Juan Imaz: Be humble, learn, change, and grow.

Juan Imaz is Executive Chairman of beBee. A remarkable entrepreneur. As a person he is friendly, approachable and has a great sense of humor. As a businessman he is extremely persistent and focused. I hope to have the pleasure of meeting Juan one day. From various posts, here are extracts which exemplify the attitude of a true entrepreneur. 

Juan grew up in tough conditions during the Spanish civil war. He says his mother "was the great heroine as she got her three children along despite the great difficulties" and he describes her as "the best person in the world". From humble beginnings, Juan went to university, and early on started his own businesses. In time came Mixmail, Canalmail and Media Response to name a few. About two years ago, he co-founded beBee.

Already he has created a legacy and speaks about it in his very first first post on beBee: “For me it has always been very important to leave a legacy to the world being proud of having been able to create something that is really a positive evolution and contribution to our society.”

A salesman in his early life and a businessman for many years, he has vast experience in negotiation. 

“Egoist or tough negotiators lose deals. After 26 years in business I have learnt that you need to think win-win to make money and generate engagement to you and your business." 

"Most of us learn to base our self-worth on comparisons and competition. We think about succeeding in terms of someone else failing (that is, if I win, you lose; or if you win, I lose). Life becomes a zero-sum game.  Unfortunately this way of thinking is very expensive because it means that you are constantly thinking in the short-term, burning out your prospects and losing better options in the medium and long term. If you think win-lose you have a short-term mentality. Short-term means you are unable to create empathy and confidence and also that you are "destroying the grass below your feet". 

"Win-win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win-win means agreements or solutions that are mutually beneficial and satisfying.”

On the start of his partnership with Javier beBee, Juan tells: “I was looking to hire the best guy I could to be the CTO of Canalmail. I made over 15 interviews until Javier came for an interview. Javier is 1.96 meters tall, a very serious guy. Javier also has a PHD in technology from Deusto University, a highly prestigious university in Spain. Also he has a post graduation in software engineering and he was working for Oracle at that time. He had just won the EMEA "Architect of Success" award from Oracle in 1999. I asked him... from 0 to 100%, how comfortable are you in building and developing the whole technical infrastructure of an email marketing company? He said: 100%. I had found my CTO...”

Have you ever wondered where the idea of beBee came from? Juan relays: “In 2014 I was having lunch with Javier and we were discussing the lack of relevance in the existing social networks. A new idea came up... why not create a new social network where the people, the groups, and the content were relevant? A social network not based on your existing contacts but on new people who share your same professional or personal interests? Why not create an affinity-based network? The beBee concept was born...”

Juan has written many posts on personal branding. In one paragraph he sums it up perfectly: “Personal branding is the means by which people remember you. Perhaps you may not see yourself as a brand, but the truth is that we all are. Our personal brand is how we present ourselves online and offline. It is the way we market ourselves and our careers as a brand. When you engage in personal branding, you are taking the effort to manage the way you showcase yourself to others.”

On the importance of empathy: “Especially in order to succeed as a start-up you must take on what others tell you and see things from a different perspective, as if you were in their shoes. You must be able to appreciate, understand and share those feelings of others. “Empathy is a hard business skill that’s absolutely critical to the bottom line” This empathy must be directed at your customers, workers, partners and all who you are working with. Greater and deeper relationships are built upon feelings of trust and feelings, which is why in order to have long-lasting and genuine relationships you must have empathy. A key ingredient to success is empathy.”

Juan explains his mindset and entrepreneurial success as follows:  “This is something that I learnt during the journey - consistency and persistence, determination, tunnel-vision and having a one track-mind all conquer resistance. Juan tells of his entrepreneurial drive in an interview with Mamen Delgado. He set up his first company while still at university. It did not succeed but he says “above all, I am a fighter who never gives up.” Further ventures followed, ultimately to big success from his humble beginnings: “I'm used to being humble and always look for difficulty as a way of growth.” He gives us the plan that he uses:

"Yes, this is the system I learned and I advise everyone:

1. Define your goals

2. Commit yourself to the accomplishment

3. Draw up your strategy and an action plan

4. Work hard to achieve it

5. Constantly review how you are doing

6. Keep your focus on the goal and modify point 3 if necessary

7. Do not pause until you get point 1"

“I believe that every human being needs challenges in order to demonstrate his ability. We need challenges that make us better and grow. If you are only looking for easy areas or comfort, there will come a day when you regret it. "What is comfortable for today is uncomfortable for tomorrow" and vice versa... "What is uncomfortable for today is comfortable for tomorrow". I advise everyone to flee from their comfort zone.”

To end, a quote that epitomizes the spirit of Juan Imaz: "I've set up a few companies and I've never stopped learning. I would like to explain a formula that I have practiced since I started: Be humble, learn, change and grow."