Hi!

Please check a quick interview made by SIX about Data XL

Every year F10 (powered by SIX)  supports thirty startups to make the jump from idea to registered company. In this interview, for the internal the internal comm channel, SIX do not ask about business models, but about the people behind the ideas: "What drives them? Where do they find inspiration and how do they see the future?"

Hope you like it!

(a full transcript below)

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Every year F10 supports thirty startups to make the jump from idea to registered company. In this weekly series, we will not talk about business models, but about the people behind the ideas. What drives them? Where do they find inspiration and how do they see the future?

Here are 5 questions we asked to Filipe Charters de Azevedo who, when asked to compares his start-up with a fruit, choose a banana: because it would have a big smile and life is full of slippery falls.

 

1. Who is the person that most inspires you and why?

The one person that has helped me most in my journey through life is, of course, my wife. But I do not want to be too sentimental in a business interview, so I will tell you about the books that have changed my professional view:

 

Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, by Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian. They argue that if managers seriously want to develop effective strategies for competing in the new marketplace, they must understand the fundamental economics of information technology. I almost called the company "Data Rules," because of this book.

 

The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler allowed me a glimpse into the future. The book was written in the 1970s, and I am still surprised how accurate Toffler’s predictions of our time were.

 

2. How did you get the idea to start DataXL?

There was neither a eureka moment nor an apple falling on my head. The company is the product of a lot of thinking about how to combine expertise (experimental design), market (insurance and financial sector) and distribution (SaaS). Now it is easy to put in one sentence…

 

3. How is life in F10?

It is like being in the Erasmus program, but for grown-up entrepreneurs. At home in Portugal, after work, I would usually drink a coffee and eat a “pastel de nata” with my friends and colleagues. Here we drink beer!

 

4. Did you always want to become an entrepreneur?

I believe that I’m what is called a T-person. The vertical bar on the T represents the depth of related skills and expertise in a single field, whereas the horizontal bar is the ability to collaborate across disciplines with experts in other areas and to apply knowledge in areas of expertise other than one's own.

Usually people are “I” people: experts with in-depth knowledge; a quality that companies appreciate and reward. But if you have the ability to collaborate across areas it becomes easier to see the big picture and create a company. Developing a new concept becomes the next natural step. Becoming an entrepreneur is for most “T” people the only way to feel satisfied.

 

5. Complete the following sentence: In five years' time…

…I'll have no regrets. Not even a few to mention.

 

Founder Box

Filipe Chartes de Azevedo (39) is a Portuguese entrepreneur with a background in consulting. Last year he founded the company Data XL, an online tool used for insurance pricing optimization.

https://data-xl.com/