Transcript
Joe Waltman: All right, today we have Luis Tribuna. Luis, thanks for joining.
Luis Tribuna: Hi, Joe. Thanks for thanks for having me.
Joe Waltman: First question, same as always. First refresher memory, what were you doing prior to NCIAD and what have we been up to for the last 20ish years?
Luis Tribuna: Okay, so so before going into INSEAD, I was working in investment banking. So I took, earlier on, a degree in in management, you know, my for my undergraduate.
Luis Tribuna: And then I... I actually applied also to ah to McKinsey, but that didn't go so well the first time around anyway.
Luis Tribuna: and And then I ended up joining what was the Portuguese subsidiary of of Chemical Bank, so the later JPMorgan Chase. um and and And after ah you know a couple of months going through the different departments, I ended up in and the financial markets area.
Luis Tribuna: um And I started working with with derivatives. So that's that's pretty much what I did for the five, six years prior to going into INSEAD.
Luis Tribuna: you know After deciding to to apply to INSEAD, I did work for a year at the the the investment banking unit of Centadere in Portugal, Lisbon, but already knowing that I was applying and and hopefully ah going into INSEAD.
Luis Tribuna: um and And so that's up until INSEAD. um And I went there and um I was trying to, you know, potentially change a little bit areas, not not really moving away from finance because, um you know, ah I've always been very much a quantitative type of guy.
Joe Waltman: Eh?
Luis Tribuna: um But, you know, potentially trying to go into the more into the corporate world, leaving the banking part. But, you know, it was when we were there, it was a couple of years after the dot-com bubble burst. and And so I found it hard without any real prior corporate experience to get into that world.
Luis Tribuna: But then hopefully, ah thankfully, um I was able to to apply to to to to McKinsey. and And this time around, things worked out better.
Joe Waltman: Oh, so so so you you did McKinsey after in Seattle.
Luis Tribuna: And so...
Luis Tribuna: Yeah. Yeah.
Joe Waltman: Interesting.
Luis Tribuna: So I,
Joe Waltman: interesting um that that My understanding, is that kind of unique?
Luis Tribuna: so like
Joe Waltman: because there were a bunch of Portuguese McKinsey people who went to Seattle and and then went back, right?
Luis Tribuna: Yes, quite a lot of them. It's ah it's ah it's ah a preferred ah destination for for for McKinsey consultants, I guess.
Joe Waltman: Yeah.
Luis Tribuna: But um yeah, um and so there was actually, ah there was another colleague of ours that that joined McKinsey afterwards, João Paulo, the Brazilian guy, João Paulo Campos. And um he he also joined McKinsey after INSEAD, also in Lisbon.
Luis Tribuna: um But so that's not really, you know, i' would say that's not the the most typical path. ah But um but ah it was, you know, um so then I joined McKinsey and I was there for ah for a year or so um because then, you know, it started. i really loved the time at McKinsey, although bit short.
Luis Tribuna: um But after some time, it became apparent that You know, I was in the yeah upper up type of movement. I wasn't really going to go up.
Luis Tribuna: so um And so um more or less at the same time, i got the um the opportunity to to be to do something completely different and and become an aid.
Joe Waltman: Mm-hmm.
Luis Tribuna: to the Treasury Secretary of State. ah And so, you know, um I guess the timing was was great for it. and And so I did.
Luis Tribuna: and and it was it was very interesting because it's it's completely different than anything I had already done. and everything, anything that I, that I did afterwards. Um, and so I was there also for, um, regrettably ah a bit of a short period because, you know, there was some political confusion and the, uh,
Luis Tribuna: ah the parliament was dissolved. And so the the government kind of fell short of ah what was supposed, of its ah supposed length. um And so at that time, I kind of reverted back to my safe zone and and went back into investment banking.
Luis Tribuna: So um it lasted for, you know, two or three years outside of it. um but But so yes, I joined this kind of second tier bank here in Portugal called Banif, also at the investment banking unit.
Joe Waltman: what year what What year would this have been?
Luis Tribuna: Oh, this this was in 2000 and ah so that would have been so so three, four, so 2006, I guess. fix i guess
Joe Waltman: Oh, wow. Okay. Okay.
