Carlos Valenciano Moyano and His Evolution in the Business and Telecommunications World

Carlos Valenciano Moyano is an entrepreneur with over 30 years of teachings and experiences under his belt. Currently, he leads the growth and international expansion of the telecommunications company specialized in the IoT ecosystem, Alai Secure, as the CEO. Operations and competition have been successful in Spain, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Ecuador.

C&B: Describe your activity.
Carlos V: For the past 5 years, I’ve been leading the growth and international expansion of Alai Secure, a company in one of the most in-demand sectors in the telecommunications industry: IoT (Internet of Things). We were pioneers in the old European continent, starting our operations around 2005 and, since 2019, expanding into the Hispanic-American market. We work on developing sectors such as telehealth, security, wearables, and telemetry, contributing to accelerating the digitization processes of companies operating in these industries through self-managed and secure connectivity.

C&B: How has your career/business development evolved?
Carlos V: My professional career began over 30 years ago as a young entrepreneur, founding a small family industrial company. It was my first failure after 6 years of activity and, therefore, my first lesson and perhaps the most important one. Those were very interesting years where I learned the importance of surrounding yourself with trustworthy and better professional people than you, who complement and strengthen your weaknesses.
In those early years, the lessons were many and they marked the rest of my professional life. Since then, I have led various expansion and growth projects at national and international levels, in multinational companies such as Prosegur, Tesa Assa Abloy, Sector Alarm, and currently at Alai Secure. And in small businesses and/or family companies such as Chillida Seguridad, Sabico, or Sten.
As a common element, always with an entrepreneurial attitude, what can be defined as an intra-entrepreneur. And as you can see, with very different activities and sectors; industrial sector, construction, security services, telecommunications, IoT. But, being very different projects and from very different industries, they have always been projects to launch or relaunch companies or business units at national or international level. Business development and sales, designing strategy, leading by example (Hands-On), and through people.
The keys have always been two; the ability to see business opportunities ahead of others and a special sensitivity to detect and retain good and talented people.

C&B: What were your visions in childhood/adolescence and what are they now?
Carlos V: Nothing to do with it, ha, ha, ha. When I was a child/adolescent, I wanted to be a military aviation pilot. Maybe the movie Top Gun had something to do with it…
The adrenaline of aviation could be partially replaced for 4 years by competing as a speed motorcycle rider in Spain (categories equivalent to the current Moto 2).
After a professional career of over 3 decades, this risk-taking spirit and joy in speed have moderated. In part, the excitement of risk has been covered in the various projects I have collaborated on. Always very challenging, with a high level of result requirements and always with very short deadlines.
My vision now turns towards more personal and quieter challenges. Two things that I am passionate about: first, the history of Spain, especially the imperial era, and the keys to achieving so many accomplishments over the centuries, and at the same time, the keys to its subsequent decline. And second, cuisine and gastronomy, and the relationship between them.

C&B: What are the life and activity principles you follow?
Carlos V: They are quite simple; I am an advocate of freedom in all aspects of life, live and let live. And something that is lost, to live in a pleasant and educated way, always practicing respect for others.
From a more physical point of view, healthy eating habits, without giving up the pleasure of a good meal with family or friends, and daily physical activity, but without obsessions. Mainly, I walk more than two hours a day, I am lucky to live surrounded by fields and nature, and that allows me to walk a lot every day with my dog.

C&B: Have pandemics and economic crises affected your activity?
Carlos V: Economic crises always affect you, to a greater or lesser extent, and in this sense, I have not been an exception.
The pandemic crisis really changed my life. The option to work from home through technology has allowed me to continue to lead the expansion of my company without needing to leave home and in over 7 countries, and the option to continue doing so today represented a radical change for my personal and professional life.
Before, I used to spend about 3 hours a day commuting to and from the office. Today, I spend those three hours sleeping a little more, doing physical activity, and spending more time with my family. This gives me a lot of peace, allows me to approach my professional day much calmer and physically and mentally prepared.
Luck made the pandemic not directly affect anyone in my close circle severely.

C&B: Can you share funny anecdotes from your activity?
Carlos V: I could tell you thousands of anecdotes, as you can imagine, but in reality, the funniest thing is the activity itself. I love what I do, visualizing market niches that are not yet explored, working daily with good people and, moreover, much more talented than me, and all together transforming them into a successful professional performance in results, is super fun and super rewarding.

C&B: You have a potential client/partner or employer in front of you. What is the sentence that convinces them?
Carlos V: In fact, there is no single sentence, just as there is no single circumstance. Each employer or each client is different, and the moments are also different. In fact, my recommendation for such crucial moments is always the same. Be yourself, act authentically and naturally, that always works, even if the other person doesn’t like what you project. If you try to project an image of yourself that doesn’t fit with reality, sooner or later, it will be seen. And living your whole life playing a role that doesn’t fit with you must be exhausting…

C&B: What advice do you have for those who are starting out or are undecided?
Carlos V: I am not in favor of giving generic advice to everyone who may read this interview; it would be a mistake. Each person is a universe, and when you add their circumstances and a certain moment in time, it would be imprudent of me to give any advice.
To not leave this question unanswered, my only general recommendation that applies to everyone and at any time in life, which I practice and works: If you are responsible for something and it depends on you to improve it, get involved. For everything that doesn’t depend on you, even if it can influence you, don’t worry, it will happen anyway.

C&B: What is your opinion about society and its evolution?
Carlos V: Phew, that could lead to more books, hehehe. Honestly, I don’t like what I see. And, furthermore, when you read a lot of history, you realize that we are living in a constant cycle. Current Western society is experiencing a terrible identity crisis; there is a loss of universal and fundamental values, which are replaced by false values or what are called pagan religions.
The loss of freedoms, the lack of real freedom of expression, and the current policy of cancellation are serious signs of the decline of a society.
However, I am optimistic; I see a young generation that can change everything. They just have to believe in themselves and their abilities, and they will succeed because they do not consume news from conventional media (TV, radio, and press) where they are continuously fed negative messages about their future.