{"id":1229,"date":"2025-07-14T12:02:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T11:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/?p=1229"},"modified":"2025-07-14T12:09:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T11:09:44","slug":"carlos-costa-mba86-on-leading-learning-and-giving-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/2025\/07\/14\/carlos-costa-mba86-on-leading-learning-and-giving-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Costa (MBA\u201986) on leading, learning, and giving back"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let’s start at the beginning, Carlos\u2014can you tell us about your background and your relationship with IESE Business School?<\/strong>
\nI studied engineering and, after gaining some experience in our family business, decided to pursue the International MBA at IESE, graduating in 1986.<\/p>\n

You’ve had a remarkable career spanning top-tier consulting and executive leadership at Mango. How did that path unfold?<\/strong>
\nI joined BCG and spent 26 years in consulting, focusing on consumer goods, retail, travel, and healthcare, building a fantastic team along the way. Later, I had the opportunity to support Isak Andic during Mango\u2019s generational transition and strategic transformation, which allowed me to put my consulting experience into practice. I feel very fortunate for all the opportunities and challenges I’ve encountered.<\/p>\n

In what ways did IESE\u2019s MBA program influence your path as a business leader and now as a mentor and advisor?<\/strong>
\nThe MBA was pivotal. It broadened my technical knowledge and, more importantly, gave me a strategic, general management perspective. It also helped me understand how critical people and team dynamics are to business success.<\/p>\n

What inspired you to support entrepreneurship after years in the corporate world?<\/strong>
\nI discovered a strong personal motivation to help others. We have a new generation of energetic individuals eager to improve the world, but they face many obstacles. I believe experienced managers can make a real difference by offering pro bono advice and support.<\/p>\n

Tell us about your experience as a WeGrow mentor.<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s been a rewarding journey across diverse sectors\u2014e-commerce OTC drugs, beauty, recycling, restaurants, loyalty and transport SaaS, and formal menswear. I\u2019ve helped teams navigate challenges like rapid growth, international expansion, retail optimization, franchising, and organizational development.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, what key trends will shape the investment and entrepreneurship space? What should future entrepreneurs pay attention to?<\/strong>
\nE-commerce has matured, and investor caution has reduced the pace of disruption in that space. But over the past two years, we’ve seen a surge in AI applications creating exciting new opportunities. Venture capital is now actively backing AI-driven ventures across many industries.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give to current IESE students\u2014or anyone\u2014considering entrepreneurship?<\/strong>
\nEntrepreneurship is rewarding but also tough and risky. If you don\u2019t have a clear purpose, get hands-on experience and a solid business education first. But if you do have a strong passion or a compelling idea, build a robust plan, seek advice from trusted mentors, and go for it, learning along the way.<\/p>\n

\u26a1Thank you, Carlos. Now for the speed round:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What do you do in your free time?<\/strong>
\nI love art, jazz, and sports\u2026 a diverse portfolio, need more time!<\/p>\n

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?<\/strong>
\nMotivated to learn, willing to help, and resilient.<\/p>\n

What are you reading, watching, or listening to these days?<\/strong>
\nLove to read about AI applications and impact, and can recommend Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI<\/em>, by Ethan Mollick<\/p>\n

Something that makes you happy?<\/strong>
\nSeeing my children and other young people progress in their lives.<\/p>\n

Favorite place?<\/strong>
\nTop of a snowy mountain on a sunny day.<\/p>\n

What is the most important lesson you\u2019ve learned in life so far?<\/strong>
\nNeed to keep a balance between short-term and life objectives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let’s start at the beginning, Carlos\u2014can you tell us about your background and your relationship with IESE Business School? I studied engineering and, after gaining some experience in our family business, decided to pursue the International MBA at IESE, graduating in 1986. You’ve had a remarkable career spanning top-tier consulting and executive leadership at Mango. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2424,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,116159],"tags":[],"coauthors":[116158],"class_list":["post-1229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entrepreneurship","category-scaleups"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1231,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229\/revisions\/1231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1229"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/entrepreneurship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}