Héctor Cuenca: "The discourse of entrepreneurship can reach absurd limits".

A conversation about the incipient new paradigm in the workplace.

At 21 years old, Héctor Cuenca coordinates, as partner and growth manager, an ambitious project: NewGen (also known as Odder). It is a platform born in Barcelona that aims to connect young professionals who have decided to bet on a promising idea.

In addition to trying to find out more about this interesting project in which he is immersed, we wanted to meet with this student of Business Administration and Management and Law to talk about the concept of entrepreneurship and the new labor reality of those who have not yet passed thirty.

Psychology and Mind: We know that lately you are dedicating your time to NewGen, which is a platform to connect entrepreneurs and make things easier for them to develop their project. Am I right?

Hector CuencaHéctor Cuenca: That and trying to get two careers, in that order of priorities (laughs).

At NewGen you have also had the idea of offering the possibility for the people enrolled to have the support of mentors who are experts in different areas of work. How did the idea come about?

It is not something new. The mentoringmentoring, as it is called today, is an institution as old as mankind. What is new is the willingness to create platforms that democratize access to it. That is, nowadays, if you want to receive mentoring from someone, the most you can do is ask for advice from family, friends, ex-professors... And be lucky enough that one of them has enough faith in the project and in you, as well as enough time and resources to help you develop it. What does this mean? That people with a higher social background, or with larger networks of contacts, are the ones who really get mentors capable of making a difference. What we propose -and it is something that is working quite well in the US, facilitating the success of novel, viable and original projects and the social ascent of their creators- is to create a completely transparent platform, where you can see the different mentors who are willing to invest a monthly afternoon in a project, as well as their skills and background. background In addition, these mentors can also view the profiles of all kinds of young people who apply for mentoring and select from among them the one who seems most qualified, brilliant, original... In short, it is a way of prioritizing talent and originality over social circle and social background.

What is an entrepreneur? What is the difference, in your opinion, between "entrepreneurship" and "social entrepreneurship"?

Entrepreneur is, in theory, the person who, with his or her creativity, comes up with a new product (or a variation on a product) that provides added value that is completely different from those on the market and who is capable of, at least, taking the necessary steps to get the project off the ground. Not every businessman is an entrepreneur; nor is everyone who "has an idea"... It is necessary to demystify that "having an idea"; there is a joke among entrepreneurs that, like so many jokes, hides a great truth "-I have a magnificent business idea, I just need an investor willing to finance it and an engineer capable of carrying it out -So what do you have?" An entrepreneur is not an intellectual who makes castles in the air, but an executor. Another thing is that this is desirable: one could argue, quite rightly, that there should be bodies, state or private, that would make it possible for all good ideas (viable, with real added value and with a positive impact on society) to have funding and personnel to carry them out, and then we entrepreneurs could just be planners, and it would certainly be more efficient and fun, but unfortunately that is not the reality.

For me, for the sector I belong to, I have some pretty good ideas... Let's leave it there. For me, there should be no difference between entrepreneurship y social entrepreneurshipThere is neither a viable economy based simply on "social projects", which are often unprofitable, nor a society worth belonging to if the economically profitable projects are harmful to that same society. There is a concept in economics that, if only it were taken into account and corrected, would put an end to much of the cruelty of market failures: externalities. externalities. An externality is a result (generally negative) of the activity of a specific company that, because it has no impact whatsoever on the company itself, is not accounted for. This is the case, for example, of toxic discharges in the absence of regulation in the state concerned. Since not a single dollar is spent, this activity is not recorded. If only the States would calculate through impartial audits the externalities of each company, and would not allow the existence of projects that -even in purely economic terms- cause more harm than good to society, we would put an end to the need to differentiate between profitable but soulless "Entrepreneurship" and committed but unviable "Social Entrepreneurship". Moreover, I believe that precisely this dichotomy is very harmful to our worldview: it bathes everything that has public utility with a certain patina of insolvency, of utopia, of deficit.

Do you think that the entrepreneurial discourse is abused? On the other hand, what do you think is the relationship between this new way of understanding labor relations and the phenomenon of the "precariat"?

Of course it is abused. It is a very useful discourse in a situation like the current one, of galloping economic and institutional crisis, and of increasing disengagement of the States towards their citizens, as well as of increasing labor flexibility. And of course, sometimes this leads to absurd points, where it seems that you have to become an entrepreneur and a freelancer even the unskilled worker in construction or industry. There is a perverse side to this, especially when Spanish legislation makes it so difficult for freelancers. freelancers (or freelancers, as they have been called all their lives). Moreover, we return to the question "What is being an entrepreneur?" and we see that by the very nature of the concept, it is only applicable either to sectors in rapid evolution or to classic but "creative" professions, from Law to Literature or Marketing, in which the personal characteristics of the worker can make the difference.

