Interviews with Baud's customers and friends
Client: Stackscale.
Interviewee: David Carrero Fernández-Baillo, Cofounder & VP Sales.
Interviewer: Clara López, member of the Baud team.
Interview date: April 7, 2020.
Image: David Carrero, Cofounder & VP Sales at Stackscale.
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Many of Baud's clients and friends are undertaking commendable initiatives. And we wanted to help give them a little more of a voice to continue bringing interesting and constructive stories to the global conversation.
Today we interview David Carrero Fernández-BailloCofounder & VP Sales of Stackscalethe expert brand in Private Cloud and Infrastructure. David is a reference in the world of internet and technology, having created and promoted several renowned companies in the sector. In his personal life, he is outgoing and sociable and maintains a very special bond with his hometown, Herencia, Ciudad Real.
At the onset of the coronavirus crisis, David, together with others involved, launched a project to supplying respirators to Spanish hospitals. In this interview he tells us how "it got out of hand", as well as his future prospects.
Interviewer: David, how do you see the current situation regarding coronavirus?
David: I see that this is a crisis that has hit us all at once and that the institutions, due to their structure, are so weak that they are not able to cope with it.We are not able to respond with agility to help us. I see that the institutions have the resources, but not the agility in their processes; they should be 'more entrepreneurial'. It is por that's why from the beginning we thought that to save ourselves, we had to do it ourselves, united, from the union in the neighborhood to help a neighbor, to the union on a larger scale to help more people, creating a community.
Image: respirators of the Project in Madrid Barajas with the help of health workers and Guardia Civil.
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E: How is it affecting you on a personal level?
D: Just like everyone else, we have to stay at home for 24 hours. In fact, we only go downstairs to throw out the garbage because we shop online at the neighborhood stores. We'd like to go out, but we're doing pretty well. The one who had it a bit worse, especially at the beginning, was our 16-month-old son, who didn't understand why we couldn't go out, but he's more used to it now.
E: And at the corporate level?
D: We thought we were not going affectbut in the end when something impacts everyone, it also impacts you. We work for a variety of sectors, so some have fallen (travel, for example), others are holding their own, and still others are in decline.We have changed our growth outlook and will now see it as an achievement to stay the same or grow less than expected over last year. Our growth outlook has changed and we will now see it as an achievement to stay the same or grow less than expected compared to last year.
In addition, we are considered critical infrastructure of the State due to the type of company and clients, such as the media, schools, universities, pay media companies, streaming,...
"Institutions have the resources, but not the agility in their processes; they would have to be 'more enterprise'."
E: How has your company reacted or transformed to deal with the coronavirus?
D: We have taken two fundamental measures. The first is teleworking, which we implemented a week before the State of Alarm. This has meant virtually no change for us since we are a 24/7 offshore company and we have all met together in person only once since our founding. We used to telecommute between offices and now we also telecommute between colleagues in the same office.
The second measure has been our commitment to the team and to improving the company. The improvement plan that we wanted to do in one year was done in just three weeks. We decided to work together to strengthen ourselves and be prepared for whatever might come. We think that, if we are prepared, we will be able to provide a better service to our customers when all this is over, but certainly also while it lasts.
"When something impacts everyone, it also impacts you."
E: To what extent have your company's values influenced you to tackle the transformation in this way?
D: Mucho, our values have been with us since the creation of the first technology companies. On the one hand, we have always been very courageous, even reckless, we have always bet and thought about a better future. On the other hand, the value of peopleWe have decided to keep the 100%. Hence, we have taken this crisis as an opportunity to bring forward the planned improvements for the customer, and an opportunity to do it as a team.
E: These days we have seen brands transforming and turning themselves around, doing things they would never have done before, like uniting for a common goal. #ogether initiative brands such as ALDI, LIDL, DKV Salud, Grupo Mutua... How do you rate it?
