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I'm Carlos, a 30 year old entrepreneur from Barcelona.
I'm a jack of all trades with 8+ years of international experience (Spain, US, UK, Hong Kong, Israel, Australia & Germany) having launched & scaled a few companies as a founder.
People tell me I’m good with people (they seem to like how I bring people together), they also compliment me for my ability to build companies, and tell me I’m crazy when they learn about my adventures.
I studied Management Science with a scholarship between the UK, Hong Kong and Australia. Whilst at university, I co-founded my first startup - a marketplace for travel accommodation. During this period (where I made a lot of mistakes) I learned the ins & outs of how startups worked: bootstrapping, launching an MVP, getting traction, going through accelerators in Israel & the US, spending 40 days staying with users in 9 countries, raising venture capital, hiring, firing, rebranding and relentless product iteration.
Since then, I’ve been hooked, and have gone on to start a few more companies where I’ve been fortunate enough to lead, mentor & invest in several startups around the world. My roles have usually been rooted in managing the team, the product, and the day to day running of the company.
I'm also an advocate for side hustles, so during my career I've been growing my +100K Youtube Channel and previously ran a one man creative agency where I helped brands and startups tell visual stories, where some of my clients include GoPro, CocaCola, WeWork, Red Bull, Universal Music Group and Tropicfeel.
For a detailed breakdown of my experience feel free to download my CV here.
Interests
👨🏻💻 Startups
🌍 Adventure Travel - I've visited over 86 countries and lived in 8 of them - see where I’ve been
🏍 Motorcycles - I'm big into adventure Motorcycle trips: rode across the Himalayas, the Andes & the Sahara Desert with the purpose to get people out of their comfort zone.
🏄 Outdoor sports - I love surfing & skiing
🧘♂️ Mindfulness, meditation & journaling.
🎬 Filmmaking - I’m Award winning documentary filmmaker with millions of views & produced films for companies like GoPro, Red Bull or renowned artists like Vance Joy
🧠 Personal Productivity - GTD technique, Eissenhowermatrix etc.
📚 Reading (take a look at my reading list here)
🤖 AI & LLMs
🤓 No-code & low code tools
🚗 Overlanding - I raced overland 16,000km from London to Mongolia to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust.
🎸 Live Music
♟ Chess & Catan (& strategy board games)
Media
2GO Podcast - Carlos Costa, co-founder @Buo
Proyecta Podcast - Impact entrepreneurship, Carlos Costa
El Referente - Buo closes a €2M investment round to launch anti-Quick Commerce in Europe
Emprendedores (ESP)- The Spanish startup that allows you to share a Netflix or Spotify account
NovoBrief - Novobrief’s 2023 40 Under 40
Referente - Pulpo gets €550,000 in a round led by European investors.