build something from very little.

At around fifteen, I spent about a month helping in a motorcycle workshop. The work was simple - cleaning, carrying, watching. But it was the first time I truly understood how hard it is to earn money, and how different the world looks when you work with your hands. That lesson has stayed with me.

While studying Economics at ISEG, I worked in retail - at Springfield and at Salsa Jeans - paying for my own expenses and saving where I could. Outside of studying and working, I played basketball and football in local clubs. None of this was unusual. But my story did not begin in a boardroom.

BNP Paribas · Paris

Economics, financial operations and Paris.

I chose Economics because it sat at the intersection of two long-standing interests: politics and business. I wanted to understand how systems work - how decisions made in one place produce consequences somewhere else.

After graduating, I joined BNP Paribas Securities Services, working in Euronext Corporate Actions. By around twenty-two, I had moved from an operational role into a supervisor position - earlier than most. I later spent approximately six months in Paris working with French teams. I thought of it almost as the Erasmus I had never taken: a different culture, a different pace, a different way of approaching work.

I completed a postgraduate degree in Financial Analysis at ISEG. But even as I was finishing it, I knew that a slow-moving corporate environment was not where I wanted to build a career. The space for ownership, for innovation, for moving at the pace I wanted to move was limited. I left, and spent the following months looking for what came next.

Consulting · Portugal · Angola

Learning how organisations really work.

I moved into consulting, training and internal auditing, focused on organisational and quality management systems. I worked mainly across Portugal and Angola, with private companies, public organisations and social-economy institutions across different sectors and industries.

I worked with frameworks including ISO 9001, EQUASS, OHSAS and JCI. I became an APCER-certified internal quality auditor and a certified trainer.

The most important lesson from this period was not technical. It was the gap between written procedures and how work actually gets done inside organisations. That gap is often enormous - and it is where most of the real management problems live. Understanding it early changed how I think about product, process and change.

2015

The interruption that led to entrepreneurship.

In 2015, a planned move to work for a company in Angola was cancelled. The economic crisis driven by falling oil prices, the devaluation of the kwanza and a shortage of US dollars had made it impossible. I found myself in an uncertain period, without a clear next step.

During that period, I came across a Dragons' Den UK pitch from a company called Servicing Stop - a business built around collecting and returning a customer's car for maintenance. The idea caught my attention immediately, because it connected with a problem I had personally experienced: finding a trustworthy repair shop and knowing whether you were being treated fairly.

I researched the Portuguese market and found that there was no standardised offer focused on that experience. The idea evolved from a local service concept into something I believed could become a scalable startup.

IZIRepair

Building IZIRepair.

The business started as Bookauto and later became IZIRepair. We built instant online maintenance quotations, a repair-shop marketplace, and a car collection and delivery service. We later partnered with SAPO / Altice to launch AUTO SAPO Oficinas. IZIRepair was also selected for the SENTE Mobility investment programme, sponsored by Avis Budget Group and Yıldız Holding.

The business won awards, attracted investment and secured major partnerships. Those achievements were real, and I remain proud of them. But the business did not reach sustainable scale. That gap - between external validation and genuine traction - is one of the most important things a founder can learn to recognise, and one of the hardest.

Lessons

What that experience taught me.

I made many of the mistakes that first-time founders make. Looking back, they fall into a few clear themes.

Tap My Back · 2021–2023

Rebuilding and exiting.

In January 2021 I joined Build Up Labs as an Entrepreneur in Residence and took over Tap My Back as CEO. The company had been founded in 2015; it already had a product, clients and a team. The mandate was a turnaround: rebuild the operating model, sharpen the product, grow the business and position it for a strategic exit. I led product, business development, marketing, growth and exit strategy. The company was acquired by CultureBoost in August 2023. I stayed on for a three-month hands-on transition and provided additional strategic support to the new owners afterwards.

Helping take a company through an exit - having rebuilt it first - is one of the professional achievements I am most proud of. It also taught me something I carry with me: starting is a different skill from rebuilding. Both require courage. The second requires more humility.

Today

Where I am now.

Today I am Head of Product & Growth at TIPS4Y, working at the intersection of B2B SaaS, AI-powered products, product strategy, growth and go-to-market. I am still an operator, not only a commentator - and that distinction matters to me.

I mentor founders through MentorCruise (5.0 rating), Founder Institute Portugal and Build Up Labs. The conversations span pitch decks, GTM strategy, fundraising, hiring, pricing and the founder decisions that most people avoid discussing openly.

I teach practical AI, marketing, sales and product subjects at IPAM / Universidade Europeia. I speak at conferences, workshops and executive education programmes when invited. I created and host Fundadores, an AI podcast.

Why I share

Why I share what I learn.

I communicate publicly for three reasons.

What I believe.

Availability

Where our paths might cross.

I am full-time Head of Product & Growth at TIPS4Y. Outside of that, I am selectively open to the following.