Pedro Moneo (Madrid, 1977) has a powerful story to tell, but he is waiting for the right time. He is the CEO and founder of Opinno, which stands for “Open Innovation”. Between Madrid and San Francisco, he is building a universe that very few are able to understand. He has managed to conquer the start-up world and his main challenge now is how to share it with others.
At Banzai, a Japonese restaurant on Calle Recoletos, 10 in Madrid, we talked about Spain, the art of storytelling, the power of tribes and the endless opportunities awaiting the Spanish entrepreneurial youth.
“It is quite hard for me to grasp your current day-to-day as Opinno’s CEO,” I first confessed. “That is normal,” he said with a humble smile. “Very few people really understand our model.” And then he started explaining his story with the attitude he promotes through his own slogan: “Be disruptive, be persistent, be patient.”
Moneo decided to launch Opinno around four years ago. At that time, he was working as Deputy Director of FEDIT, the Spanish Federation of Technology Centers. “I could see that these centers developed a lot of technology, but they failed converting it into products for the market.” This experience prompted him to develop a way to create many different businesses out of the research and technology already available.
The bridge with San Francisco came later on in his entrepreneurial process. On the summer of 2008, he decided to travel around the world with a close friend. Among their various destinations was California, where he fell in love in many different ways. He decided to stay for a while, but soon the energy of Silicon Valley made him realize that his life would have to have two very different backdrops.
In Silicon Valley, Moneo absorbed the essence of the so-called Lean Start-up methodology, named after Steve Blank and Erik Ries. For entrepreneurs and techies this model is even proverbial. For the rest of us, mortals, it is a new universe integrated by three dynamic planets: think, build and measure. Planet think is where all the endless ideas and research opportunities arise; planet build is where the ideas turn into tangible products developed by agile start-up ventures; and planet measure is where the market assesses the products developed. Those badly assessed die or convert into something different to what they were meant to be.
“Under this model, innovation and productivity accelerate in a dramatic way,” Moneo explained. “Big companies are realizing that they cannot sustain themselves in the long term if they don’t embrace what’s going on beyond their premises.”
“Hhhhmmmm, disruptive,” I thought to myself thinking of his motto.
Indeed, these trends become disruptive for big business, but here is where Moneo has found his productive opportunity: as traditional business leaders in the energy and financial sectors need to be part of this accelerated universe, Moneo offers them the much needed passport.
MIT’s Technology Review and the art of storytelling
Moneo deeply believes in the following invigorating mantra by Seth Godin:
Tell a story, connect a tribe, lead a movement, make change.
In his pragmatic and ambitious approach to life, he convinced the MIT to let his company publish a Spanish-version of Technology Review, among the most respected magazines in the technology world. To him, this new version serves as the perfect platform to promote stories of bright Spaniards and Latin Americans innovating in the digital age.
In 2011, he managed to bring to Spain the awards TR35, organized every year by the magazine to recognize the merits of inventors under 35. It was the fist time the magazine celebrated these out of Boston. The awards ceremony is meant to be celebrated in Spain every year from now on, and this year it took place in late November.
Young innovative Spaniards, a jewel to be discovered
“The average young Spanish doesn’t event know how much talent he has,” acknowledged Moneo. “They don’t have references and nobody pays them much attention…what fascinates me about them is how humble they are.”
For the first time, many Spaniards who would have dreamed to start a safe career in banking, consulting or law before the crisis, are now set to take some risks. “I see a great opportunity in Spain because there is a lot of talent willing to make a lot of things,” Moneo said.
“Technology flattens and empowers”
When Moneo talks about politics he constantly refers to change from the base through technology. He analyzes movements that indicate how more and more people are gaining more and more power. “Technology flattens and empowers,” he said. Moneo pointed to trends such as crowdfunding that are showing how specific initiatives may be led by the power of the people. “I believe these movements have the capacity to live together with conventional governments.” He also foresees a future where people will associate to lead initiatives in education, healthcare and energy which will be alternatives to government solutions.
Moneo is a man who doesn’t see limits. I’m anxiously waiting to listen to his next big story.
