Isabel Neves is the president of the Lisbon Business Angels Club (LBAC) and one of the investors in Shark Tank Portugal. We met with her for an interview during the third anniversary of the LBAC, in which another round of startup pitches took place. It was a full house event where angel investors and startups got the chance to meet each other to handle business opportunities.
In this interview, Isabel Neves talks about the kind of business she’s looking for, the traits of a successful entrepreneur, and the growing participation of women in business.
Miguel Salvado: Isabel Neves, Welcome.
Isabel Neves: Thank you very much.
“Shark Tank is a great moment for me because I can show what I do, what I love, and I’ve been finding very good projects”
Isabel Neves
Tell us about your experience with Shark Tank Portugal.
It’s a great experience. I think it’s a great moment for me because I can show what I do, what I love, and I’ve been finding very good projects.
What kind of projects are you looking for?
Very different. Projects in the cosmetic, cork, fashion, and education industries. These are four different areas and projects, for different and lovely persons.
“In a pitch, you must show three things: what you do, what you do different from others, and which is your market.”
Isabel Neves
What everybody wants to know is when you listen to a startup pitch, what kind of indicators do you feel to be the right ones for you to invest?
In a pitch, you must show three things: what you do, what you do differently from others, and which is your market. These three different things are very important to me when listening to a pitch. Another thing which is very important to me is the determination of the entrepreneur.
“The entrepreneur must be a mentally strong person, very determined and resilient.”
Isabel Neves
For you as an investor, what kind of traits do you find interesting in an entrepreneur?
The entrepreneur must be a mentally strong person, very determined and resilient, that’s very important.
“Women are everywhere, in schools, in universities, in politics. It’s not really a phenomenon of our days because it has been happening over the last 20 years.”
Isabel Neves
Just last week at the Web Summit, the CEO Paddy Cosgrave said there was a record for women attendees. How do you feel about the growing participation of women in business?
Everybody talks about the growing participation of women in business, I’ve been witnessing this situation from 20 years ago, so I saw this phenomenon unfolding first-hand. This is not something that happens only today. If people saw the mutation in this world during the last two decades, women are everywhere, in schools, in universities, in politics so it’s not really a phenomenon of our days but has been happening over the last 20 years.
If you could sum up in a sentence a good piece of advice to share with young entrepreneurs, what would you say?
Go, fly away, because the world is ours.
Isabel Neves, thank you very much for this interview.
Thank you very much.