1900s
Origin
The departure
Asturias and Navarra → Argentina. Fields and a cheese dairy in Barracas, Buenos Aires. The origin of everything, including the name of this house: the paths (caminos) of the Santiago family.
RAMÓN SANTIAGO ELVERDÍN · BARCELONA & BUENOS AIRES
Buildingpaths.
Relationships that outlast the projects.
Twenty years of B2B and B2G consultative sales across Argentina, Europe and North America. But what I really build isn't sales: it's relationships — with clients, suppliers, partners, teams, distributors, engineers and administrations. Contracts come after. And they come back.
From the countryside to the cities: founder of PRAXION, formerly commercial director and partner in a family business. I believe in companies that make money by doing things right — environmental, economic and social sustainability isn't three separate speeches, it's the same bottom line.
Companies and organizations I've worked with along the way
NYCTorontoWashington DCAenaAmazonCarrefourDecathlonWestfieldUnileverAB InBevMillerCCUSony MusicNYCTorontoWashington DCAenaAmazonCarrefourDecathlonWestfieldUnileverAB InBevMillerCCUSony Music
+3,6M€
HIGHEST TURNOVER ACHIEVED IN A YEAR UNDER MY CHARGE
9+
COUNTRIES WHERE I DEVELOPED BUSINESS
20+
YEARS OF WORK AND COMMERCIAL EXPERIENCE
35.000+
TONNES/YEAR MANAGED AND VALORISED, FAMILY BUSINESS
01
This isn't a résumé.
It's the path.
My surnames come from the north of Spain. In the early 20th century, my grandparents and great-grandparents left Asturias and Navarre — lands of the Camino de Santiago — and crossed the Atlantic to Argentina.
A hundred years later I made the journey back: in 2018 I settled in Barcelona to start a new direction. In between there was a farm, a bank, a music band, an island, wine shops and wineries, three technical companies, and one conviction that never changed:
Bonds are worth more than material things, and your word is worth more than money.
And it isn't a single path. Like the Camino de Santiago, there are many: they cross, they lend each other people and lessons, and they all converge at the same point. Nothing was wasted — every stage prepared me for the next.
Choose a path:
Or by type:
2004
Work
The family business
I join J.A. Santiago SRL, my family's agro-industrial business: food-industry by-products, logistics, livestock. I learn the trade from the ground up — from collecting payments to driving a tractor, herding cattle, loading bags and working Monday to Sunday without set hours — and also to sit across the table from Unilever and AB InBev. I never quite left: it's the family business.
2006
Volunteering
TECHO
I'm there at the beginnings of TECHO Argentina — for the second build in its history. Crew work, surveys in emergency neighbourhoods, and later helping to set up the resources and sponsors area. A calling to serve isn't just a phrase: it's carrying panels at 7am on a Saturday.
2007
WorkEntrepreneurship
Suit and bass guitar
Credit risk analyst at Citi (corporate banking, Latin America) while co-founding Motus Creative Studio, an events and content production company. Two worlds at once: rigour and the street. With Motus we created Bamboo Wakebeach (a beach bar in the Tigre Delta) and numerous event series.
2011
WorkEntrepreneurship
Barracas, once again
At the helm of La Flor de Barracas, a historic café dating from 1906 — in the very neighbourhood where my great-grandfather had his cheese dairy. Seven employees, suppliers, events. The circle starts to close. We created a cultural events series, which paved the way for its recognition as a Notable Bar of Buenos Aires.
Where paths cross
The bands I book at the café I know from my years producing events at Motus.
Meanwhile: Motus (Bamboo) keeps running in parallel — the café and the production company feed off each other.
2012
WorkEntrepreneurshipStudies
Back to the fields, as a partner
I return to J.A. Santiago as a partner and co-managing director: 35,000+ tonnes a year, long-term agreements with AB InBev, Unilever, Miller and CCU, sales + logistics, cash flow and margin on my mind every day. In parallel, my band — Los Bonnitos — signs with Sony Music Argentina and we record three albums. Tuesdays, by-product pricing; Saturdays, on stage.
Where paths cross
Motus produces the website and the first music video for Los Bonnitos. Years of booking artists help me negotiate the contract with Sony. And the Family Business programme at Di Tella helps us draft the internal agreement between the partners.
Meanwhile (2014): three executive programmes at Di Tella — Family Business, Consulting and Project Management — without letting go of running JA SANTIAGO SRL or the band.
2016
EntrepreneurshipWork
Almacén Inguz
After leaving the band, and the family business, I found a boutique cheese, cold-cuts and wine distributor and shop in Martínez. I build it, make it profitable and sell it. My cheese-making great-grandfather, I imagine, is smiling.
2018
WorkStudies
Heading north again
I close the Argentine chapter with CCU – Finca La Celia (premium wine key accounts) and cross the Atlantic in the opposite direction: a master's in Sustainability at UAB, specialising in Industrial and Urban Ecology. My thesis: adding value to an industrial by-product — cork waste — as a hydroponic growing substrate, with a life-cycle analysis. The same pattern, again.
Where paths cross
At CCU I lead the Finca La Celia–Valenti–Newine alliance: premium wine by the glass from vending machines — the wine world I learned at Inguz, now at retail scale.
