A decade later - Fundação Luso-Americana

They publish materials, but they don’t do
a very good job of communicating. So, she
identified this area and said, “What if I
were to become the publisher of the material
you want to publish, and I will put out
a publication called University Parents?”
The idea was so successful that she took
it beyond the universities. I think today
she has about a 160 contracts with universities.
And she did it with very little
capital.
[P] How do you conciliate entrepreneurship with
sustainability?
[PJ] The way we got there is by having
several years of being acknowledged as a
leading entrepreneurship education program.
So we we really needed to think
about the direction the future is moving
in. What we discovered was that increasingly,
consumers were changing the way
they did business in order to become
more sustainable. And as entrepreneurs
always do, we looked at fundamental
changes. When corporations change direction
– even slightly – it creates opportunities
for entrepreneurs, because the large
companies will need new solutions.
[P] Are there differences in teaching Portuguese
and Americans to take risks?
[PJ] I think there are many differences. As
I think of Portugal’s history, it’s one of the
most risk-oriented, entrepreneurial cases
of how to take advantage of new opportunities.
It’s in the water; it’s in your DNA
here in Portugal. It seems to be an anomaly
to me, actually, as I learn more about
the country.
I would say several things are very different,
and I’m not an economist, and I’m
not a government politician, so I’m
observing some of this from a distance.
Because most entrepreneurs tend to be
very apolitical. We’re on the ground creating
businesses. And we have an environ-
socieTy
ment that enables us to adapt, that
changes when you go into regulated
industries. So energy, and many other
things increasingly help you innovate, and
the answers you find are becoming more
important for coming generations in the
US. So it is all very dynamic.
What are the differences then? The first
thing I always say is that one should never
think of the US as lockstep. There are areas
in the US that are very entrepreneurial.
We happened to be in one of those areas,
so it was part of our culture. However,
there are many areas of the US that are
not entrepreneurial at all.
But the similarities happen at the state
level. We all know what California has
done. You must have leadership with a
plan, a leadership that sets the stage so
that businesses can operate with confidence.
This makes all the difference in the
world. We have that in Colorado. So the
differences are that we can’t do it at the
federal level. I think Portugal has a chance
to be much more effective in setting
policies at the federal level.
[P] Do you have to be out of your mind or have
a screw loose to be a leader? Or be emotional
and impulsive? And what about the Unreasonable
Institute?
[PJ] Absolutely, yeah. [laughs]. Human
nature tends to resist change. There’s a
defining characteristic in entrepreneurs,
it’s that they seek; they live within the
threshold of the unreasonable. I know I
do. I believe that if you are not changing,
you are falling behind, because the world
is changing. It’s changing (tapping on the
table) every single second. Anybody who
wants to maintain the status quo is falling
behind, because the world is moving fast.
There’s always a better way; there’s always
a different way; always a new opportunity.
There’s always a change that can be
identified, embraced, and somehow taken
advantage of.
Entrepreneurs take risks that most people
won’t take, and then immediately set to
work on reducing those risks. They don’t
like to live in a constant state of risk, but
they have the skills. And this brings us to
education. If you can teach someone to
understand how to evaluate a risk and
what things need to be considered to
reduce that risk, then you can put them
in a position where they can feel comfortable
and say, “This is a reasonable risk to
take, I guess. I’m not being unreasonable
in taking it, because there’s a reasonable
chance I can overcome the remaining
risks. And if I can do that, then I will learn
from it.”
*with André Sebastião
About the center
for entrepreneurship
education in portugal
The Center for Entrepreneurship Education
in Portugal (CEEP) is a not‑for‑profit asso‑
ciation of individuals, educational organi‑
zations, companies, government entities
and civil society organizations. The mis‑
sion of CEEP is to help in the development
and implementation of national programs
in entrepreneurship education and training
through research projects, education,
training, and public policy development.
CEEP was created in 2010 through agree‑
ments with various national entities
including: Universidade de Lisboa,
Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Centro
Regional do Porto, Universidade do
Algarve and ISCTE‑Audax – Centro de
Investigação e Apoio ao Empreendedorismo
e Empresas Familiares.
Parallel no. 6 | FALL | WINTER 2011 51