Coming from the aerospace sector, José Miguel Bermúdez, who co-founded bound4blue with the goal of revolutionizing maritime transport through wind propulsion, shares his exciting career story and explains his connection to the maritime industry.
José Miguel believes that hard work and effort, along with the ability to learn from mistakes and failures, are key to positive professional development. He credits his parents as role models, teaching him the values of hard work, integrity, and, above all, humility—staying grounded regardless of success or failure. He wishes the maritime industry would accelerate its pace of innovation and development, as it lags behind other industries. In particular, he emphasizes the need for a change in mindset so that shipping becomes more open to new ideas and technologies.
SAFETY4SEA: How did it come about that you joined the shipping industry and your field of expertise specifically?
José Miguel Bermudez: Well, we come from the aerospace sector, completely outside the maritime industry. The idea actually came about one day while watching TV with my father. We started working on it during our time at university, focusing primarily on the technical aspects. Later, we worked for a company that had nothing to do with the maritime sector but was more related to aerospace. By 2015, we felt it was the right moment both personally and due to the regulatory environment, so we decided to move forward with creating the company after gaining some experience. We realized that the shipping industry had a lot of room for improvement and optimization. Wind energy was starting to gain attention, but the technology wasn’t mature enough. We saw an opportunity to develop it, and that’s how we got started.
S4S: What about your current job/role most excites you and why?
This is a bit more of a romantic question. On one hand, there’s the idealistic aspect of trying to make the world a better place, which is always fulfilling. We’re working in an industry that is largely unknown to the general public. People don’t usually think about how their morning coffee, gasoline, or phones are transported—and all of this happens by ship. It’s a vital sector for the functioning of the world, though it remains largely invisible to most people. Our goal is to make this industry more efficient, not just in terms of costs, which is obviously important, but also from an environmental perspective. Helping the world become a little better is definitely a motivating factor. Plus, the challenge is huge. We’re building a heavy hardware industrial company in a very traditional and established sector, and now that we’re in the scaling and growth phase, it has become an exciting and beautiful challenge.
S4S: When you think of the word successful, who’s the first person who comes to mind and why?
When it comes to success, I’ve never really had clear role models or figures I aspired to emulate. I’ve never thought, “I want to be like this or that person.” When people ask me this question, I don’t have a specific person in mind as a success icon. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. For me, success isn’t necessarily tied to wealth. There are many successful people, and success is a subjective term. If I move away from the word “success” and think more about “role models,” I would say my parents. I wouldn’t classify them as “successful entrepreneurs who made it big,” but success isn’t just about money. It’s about how you handle things, the values you pass on, and how you face life’s challenges. In that sense, my parents are my role models.
S4S: Who is/was the most influential person/mentor to you and why?
As mentioned, my parents have been the most influential people in my life. Their approach to life, values, and the way they handle challenges have always been inspiring to me. They’ve taught me the importance of hard work, integrity, and staying grounded, regardless of success or failure.
S4S: What is the best and what was the worst piece of advice you’ve ever been given and why?
The best advice I’ve received is that hard work is essential. I often share this when I speak to young people: work, work, and more work. Success requires a touch of brilliance and a bit of luck—something many don’t admit—but the main ingredient is hard work. Over the years, we’ve also learned the value of making mistakes, of failing, and then using those failures to improve and move forward. Having internalized both the value of hard work and the ability to learn from errors is, in my opinion, one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received.
As for the worst advice, I don’t have a specific example, but I’d say it often comes from people who have never started anything themselves, yet try to give advice on how to organize things or manage people. Every company is different, and what works for one may not work for another. Sometimes this type of advice can be more harmful than helpful.
S4S: What is the most worthwhile career investment (in energy, time, money) you’ve ever made?
The most worthwhile investment has been our previous experience at “0 to Infinity,” the company we worked for before. It gave us an in-depth understanding of everything from dealing with investors, building a team, and managing regulatory and legal issues. This experience is where we’ve invested the most time and effort, and it has given us the best feedback, preparing us for our next business venture.
S4S: If you could give a piece of advice to your 18-year-old self, what would it be and why? What piece of advice should you ignore?
The advice I would give my 18-year-old self would be to keep following the path of hard work and effort, as it has proven to be positive. One thing I might have done differently is studying abroad. For various reasons, I didn’t, but I think it would have been a valuable experience, both personally and professionally. Additionally, it might have been beneficial to work a bit more during my undergraduate years, gaining practical experience before diving into a postgraduate degree. However, I don’t regret it because, in the end, things turned out well.
S4S: What would you like to change in the current maritime landscape and your area of expertise specifically and why?
One thing I would change about the maritime industry is how slow it is compared to other sectors, particularly when it comes to implementing changes and new developments. In other industries, especially R&D, companies tend to adapt and commercialize innovations much faster, whereas the naval sector tends to be more costly and slower. This mindset should shift toward being more open to new ideas and technologies. Also, the industry is not very optimized. For example, in aviation, a plane doesn’t take off until it has a confirmed landing time. However, in maritime, ships often experience delays or have to wait for days, leading to inefficiencies. This affects both time and operational costs, including fuel expenses, resulting in significant financial losses. The maritime industry needs a lot of improvement in this area.
S4S: What is your personal motto?
If I had to choose a personal motto, it would be a combination of hard work and effort, along with well-understood ambition. Ambition is often seen as something negative, but without it, the world doesn’t move forward. That said, ambition should always be accompanied by humility. I try to live by this combination of work, effort, ambition, and humility in my daily life.
The views presented are only those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
