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Portugal's dictatorship and fascism regime dissolved in 1974. And the artistic collective emerged. During the financial crisis 2008 a forceful spark of entrepreneurial tech-creativity was born. Then Web Summit relocated here in 2016 to boost things up even further. Add a few strategic and smart initiatives from the government - and Voila!
Lisbon is catching up with Berlin and San Francisco
The artistic collective attracted the avant-garde of bold innovative entrepreneurs. This cocktail became a strong multi-attractor-point and seed for the early emerging Quintuple-H movement.
What's next?
I have observed a pattern. Lisbon is now in a phase of attracting a higher amount of a very specific kind of personality profile, the one I would call the 5th H-profile. (Building upon the philosopher Hanzi Freinacht's Triple and Quadruple H-profiles.) The 5th is The Hyperagent. It's the personality who identifies with and moves along and in between the four other H-groups (Hackers, Hipster, Hippies and Hermetics). The Hyperagent is the superconnector between them, bringing all the different leaders within each H-community together. The ones with the highest total amount of cultural capital, naturally placing themselves as a central node - attracting and drawing others towards them and their initiatives. The most powerful of the H-profiles.
I've been navigating within the community of all H-profiles since 2016 and unconsciously collecting Hyperagents around me for the last 4-5 years. Life becomes more exciting with powerful change makers and rebels around you. I prefer to stick around with the ones who have a good heart and their values figured out.
I would like to claim that there is a relatively high and growing concentration of Hyperagents in Lisbon, Cascais, Caparica and Porto today. This creates an attractor point which we in turn can use to make sense of what the future of Lisbon and Portugal might look like.
When a city or place manages to crack this formula and attract collaborating H-profiles - A city can change profoundly and influence the world.
I'm a Collector-of-Perspectives with a passion for making sense of the world and trends around me. The bigger my perspective collection is - the better decisions I make, and also the better advice I can give to friends, fellow entrepreneurs and investors.
Here I'll invite you to come with me on a journey where I'll make an effort at looking at Lisbon through a lens of economics, sociology, psychology, history, politics and philosophy. Without being an expert within any of the fields. To try to make sense of which direction - and how fast Portugal is heading there.
Most of the articles I've seen about Portugal so far is about digital nomads, the best cafés to visit and the comparison to the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. I like the smell of coffee and beautiful bridges too but it doesn't quite tickle my brain. Let us zoom out a little bit more and see if we can decode the abstractness of what really is happening.
I have a large global network and I’ve travelled my fare share around this planet already, as well as my friends. So when I reached out to my network just before my first journey to Lisbon I asked around if someone knew someone here that I should connect and meet up with.
To my surprise, only one friend I asked had a connection in Lisbon. It confused me as I have good connections in almost 100+ countries by now, but it also told me that there is something unexplored here. A well-kept secret gem. - I met up with my friends friend for coffee. She had just come back from Luxembourg where's she had set up her real estate investment fund, for women only.
Luckily enough for me - my favorite Danish friend, a dancer and artist, had already moved here, which opened the gate right into the artistic collective of Lisbon through her work at a dance company. I would place her on the Hippie-profile. She’s good at hosting artsy burner gatherings.
Another one of my good Swedish entrepreneur-friends, Petra Sundell, had also been living here for 5 years, a fellow superconnector and someone I really appreciate hanging out with, who instantly introduced me to her bubble of creative entrepreneurial friends. She has built a community for and business around supporting students to become self-leading freelancers, and show them the middle path in between Employment and Entrepreneurship. Brilliant. She also bounces around, rating the best coffees and cafes to work from. I would put her in the Hipster-box. Let's see if she resonates when she find this page..
Later on I would also find out that my mysterious serial entrepreneur friend Fabian is here part-time with an intention to relocate full time. He's working on more tech-projects than I can keep up with. He definitely goes with the Hacker-profile.
These three Nordic friends of mine have a lot in common, which I would later see a larger pattern emerge through, the more people I met. Two Italian women who managed to cross my path early on here comes to my mind. I would like to place one of them somewhere more towards the Hermetics-profile as she’s head deep into the field of Human Design atm. The other one being a frequent Ted Talk-guest on impact topics, a member of the White Hat Hacker Community and hosting plant-medicine retreats in the deep jungle of Brazil.
I got this familiar feeling that something is going on but I couldn't put my finger on it first. This feeling hit me like a bus in the face one night at Bohemian Beach Club when Astradanza was in town.
And damn, was I right. But it took me 7 months to connect the dots.
Portugal is moving its position from being a sleepy vacation destination to a vibrant metropolis for the young, creative and powerful global citizens - who are flooding in.
