Frederico Magalhães, the founder and CEO of Sisqual, has lived a life filled with exile, big goals, and strong determination.
He was born in Mozambique and left during the civil war with a promise to come back and help rebuild his country. After studying in the UK and creating groundbreaking robotic vision technology — even selling his first company for €20 million — he had a bright future in the U.S. But instead, he chose to return to Mozambique and bought his father’s old textile factory to save 3,400 jobs.
The business didn’t work out because of political problems, but Magalhães used those challenges as motivation.
He went back to Portugal and started Sisqual, which is now a well-known company that provides HR software worldwide. His belief is that being a leader means caring about people: “If you wake up and don’t feel like working, let me know. Leaders aren’t lone wolves.”
From failing to starting over, his life shows that real leadership isn’t about never falling — it’s about never giving up.
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