Talking to Rodrigo, cofounder of Augusta Labs, it’s impossible not to notice the genuine excitement—and almost contagious energy—he brings when speaking about technology, the future, and, most importantly, the people around him on this journey (from his business partner, employees and past colleagues).
Augusta Labs is a consulting firm focused on delivering AI solutions to its customers, which range from startups to big corporations in different industries. They stand out for their fast and effective approach, with beautiful results.
The story of Augusta Labs starts with a couple of ambitious friends living in the same house in Lisbon and having discussions about building companies at dinner. The turning point was “inevitable” as Rodrigo puts it. Now, almost 2 years later, operating with almost 20 employees between Lisbon and Porto, but never forgetting where it all began - at Rua Augusta.
“The simplest explanation is that it was inevitable,” Rodrigo says. Even years before joining Sword Health, the healthtech portuguese unicorn, he already knew that one day he’d build something of his own.
I had already mentally committed to doing it. At the time, I thought, “This seems super fun, at some point I’m gonna do it.”
The rise of tools like ChatGPT only accelerated things: “I started experimenting a lot with AI and even built some side projects to solve problems I had … I became fascinated.” In September 2023, he took the leap and quit his job to focus on this emerging technology.
The best place to be… the Internet
“One of the main things that helped me prepare for Augusta Labs was - unavoidably - the internet. If I had to single something out, it would be Twitter. It was my main hotspot to keep up with the crazy pace of AI progress.” That’s where he picked up trends, funding patterns, ideas. “I’ve always consumed a lot from the internet because I think it’s the best way to share and absorb knowledge—it’s incredible—and it helped me start Augusta Labs, or any company really.”
The second thing that helped him prepare was his prior experience working at Sword Health. Rodrigo was part of the CEO team, which reports directly to the founder Virgilio. He was able to see how people at a fast paced startup think, and took a lot of ideas from how they led teams, structure processes, and also learned what he didn’t want to do.
It’s funny because today, every other week I often find myself remembering how they did things and using that as input for my own decisions.
He still keeps in touch with his former team somewhat regularly—suggesting potential hires or chatting about specific opportunities. He’ll schedule calls to unpack ideas or revisit problems that Virgilio, João Trigo, Marta, or others at Sword have already solved, but he reflects he should make even more use of those unique opportunities. “I know the door is wide open for that, which is amazing and something I deeply appreciate.”
Rodrigo finds similar support with people that he meets on the internet. “I think I have a lot of calls where we exchange ideas and explore opportunities with a lot of people—kind of serendipitously.” He enjoys picking people’s brains mostly in the sense of “what opportunities can we collaborate and capitalize on?” rather than “teach me how to solve something.” This is also something that members at Augusta Labs started doing. Developers have calls with more senior developers to soak up knowledge.
Society loves youth
Being a young person trying to do something different, unique, and ambitious is very rare in Portugal, as Rodrigo mentions, and for that reason attracts people. “Generally, my take is that being young is a great asset because society loves young people and generally wants to support them.”
He’s aware there are challenges—like competing with people in their 50s who have much more experience and established networks—but believes the real value lies in solving real problems with intensity and honesty.
In some slower commercial processes Augusta Labs had to build more trust since they don’t have the same track record as big consulting firms or established software companies. Which of course makes it harder to reach certain milestones as fast as they would like. But Rodrigo reminds us that being true to oneself is the path forward. ”We don’t pretend to be something we’re not—that would just set us up for failure. We understand who we are and what we’re really good at—and the world sees that too.”
For large companies, the team is very good at jumping in, solving a significant problem, and doing it with unusual intensity and focus. And that often includes not just engineering but also product and UX/UI work—which are all strengths they have in-house.
We’re a high-quality team, like a top-tier Silicon Valley team, building a product from scratch with everything that entails. And we’re putting that capability to use for big companies. So that’s our alpha—we know how to build excellent products end-to-end, i.e. not just the engineering but also design.
The path turned out to be the right one - a year has passed and now Augusta Labs brand is stronger - in terms of inbound interest, the type of companies reaching out to them (some really big ones Rodrigo said he’d never have expected), and even when they approach companies, they often already have heard about Augusta Labs. “Our past projects speak for themselves, and everything is getting smoother.”
Reaching out… and random videos
Most people on his network come through Linkedin, Twitter, or GitHub through trusting our instincts about someone. If someone seems interesting, which is intangible and unmeasurable, he reaches out and says “You seem cool, let’s chat. We have xyz in mind and think you could be helpful.” “We’ve found that people are overwhelmingly open”.
Since now Augusta Labs also has a solid brand, the reach out is easier. People who know about the company tend to like it.
