Trips to training were made “with boots in one hand and a mobile phone in the other.” Entrepreneurial restlessness did not let go Jose Costa Rodriguez. Sell, trade, think of all possible ways to monetize and make a profit.

“I played for 12 years, captained União de Leiria for many years, we had great teams. In three years we went through three final stages among youths and juniors, I played against Goncalo Guedes, Renato Sanches and all these people, ”he says. zero zerofrom Austin (USA), 26-year-old Portuguese businessman, a few hours after receiving another great news.

“My company [Relive] finally got a Texas brokerage license and we got our first invoice. We are talking about a market that has nothing to do with the Portuguese, its size is incalculable.”

A rare story, a lesson in good management, resilience and obvious business sense. It all starts in Ourem, next to Fatima, until it gets real. American dream – a term coined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams and personifying a “better, richer and full of opportunities” life.

José grows up watching his father dedicate himself to a hotel signage company. A company with 25 employees, well run and influencing a boy who is divided between his passion for football and the world of good things: “a house with high walls, a Porsche, a private jet,” José Costa Rodriguez jokes, recalling a drawing made since the age of seven.

“What did I miss in football? From the age of 16 I started to train and thought more about sales airsoft [jogo parecido ao paintball]mobile phone cases and iPhones. I started to lose focus on being a player. After graduating from juniors, I felt that there would be no fantastic offer for me, and I decided to go to a good university, invest in my studies and in my small business.

Jose misses the goal of becoming a professional footballer, making millions in sports, but the parallel path turns out to be a pot of gold: at 19, he opens All phones – sales shop iPhones renovated – and five years later sells the business, when it is already worth millions. Success.

“I am framing the FC Porto jersey that Eustaquio gave me”

Football first. José moves from Atlético Oriense to Fatima “since Rui Vitoria” and from Fatima he moves to União de Leiria. In between, the former athlete goes through a testing period at Sporting CP, invited by the lions.

“Football has changed my life, my personality,” admits the Portuguese businessman, an excellent conversationalist, with a lively look and precise words.

“I have tattoos with the inscription”run away, Struggle, win‘. Football taught me that. I would like my children to play football or other sports too. I spent some time at Sporting, I was very close to signing with the club and I met Mr. Aurelio Pereira. In the end, I didn’t stay there,” recalls Jose Costa Rodriguez, returning the ribbon to a country where all dreams are allowed.

“In my first year of juniors, I was also very close to leaving União de Leiria for Vitória de Guimarães. Played right flank or right winger. He was a strong, fighting player, very focused. These were my main features. I wasn’t technically a star, but I was good at my job, which is why I was captain of the team for so many years.”

In addition, it is in Leiria that José Costa Rodriguez coincides with the media figure: Stephen Eustaquio. They become “great friends” despite the parting ways ahead. José bets on the business world, Steven pays homage to the ball.

Eustaquio’s story is “particularly remarkable” for Jose. “I love Steven, even now I frame the Porto jersey he gave me. I don’t know if she’ll stay here in Austin or if I’ll take her to Portugal. His story deserves to be told. 95% of players won’t turn pro and make millions, but if they look at football the right way, they’ll be special people.”

Eustaquio is one of those people. “We were teammates in the youth and junior teams of Leiria. Stephen was a great player, but the team was very good and always reached the finals of the national championships. For some reason, the coach at that time thought that there was someone better than him, ”Jose Costa Rodriguez reflects, past images and understandable emotions arise.

“I was driving from Ourem to Leiria, getting into the club van at Fatima at 18:15 and returning home at 23:15, we passed through all the terriols. Steven traveled from Nazare, he didn’t miss practice, he was there to play football and win,” he continues, clearly admiring his former locker room mate.

“He had the fortitude and intelligence to understand that if he is not playing for Leiria, it might be better to take a step back. And it was a few months for the Nazirites. It’s like I’m back from Leiria to Atlético Oriense. He had this humility and, as far as I know him, he ran after the opportunity. He went to Torrins, made it to the seniors and then went up and up until he got to the Under 21 team and FC Porto. And now you can even go to the World Cup with Canada. If it’s not a great story…”

Yep, Jose. It’s a great story, as is the extraordinary transformation of team captain Eustaquio in Leiria: from full back/wild winger to successful entrepreneur in the smartphone world and now in real estate. Let’s go to her.

“Tesla, Google and Meta are also in Austin”

January 2022 marks a revolutionary change in the life of José Costa Rodriguez. After the sale of smartphones and real estate investments – “Relive has nine full-time employees and 40 consultants throughout Portugal” – the entrepreneur feels the momentum and courage to cross the Atlantic.

