Altar.io helps startups and corporates turn ideas into products, acting as a co-founder rather than a contractor. CEO Daniel de Castro Ruivo discusses how clarity of product vision drives success, why clients from YouTube to HSBC choose Altar, and where he sees the company heading next.

Q: What is your vision for Altar.io?
I usually introduce myself as an entrepreneur, because everything in my professional life has been about building companies. I started my first company while I was still studying, and since then, I’ve worked across industries on different projects with different people.
Altar emerged from founding several startups and seeing how often they failed. One of my co-founders had launched a SaaS company in marketing automation for the FMCG sector. At the time, I was advising startups and watching them collapse—often due to entirely avoidable mistakes.
Of course, some things are out of your control. But a lot of startups were losing not just money but time and energy. And for me, time is the most valuable resource. That’s what led us to build Altar: the conviction that while startups will always face risk, many mistakes should no longer happen. We wanted to create a structure that helped prevent them.
The core value we bring is product vision. The term “product” used to mean physical goods. It was only after the dot-com era that we began applying that label to software in a more meaningful way.
From my perspective, many startups fail because they lack product vision. Business means deep knowledge of the industry, stakeholders and existing tools. For us, product vision is knowing how to balance and integrate these areas—especially when deciding what the first version of the product should be.
That’s where many startups fall short. They either ignore existing competitors or build something users won’t adopt because it doesn’t offer enough of a leap forward. Founders often assume others will love their product simply because they do. That’s a cognitive bias. Our role is to challenge it.

Q: What do you look for in the startups you choose to work with?
We act like an extended founding team. Out of hundreds of leads, we select around 20. We start by evaluating the founders. Do they have years of experience in the industry? Do they understand the tools, the stakeholders and the competitive landscape? We look for founders who know their market deeply and who can communicate that knowledge clearly.
Our focus is on first versions—MVPs. We’ve built more than 100 of them. So, we look for three things: industry knowledge, strong communication and a willingness to be challenged. Clients often say the best thing about working with us is that we feel like real partners. We are fully invested in their success.

Q: How do you successfully operate across diverse sectors?
Our team includes over 40 specialists, with projects ranging from fintech to social impact AI. How can the same team handle both? One reason is fluid intelligence. It’s not something you learn in school, but we’ve developed ways to identify it in our hiring. It’s the ability to reduce problems to abstract components, solve them and reapply the solution in context. If you have that, moving between industries is just a matter of learning the curve.
The other reason is our product-centric approach. Working across sectors has a compounding effect. You build a mental toolbox. A solution from one industry becomes a fresh insight in another—something a domain expert might never consider.

Q: How do you approach innovation and AI integration in your client work?
We build with AI, and we use it internally. It’s still early, but it’s already transformational.
Some areas will need regulation—AI is moving faster than our ethical frameworks. But our focus is practical. AI enables intelligent decisions to happen faster. Whether we’re using it or building with it, the key is finding the right balance between control and power.
We use AI wherever possible—not to replace what we do, but to accelerate it. Just like older tools expanded what was possible, AI speeds things up. We can now reach outcomes that were previously out of reach, given time or resources.

Q: What has enabled you to attract global clients such as YouTube and HSBC?
Our model is different. We approach every project like co-founders. I treat every startup as if it’s mine. That’s why we say no often. We only build what we believe should be built.
That’s what defines us. And it’s why many of our clients raise serious funding—it’s a result of doing the right thing early on. A lot of consultancies just deliver. We don’t. We challenge. When someone says, “We just need A,” we ask: “Have you considered this competitor? Have you thought about that?”
The best founders want that. They bring knowledge, but they also want smart people around them. That’s how good partnerships happen.

Q: Where do you see Altar in the next three to five years?
What matters most—especially with AI accelerating everything—is knowing what to build. That’s the real value. In the future, building will get easier. But deciding what to build—that clarity—will remain deeply human.
That’s what we want to focus on. I want Altar to be known globally. If someone says, “We’re building this with Altar,” that should signal quality. We’re not chasing headcount. We’re focused on outcomes. For me, success is simple. It’s happiness.

Q: What is your message to German investors?
Portugal has real advantages. It’s culturally aligned with Europe, and our time zone works for both the EU and the US. We have strong tech universities and a growing pool of international engineers. The annual technology conference, Web Summit, happens here for a reason. The momentum is real.
We’re not the cheapest market—but the value is very high. You get world-class talent, strong communication and a balanced cost. Companies like BMW are opening R&D centres here. The government has supported this with smart policies and startup visas.
Compared to hubs like Berlin, London or Zurich, Portugal stands out. In Zurich, we work with clients who struggle to hire—big companies absorb most of the talent. In Portugal, the pool is still accessible.
And the investment numbers are growing. Capital is flowing from both public and private sources. It’s a validation of the ecosystem.