Luis Tribuna: Yeah. um and um And so I was there ah in the group for, you know, about 12 years, give or take.
Luis Tribuna: So um I started once again, reverted back to my derivatives and my structured products. ah So i I was selling those products on to, you know, corporate clients, you know, in order to edge risk and the likes of it.
Luis Tribuna: And, um but also, ah you know, in corporate, sure, of course, please do.
Joe Waltman: but let let me let me Let me interrupt you there. And I'm sorry, I'll i'll probably do it a few more times. um Because I actually, I've learned a lot from doing these conversations about like what investment banking is.
Luis Tribuna: Yeah.
Joe Waltman: And and my my what I've learned, I usually ask people who say they weren't an investment banker, what does that mean? Is that you're kind of like a consultant for the M&A process. um But but you're you're talking about, it sounds like a different side of investment banking, where you're structuring and selling these these derivatives.
Luis Tribuna: Yes, yes, Gregor.
Joe Waltman: You tell me how that sort of fits into investment banking.
Luis Tribuna: Yeah, so so um the the the bank ah had, it still had its M&A area and and there were people working almost, you know, slowly on that.
Luis Tribuna: But um so I was once again in the kind of in the trading room. So not actually trading, but I was on one hand structuring and on the other hand, I was also hedging.
Joe Waltman: Mm-hmm.
Luis Tribuna: So part of it, I was hedging it directly. And the other one I was i was doing through ah through through, you know, bigger investment banks. ready to take on some risk as well.
Luis Tribuna: um and But so there' there's, you know, there's these different sides into what what investment banking can be and and what it is actually.
Luis Tribuna: So, what and
Joe Waltman: I see. I see. So you're, you're, you're sorry.
Luis Tribuna: yeah
Joe Waltman: going Go on, go on.
Luis Tribuna: No, I was just mentioning that. um And so I did that. um Then that kind of um exchange changed into ah going into the to the finance area within the bank.
Luis Tribuna: um So taking care of of treasury as well, um liquidity part of the bank and the and all. um And then from there,
Luis Tribuna: into into more, you know, kind of strict, on one side, strategic finance, whatever that may be, but more of a ah corporate finance type of ah internal corporate finance for the for the whole group. So, um and also, ah you know, complying. So this but this was already like in 2014, maybe.
Luis Tribuna: and ah you know fourteen maybe 13, 14, around there. ah So ah regulations were really, you know pumping up for for the banks.
Luis Tribuna: The the activity, the supervisory activity was really increasing.
Joe Waltman: Okay.
Luis Tribuna: And so we had this this whole bunch of of reports we had to periodically hand in to the Bank of Portugal and to the to those supervisory ah authorities.
Luis Tribuna: um And so um i you know, went into that area. And I was there pretty much up until 2018. Now, always been one thing that has always been
Joe Waltman: you
Luis Tribuna: with me professionally, ah but but essentially out of, I would say, almost passion is um I've been teaching at the um at university where I graduated from ever since graduating.
Luis Tribuna: So ah for up until recently as an ah as an instructor, so having some you know, practical ah classes being taught as to to specific sections.
Luis Tribuna: um And with the exception of, obviously, of our INSEAD year, but also the time I was at McKinsey, um i That was something that was always with me, ah which is something that I've kind of always loved doing and um ah which I always felt that ah really um made me be in contact with with ah with younger people.
Luis Tribuna: and And so kind of making myself, you know, aware of the the evolutions and the changes, you know, from back when we were that at that age?
Joe Waltman: what what What subjects? What subjects and kind of what what what grade levels?
Luis Tribuna: but Yeah. So this is this is the, um I did, um you know, financial calculus and some, like you know, ah financial accounting as well.
Luis Tribuna: ah But for the the vast majority of the time, and that is, you know, for the last 20 years or so at least, um it has been ah management accounting systems.
Luis Tribuna: So, you know, budgeting, controlling, um ah performance evaluation, decision-making. It's a very, well, who am I to say, but I guess it's a very interesting course.
Luis Tribuna: ah It's in the third year of um of their undergraduate degree in management.
