Today is my first day as CEO of JUMP TV, the new company I have just founded together with my good partners Jesús Herrero (COO) and John Pater (CTO). We are fully motivated to change the video and TV industry through Big Data and Artificial intelligence, and we are already knee deep into this fantastic challenge.
We are all full of energy at the new office. We all have plenty of big dreams, and it seems like we have hit upon the perfect moment, at the perfect time, and in the perfect place.
Before jumping into in the fast-paced business of making new dreams come true, I wanted to look back and reflect on how and why I ended up at this new office in the centrally located Plaza de España in Madrid.
I don’t think you just wake up one morning and say “Eureka! Let’s start a company!” At least, that’s not how it happened in my case. It all about an internal process, a process of reinventing yourself. Sometimes you don’t even know it’s happening.
What happened? Let’s recap….
I spent the last five and a half years working at an incredible company called Accedo where I was Vice President for Latin America and Southern Europe. I was very lucky to share the founder’s vision of the OTT market, and was fortunate that during this period they gave me the freedom to act like an entrepreneur with full independence to build the regional business and operations from scratch. I sincerely enjoyed this period of my career, and I’m already missing many of the amazing talented people there.
For my role, I travelled intensely because I managed offices in both Europe and South America where both my big team and many customers were spread across these large territories.
Intense business traveling (some years I spent more than 50% of my time away from home!) is full of personal challenges, as some of you probably know. One of the positive aspects is that you spent a lot of time with yourself. This time is just for you, and most of the time nobody can disturb you (until Wi-Fi is reliably offered in airplanes ;-)). You are afforded the time to listen to yourself and really assess how you feel you are doing, about what you are doing, and you can determine your priorities with clarity.
It is through travel that I came to fully appreciate how fast the world is changing, and I wanted to take part in this change with a significant, personal contribution. Life is too short, and if you can make a contribution that will have real, long-lasting impact, it is a beautiful way to leave your mark forever.
Additionally, last year I got married to a wonderful woman. We are looking forward to having our first baby, a girl, in May! Now I’m certain that although I didn’t know it in advance, I had most definitely been looking for a catharsis in my life.
For me it’s clear that traveling was the best way to catalyze the next phase of my personal journey even if I didn’t know the destiny until I arrived. Now I’m starting again. 🙂
Do you want to start the process of reinventing yourself? Just travel.
