Why «O Legado do Meu Avô», by Rui Miguel Nabeiro, is worth reading

Rui Miguel Nabeiro is CEO of Grupo Nabeiro-Delta Cafés and grandson of Comendador Rui Nabeiro, who founded Delta in Campo Maior. This is his first book, published by Ideias de Ler (Porto Editora) on 28 March 2025, the day his grandfather would have turned 94.

A memoir that is also a manual

The book weaves together personal and professional episodes, but it is built to be used, not just read. There are ten chapters, each opening with a note from a well-known figure, followed by numbered advice, “calls to action”, boxed reflection questions and a bullet-point summary at the end. The author pairs Delta’s experience with classic management references such as Kotler and Porter, and with archive material: photographs and the founder’s speeches to his staff.

Three ideas that apply directly to an SME

• Closeness as a method, not a courtesy. The common thread is a close relationship with customers and staff. In an SME, where the person in charge still knows everyone by name, this is an advantage that is easily lost as the company grows, and the book treats it as something to keep on purpose.
• Demanding without humiliating. One episode describes how the founder ran sales meetings: he asked the top performers not to let success go to their heads, and encouraged those lagging behind without exposing them. It is a simple lesson in managing small sales teams, where everyone compares themselves with everyone else.
• Growing without cutting the roots. Innovation, sustainability and expansion beyond borders sit side by side with impact on the local community. The idea is that a company can go international without ceasing to belong somewhere, which matters to any business from inland Portugal that wants to scale.

Why this matters to News readers

Many of the companies that come to the CoRe Platform, whether as promoters or as investment targets, are founder-led businesses. This book shows, from the inside, how one Portuguese founder-led company turned personal values into management practices that outlived the founder. For an investor, it helps clarify what to look for in such a company; for a promoter, it is an example of how to put in writing what until now existed only in the head of whoever is in charge.

A caveat

The book is written by the grandson and current chief executive, as a tribute to his grandfather. It is not an independent study of Delta and reads better as testimony than as analysis. And the flip side of a company built around one person is dependence on that person: anyone reading it with their own business in mind should add the question of succession, covered in «Como Liderar Empresas Familiares», recommended here on 17 September.