Joe Waltman: Thank you.
Luis Tribuna: Um, ah And um ah for the past, I guess, four years now, i became the the lecturer. So I became kind of responsible for the for the course.
Luis Tribuna: um and it coincided with ah starting to teach ah in in in starting to teach the course in English as well.
Luis Tribuna: ah So up until that time, we were teaching it in in Portuguese, um and then we we we we started doing it in English, which was you know very interesting because that allowed us to receive a lot of um you know ah incoming ah foreign students ah within this country.
Luis Tribuna: We have it mostly here in in in Europe, are this Erasmus ah program by which you know ah college students go from one university to another for ah for a semester.
Luis Tribuna: um And so we started receiving those students here as well ah in our in our course. and And that was very interesting because you know there ah tend to be you know cultural, essentially cultural differences.
Luis Tribuna: And so once again, you need to adapt a little bit. um and so at in And so just to conclude, and sorry for this very long answer.
Joe Waltman: Mm-hmm.
Luis Tribuna: um But so in 2018, I kind of came you know full circle in my relation with with my alma mater, Because you know after being a student and after being teacher, I became a worker, also a full-time employee of the ah the university.
Luis Tribuna: and And I took on this new area which was being created, ah an operations department with um so a whole completely different thing with procurement and and what we call kind of internal logistics.
Joe Waltman: for the university.
Luis Tribuna: Yes, for the university.
Joe Waltman: Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Interesting. and So, so would would that have been sort of your full-time job starting at 18? Hmm.
Luis Tribuna: Yes, yes. So the the thing is, my so that the lecturer for the the course I was teaching as an instructor was also the the the CFO for the university.
Luis Tribuna: Okay? So she's she's this... fantastic professional who, um you know, up until some 20 years ago, worked, you know, had her, you know full-time employees. She worked in a kind of a Coca-Cola subsidiary here in Portugal.
Luis Tribuna: ah She worked for a short time in consultant, and then she was a board member for ah this kind of media group that belongs to the, actually to the the church.
Luis Tribuna: Okay. um And so it was from there, because the the the university that I graduated from, it's the the the Portuguese Catholic University.
Joe Waltman: Oh, wow.
Luis Tribuna: ah And, um and so it was from there that she, you know, was invited to become the CFO and kind of the, an executive board member.
Luis Tribuna: There's not really board here. It's a a rectory, if you will. um And so she became, and and so she's the only, ah you know, non-pure academic ah professional there.
Luis Tribuna: So all the others, ah the the director and and all the vice rectors and pro-rectors, um All of them came from from the academia um and they're they' are full-time professors. They were, you know, deans for their for their own schools and stuff like that.
Luis Tribuna: um And so Elena, who's my my my um my CFO, um you know, she had a ah fully ah external professional background, if you will.
Luis Tribuna: um And so she was teaching the course and and so we've known each other
Joe Waltman: Cool.
Luis Tribuna: you know, for for now 30 years, I guess. um And she invited me to to come here and fully knowing that I had no, ah you know, prior experience in this um to to pick up this this ah this challenge and and and um and basically go for it.
Joe Waltman: Cool.
Joe Waltman: and and And this is what you've been doing for the last, what, six or seven years?
Luis Tribuna: Yes, yes. Almost seven years i I joined in September, I guess. So yeah, so six and a half years. um So this this has been, the university has um four different locations here in Portugal.
Luis Tribuna: We do know, you know, where sort of a tiny ah country, but still we managed to have different locations within the the country. um And so they have, they have um you know, ah what might be viewed as a kind of a semi or with a,
Luis Tribuna: you know, a high degree of autonomy in terms of management of each location, um which is, you know, which has definitely its advantages because you're much closer to your, um you know, to your end customer.
Luis Tribuna: But at the same time, ah in given in given areas, does not allow you to benefit from your own size, right? um And so, and and procurement is,
Luis Tribuna: you know one of those obvious areas, I guess, where size does matter, right? ah But,
Joe Waltman: what are you What are you procuring at scale as as a university?
Luis Tribuna: but
Joe Waltman: are we type like Like desks and chairs?
