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Rubén Criado is the founder and CEO of Luz WaveLabs, a company specializing in photonics and high-frequency technologies for communication. Holding a telecommunications engineering degree and a doctorate from Carlos III University of Madrid, Rubén’s doctoral research directly inspired the products his company develops. He emphasizes the critical role of university-business collaboration in fostering innovation, noting that universities provide knowledge while companies offer market experience. However, he warns that risk-sharing must be balanced, as universities currently bear most of the risks in these partnerships.
In an interview, Rubén shares key entrepreneurial qualities: determination combined with the wisdom to know when to withdraw, the ability to quickly identify and correct errors, adaptability in product development and market launch, continuous learning, and building a multidisciplinary team with complementary skills. These attributes have earned him prestigious awards such as “Innovator under 35” by MIT Technology Review and “Most Disruptive Mind of the Year 2016” by QUO Magazine. Rubén argues that Spain’s innovation potential is hindered by a cultural aversion to failure, urging a mindset shift supported by authorities to foster entrepreneurship and facilitate the implementation of new projects.
Rubén Criado, founder and CEO of Luz Wavelabs, talks to us about how to transform university research into a successful company.
Rubén Criado is the founder and CEO of Luz WaveLabs, a technology-based company that develops products related to photonics and high frequency applied to communication. In addition, Rubén is an expert in our Akademia course, where he shares his experience with our students about his entrepreneurial experience.
Rubén is a telecommunications engineer from the Carlos III University of Madrid , the same university where he did his doctoral thesis on photonics, from whose results came the product that Luz WaveLabs is now developing. This demonstrates the importance of the management of new projects in universities, where new business projects can be developed by taking advantage of the teaching tools. For this, Rubén stressed that collaboration between University and Business is also important, since the university provides the knowledge and the company the experience and the approach to the market. But in this relationship, for it to be successful, there must be a balance of taking risks, since, so far, most of the risks are assumed by the university. In this interview, we have asked Rubén the necessary qualities, which, in his opinion, any entrepreneur should have. Rubén highlights:
- having determination, but at the same time knowing how to retire in time. It is important to detect errors as soon as possible in order to fix them
- Have the ability to adapt, both in product development and in its release to the market
- Have the ability to learn continuously
- know how to surround yourself with people who complement your abilities. For Rubén, it is essential to create a multidisciplinary team that brings together the necessary skills to face all challenges.
These skills have not only made Rubén a successful entrepreneur, but his professional career has been awarded with several awards such as the “Innovator under 35” awarded in Spain by the MIT Technology Review, the “Innovator of the Year 2016” by SEAT or “The Most Disruptive Mind of the Year 2016” by QUO Magazine. Finally, Rubén points out that the only thing Spain needs to be a leader in innovation is a change of mentality. We need to promote a culture that does not have so much aversion to failure. For this, it would be important for the authorities to support entrepreneurs, facilitating and supporting the implementation of new projects.