D: I had not heard about this initiative since we have reduced our news consumption at home, but there have been a lot of news and I see it as a good thing. Anything that inspires confidence in people and takes away a little bit of uncertainty is always good. I also believe that this situation is not going to affect the big brands so much and that they are taking advantage of it to position themselves. I think that the most affected are going to be the SMEs and the self-employed, who on the other hand are the fundamental fabric of this country.
E: How have you transformed yourself? Tell us about the Breathers Project.
D: I am involved in two initiatives. One in Herencia (Ciudad Real), my town, has a referral hospital that also helps nursing homes. It needed material that was difficult to obtain and the institutions did not collaborate with the necessary agility. It cost me very little to help them get it and so I did.
Another is that of respirators, which is part of the Entrepreneurs' Organization of Madrid of which I am a member, together with other entrepreneurs such as Eduardo Fernández from ShuttleCloud, Alex Marín from Lamucca Restaurants, Cristina de Santisteban from Boss Continental, Sascha Badelt from IE Business School...
"Our values have been with us since the creation of the first technology companies."
We started out wanting to buy them in China, but buying them there is very complicated, you have to pay in advance, they don't assure you when they will arrive or in what condition... So we came up with the alternative of buying second hand ventilators in Europe, thanks to Eduardo Fernandez and his wife Thea.
We brought 11 in an Iberia plane that helped us altruistically, like all those involved in this project: police, doctors, civil protection, civil guard... From there we continued with crowdfunding and private donations and it got out of hand.
We have been very agile, to date we have invested around 1.000.000 € and more than 90 ventilators in 20 hospitals in 10 cities of the country, and now it seems that the needs are slowing down because it is assumed that the Administration is already arriving with its purchases of new ventilators.os. We will be left with having helped doctors save lives when it was most needed.
Image: Project ventilator in operation.
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E: Tell us about other initiatives that surprised you positively.
D: A friend of Redexia, Alex BryszkowskiLoRaWan, together with other technology brands, developed and distributed free of charge in a field hospital in Barcelona a wireless alarm button for patients that could be quickly deployed in this type of facility. If the patient pressed the button, the doctor would immediately know which bed the patient was in.
Another initiative I know of is Albacete Ayuda, which has purchased material, provided social aid... for which they have raised almost 200,000 €.
In addition to the my people's relief initiativeHerencia, which has raised more than 30,000 euros to help the hospital, home help, nursing homes and anyone who may need it in the town and other surrounding villages.
There are many more, but knowing them all and keeping track of them all is complicated.
E: What do you think life will be like post-coronavirus, how will things change?
D: Everyone says that after this everything will change, but we don't know what will change.
One of the things that I think will change is relationships and valuing human and social aspects as more important than other issues such as work.
Another thing I hope will happen is a greater commitment to local. Before, we used to buy everything outside and somehow, the money went outside. I hope we value going to the greengrocer's next door, buying from local businesses... They are the same or better and also you help your community and generate less waste. For example, these days we shop online at local stores and they are much more agile, before we would go shopping in person. And in my town it is also being noticed a lot. In Herencia there are 10 market gardeners who can provide you with fruit and vegetables, and the neighbors are realizing that they are receiving the same service that a large supermarket can provide.
"I would like us to relearn the value of community."
Another issue is teleworking. Many companies used to say it was impossible and now that they have been forced to do it, it turns out that they can and it works just as well or better. There is more time for people, more conciliation, quality of life, time savings, savings for the company, less waste... Some companies are even considering not having an office or having it only for meetings. Of course, we'll see how the real estate sector, which is already lowering rental prices, takes it.
E: Anything to add?
D: Yes, I would like to point out as a lesson of what is happening that we all add up together and we can do many more things than we think we can, without waiting for the institutions. Each one of us is a tiny thing, but unity and community can take us to the next level. far away. I think we are recovering that culture, that of the community, to know it, to exploit it and to take advantage of it. It is something that in many cities was being lost, before you almost didn't even say hello, now we shop for an elderly neighbor. I would like us to relearn the value of that community.