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Olisipo Way: an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem

Not depending on a customer, a product or a market was the objective that we set out to achieve in 2007 when we designed the strategy that Olisipo has been implementing in recent years.

In 2014, these words contextualized the reality of Olisipo’s business. The 20 years of the company were celebrated and the path of the last years was marked: Olisipo had grown, diversified its business, invested in the quality of services, in the excellence of the team, in innovation, and had encouraged the creation of more than a dozen new companies with their own offers, visions and leadership. We were at the genesis of what is today Olisipo Way.

A birthplace of startups

The seeds of growth, innovation and internationalization that characterized the Olisipo ecosystem, so often called Olisipo Group, began to be launched.

The desire to have a business incubator, expressed among the strategic lines defined in 2007, naturally began to bear fruit and Olisipo’s arms began to receive several business projects. And they started to arrive in various ways and moved by very different objectives.

If the first wave of projects came from experienced employees with business ideas and an entrepreneurial spirit, quickly elements external to Olisipo also began to be attracted by this ecosystem and to propose the realization, together, of new companies and projects.

Situations in which people came to us, some with project ideas and the ability to implement them and others just with the idea, but in need of someone to help them implement it.

Olisipo Way: the consolidation of an innovation project

Equipa Olisipo Way brainstorm
Working session with Olisipo Way founders team

In less than a decade, “Olisipo Group” has grown and already involved around 20 companies, with a universe of around 550 employees.

In 2015, a natural step was taken towards consolidating this ecosystem, a community of companies so close but at the same time so autonomous.

With the birth of Olisipo Way, all the companies in which this company holds share capital are included, under a single entity, including Olisipo, the oldest and most solid company in this group and which has been the pivotal company of the entire ecosystem.

Investment

Olisipo Way is an Early Stage Venture Firm. As the name implies, the investment is focused on projects and startups at an early stage, just as it happened in Olisipo’s innovative genesis. But more than merely financial investments, the objective continues to be to help these companies to grow, with a hands-on operational logic in all projects and with a team and structure dedicated to supporting all administrative, financial, human resources, marketing and sales needs.

Olisipo Way invests in projects that can make a difference in the area of Information Technologies, applied to the most varied businesses and sectors.

Community

Creating a company is a difficult process. Every day there are complicated decisions to make and resilience is mandatory. Being flexible is a priority. But this is often not enough.

The community of Olisipo Way involves founders, managers and specialists and has a unique methodology to advise and help any entrepreneur. Nothing better than hearing the difference through the mouth of those who have gone through the experience:

Olisipo Way is a community. Entrepreneurs, innovators, creators and doers. Know the projects and faces of this great team. Being part of it just depends on you.

www.olisipoway.com

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A step-by-step guide to building IT teams in Portugal

There has never been a better time to consider setting up a tech hub in Portugal. Here’s a 6 step guide to start setting foot in the country.

There has never been a better time to consider setting up a tech hub in Portugal, considered internationally a premium location with some of the most valued characteristics for international companies: 

  • English is widely spoken; 
  • Office and staffing costs are low compared to other European countries; 
  • The capital, Lisbon, is considered the safest in Europe;
  • European leader in connectivity
  • Hotels have excellent value to cost ratio;
  • Timezone proximity: GMT and halfway between America and Asia

And most importantly…

Access to the portuguese tech talent pool!

Here’s our step-by-step guide to start building your tech team in Portugal:

STEP 1: DEFINING THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

Building a relationship with Olisipo for a tech project starts with sitting down and understanding your needs such as the scope of the project; the Team and Skills that will be required and your expectations about timing and the kind of outputs the team will deliver. We will be ready to start building your team from start to finish, identifyingchoosingtraining and managing the best developers; testers; sys admins; network experts; project managers; designers; you name it! 

STEP 2: MAKING SURE IT’S A CULTURAL MATCH

We’re living in a candidate-driven era and the best IT Pro’s have their hands full of good projects and companies to choose from. Salary is always important but most of the time it all comes down to cultural fit. We want to know you better and explore what makes you unique. What are you working on? What are your goals? How do you do things? What are your policies? How do you manage communication? Your teach team will be an extension of your company culture back at home and we will work together to make sure the team will be wearing your flag with pride. 

