I left the United States for Portugal and I launched an olive oil company

This test also told is based on a transcribed conversation with Nader Akhnoukh, an entrepreneur living in Portugal. The following has been modified for duration and clarity.

I started my career as a software design engineer in 1999, working in various technological companies in Boston and San Francisco. In 2008, my wife and I took a year off to travel the world and it was revealing.

In 2009, we moved to Colorado and founded a content management software company, Kapost. I was the CTO and I developed the company for nine years until it was acquired by Upland for $ 50 million in 2019. As an adult, I was satisfied on my part of the product.

After the acquisition, I worked as a co -founder and CTO to go, a transport market assisted in California. I helped to evolve the company until its acquisition in the summer of 2021.

Move to Portugal and consider my career options

After a long career in technology, I felt ready to change. At 42, my family and I left Colorado for Portugal. My wife and I wanted a slower rhythm of life and a better time for our three sons aged 5, 8 and 10 years old.

We have applied for the Golden Residence permit program in Portugal, which is a five -year residence program by investment for the not of the EU nationals. The process was quite simple. We had to show that we were going to the Economy of Portugal by investment, real estate or donation. We ended up investing in a Portuguese real estate fund.

When I arrived in 2020, I fell in love with culture, people and food. Our sons, especially the two youngest, quickly acclimatized.

I always worked with forward, but I wanted to get away from the screens and connect with something tangible that would base me in the culture of my new house.

By exploring the culinary scene in Portugal, I learned how it revolves around olive oil. I started to visit Olivier’s farms and search for industry. I planned to buy an olive farm but I quickly realized that local producers had perfected their profession during generations – an expertise that I could not reproduce.

I thought about commercial ideas with a former colleague back in Colorado, Riley Gibson. We had complementary skills and we were eager to work together again. None of us had experience in agriculture or export, but Riley said he wanted to help me build something new.

Portuguese love for olive oil inspired me to start a business

In January 2024, we officially launched an olive oil company called Willy Virgin. We are approaching oil from local producers and shipping it to the United States.

I immersed myself in the local olive growth regions and I finished a sommelier program with olive oil. I took lessons to improve my Portuguese and reach an intermediate level to connect with producers who had limited English.

I used the product of my past companies to finance a wild virgin and live in Portugal. Fortunately, the low cost of living compared to the United States means that my family and I have maintained our comfortable lifestyle.

I don’t have Virgin’s salary. I see a path to profitability this year, but I don’t know if I will still be able to pay myself. The financial reality of the management of an olive oil company is very different from work in technology.

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Technology and olive oil startups are not so different

People were surprised by my transition from technology to olive oil, but my history has proven to be precious. The fundamental principles of startups are the same. You must offer customer value and obtain an adjustment from the product market, whether software or olive oil.

Scaling Wilty demanded the same workload as my technological startup career. We establish quarterly objectives, follow the measures and analyze operational challenges and market positioning.

In software, you can iterate every week, constantly refine your offer. With olive oil, certain elements such as marketing strategy can evolve quickly, but the development of basic product follows the chronology of nature: there is only one olive harvest each year, demanding reflected planning and patience.

The harvest occurs at the end of the year, so the start of the year is an intensive operationally as we test and select the oils, the source packaging and coordinates with the sellers for traffic jams and labels. When summer arrives and our products become available for sale, we focus on marketing.

I hope this company will fill the gap between my news and old experiences

Portugal was a cultural change for my family, but also a revealing career pivot.

The corporate culture operates here on a different pace. I spent a whole year traveling across the country, meeting producers, practicing Portuguese and establishing links. Relations are essential in business here.

In the United States, networking is important, but on a smaller scale in the world of software, where conversations occur at a distance or behind the scenes.

Although I cherish to live in Portugal, I felt somewhat disconnected from my professional network in the United States. I hope that a practical company like Willy Virgin helps to fill this gap, especially by working with Riley in the United States.

Singor from technology gave me a point of view on what made this special industry. I sometimes miss the bustle of software development. However, I can imagine a future where we could mix both technological worlds and olive oils, perhaps by incorporating a subscription model or an innovation of our technological aspects

Living in Portugal and the construction of the wild Virgin here is at the heart of our business. I fell in love with this country.