A combination of policy changes and events has made Portugal an attractor for the five H-profiles. Here is a excerpt from the philosopher Hanzi Freinacht’s book The Listening Society to explain the common trait further:
“The Reign of Hackers, Hipsters & Hippies"
These people are not just annoying, they are also about to take over the world. They are the ones with the highest amount of cultural capital, which they trade at increasingly favorable exchange rates, and, with which they’ll eventually outcompete capitalism. The reason for that is that their services, products and ideas have a competitive advantage; they are simply capable of creating the stuff everyone wants. These people are the main agents within crucial sectors such as IT, design and organizational development, which are growing in importance as the economies of the West are getting increasingly de-industrialized and more digitalized. The sociologist Richard Florida called them the creative class. His theory has merits, but he failed to see the wider political implications of a new rising class with values departing from the mainstream. He also lacked a framework for understanding the developmental psychology behind and he missed vital aspects of how it all links up with technological progress. Here you’ll get to know these agents of change and understand why they’re important.
Dr. Paul Shervish has a slightly different definition of what a Hyperagent is, compared to how I'm applying it here, where he places more weight to the wealthy aspect of it:
Dr. Paul Shervish, an associate professor of Sociology at Boston College, is an expert in what he calls the sociology of wealth. He uses the term “hyper-agency” to describe the way the wealthy perceive and approach the world.
“Hyper-agency is the ability to determine the conditions and circumstances of life instead of merely living within them. As agents, most people search out the most suitable place for themselves in a world constructed by others. As hyper-agents, the wealthy construct a world that suits their desires and values. If agency means ferreting out the best possible path within the institutionally given constraints imposed by others, hyper-agency means being able to construct a self and a world that transcends the established institutional limits and, in fact, create the limits for others.” Source
I would argue that it's enough with some more financial independence and the space to purposefully be able to steer your attention and focus - which in my view doesn't really have to mean that you're financially wealthy. From my own definition, Hyperagents are wealthy in Total Capital.
Hanzi explains Total Capital well:
The privilege I speak of is high “total capital” (a concept I elaborate in further detail in my book, Nordic Ideology), meaning that we are not necessarily rich in the conventional sense, but that we have enough opportunities and support around us to do pretty much whatever we want with our lives (so, total capital is a combination of social capital, cultural capital, economic capital, emotional capital, sexual capital and good health). High total capital means that you can live your life relatively unafraid. The Metamodern Aristocracy
Daniel Schmachtenberger talks about Hyper Agents with another definition in this podcast with Nate Hagens as well, from 1:14:00: Daniel Schmachtenberger: Bend not Break: Maximum Power & Hyper Agents | The Great Simplification #20
Let's jump to Los Angeles and San Francisco. How did Silicon Valley become such a hub for innovation and creativity on the world map, while Los Angeles didn't? Something happened in the 80’s.
The authors behind The Rise and Fall of Urban Economies came to a few conclusions that resonates with my own and others thinking:
They argue that the economic development of metropolitan regions hinges on previously underexplored capacities for organizational change in firms, networks of people, and networks of leaders.
San Francisco had a higher amount of what I call Hyperagents gathering in San Francisco in the 80’s, which in turn built informal institutions (groups, communities and places for exchange of insights and experience). This, they argue, is one of the most important factors for the difference between the growth of San Francisco vs Los Angeles. The other one being smart politicians who created the right framework and formal institutions for further progress.
Why do you think Burning Man was founded in San Francisco 1986?
Let’s take a train back over to Europe! Germany and the Nordics.
How do societies go through major transformative shifts? Let’s dive into some key events 200-300 years ago.
“The Nordic Secret explores how Denmark, Norway and Sweden went from poor feudal agricultural societies to rich industrialised democracies thanks to the German educational concept of Bildung. The Nordic Secret concludes with a discussion about what we can learn from this positive transformation and how to apply it in the current global crises.”
The authors Tomas Björkman and Lene Andersen walk the readers through important historical events from a developmental psychological and sociological perspective and point at two specific German cities and their importance and later impact for the development of the Nordic countries - where some of the most brilliant, way-a-head-of-their-time philosopher, poets, thinkers and intellectuals would eventually get together and exchange thoughts and create.
“In Weimar, which is a small city of about 6,000 people a little under 300 kilometers south-west of Berlin, there is a very young duke who must have read Werther. He is 18 years old and his full name is Duke Karl August von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach. The young duke’s mother, 37-year-old Duchess Anna Amalia von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, has been a widow since she was 19, and by testament, her husband has transferred the regency of the duchy to her and made her the guardian of their two sons until they reach the legal age of majority. In order to give her oldest son the best Bildung possible, she hired Wieland to be his tutor a couple of years earlier. Besides being a ruling duchess through her 20s and 30s, she is also a patron and composer, and she deliberately wants to make Weimar a hotspot for culture and academia.”
