Weekly Digest
Week 19
When Ronaldo jumps, the stadium holds its breath. When he lands with that unmistakable “Sim!”, the energy shifts, a spark, a surge, a collective lift. That same pulse is about to hit Porto again. SIM Conference returns this week, and once more the city becomes a meeting point for founders, investors, operators, and the people who keep this ecosystem…
May 10, 2026
Weekly Digest
Week 18
This week’s Adamastor was inspired by a post from Udemy’s co‑founder; one of the most successful startups to emerge from the Founder Institute, and by a sharp comment from Fernando Fraga: politeness in mentorship is rarely about protecting the founder; it’s about protecting the mentor’s network. And he’s right. Telling a founder their idea is broken means…
May 5, 2026
Weekly Digest
Week 17
The ecosystem is buzzing again, and the next days offer one of those rare snapshots where everything overlaps: international networks landing, local communities multiplying events, and universities finally trying to reinvent their role in the talent pipeline. It’s the kind of week that reveals both the ambition and the contradictions of our ecosystem. A…
April 27, 2026
Weekly Digest
Week 16
and Why Portugal Can’t Ignore It Somewhere along the way, we convinced ourselves that research and execution pull in opposite directions. That one belongs to universities and the other to startups; that research slows you down and the market speeds you up. As if science were a luxury and execution the only thing that matters. It’s a false choice and one…
April 20, 2026
Weekly Digest
Week 15
The world feels unstable again. Conflicts rise, tensions spread, and uncertainty has become part of our daily vocabulary. From Ukraine to the Middle East, from political shocks to economic volatility, it often seems like we are living in a permanent state of disruption. And yet, throughout history, it is in moments like these that people step forward to…
April 13, 2026
Weekly Digest
Week 14
When Knowledge Leaves the University Walls, Everyone Wins For years we’ve repeated the same sentence in Portugal: “knowledge must leave the universities and reach the companies.” It sounds obvious, but when you listen closely to the people who live this bridge every day, you realise the work is only now beginning to take shape. Two recent events that took…
April 6, 2026
Weekly Digest
Week 13
Entrepreneurs are wired for possibility. Most are risk‑takers, adventurers, passionate builders who wake up every day ready to chase an opportunity. And even though almost all of them carry a few painful failures in their journey, they still show up again and again, to face challenges head‑on. Failure shapes them; it’s part of the craft. As a Christian and…
March 30, 2026
Weekly Digest
Week 12
What they matter for Portuguese Startups Two major European milestones landed almost back‑to‑back: the latest advances in the EU INC framework and the publication of the Rebuild Letter. At first glance, they might look like another round of Brussels centric paperwork. They’re not. Both carry real consequences for the Portuguese startup ecosystem, an…
March 23, 2026
Guest Article
One of the hardest parts of being a founder is the loneliness. You live in a future that does not yet exist, people around you struggle to understand you. Your mum hopes you get a proper job. A lot has been written about what makes Silicon Valley special. Much of it comes down to one thing: being surrounded by people who understand and cheer for you. But…
March 16, 2026
Weekly Digest
Week 11
And what the Portuguese ecosystem really needs to do A few days ago, Building The Future delivered a clear message: the experimentation phase in AI is over. We’ve entered the moment where technology must translate into real competitive advantage and anyone who doesn’t make that transition will simply be left behind. But what does this actually mean for…
March 16, 2026