A recent graduate of the transformative Owner/President Management programme (OPM 59) at Harvard Business (April 2023), Miguel Espada still seems moved by the experience. It has clearly helped to strengthen his outlook on life. World-class professors, friendships with business leaders from 31 different countries. Concrete and visionary case studies, but also life lessons. So much has been added to this umpteenth professional challenge for the founder of Propriétés & Co – and of Port-Marseillan – that a summary and retrospective were in order. Miguel Espada & Harvard Business – with Miguel Espada, explications…
Miguel Espada was born in 1973. Father of 3, married to Cécile Eyde-Espada, a Franco-Norwegian winemaker, Miguel grew up in the South of France. In one of the first bioclimatic houses designed by architect Michel Gerber. Raised by a father who was a builder and a mother who was a psychomotor therapist, Miguel has been passionate about organic food and yoga since the 1970s. Miguel grew up in a healthy environment. Where physical and mental well-being, healthy eating and the omnipresence of nature were paramount.
From Marseillan to the United States
His upbringing and the values he assimilated over the years have been very well received by the OPM 59 cohort at HBS. Leaders of promising start-ups and CEOs of multi-billion dollar companies shared ideas, projects, challenges and other opportunities in a friendly, family atmosphere. Let’s not forget that the entrepreneurial adventure, at whatever level, is systematically based on people. And that means human relationships. Company values echo human values. Skills, audacity, tenacity, but also friendship, loyalty and benevolence, are the foundations of success.
The invaluable lessons he learnt during his three years at Harvard Business School were a powerful motivation for Miguel Espada to take action. His goal: to apply all the knowledge he has acquired at the school to his everyday life.
Miguel Espada’s exceptional career
Initially co-founder of Photoways, now Photobox. Then software publisher Doyousoft, Miguel Espada returned to his homeland in the South of France. There he set up Propriétés & Co, and became a citizen developer. Specialising in heritage renovation and the creation of eco-resorts (total investment €1.2 billion), then Garrigae Resorts (hotel group sold in 2013).
It’s worth recalling the exceptional career of this French entrepreneur, who began his studies at Paris Dauphine. He went on to study at ESCP, where he became Chairman of Dauphine Junior Consulting in 1994. He then became VP International at the Confédération Nationale des Junior Entreprises. Finally, he was founder and then Treasurer of the European Confederation of Junior Enterprises. He wrote a professional thesis. Miguel Espada & Harvard Business – with Miguel Espada.