Luis Tribuna: Well, we have, well, yeah, definitely furniture is is one thing, you know, office supplies, obviously.
Joe Waltman: or
Joe Waltman: Uh-huh.
Joe Waltman: okay
Luis Tribuna: ah But then there's this, you know, ah stuff like, you know, ah security services or cleaning services.
Joe Waltman: Okay.
Luis Tribuna: and and And, you know, more recently, ever ever with the growing industry, increase in in um in its weight, everything that's kind of IT related.
Luis Tribuna: So ah softwares and even hardwares, obviously, because we have been growing. um And so that's that that's that's been, a ah it hasn't been something that's changed over overnight. It has been a process, but we have been doing working.
Luis Tribuna: you know, ah with patience and with we've taken our time. We're going kind of a one, you know, a purchase category at a time.
Luis Tribuna: um But um but it I guess it's been working out well for for everybody, which is which is hopefully helpful.
Joe Waltman: and and And what's it like going from you know hot finance to McKinsey to you know working at the senior levels of the government to working at a university? How's that ah you know better or worse, different?
Luis Tribuna: Well, it's it's definitely very different. um You know, the I kind of, um um I can honestly say I really, you know, love my my life right now.
Luis Tribuna: I feel I'm in a very good ah place, you know, overall, both professionally and and personally. um But, you know, it is very different, obviously, and and particularly, you know, having,
Luis Tribuna: worked for quite a few years in in trading rooms, whereas, you know, you kind of have that, ah well, ah to to a given extent, that kind of Wall Street vibe and and and all the confusion and the markets and everything is happening.
Luis Tribuna: ah and um and And this is very different because this, and and in particular in our organization, ah we we do take our time to, you know,
Luis Tribuna: ah in in our decisions and in the implementation.
Joe Waltman: Thank you.
Luis Tribuna: So things at the same time are have the benefit of being, you know, much ah much more thought over. and and and And so that's that's definitely good.
Luis Tribuna: um So there's there's less stress, I would say. um at the same time, there's this um personal kind of relationship involvement I feel with university because ah you know I was a student, I have been ah a teacher here, and now I'm i'm fully dedicated to it.
Luis Tribuna: And so, and and it's it's very interesting because um we do have, um you know, um a high level of ah seniority in terms of age, in terms of years of working here for for ah for most of the staff. So people tend to work here for quite a lot of time.
Luis Tribuna: and and And they they feel, um they they kind of identify with ah with a lot of what the university stands for, with a lot of its social ah concerns as well, ah with ah with the community it's in and involved in.
Luis Tribuna: and um And so people tend to not only work here, but kind of be dedicated to it. But at the same time, you know not having to to work 12 hours a day or or you know if you if you have to, you know you can take an hour to go and do whatever.
Joe Waltman: Amen.
Luis Tribuna: And it's not a problem because the markets won't crash to the to that extent.
Joe Waltman: Yeah, interesting. ah yeah i'm I'm a little bit reluctant to ask this question because I don't know if I'm going to insult you or seem like I'm trying to flatter you.
Luis Tribuna: sure
Joe Waltman: But one thing I've noticed, I've now talked to a few of your your Portuguese colleagues, shall we say, and I've noticed you know very interesting questions. career trajectories and and frankly, you know, very impressive ones where you're bouncing around, you know, the highest levels of government and industry and whatnot.
Joe Waltman: Now, is that just because of the size? And again, this is where I might insult you because of the size of Portugal and the market and and whatnot. There aren't that many people or it's because this is where I i might that might seem like I'm trying to find you where we're just just the absolute best of the best come from Portugal to INSEAD. And when we're we're getting a, you know, not representative sample of, of you know, of, of,
Luis Tribuna: that's No, yeah, that's that's that's a great question. And, um you know, um I think it can be um a little bit of both. um So ah there's there's definitely one thing that, you know, as a country, Portugal, at least when we were there, that that was already the case.
Luis Tribuna: We were kind of overrepresented in in at INSEAD. ah So you are right that, um you know, we did have, so in our promotion, i guess we were like,
Luis Tribuna: 10 or 12 or something like that, Portuguese people, ah give it take. um and And quite a few of them came from ah came from ah from consultancy um and quite a few or some went into consulting as well.
