Portugal has become a ‘great place’ for startups to begin life

The president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, considers, in an interview with Lusa, that Portugal has become a “great place” for a startup to start life and hire “talented people”, classifying as “remarkable” the change of the country in recent years.

“It is remarkable to see how much in Portugal has changed, how vibrant the technology sector has become in Portugal,” he continued, giving the example of Web Summit, which ends on Thursday in Lisbon.

“Look at how Web Summit itself fits into Portugal today,” Brad Smith pointed out. Currently, “we have 2,000 employees in Portugal and I remember when Microsoft had two”, he commented, smiling.

So, “we’ve seen a thousand-fold growth in terms of the number of employees we have here,” he added.

“I think Portugal has become a great place for a ‘startup’ to start its life,” he considered, pointing out that the country has also become a “great place to hire talented people”.

And, he added, “it’s not just in Lisbon”, but in the “multiple cities and towns in Portugal”.

“I think if you look at the long term, the most fundamental ingredient for any country is its talent,” he stressed.

In that sense, “Portugal has great home-grown talent in terms of people who were born here” and has become “a welcoming home for talent from the rest of Europe and even beyond”, he stressed.

“I think it’s a pretty magical combination for the future of Portugal,” the Microsoft president concluded.

The Web Summit kicked off on November 1 and ends this Thursday in Lisbon.