This idea of serendipity—just hopping on calls with interesting people without a strict agenda—often results in impactful outcomes we couldn’t have predicted. We just follow our intuition, our taste, and our sense of who seems interesting.
Many still remember the personal branding efforts that Rodrigo made, in the beginning of the company, posting a video of himself talking about his progress on the company and learnings on that. Many hires mentioned their first contact with Augusta Labs and through one of those videos he used to post.
I never would’ve guessed because maybe they didn’t like, comment, or say anything—but they saw it, they resonated with it, and when we reached out later, they were already convinced.
Having people knowing about the company before they even meet the founders made the first contact much smoother. And Augusta Labs has something special about the way they communicate. Rodrigo used the word “authentic” often in our interview to describe how they communicate either through Rodrigo’s videos or posts from Augusta Labs on what they do and what they want.
Building on Hard Mode
Perhaps the biggest challenge? Starting bootstrapped. “Everything we generated for the company came from us. We didn’t have a cushion to allow for lots of trial and error.” That meant being extremely intentional with resources and finances—and learning quickly to make sure the company survived. That was the biggest challenge: how to create a business from scratch without external funding - just the savings of two young professionals - and learning the hard way. Which led them to be more financially aware.
“We came to really respect, for example, the concept of working capital. We realized that getting paid well is not just about pricing but also about the payment terms.”
There were other challenges - like deciding what should be the path to follow and what not to follow, which is extremely hard to decide especially at Augusta Labs, which has a very broad scope. “Now, looking back at ideas we once considered, I think we were a bit naive and didn’t fully understand the landscape.”
Different Co-Founders, Shared Decisions
Rodrigo doesn’t walk alone. His partnership with João is key and very well figured it out. He jokes with the saying “only the paranoid survive”, explaining that they are a bit paranoid but that has kept the business alive. Even when things seemed to be going well, the paranoia made them feel like the problem was not solved.
The cofounders have slightly different approaches when it comes to making decisions but he says “I think this is one of the areas where the synergy between João (my co-founder) and I really shines.” João, is more conservative financially, more cautious, whereas Rodrigo is more risk taking with some optimism. That contrast creates a strong balance. “It helps us make near-optimal decisions.” Especially in uncertain terrain—like employee compensation —two thoughtful perspectives go a long way.
Moments That Stick
“One moment I’ll never forget was when Augusta wasn’t even a company yet. We had two employees—Gui and Tiago—watching us explain our vision on a whiteboard. No product. No traction. Just an idea. I looked at them and they were fully focused, interested and decided to join us. They literally took a leap of faith and trusted us. That moment will stay with me forever. It’s a big part of why I feel a responsibility to make them rich—and make their lives amazing.”
Rodrigo also shares other smaller moments of pure flow. “Recently, we had a crucial deal that can be pivotal for the company. I saw the entire Augusta Labs team mobilize insanely fast, and move rocks to simply make it happen. It felt like we were all moving as one.” And finally, he shares that he still to this day is amazed by the brand and the company they created, when he messages interesting people that tell him how they love what he is doing.
Culture as an asset
Everyone that knows Augusta Labs, knows how they have a very unique culture.“It’s not something we planned. We are very ambitious, curious, and want to build a company that can be huge in a space we believe is one of the most important to humanity. So, it’s a reflection of who we are as founders.” He and João have been friends since childhood, and created their values together.
What do they do differently? They lean in. The two big things are: (1) the company reflects who they are, and (2) they make that very visible. They feel like a lot of companies don’t do it and people wonder what they stand for. Augusta Labs tries to make it obvious.
“We’re extremely authentic about who we are and what we want from the world—and then we make that very public. We think that’s the best way to save everyone’s time—ours and others”
Living in the Middle of a Technological Revolution
Rodrigo talks about AI with genuine reverence. “This might sound cliché, but for me it’s an insane honor. My job is to stay on top of what could be the most important technology of our time.” He often reminds his team of this privilege. “Do you realize we’re literally required to understand how this is changing the world – and help make that a reality?”. Rodrigo feels he and his team landed in the perfect spot.
Although he comes from a business background, he sees that as an advantage—especially in the new AI landscape. “Software is becoming so easy to produce that most humans will be able to build it. What will matter more is knowing what problems to solve—and having the agency to truly execute on that.”
From the start, Rodrigo and his team had to understand the value chain, where the puck is going and build towards that with high agency. And as Augusta Labs looks ahead, with plans to grow into a broader holding, that blend of tech fluency and business insight feels like the right formula, not only from the founders but also his employees that also share those skills.
Rodrigo speaks the way he builds: with clarity, purpose, and energy. Augusta Labs isn’t just an AI company—it’s the result of authenticity, serendipity, uncontrolled ambition and desire to change how young people build companies that he felt was missing in Portugal.