Luis Tribuna: But that to say that, you know, you probably have, you know, have um you know I would say, an over-representation of of of Portuguese people there, so of ah over-performing Portuguese people there, um to the extent that there isn't, so ah it's I would say at par probably with, I don't know, Harvard maybe, ah here in Portugal, yeah
Joe Waltman: Okay.
Luis Tribuna: INSEAD is most likely the the largest alumni um alumni network. So there is, you know, quite a few of us going into INSEAD.
Luis Tribuna: um And it is true, you know, it is true that we do have, um we do tend to have, you know, the better performing people there, I would say, something like that.
Luis Tribuna: um But then at the same time, um when you combine that too with the fact that we are we aren't that many, ah probably goes due to you know to to the first part of what you were mentioning.
Joe Waltman: Yeah. Yeah. Just ah you know casual observation. i Thank you very much. This this has been really interesting and and and and nice to catch up. I ask i ask um an ending question, and if you don't have a good answer for it, say, i don't know.
Joe Waltman: I don't have anything. that That's perfectly all because I'm not sure this is a good question or not. Is there anything that that we as the you know your fellow batchmates can do to to help you right now and vice versa? What might you be able to do to help you know some of us, aside from helping us transition into academia?
Luis Tribuna: ah Well, it's it's um well um'm um'm i'm um I'm not sure. ah So being ah being very ah you know being ah in ah in a good position um in my life right now, I'm not you know really striving for the you know the next big step or something like that.
Luis Tribuna: ah which, you know, most definitely our our network would would be in a perfect position to help me with. um So I would say that um one thing, and so very quickly, I don't want to, you know, overspend time. um One of the things that i I don't have that many regrets, but one other thing I do regret was not...
Luis Tribuna: ah while at INSEAD was not, you know, ah taking the time to know more people more intensely and and more profoundly and not allowing myself to be, you know, better known as well.
Luis Tribuna: I did tend to hang out essentially with a with the Portuguese mafia. um And obviously, you know, I got to know essentially people from my section from the first couple of periods.
Luis Tribuna: um And so, you know, one of the things that, that there, I think I, it would be good. And, and is, is to get no, to get to know people, you know, more ah personally.
Luis Tribuna: And, and so, you know, ah in our chat group whenever people are, you know, I'm going to be in Paris or I'm going to be there. So trying to take advantage of that, you know, recently I was able to to have lunch with Tatiana. She had been in my my group the in the first couple of periods. And it was great to kind of reconnect with her after all these years.
Luis Tribuna: um and And so I would say that it's that it that it would be essentially at that level. So so getting to know more of people, i was I was, unfortunately I wasn't able to join the gathering in in Miami de because that would have been great as well.
Luis Tribuna: um But and and then from my side, you know, um I guess if you have a some of you may have kids that are entering college, if you think of of ah we do have a great master's programs here that by now.
Luis Tribuna: about 80% of our students are are foreigners, are not Portuguese. So we do have a lot of, yeah, yeah.
Joe Waltman: Oh, wow. Wow, interesting.
Luis Tribuna: and We have like, you know, 600 students in in master programs and only about 20% of them are are Portuguese. ah So if you're thinking ah on and on on having something like that for you, or if your kids are thinking of that, you know, make sure you give me a call and I'll i'll be happy to, to, uh,
Luis Tribuna: you know, at least give you a as much information as possible for an informed decision.
Joe Waltman: And I've also, my understanding is you live in a relatively nice part of, of coastal Lisbon. So if, if we're in town, I'm sure you can take us to the beach and maybe, maybe help us go stay for year.
Luis Tribuna: Oh yeah, most definitely. That would most definitely to be very happy to chat around around town. Yeah.
Joe Waltman: Perfect. Perfect. A tour guide and an admissions consultant for our, for our children. That's a, we'll mark you down for that. Luis, thank you very much for your time. Nice talking.
Luis Tribuna: It was great. Thanks for having me
Joe Waltman: Bye.
