Interview with Tocha — Portugal-based entrepreneur, early-stage Angel Investor, Invest-Community Lead, Podcast host (Bitalk), creative villages builder and much more. Let’s have a chat with him.
Hi Tocha, could you please tell us more about your activities today in Portugal as an investor?
— I’m an entrepreneur and investor. I run Olisipo Way (olisipoway.com), a pre-seed investor in Portugal. I’m one of the founders of Angels Way (angelsway.pt), a community-driven investor focused on Portuguese-based early-stage startups. I also host Bitalk (bitalk.pt), Portugal’s most prominent business and entrepreneurship podcast.
So who are you?
— I wear many different hats. At Olisipo Way, we’re a community of founders of around 60 companies, from profitable businesses to startups (web 2 & 3), based in Portugal. I also support and help develop the Portuguese entrepreneurial ecosystem through Bitalk, a business podcast, and Angels Way, a community-based investor. Besides, I manage an internal team providing accounting & legal assistance and other kinds of support to our early-stage companies.
What is important to you?
— Growing the community within Portugal is very important to us. That’s why we only invest in businesses based in Portugal. Managing communities is another passion. At OW community, Bitalk, and Angels Way, we strive to create value through sharing. We also focus on nature and sustainability. Besides living on a rural farm on Lisbon’s outskirts, we have rebuilt a rural schist village – Cerdeira (cerdeirahomeforcreativity.com), to intersect tourism and nature and are now undertaking a massive challenge to reconstruct a second one – Silveira Tech (silveiratech.pt) were we strive to intersect nature with entrepreneurship.
How do you choose which companies to invest in? What are the important factors for you? How do you ensure their potential?
— We invest in the pre-seed stages of startups, and the most crucial factor for us is finding passionate people who want to solve real problems. We prefer to focus on niche solutions and less obvious ideas. Investment always involves risk (that’s why it’s called venture investment), and you need to take risks to have the opportunity to succeed. We invest if the people behind the project are passionate, resilient, and hard-working. We invest in the pre-seed stage, companies based in Portugal and not competitors with companies already part of the Olisipo Way community. For investors, it’s essential to be honest and give their genuine opinions about the projects, which I strive for every day.
What are the most important qualities for an entrepreneur?
— Curiosity, passion, and resilience. The ones who ask questions and are passionate enough to build companies for at least 10-15 years are the ones who succeed.
What do you think about Portuguese startups and the tech ecosystem?
— A lot has been done in the past ten years, and seeing the evolution has been great. We still have work ahead, but I’m optimistic about the future. We must welcome more entrepreneurs and investors to Portugal who can share their experience, capital, and networks and help build an amazing and unique ecosystem. When we have people doing stuff, stuff happens.