“By the mid-1790s, Wieland, Herder, Goethe, and Schiller, who were among the first exceptional minds to come to Jena/Weimar, have been there for almost 20 years. They represent what is today referred to as Weimarer Klassik, Weimar Classicism. This is not an ideology but a literary period, defined by the high quality of their writing.”
Excerpt From: Tomas Björkman & Lene Andersen. “The Nordic Secret”.
One idea from one woman to deliberately make Weimar into a central node for intellectuals and thinkers most certainly created mega-ripple effects all the way up through the Nordics.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed - it’s the only thing that ever has!" Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist (1901-1978)
I’ve been part of building something like Weimar and Jana, small-scale for the last 5 years, in Sweden before I moved to Lisbon.
We built a self-organized Coliving in the central business district of Stockholm for 55 people. Our house became a central hub and community with a high diversity of people across the H-profiles with an average of 20 different nationalities in the house. We even started hosting our own K9 Talks, borrowing the concept from Ted Talks. Multiple initiatives have been born and created in the house due to collaborations between residents. Urban Oasis being one. (One of the leading Vertical Farming companies in Sweden, which I helped out building, launching and scaling.)
“K9 is a purpose-driven real estate venture that launches and manages conscious co-living and co-working properties for global citizens. The aim is to support the development of a more conscious society.”
Through out the last 5 years there are around 300 alumni residents who have moved in and out of this community, staying for an average of 1 year. When I moved out I was one of the two residents who had stayed the whole journey from the beginning in November 2016, the other one being both a doctor, researcher, Harvard graduate, winner of Researchers Grand Prix and a player in the Japanese National floorball team. If you don't have your self-worth and esteem together here you're in for a ride.
Take a look inside the community together with my ex housemate and old good friend Staffan Taylor: How it is living with 50 housemates | K9 Co-Living
I became addicted to the cultural learning-power of living in the house at one point due to the kind of people it attracted. My CQ (Cultural Capital) spiked through the roof in this environment of people. The experience will also elevate your SQ (Spiritual Intelligence), EQ (Emotional Intelligence) and PQ (Somatic Intelligence) but I’ll leave that story for another sunny day.
The author of The Nordic Secret and philanthropist, Tomas Björkman was the investor behind our house as well. Few people know how smart and strategic move this was and the global ripple impact.
From hands-on personal experience I've learned, seen and participated in a contemporary Weimar/Jana-experiment. I have seen the power and good things that can come out of it. The ripple effects it creates in society.
This is why it's heartbreaking to me to see that the government in Portugal is forcing the Cocasa Community here in Lisbon to change their business model back to being a hostel due to old property policies and regulations. Cocasa is one of the most vibrant and important communities in Lisbon, shutting down this community is like stabbing the development of the society in the foot - and the progress of the whole country. Unwise.
If someone from Cocasa reads this, feel free to reach out and bounce ideas for how to get this community back up again.
Cocasa
There is also an all-time high of expats in Portugal. A wave of expats and digital nomads is settling in Portugal in search of creating a better life. The increase from 2019 to 2020 was 12,2% (662,095), 2020 to 2021 7,8% (714,000).
"In 2020 there was, therefore, for the fifth consecutive year, an increase in the resident foreign population, with an increase of 12.2 percent compared to 2019, totalling 662,095 foreign citizens holding a residence permit” indicates the Report on Immigration, Borders and Asylum (RIFA). Source The number of foreign citizens living in Portugal — more than 714,000 — is at an all-time high, making up about 7% of the population in 2021, according to the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service. The number of Americans residing in Portugal is at its highest level in more than a decade, according to agency data. There were about 7,000 Americans living in the country at the end of 2021, more than double three years earlier. The U.S. is the 24th most represented country among foreign residents in Portugal. Source
Can we make some sense out of this to see into Portugals future?
Let’s take one more part from Hanzi’s writings to figure out what’s so special with these H-profiles:
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE TRIPLE-H POPULATION?
Because they are going to play a dominant role in society, outcompete the traditional bourgeoisie and eventually invent most of the solutions to save the world, that’s why!
In our new society of digital culture and software, being in touch with the symbols and tempo of contemporary society – having large amounts of “cultural capital” that is – puts one at a much greater advantage than before. Whereas money, in most developed countries, is scattered relatively evenly across the representatives of the old classes of industrial society and the new creative ones, cultural capital is certainly not. The triple-H folks are usually more artsy, creative, well connected, socially intelligent, emotionally developed, idealistic, digitalized, diversified and educated – and thus more likely to become rising stars of the new society.
But it’s also important to know about the triple-H people because the societies that most effectively adapt to the needs of this group will come out on top in the global economy.