Misuse (and abuse) of the concept is where failpreneurs end up coming from. failpreneursoften simply precarious entrepreneurs/self-employed for whom the company ends up being, rather, a poorly paid job and even more of a slave than if they were employees. You can not tell the unemployed in all sectors, regardless of their training, that "let's see if they are entrepreneurs", because then we have cases like Rubí, the dormitory town where I lived for many years, where the turnover of owners of bars, stores, etc. is enormous, generating even more frustration and poverty in those who came looking for a source of income and stability in having their own business.

Furthermore, and as I said before, even a good idea in a creative sector does not always allow you to get ahead: There are not enough financing instruments, help for entrepreneurs, etc. In the end, instead of the "creator," you have to be, especially in the beginning, the boss. boss and the last monkey at the same time. And yes, during that time, you are a "precarious". And so much.

What is your vision of the current labor market and why do you think that "entrepreneurship" is a good option to provide a way out for so many young people who can't find a job? Is entrepreneurship a kind of "panacea" to end unemployment?

Well, in the medium to long term it is very different. As things stand, you can't compete on the downside. The offshoringThe offshoring, increasing mechanization and technological improvements mean that the market demand for unskilled workers in Europe and much of the Western world is clearly declining. When your job can be done by anyone, in a world with 7,000,000,000,000 people and rising, they will find someone to do it cheaper than you. That's the way it is, that's why you can't compete on the bottom. Especially when, as Toni Mascaró said in our event last November 13, in a matter of years we can witness the automation of all production processes in the developed world.

In such a world, the only real alternative for Europe's youth is to bring a lot of added value. To be able to do things that literally no one else is able to do, at least not in the same way. We have the perfect infrastructure: almost universal health coverage; free basic public education; the best universities in the world and the highest per capita income on the planet... On that basis, either we create a society of elites or we are making an idiot of ourselves. Spain, as a paradigmatic example of playing the idiot: we have one of the most educated youth in the world, with a very remarkable percentage of students in the total population, and we are seeing how many must leave the country or accept jobs below their capabilities and qualifications. It cannot be allowed, it is a real waste of talent and public money.

What characteristics do you think define entrepreneurs, and is there a common characteristic that defines their personality or outlook on life?

I suppose there is a certain mix between ambition (why deny it) and independence, a combination, in my opinion, of a humanist person, with a certain halo of romanticism, like the Corsair of Byron or the Pirate of Espronceda (laughs). At the end of the day, you become an entrepreneur at that moment when you think: "And these are the job opportunities that society offers me? I think I can do more, so if the job I deserve doesn't exist, I will have to create it myself, and that has a touch of rebellion, of quixotism, of not accepting the pre-established status quo.

Entrepreneurship is also related to youth and, moreover, to the ability to be creative. Based on what you have seen at NewGen, do you think that creativity is more highly valued today than it used to be?

I don't know if it is valued or not yet, but I think it should be, since it is a rising value. It is the only competitive advantage, at the labor level, that European and Western youth have over those in other parts of the world. And at other levels, if we stop to think about it: we are a small part, both geographically and demographically, and not exactly one of the richest in natural resources. In the long run, it's that or nothing.

Since Psychology and Mind is a website dedicated to psychology, I would like to delve a little deeper into this aspect. Do you think that the paradigm shift in the workplace is influencing in a negative way our ability to develop in this society?

Perhaps it is for us, since the crisis has caught us by surprise. We were the most hopeful generation in the history of this country (and surely the same could be said in the rest of the West), and now we have fewer possibilities than those who preceded us... It has been a blow, clearly. It has left many young people, and not so young, without a place in society, and those who are still part of it have been given positions far below what they expected or deserved. Now, I believe that some of us will come out of this stronger, especially those who have grown up during the crisis. I think that many of us have an attitude of "If it does not exist, if it is not done, we will have to invent it" and that can be a very important source of social change. We start with the most basic thing, work, without which we have no source of sustenance or role in society... But imagine if the same attitude were applied to politics or any other area. We don't like the existing parties? Let's create one. We don't like this cultural system? Well, let's think of a better one. We could be one of the most influential generations in History... But for that we have to understand where the entrepreneurial phenomenon comes from: from the lack of solutions from Papa State and Mama Corporation (plus Uncle Scrooge McDuck from the Bank) and ask ourselves that if when they don't give us a job we set it up ourselves, then maybe we should do the same if they don't give us justice or democracy.

What is the merit or value that you found in Psychology and Mind What made you want to include us as one of the outstanding initiatives within NewGen?

Precisely that, that you have been a "Juan Palomo: I cook it, I eat it"; an example of entrepreneurship well understood: starting from scratch, with a good idea, a lot of work and without anyone giving you anything for free. Fuck, you guys are pretty cool. Besides, you have lived that "precariousness" of the one who starts a project, combining it with long working days in a different profession from the one you had studied for... You are a paradigm of entrepreneurship.