This week I had the honor of sharing the stage with Pedro Nueno during the Estrella Galicia's annual convention, where the main subject centered on internationalization and growth.

Pedro Nueno is one of those "silent" but brilliant people in our country whose humility and simplicity make them loom even larger. http://web.iese.edu/curriculums/nueno.html

Besides holding a professor position at the IESE and HBS, having published 15 books and having received all the recognition that a person in our country could hope for, what surprises me most is his constant entrepreneurial spirit. This is the spirit that founded the CEIBS (China Europe International Business School) http://www.ceibs.edu/ turning it into the best business school in Asia, after IESE and HBS, “lost interest” in the project. In his own words, "sometimes the business opportunities are so evident that people don't see them". I could not agree more. We are so poorly accustomed to innovating and attempting to be entrepreneurs that when we see an opportunity, the first thing that comes to mind is: "it won't work" or "if nobody has ever done it, it must be a bad idea", or we simply think that anybody else in the world could do it better - instead of thinking: "what a good opportunity, let's go for it!".

Being invited to the Estrella Galicia convention is more than a luxury. Ignacio River, the President and COO, is one of those leaders who are hard to find. Not only is he humble, hard-working, charismatic and a far-sighted, he also knows how to surround himself with the best and is unafraid of changes or difficult challenges.

This small, one hundred-year old company from Galicia, founded by his great-grandfather in 1906, has rapidly mounted a challenge to the large beer manufacturers in this country, resulting in a growth of 17% in 2013 versus losses of almost all of its competitors and has captured 1% of the national market share. Spectacular! Not to mention the impact achieved by celebrating with Estrella Galicia instead of cava on all the television channels (except channel 1, which does not accept commercials).  The secret is none other than the excellence they apply to everything they do and their clear orientation toward the customer and innovation.

To sum up Prof. Nueno's lecture, a business needs 2 things to be successful:

1st To align the basic foundation for a company

a) A good business model. Besides working well in one place, it has to be quickly exported worldwide, fearlessly, because it will probably work just about anywhere.

b) Talent. People are the key to whether good projects become a success or a failure. This is especially true in internationalization, where it is essential to export the business model and culture to perfection.

c) A good Business Plan. There must be a detailed road map that aligns the various departments and makes the various instruments of the company sound in perfect harmony.

d) Strict management control. It is key that all the employees work in unison to do things that improve the balance sheet, income statement or the cash flow, and that they have the basic financial parameters constantly in mind.

2nd Control over the business style:

a) Humility. No matter how successful we become, we must be humble and not waste time thinking we are better than our competitors. All we need to do is celebrate success and keep on going. Failure begins with self-satisfaction.

b) Ethics. An entrepreneur has a great responsibility toward shareholders, employees and society in general and he must work without rest to preserve those values (that have been so scarce in our country in recent times).

Estrella de Galicia and Ignacio Rivera follow this rule! I have been keeping a close eye on this fantastic company from Galicia and I am convinced that whereas it has grown more in the last 10 years than in the previous 100, the nature of what happens in the next 10 years will be such that not even they can imagine it - there are no limits for companies and entrepreneurs of this kind.

I hope many other fantastic companies in our country believe in themselves and dare to become international; there is no doubt our country would be much better off in every way.