“I moved to the US six months ago. I left the comfort I had in Lisbon and my future wife left the comfort she had in Porto. We arrived in Austin, and we had nothing to look forward to: no friends, no home, no business, ”he admits. zero zeroat the beginning of another working day in the Texas office.

“The requirements for entering this market are very high. We have been looking for answers and in the last two or three weeks we have started to accumulate some success. For example, here, to become a real estate consultant, you need to complete a 180-hour course and pass a difficult exam. In Portugal, with all due respect, anyone can do the job.”

And why Austin, Texas? “We turned to three American investors. Two of them proposed to us, I confess, we even cried on the video call. We have chosen an investor who is located in Austin. Texas has 30 million inhabitants, if we put this state in Europe, it is capable of covering four or five countries. This is a region with a lot of land, a lot of space,” says the businessman, who was born and raised in Urem.

José during his visit to the US Embassy in Portugal ©José Costa Rodrigues – instagram

“BUT TeslaElon Musk, recently opened a factory here, Google it’s in Meta [Facebook] did the same. A generation is moving to Austin, 30-year-old Malta, and that sounds very attractive to our business.”

The puzzle is not complete, José has “a lot to conquer” but also enough to tell. From football to university, to the world of mobile phones, and from there to real estate. In just 26 years of life.

“In February 2020, I decided to buy a franchise in Remax, in Marville, next to Parque das Nacoins. I realized that within the framework of this franchise, I would not be able to innovate. it’s like in McDonald’s: French fries are the same everywhere,” he admits, returning to his early days in this new professional world.

“I decided to sell this store and invest in revive, with a different focus: investing in a consultant’s brand. This is a business, not a brand or a house. We have created all the tools that surround the daily life of an entrepreneur: support with marketing, finance, accounting, procedural management, lawyers, so that the consultant can focus on the business.”

Jose does not forget football, and analogies with this world are constant. explicit.

“When I wake up in the morning, I want to be to my advisors what Jorge Mendez is to his players. I help them have a successful career, I want them to be Cristiano Ronaldos in what they do. That is why I have already sent huge pictures of Cristiano, Federer, Hamilton, Serena Williams to our Lisbon office… Jorge and Cristiano are references and I hope to meet them one day.”

“In ten years I want to be closer to the football industry”

As? This is the question that comes up most often in interviews. How do you go from an investment of 300 euros to a turnover of about eight million in 2019, even with All phones?

How did José Costa Rodriguez develop this pulse, this natural ability to make the right choice in the business world, while still so young?

“At my parents’ house, I pretended to sell books. Later, I remember putting everything up for sale on OLX and then going to the post office to deliver it to customers. At that time, when paying upon receipt, CTT gave us a voucher. Then we went to the store and they exchanged it for cash. I collected all these vouchers when I was 15/16/17 and that’s how I got the money to open All phones.”

It looks simple. Probably so. “I’ve always wanted to have what I’ve seen millionaires have on TV. And I got a taste for buying and selling, business and profit. My dream is to be in the Champions League in ten years. Side by side with Canselo, Bernardo Silva, but in a different professional field. This is my long-term vision.”

Jose doesn’t mind sharing. There are no secrets here, just intelligence and a keen sensitivity to identify opportunities. And all this after so many years and so many hours invested in football.

“I spent five years with All phones. We sell a lot of cell phones, I made a good sale, I think we were the first company to start selling refurbished devices. Check out what’s happening at Fnac and Worten right now. I learned a lot, gained confidence and sold the company to a Portuguese investor with connections in China.”

Despite the obvious success, José is the epitome of simplicity. No quirks, no harsh arrogance, just a lot of sympathy and a pure desire to say that “yes, you can.” Not without some setbacks.

“There were three failures in my history: football, because I didn’t reach the level I thought I had; admission to a very weak university; and the stage where my business wasn’t big or big. This was until the age of 18. I made some changes, but there was no organization. There was no football, no studies, no business, ”the Portuguese businessman believes.

“Then I decided that I had to reach the top in the professional world. Luckily, later I entered the ISCTE business school and everything changed. I studied in Spain, Switzerland, China and the USA, taking several courses focused on what interested me the most.”

What about football? Is this a closed door or is it the future owner of the club? José Costa Rodriguez laughs.

“Just a few days ago, I uploaded a video of a tennis ball being hit, which went well on the 32nd take, and I was asked if I would like to try my luck in MLS. I replied that I no longer ride a bike and that the only way to get into the club is to invest in it. I love football, I want to be closer to the football industry in ten years, but I don’t know how yet. Me and my organizations will be close to football. That’s exactly what it will be.”

From football to millions on smartphones and real estate. From USA to Portuguese football?