10 Tips You Don't Want to Hear...But Will Save Your Life (Business)

Not every stone makes a wall

Juan Hontanilla, Founder of Developapps

«There is a Valencian proverb Total stone wall, which means everything goes, you take advantage of every opportunity you can. One day Gregorio Delgado, commercial director of Idealista in the area, told me that the saying should have been: Tota pedra NOT fa paretwhich means, that In order to be able to distinguish the important from the unimportant, i.e. to gain focus, you have to exclude many things along the way that seem like opportunities but only distract you from your goal. Since adopting this idea, I’ve improved a lot, always trying to optimize my time for the things that matter and discarding or postponing those that have no obvious benefit. This is one of the reasons why at Develapps we only specialize in app development and discard other services that distract us from our focus.

Everything, no matter how insignificant it may seem, adds up

Anna Belén Almécija, founder of Almécija Advocats

“It was given to me by a fellow attorney who had been practicing for many years and made a pretty good living out of it. It was a great help to me and Over time I understood that this does not mean doing every job at any price, but that the small customer should not be neglected. When the budget is economically justifiable and proportionate to the time and cost involved, certain assignments must be accepted. In short, do not despise work, no matter how insignificant it may seem, because work after work is the way to make ends meet».

To be successful in life you have to have a Guardia Civil mentality

Emilio Martínez Gavira, project manager of the accelerators Cink Emprende and Startup Alcobendas Program

«All my life I have had the opportunity to learn from great entrepreneurs, businessmen and managers and this was given to me by my grandfather Manuel Gavira Sáenz, an Andalusian serial entrepreneur and adopted son of La Línea de la Concepción. To be successful in life you have to have a Guardia Civil mentality. That means short step, vision and a bit of bad milk. The interpretation of this hint is: short step, understood as having short, achievable goals and planning weekly and daily tasks; Long-term, with a long-term goal, and “bad milk” understood as dedication, discipline and sincerity to get the job done and the goals set.

You have to listen to others more

Xavier Albaladejo, Agile – Lean Coach and Organizational Transformation at Everis Agile Excellence Center

“A person from my team gave it to me. There is a trusting environment in which I appreciate that they give me feedback on the way I work. This gives me a mirror to compare how I do things and learn to improve. It has helped me to be more reflective, to wait until I have my opinions heard and to listen to what other people think before I state my point of view. This allows me to get more information about the context of others and how they are reasoning, to know how much we have aligned with each other before intervening, and what support or complement is needed.”

Good opportunities are rarely five minutes from your home.

Carles Lloret, CEO of Uber in Spain

“I received this advice from the managing director at my first job – a benchmark company in the energy sector – after graduation. The manager had worked in several countries around the world and after spending several years abroad, he decided to return to Spain and gain experience that he put into practice in the company in situations that we encountered every day. Since then I have studied and worked in several countries and cities around the world, trying to learn and enjoy each of them. This advice has allowed me to have a great disposition to discover new places, customs and people that have helped me to be the person I am today. This wealth and accumulation of experience has allowed me to function comfortably in multicultural environments, which allows for more fluid collaboration in decision-making.”

You must be willing to learn and unlearn

Jorge Mas, CEO of Mas Gourmets and founder and managing director of the knowledge platform CREARMAS

«Manel Ripoll gave it to me, the president of the Boquería market in Barcelona. He was a good mentor from whom I learned a lot and I understood that enjoying work is the healthiest way to be happy every day and fight for your dreams. I was also struck by two of his other pieces of advice: generosity always comes back, that is, never do things in which you expect something in return. And that you have to work, work and work to achieve your dreams. I continue to learn from everyone around me.

Stop looking for balls

Sebastien Chartier, CEO of Creaventure

“I got this advice from one of my partners – 30 years older than me at the time – when I was about 25 and developing in the world of startups. It helped me stop looking for the ball and learn how to do that you have to be patient (every task and every growth of a company has its deadlines) and above all to be constant and persevering”.

Everyone can teach you something

Ricardo Lop from Aceros de Hispania

«My father, Antonio Lop Moliner, gave it to me. Everywhere I go or who I talk to I always have a receptive attitude. I leave with the illusion of not knowing what, but I know that I will learn something new that will serve me ».

You must have the ability for self-criticism

Emilio Márquez, investor and founder of Active Networking

“We all like to be ambitious. And in reality it is necessary, but in a controlled, functional and realistic environment. There’s no point in trying to position yourself at the top if you couldn’t climb the first few steps. Self-criticism and sincerity are the best tools to make the right decisions and the path to success. Several relevant people in my life have agreed with this opinion. It’s something that experience has taught me based on try, fall and get up, but it’s also part of my personal philosophy. I believe professional (and personal) honesty with yourself is essential to achieving goals. It has helped me throughout my journey as an entrepreneur and was a wake up call to realize that sometimes we get caught up in what we do and don’t see beyond it. Being able to activate the critical eye with what one is doing is essential to being successful and without that advice I would have screwed up a lot more. It has served as a fundamental wake-up call for me to do things with greater criteria and self-criticism.

Surround yourself with people who are better than you

Rodolfo Carpintier, investor and founder of Digital Assets Deployment

“I got this advice from my first boss. With that in mind, I have no doubts when I’m looking for brilliant people. I’m not worried at all that they are better than me«.