STEP 3: DESIGNING SOLUTIONS FOR THE BEST RESULTS

Once your team is set up and ready to go, it’s time to map out business processes. First: we want you to be part of the recruitment process and do things your own way.  We’ll be at your side the whole way. Second: establishing communication channels with the team and project managers will be essential. Once we are confident the team is ready to start working according to your workflow processes, we’re set up for success. 

STEP 4: HIRING THE BEST AND KEEPING THE BEST

Olisipo has been working in the outsourcing market for 26 years, making us the most experienced company in Portugal hiring, training and managing the careers of IT professionals.  We will get the word out for your project and make sure the professionals you need will consider your project. The next step is to keep them happy and engaged in your goals. Our approach to the outsourcing market has been making a difference for more than two decades. We don’t engage in temporary employment or temporary business results. We make sure everybody has a plan to keep growing without leaving and the access to Training has been an excellent tool for that goal.

STEP 5: TRAINING AS A GROWING TOOL 

If you work in IT you already know that Training is the only way to keep yourself relevant. More than that, it’s one of the preferred ways of keeping you engaged and in love with the constant changes in the tech world. Our employees know exactly what we’re talking about because they won’t find another outsourcing company in Portugal that invests as we do in Training. First: We have our own Learning Center in Lisbon, dedicated to the continuous training and certification of our +400 professionals. Second: We have proudly become a provider of training for the consultants of our main competitors (the ones that do training at all). And third: our Learning Center is complemented with an official Pearson Vue test center and also with the Udemy e-Learning platform that we offer for free and with unlimited access to all employees. 

STEP 6: ONGOING TEAM AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT

Our job is not done once the team starts working on your project. We take care of everything from office to equipment; payroll, insurance and all other HR requirements; but most importantly we take care of our people. We’re with them everyday; we manage the human side of the job so you can focus on the technical side. Our goal is to make sure that all the headaches that usually arise from managing a remote office won’t be a problem. 

Ready to start a project with a portuguese tech team?

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Building IT teams in Portugal with Olisipo

In Ancient times, the region that today is called Lisbon held an importance that would not be unrelated to its excellent strategic position and the diversity of natural resources available. This region was integrated in the roman empire in 137 BC. The importance of this strategic location grew during the roman times and many public buildings, small factories and theaters were built, becoming the “maritime capital” of Lusitania (Iberia). This capital was called Olisipo.

FROM TRAINING PROJECTS TO OUTSOURCING TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

In 1993 Olisipo was an idea in the minds of the two founders who were starting to do things in the business world, just like any other entrepreneur. Two professors with a “will to do something more” and take a new direction for their know-how in areas such as TrainingPeople Management and IT Management. This idea would materialize in the first days of 1994 with the foundation of a company named after the city where it was born. 

Since then we have come a long way. Our first projects were in Training and evolved to more complex requests from our clients to recruiting and building technical teams using an outsourcing model. We gained confidence and grew exponentially but sustainably. In 2009 we surpassed the 300 employee mark and by 2011 we were the only portuguese IT company in the “Europe’s 500 Top Growing Companies”.

In parallel, we envisioned Olisipo’s future to be holding hands with innovation and entrepreneurship. Many IT companies traditionally choose to expand their business and market share by creating new consulting services; develop software products; or integrate with large software houses, but that would not be the case for Olisipo. In 2007 we looked at our “creative mass”, with hundreds of tech specialists, and we knew our growth would be in expanding to completely new ventures, building startups from scratch and helping them grow. We envisioned being a world class innovation hub centered in Lisbon

This hub materialized with the creation of Olisipo Way, an early stage venture firm that gathers a portfolio of more than 35 companies today. We invest in projects that can make a difference in the Information Technology area and especially in business to business. This strategy first favored the investment in business projects of our own employees and, eventually, in other entrepreneurs that were attracted by this innovation and investment hub. 

Joining forces with Olisipo is taking part in one of the strongest innovators ecosystems in Portugal.

Ready to create your corporate tech hub with us?