On Dressing- Rooms, Competitiveness, StarGate and DeepSeek

JOSÉ A. VIDAL
Jose A. Vidal
Published in
5 min readJan 29, 2025

During the first weeks of the year, I received an invitation from D. Adrianey to collaborate in La Gente, his project focused on Family, Education, Society, etc. Taking advantage of the fact that this month marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Diego Bello, one of my protégés during my second sports stage -as a coach- and with the broadcast this same month of a documentary on RTVE brilliantly presenting his case, this was my final publication. Here are those lines:

“I met Diego in 1999 and lived alongside him, his teammates, and their families until 2001, over two sports seasons. Diego was one of our captains: cat-like eyes, handsome, mischievous smile, free spirit, whirlwind, that timely voice in the group, and a left foot with a Maradona-esque touch.

When you share a dressing-room for so many weeks with kids aged 12 to 14, at the end of those formative and competitive cycles, an emotional bond remains intact, as if time had stopped. The educational power of sports is immense, and the emotional weight of joys, sorrows, difficulties, and challenges lived together ensures that these kids and their families become a part of you — forever.

This January marks five years since Diego was murdered in Siargao (Philippines), but his soul lives on through the association that bears his name and has been fighting for justice ever since.

If you are reading these lines, I would ask you to check his story through this 95-minute documentary. And please, look for an item from his clothing brand, Mamon Surf Co, whose proceeds go entirely to supporting the association’s cause.

Oh Captain, my Captain! Justice for Diego.”

As I wrote this text, I mentally reviewed all my sporting phases (youth academy player, head coach/staff member, entrepreneur/investor, amateur athlete, and -silent- father of a youth academy player). Anyone who has been part of a dressing-room knows what it means, and beyond what I wrote about Diego and his family, these team experiences in competitive environments prove incredibly useful in professional life — whether in corporate or startup settings, vertical or horizontal structures, national or international markets, industry-specific or cross-sector environments.

When Jesús Alonso Gallo spoke in his conversation with Alex Fidalgo — pill section in this post — about the end of the business story of PC Fútbol, which many remember with nostalgia, Jesús commented something along the lines of: Regardless of the business model, the value deck, the product or service, the most important aspect of any project is always the people.”

Let’s now turn to competitive environments. At the beginning of this year, the global geostrategic tension is evident, with Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States. His administration has issued several executive orders imposing trade restrictions and developing infrastructure projects such as StarGate, aimed at intensifying the technological rivalry between the U.S. and China. With this $500 billion investment over four years, Trump seeks to reclaim global leadership. However, this grand announcement has been countered by the emergence of DeepSeek, the new open-source Chinese artificial intelligence system, which is free to access and stands out for its low cost and efficiency. It was developed with 15% less investment than what OpenAI spent to create ChatGPT, causing significant losses in just a few hours at SP500 sotcks level, to the most important U.S. tech companies, such as Nvidia.

Source: Reuters.

The concept of competitiveness is vastly different in the West and the East, as highlighted by engineer and expert Antonio Flores Galea in this interview: “In the West, we say that he who strikes first strikes twice, but Easterners always prefer to wait and then copy.” “They have used a very Eastern strategy: first, observe what the enemy does. Once you know their direction, you leverage that knowledge and do the same — but better.”

It is evident that the timing of the DeepSeek announcement was no coincidence, is a strategic and long-term movement, countering the Trump administration’s StarGate project within days, despite its colossal investment. The game continues, and as we bring this discussion back to the regulatory environment that concerns us in Europe nowadays, we will continue closely analyzing the best ways to connect the dots between patient needs, healthcare administration information systems, and available innovations. And if it´s possible, we will do so while enjoying meaningful projects in dressing-rooms filled with good people, in an environment that — while highly competitive — remains thrilling for those of us who love to study, design, execute, share, and ultimately, create value.

ES version

In Memoriam: María del Carmen Presas (1957–2025).

On dressing-rooms — love and selfless dedication — I must dedicate this post of January 25 to the memory of Mari-Carmen Presas, the alma mater at RCD community, who passed away a few days ago. I had the honor of sharing dressing-room and project with her for 14 years. Her legacy will live on, thanks to Bibiana and her team, through the initiative “Mételle un gol ó cancro.”

TRAINING PILLS

  • International Master’s in Medical Affairs. A program offered by the BioTech and Pharma School. In Memoriam César Nombela. Certified by the Universidad Católica de Ávila. More info
  • Advanced Management Program. IE Business School. Executive Development Programs. More info

READING PILLS

  • From theory to practice: implementing the EU Health Technology Assessment Regulation. European Commission.
  • MAPA | Spain is the world’s leading consumer of psychotropics and ranks seventh in narcotics. Newtral.
  • Confronting Global Population Collapse: A Quick Q&A with… Demographer Nick Eberstadt. James Pethokoukis.
  • Researchers Are Questioning Whether ADHD Should Be Seen as a Disorder. The Economist.
  • Mending a Broken Healthcare System. Luis Cisneros.
  • A New Era for Health Decision-Making in the EU. Sonia Pulido.

STARTUP PILLS

PODCAST (or VIDEO) PILLS

EVENT PILLS

  • Global Payer Forum 2025: Optimizing Patient Access Through Value-Based Healthcare. Alira Health.
  • Understanding Pharma Market Access & Payers in Europe. March 25, 2025. Cell for Pharma.
  • EAA Spring Convention, Berlin, April 2–3, 2025. Registration.

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Jose A. Vidal
Jose A. Vidal

Published in Jose A. Vidal

ACCESS TO HEALTH, MEDICINE, BIOLOGY & DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

JOSÉ A. VIDAL
JOSÉ A. VIDAL

Written by JOSÉ A. VIDAL

ACCESS TO HEALTH, MEDICINE, BIOLOGY & DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

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