Business Athletes: Filipe Fernandes

Hello and welcome to Business Athletes everyone 👋 

Each week, we’ll explore the athlete-like habits behind a different business leader. In less than 5-minutes, we aim to provide you with practical tactics that you can quickly apply in your day-to-day.⚡️

In this edition of Business Athletes, we spoke to Filipe Fernandes, overlooking the team’s mighty Lisbon workshop where Filipe and his team are reimagining wind energy for cities through Windcredible. 

With backgrounds far from startups, including time as a captain in the Portuguese Republican Guard, Filipe is now leading the charge to bring small-scale, urban-friendly turbines to life. 

He’s not just building hardware. He’s taking on energy incumbents with sheer persistence, sharp adaptability, and a relentless push toward a more decentralized, decarbonized future.

In this conversation, we explore:

→ What it takes to prototype physical products with limited resources

→ How to pitch, fundraise, and adapt across contexts

→ The mindset required to stay in the fight when you're building hardware from scratch

Let’s get into it ⚡️

Pre-Game Preparation

What We’re Training For

If I had to sum it up, we’re fighting Titans.

People are used to seeing massive wind turbines out at sea or on big empty land. We’re trying to prove that smaller, smarter models can live in cities and power communities — complementing solar, not competing with it.

We’ve got two working prototypes, and a third in the works. Each fits a specific market: from adventurous homeowners to large industrial plants.

Right now, it feels like I’m in a tiny boat, trying to poke holes in massive ships until someone notices this is viable and throws us the resources we need to scale. That’s the championship we’re working toward: prove a point. Getting the right partners. Shipping a product that works beautifully, makes economic sense, and helps decarbonise cities.

Routines & Recovery

My routine is simple: wake up at 7, go to the office, and stay until I can’t anymore.

In my old job, I had a strict physical training routine. Every day. That’s fallen away since I started this company, and I miss it. I’m trying to bring it back slowly.

What I can say is: I show up. Every day. That’s the routine. And I try to lead by example—putting in the hours, staying accountable.

Deep work is hard in an open office. I’m naturally a night owl. I wrote my first thesis from midnight to 6am. But this job doesn’t allow that. So I’ve adapted. Kind of.

Deep In The Game

How I Think About It

We’re taking on a huge market, which is urban energy. But what keeps me going is the idea that there’s a huge gap here.

Wind has lagged behind solar and batteries, especially in cities. But urban areas need power. Industries need it. And solar alone won’t cut it.

So we’re building complementary solutions: turbines that fit into real-world infrastructure, that make financial and operational sense.

We’re not trying to own the whole value chain. Our focus is R&D. We want to partner with installation and maintenance players who are already trusted by their customers. That’s how we scale.

But to get there, the technology has to work. That’s where the grind comes in — testing, failing, iterating, fixing. Over and over again.

Tactics & Training

I’m not an organization-obsessed operator by nature. I wish I was. But what I do have is focus on the mission and an internal fire to make this work…urgently.

My tactic is deadlines. We force ourselves to set nearly impossible goals: an event, a presentation, an installation. Then we have to deliver. That pressure gives us direction.

We’re just four people, so we all wear multiple hats. One week we’re deep in hardware development. The next we’re doing 10 investor meetings. You have to be versatile.

I came from a military background as a captain in the Portuguese Republican Guard. That job taught me how to be adaptable. Every day on the street was different. That’s the energy I bring to this startup.

We also rely on repetition. The more you pitch, the better you get. The more you meet clients, the better you understand the product gaps. You sharpen yourself by putting yourself out there. Constantly.

 Inflection Points

We tailor every pitch depending on who we’re talking to. But the key is always the same: Why are we pitching? What do we need from this?

We have a core presentation deck we adapt. But we spend time researching each investor or partner to make sure there's alignment across stage, thesis, fund structure. If the match isn't there, we all lose time.

And when it comes to hardware, it’s slow. You can’t just push code and test. You need to design, source, manufacture, and wait. That’s the most frustrating part. We don’t have CNC machines or full-scale production. We rely on outside suppliers. That delay is our biggest enemy.

Still, nothing beats the moment when a prototype spins for the first time. You’ve stared at it on a screen for weeks. Then you assemble it, switch it on, and it works. It’s like a baby being born. There’s nothing like it.

The Business Athletes Ethos

When Things Go Wrong

When things get really tough, I remind myself: I’ve survived worse.

Starting a hardware company without a business background is no joke. But I’ve faced other challenges—personal and professional—that gave me the thick skin I have today.

You need that skin. Or you’ll quit in six months.

I know I’m not a traditional founder. But we’re going to keep going until the very last drop. That’s the mindset.

Setting Up The Right Environment

Environment plays a crucial role in my productivity. When I’m doing deep work, I prefer a darker room. It’s like creating a tunnel vision effect that keeps me locked in.

But when I have calls or meetings, I need a brighter, more open space. That shift between environments is like switching between offense and defense in a game, you adapt based on what’s in front of you.

New interview every week. Never any spam.

Subscribe above so you don’t miss next week’s interview⚡️