There is no denying the advantages of having a thriving triple-H population. For instance, Malmö, a city in southern Sweden, recently reinvented itself, going from an industrial economy where jobs disappeared, to being a “progressive” and “hip” city attracting young creative souls from all over the country and abroad. It’s the fastest growing major city in Sweden (not only from overseas immigration, but also from internal immigration as well) and many of the country’s new IT-startups, social innovators and artists have made the city their home. Malmö has become a center of Sweden’s burgeoning video game industry and it has become known for its vibrant and edgy cultural scene and even managed to successfully compete with its big brother Stockholm. Sweden’s traditional industrial center Gothenburg now seems to be lagging behind Malmö in terms of innovation, culture and attracting young people. If we look at the global scene we’ll find an identical picture: San Francisco has become the center of innovation and growth in postindustrial USA, not Detroit, Berlin is the new hip place to attract young creatives in Germany, not the old industrial heartland of the Ruhr and previously periphery cities on the global stage, like Krakow, Dublin, Vancouver and Reykjavik, have successfully reinvented themselves as cultural and innovative hotspots, while former industrial centers like Bradford, Cleveland and Lille haven’t been as fortunate – yet. It has now become evident that a successful transition to, not just a well-developed service economy, but a hi-tech one based on creativity, culture and innovation determines whether a society will prosper in the global, digitalized economy or not. But what many still fail to realize is that it’s critical to attract the triple-H people.
From the H-profiles of the new emerging global elite and powerful change makers to the importance of creating cultural space to explore the unexplored in the city. Physical space to collaborate and exchange ideas and the importance of elevating each other, be it either within the emotional, cognitive, spiritual or somatic sphere. The importance of diversity and the policies and initiatives from the government. The ecosystem is evolving rapidly and it's an intermeshed network with tight ties between the central agents. Everyone is more or less connected to everyone and anyone, supporting and exchanging ideas and insights with each other. This is key.
This is the people who are experimenting, creating and playing at the horizon of realities and possibilities. Stretching collective norms, structures and status quo.
90-95% of the population on earth can't even comprehend or understand what they're doing or working for, it's too unfamiliar, abstract and far out of their own perception. These are the misunderstood activists and rebels, fighting for a better world for everyone. Pushing their own boundaries, comfort zones and safety for a bigger picture. They're navigating in an outdated system of institutions and regulations, constructed hundreds of years ago. The fishes who jumped out of the water to take a look at what everyone else is swimming in.
When H-profiles start to gather up somewhere, other H-profiles will soon come along, in even bigger batches. It’s like pulling the plug to a waterfall. This unspoken transnational community likes to stick together. Think San Francisco, Berlin, Costa Rica, Bali and maybe even Tulum.
If I would lick the top of my finger and put it up in the air; I would estimate that 10% of the expats here today are H-profiles and 0,1% Hyperagents from my observations. The bohemian beach clubs, the Mayan Warrior appearances and the NFT and Blockchain conferences are sold out. The Eco Villages and Permaculture initiatives is all over the country. The Ayahuasca and Kamboo retreats an hour away. The startup community is bubbling and the biggest tech companies have relocated and outsourced some of their departments here already.
I’ve taken you on a little journey through a few different lenses of how I perceive Lisbon and its future. Now I want to invite you to play with your own imagination of the future of Portugal. What will it look like if we continue on this path?
I’m happy to continue the discussion when we meet next time
I'll also leave you with an important thought. If you're already here, collaborating and creating. Do an effort to actively include the Portuguese community. If not, they’ll feel alienated within their own country and growingly frustrated over the rising prices of services and housing prices. It’s already happening, I hear their voices. Don’t build a wall - include, invite and share.
Practice radical inclusion. Surprise your Portuguese friend with a free ticket to your event. It’s a fact that the income gap unfortunately are huge, so let's make an effort to build as many bridges as possible to overlap the gaps. They’ll appreciate it and you have no clue what kind of possibilities and opportunities could emerge from there.
If you're a Portuguese Politician who wants to know more about The Nordic Secret, discuss the progress of the Nordic countries further and how to apply it within Portugal’s politics - reach out.
My name is Nathaniel, I've been within the field of Entrepreneurship, Startups, Business Strategy and Business Development since 2008. During the last 16 years, I have worked with a dozens of startups and organizations. From research to strategy, from launching to scaling. The last 5 years I've become more nerdy about Leadership and Organisation Development, as well as multiple science fields.
My secret is that I never stopped learning. You'll usually find me experimenting or with a book. Currently I'm deep into philosophy, sociology, systems science, ecology, psychology and neurobiology.
I want to help good science, visions and ideas take root in society.
I’ve come to realise that either our planet, societies, institutions or we ourselves have enough capacity any longer to continue as we have been doing for the last 300 years - So I have
shifted my focus towards what I see as the fundamental core to most of our universal problems. I’ve committed myself to facilitate and transform both inner and outer dimension and space to elevate (in)dividuals and societies to a higher form of personal consciousness, freedom and equality. Emotional Equality.
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