How Two Entrepreneurs from Tomar Are Bringing “Bezos” to Portugal
Don’t be fooled into thinking that it was a major business school that brought these two specialists to Portugal. The event, which took place last year in Tomar, was organized by the small independent company Arc Executive Education, founded in that city by two young local entrepreneurs.
António Ferreira, 31, has a background in veterinary medicine. In 2018, he founded Farmin, a company focused on professional training in the veterinary field. Alongside with his friend João Cascão, a personal trainer, they often met to discuss the great management leaders they admired. One day, they decided they would like to bring these world-renowned experts to Portugal. They rolled up their sleeves and started making contacts.
It was not easy to convince internationally recognized figures to come to Tomar, but the first programs proved successful. Many companies have become repeat participants: senior executives attended the program, enjoyed the experience, and later sent the rest of their leadership teams, as was the case with OutSystems.
Today, the company—now operating under the name Arc due to the success of its first programs—has already generated €1 million in revenue, including at the Convent of Christ, one of Portugal’s most iconic landmarks.
Since 2018, the company has organized more than 100 executive programs and trained over 1,000 participants, delivering four major management programs every year aimed at senior executives.
Bringing Jeff Bezos’ right-hand man to Portugal seemed almost impossible, but it eventually became reality. This was already the second edition of the program these executives delivered in Portugal, and both editions sold out.
“We simply want to develop top-level leaders,” says António Ferreira.
The business model is distinctive because each cohort is intentionally small, with invitations extended only to C-level executives. It is not a traditional conference held in an auditorium for 200 or 300 people. Instead, it is a fully immersive learning experience that also emphasizes networking.
Arc arranges accommodation, transportation, and meals, creating an environment where participants can interact closely with the instructors. The learning materials are personalized and include a book, a workbook, and a notebook bearing each participant’s name. The entire experience is designed to be highly exclusive, practical, and rewarding.
Managing Like Amazon Executive Program
The two specialists were in Portugal for the second time to deliver a two-and-a-half-day immersive program, titled Managing Like Amazon, designed for around 30 senior executives from several European countries.
The program, promoted by Arc Executive Education, was created specifically for this audience. With participation fees starting at around €5,000, attendance is generally by invitation only.
The two entrepreneurs are already preparing to bring other internationally renowned experts to Portugal—such as Aswath Damodaran in finance and Dave Ulrich in human capital.
Forbes Portugal spoke with the two former Amazon executives to understand the key lessons from the program and the management principles they learned while working alongside Jeff Bezos.
Colin Bryar recalls one quote from Bezos that had a profound impact on him:
“One thing Jeff told me was to take pride in my choices and my actions, not in my talents. Talents are gifts. What truly matters is how you use those gifts. This advice has helped me both professionally and personally, reminding me to focus on what I can control: my choices, my effort, and my actions.”
Colin Bryar explains that Amazon’s success is often attributed to its culture or bold ideas. In reality, however, it stems from something much more tangible: a set of mechanisms that shape how decisions are made, how teams operate, how leaders allocate resources, and how the business grows.
In the program, they focus on these mechanisms, such as working backwards from the customer, building compelling narratives, establishing an annual operating cadence, conducting weekly, monthly, and quarterly business reviews, defining input and output metrics, applying Amazon’s leadership principles, and adopting its approach to hiring and talent systems.
“The goal is not to tell executives to copy Amazon, but rather to help them understand the underlying management system and determine which mechanisms can be adapted to their own organizations,” Bryar explains.
He continues:
“The overarching message is that lasting innovation is not magic. It is the result of repeatable processes that help leaders make better decisions, stay close to customers, measure what truly matters, and build teams capable of executing at scale.”
The two executives work with companies in a variety of ways: through executive education programs such as the one held in Portugal, online courses, and tailored consulting services.
Their work has already impacted hundreds of companies in more than 20 countries, ranging from fast-growing businesses to large, established organizations.
“What many companies have in common is the same challenge Amazon faced as it grew: how to preserve speed, accountability, customer focus, and innovation as the organization becomes more complex,” says Colin Bryar.
The two instructors wrote the book Working Backwards, in which they sought to answer the question:
“How does Amazon work?”
They present a comprehensive and practical explanation designed to help the next generation of business leaders.
Bill Carr explains that the objective is to translate Amazon’s success into mechanisms that other organizations can replicate.
He highlights several key elements for achieving this.