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As it turns out, these old-fashioned values provide an ideal environment in which to do new economy business. "You don't have to push and prod people — they motivate themselves and they will work all hours," says José Suárez, founder and ceo of leatherxchange.com, a business-to-business information and trading site for the global leather industry. He cites a typical Monday at leatherxchange.com by way of example — a 7.30 a.m. meeting is the norm, followed by a 12-hour day.
Like Pérez-Tenessa, Suárez, 40, is not a native Catalan. Raised in Panama and educated at graduate level in the U.S., he started leatherxchange.com in late 1999, opting to set up in Barcelona for personal reasons — the city's beauty — and commercial reasons — affordable real estate and high-quality personnel. Unlike eDreams, however, his company did not gravitate toward the glamour of the World Trade Center. Instead he picked a plainer building southwest of the old town where 48 employees are spread out over two floors and the early evening sun packs a breathtaking punch as it sets over the city.
It is not only the entrepreneurs and the government that are keen to drive the boom. According to the European Venture Capital Association, about $89 million was raised in 1999 to fund Spanish high-tech start-ups, a fivefold increase over the year before. And despite the more recent turmoil in the markets, "very serious initiatives" to raise money are continuing, says Pedro de Esteban, managing director of the Spanish office of Internet investment company Europ@web. "Things are changing fast."
Amid all this enthusiasm, however, a funding dynamic has emerged that pits native Catalans against U.S.-educated newcomers like Pérez-Tenessa and Suárez, as homegrown dotcommers find themselves passed over for venture capital in favor of those with élite names like Harvard and Stanford on their résumés. American-style degrees, Esteban argues, stress team spirit and a global outlook — qualities that are vital to success in the Internet age. "We want people who can run international companies," he says. "In today's environment, it's not enough to be an entrepreneurial guy from Barcelona."
It's a lesson that has not been lost on Carlos Blanco, 31, a native Catalan who is director of ServiFutbol.com, a Spanish-language soccer website. Blanco's 24 staff work a shift system, tucked tightly into three rooms. Although he lacks a qualification from a brand-name U.S. school, Blanco has been working in the IT business since he was 19. But while his site, which sells its content to portals like Yahoo, is profitable, he has had difficulty finding money to expand. "People who invest in the Internet only trust [names on] CVs," he sighs.
As the new economy blossoms in Barcelona, investors might do well to nourish homegrown Catalan talent alongside better-known U.S. imports.
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