(Original article published on Elderecho.com)
Interview with Luis Gosálbez, CEO and Founder of Metricson
1. Hello Luis, for those of our readers who are not familiar with the Metricson Élite Club, could you briefly introduce it and define what added value proposition it offers and what kind of companies it targets?
Our Metricson Elite Club is aimed at scale-ups or startups in the growth phase, which therefore have specific needs: that’s why we offer them training, legal content and networking with potential investors and clients, discounts on our own and third-party services (perks), and solutions designed for them, such as the analysis of critical risks for growing companies.
2. What conditions must startups meet to be eligible to join the Metricson Elite Club?
It’s a very exclusive program because we believe it will only be useful if it remains small. Members must have participated in an acceleration process, raised more than €500K in investment during the past year, or have annual revenue exceeding that amount. We already have companies that have participated in programs such as Lanzadera, SeedRocket, Wayra, or Elewitt.
3. Metricson has been recognized by several international media outlets as one of the best Spanish firms in the field of technology law and startup advisory. What is the key to Metricson’s success in positioning itself as a benchmark in this legal area?
We’re not a law firm for everyone, nor do we aim to be specialists in all areas of law, but rather to be the best firm within our specialty — and we’re achieving that, year after year.
As a boutique firm, what our clients value most is that we provide them with comprehensive legal and financial coverage in more than 20 countries. Being good lawyers is essential, but not enough: in addition to having the best professionals in our field, we introduce our clients to investors, clients, and international partners so they can continue growing.
4. You have experience as an entrepreneur. In this regard, is it easy to be an entrepreneur nowadays in Spain? And in the Legaltech sector, is it even more difficult?
I founded my first legaltech in 2003, and since then I’ve launched seven companies and invested in several more; my conclusion is that entrepreneurship is hard in every sector — it requires extraordinary effort, and statistically speaking, the long-term chances of success are almost negligible. That’s why I also helped found Ancla.life, a non-profit organization that helps entrepreneurs take care of their mental health.
5. In your opinion, what measures should be implemented by national and European legislators to promote and support the sustainability (meaning viability and longevity) of startups?
The Startup Law has been useless, despite the good intentions and talent behind it, because there was little real political will. We don’t need to invent anything — there are examples in other jurisdictions that we just need to adapt regarding incentives, talent acquisition and retention, and genuine sandboxes, among many others. Even in the Basque Country there are much more attractive tax measures than those in the rest of Spain.
6. Recently, Metricson has published a series of key steps or recommendations for declaring a foreign investment in Spanish startups. What should be done to attract more foreign investment to our startups?
If we want to be attractive to international investors, we need stability, legal certainty, incentives, and ease of doing business. Although there have been some advances, today it’s still unacceptably slow, expensive, and complex for a foreigner to create a vehicle or invest in a Spanish company; moreover, the tightening of labor regulations and the sudden withdrawal of incentives from various industries doesn’t help. We’re in a huge, fast-moving market. If we don’t make things easier, investors will look elsewhere.
7. Do you think Artificial Intelligence should be a favored technology when launching startups whose business model is based on it?
Nowadays AI is a commodity — even plumbers and dentists (without underestimating their innovation) use AI in their processes. For years now, developing or incorporating AI has ceased to be a competitive advantage for a startup, because it’s assumed to be part of your DNA. Now, it’s no longer enough to build a code layer on top of third-party infrastructure; what investors look for is traction and real metrics to understand why this technology makes you better than your competitors and what your defensive barriers are.
8. To conclude, and taking advantage of your expertise as an entrepreneur, what advice would you give to anyone considering launching a startup in our country? Is there any special advice for those in the Legaltech field?
For me, Legaltech is not about providing lawyers with tools to make them more productive, but about offering citizens more efficient ways to access services traditionally considered legal — even without the involvement of legal professionals. Many times, we lawyers are an unnecessary obstacle, slowing down and increasing costs for our own benefit and to the detriment of our clients.
Legaltech solutions will put an end to the traditional way of consuming legal services, which is why the initiative cannot come from law firms but from tech companies that challenge this monopoly. It’s a transformative force that will compel us to redefine the role of lawyers in civil society in the coming decade.