José Campana, CEO & Founder of JC Management ®, interviewed by Federico Sbandi for Forbes Italia

Forbes Leader Digital is the video column of the eponymous (and very famous) American business magazine that highlights the history and vision of digital leaders in Italy. Protagonist of the 18th episode, conducted by Federico Sbandi, was José Campana, business developer in the Fintech sector who in 2018 founded JC Management, a consulting company that works with banks, crypto and Network Marketing companies. A success story that began when, at the age of 14, José developed a path in Network Marketing companies that allowed him to achieve results and contacts with which he developed a complete picture of how the sector was evolving. Today, the business model that he and his companies promote is based on consulting that integrates crypto and online marketing at an international level.

What your company offers is a flexible package of consulting services that have technical as well as geographical particularities: what is the project?

JC Management is in the business of helping mid-sized companies and big corporations in the Fintech sector that want to create new services. We, as business developers that we are, guide these companies in the process of finding new paths to acquire new customers, to build strategies to acquire contacts and, finally, to improve business growth, all with the aim of revolutionizing the crypto and Fintech industry, despite it being a reality in its infancy (and we, in this, have been pioneers equipped with a real telescope to look far, despite the lack of information and despite the skepticism). We do this from different locations around the world, including Dubai, where I live today.

Speaking of Dubai, when you moved abroad what reasons did you have and what are the defining traits of this city today?

When you move house everything changes accordingly: I always say that no matter how strong we can be, the environment around us is stronger, it changes you, influences you, makes you grow. The reason for my move is to be found in the niche I work in, the fintech one: today the UAE has established important relationships with the cryptocurrency and financial sector and is trying to build what was built 100 years ago on Wall Street. Here, then, the other differentiating factor is to have the great opportunity to meet networks of interesting people and, with them, establish relationships. Today, business is tied solely to the network, to the connection with other people: there is almost no need for advertising, just go to dinner with the right people and new business opportunities are created.

Networking, which is a focal point, has exploded with digital. But the fact remains that being able to develop relationships is a real skill: have you always had this aptitude?

If you talk to people who have known me for more than 10 years, they can all tell you that I wasn't born with the soft skill of networking. Yet, I realized that, in the era in which we live, it was something I absolutely had to develop, even compared to the obvious difficulties I had as a child in relating to others. That's why I acquired it, especially in the Network Marketing industry, which I love very much and which has allowed me to enter other people's lives, growing in what is now called the business of relationships.

Speaking of Network Marketing, you've mentioned that it's a path you started as early as age 14. How did you develop your ambition from such a young age?

The answer is very simple: all people in Network Marketing hear that "everyone has networked". And that's right: everyone has done it, even by accident. The difference is that this industry for Italy is very small and it is also the one that leads the collective imagination to think that those who have made it is the one who has disturbed friends and relatives, who had to say no, or who tried to sell something to their group. For the first 3 years I was in apnea, I was in oblivion, I could not even swim: this is because in the Italian / Western paradigm there is no need for revenge as in other nations, such as India, where instead the Network Marketing does not suffer the pressure that we have in Italy. I've certainly never had this determination, especially at 14 years old. It's always said that there are two reasons to change your mindset: either inspiration or desperation and mine was mainly the latter, as at the time I had serious family problems due to lack of money. And so, at the age of 13, I started to change city, I will have done 8 or 9 moves around (also changing school and friends), this was a very upsetting juncture but at the same time it was the reason that allowed me to start building my Networking skills, brick by brick.

The way you talk, it's clear that you weren't taught things in school, but learned them in the field. Now, let's turn the perspective around: imagine you have a class of future crypto managers in front of you. What would you teach them?

It's true, what I am is certainly not due to a traditional education: as a kid, in the second grade, when I started doing business, I decided to drop out of school because I realized that I could base my career and my life on information and not on the title. Not only do I know, but I know and apply and because of my nature of going out and getting the information and not waiting for someone to give it to me, I decided to take a new path and quit the old one. If I were to have a class I would like to tell you that information changes the perspective and changes the game of how to bring home the result. I say that because learning to take the information rather than learning to be patient for others to give it to you makes all the difference in your potential and growth and that has been my differentiating factor. Why in the crypto industry? Because I believe the crypto market is free and the freedom allowed me to get out of the linear patterns that all people continue to have, they were structured almost as a game and through the community (and therefore without the control of institutions) they became people's money. The great thing that cryptos teach us is the ability to do something through an alternative route, if an obstacle stands in front of you. So, think about the objective and not the path to reach it: the difference is the time in which the result is achieved.

We found ourselves debating the difference between people who think and people who do: what is it all about? And, most importantly, what kind of impact does José want to have on the world?

We are not created, programmed, designed to do but to think about a solution: the reason why I chose this sector, combining fintech, online marketing and crypto, is to give the possibility first of all to myself to think. Over the years, when I was in oblivion, I was focused on doing: when it happens to you it's a bit like when you're on the highway and, in a straight stretch, you push on the accelerator; around you you see blurry and this happens because you're focused on doing, otherwise you risk your life. And this also happens in everyday life: all the people who are focused on doing find themselves after 30/40 years with a fistful of nothing in their hands because they were focused on doing. Cryptocurrencies are the tool that allows us to build our freedom to allow us to think. What I feel like leaving for posterity is this very concept: the ability to develop solutions to be able to explode a market and a nation and to allow people to think, a process that really allows for prosperity.