2019
WorkStudies
ZICLA
Sustainable urban infrastructure. I start by developing international markets and end up as Market Development Director: growth from ~€1.8M to over €3.6M, distributors in 9+ countries, public contracts in New York, Washington DC and Toronto. I learn to sell by specification: public tenders, engineers, cities, technical specs.
Meanwhile (2021): Digital Marketing Management programme at Esade, taken while working full throttle. Proposal and rollout of commercial digitalisation at ZICLA.
2024
WorkStudiesEntrepreneurship
YUP
Chief Sales Officer in smart urban mobility and mobile chargers for public spaces. I close the company's first operational rollout in the public sector — selling a product that was still being built. Billed clients: Aena, Amazon, Carrefour, Decathlon, Westfield, hospitals and universities.
Meanwhile: the Executive MBA at EAE begins, along with the first independent advisory work for SMEs — the seed of PRAXION.
2025
WorkStudies
Convene
I join the launch of the enterprise operation for an ESG SaaS: 900 segmented accounts in 4 months with a team of 3, competing against Workiva, SAP and Microsoft. The project ends when the EU cuts back the regulation that underpinned it. That's how regulated markets are: you learn that too.
Meanwhile: second year of the EMBA and certifications in carbon footprint and ESG reporting (Bureau Veritas) — preparing before I need it.
2026
EntrepreneurshipStudies
PRAXION
I finish the Executive MBA (EAE) and found PRAXION: the formalisation of everything before it, in service of SMEs. The path continues.
02
How I work.
Six things I don't change from company to company. The first explains almost everything else.
As if it were mine
I was a partner in a family business with the cash and payroll on the line. That way of deciding — protecting the margin and honouring one's word — travels with me to every project, whether it's mine or not.
Always learning
Every two or three years I update myself on purpose: project management, family business management and consulting (Di Tella), sustainability (UAB), digital marketing (Esade), general management (EMBA at EAE). And new tools — today, AI — I adopt before they're fashionable.
People first
My suppliers, clients and distributors from years ago still pick up the phone for me. The people from TECHO, Motus, Zicla or Los Bonnitos are still my people. Relationships that are looked after are the only infrastructure that doesn't depreciate.
The full picture
I've negotiated with suppliers, moved logistics, run operations and presented strategy. I can be on the loading dock in the morning and in front of a board in the afternoon — in Spanish or English — and feel at home in both places.
No fear of tools
I implemented ZICLA's first CRM (after prototyping it myself), rebuilt Convene's, implemented an ERP, designed websites, and founded PRAXION as an AI-native consultancy. Innovating in method is part of the job, not a separate project.
Teams that last
I built and led teams in agro-industry, in hospitality, at ZICLA, at YUP and at Convene. My measure of success: that the system and the people keep working even when I'm no longer in the room.
03
How can I help you?
Door A
I'm interested in your profile, I want to know more
If you'd like to explore the possibility of me joining your team, let's talk.
Door B
MY SME NEEDS HELP
At PRAXION we help SMEs in Spain and Argentina professionalize their operations: hand in hand with experts with extensive professional track records. No bloated structures.
04
Four industries,
the same work.
05
What people say
about working with me.
Bosses, peers and — above all — people I've led. Published on LinkedIn.
Who's saying it:
“I have never worked with someone who inspired me more. He is meticulous, tireless in pursuing goals, and always brings clarity and direction to complex challenges.”
Martin Di Franco
US Market Head · ZICLA North America · 2025
“Despite the difficult context, he had a clear impact: he mapped the local sustainability ecosystem, structured outbound, improved CRM discipline, and built a solid, realistic enterprise pipeline.”
Laurent Lasserre
ESG Manager Europe · Convene · 2026
“He was a very effective bridge between product, sales, and external stakeholders: he translated technical details into clear, credible messages for the client. A true team player, with great human quality and empathetic leadership.”
Pau J. Pinazo
Product & Engineering Leadership · YUP · 2026
“A super hard-working, professional person and, above all, a great teammate. Always ready to collaborate and give his best for the team.”
Ezequiel Fain
Business Development · YUP · 2025
“Broad knowledge of wine commercialization and an excellent colleague. He more than met the goals set for him. Very empathetic with the client and focused on achievement.”
Nicolás López
Business Development · CCU – Finca La Celia · 2019
“Good knowledge of sustainability and a good colleague to work with. He more than met the goals set for him.”
Jordi Oliver Solà
CEO · Inèdit · 2019
Recommendations published on LinkedIn.
06
It wasn't all about selling.
I played bass in Los Bonnitos, a band that was born at the rugby club to play at a friend's wedding and ended up signing with Sony Music Argentina: three albums, tours, and even the Argentine Olympic delegation dancing to "Tu Ritmo" in their Rio 2016 video. I played rugby long enough for the team to matter to me more than the result — in fact, the band came out of the locker room.
I was there for the earliest builds of TECHO Argentina, carrying panels and setting up the sponsors area — the people I built those houses with are still my people.
From rugby I moved on to endurance sports: triathlon, trail running, gravel and surf. Disciplines of effort and consistency — like the agreements I like to build.
I live in Barcelona with my wife and our three children. I'm interested in human relationships, psychology, connections, and helping organizations move forward.
Contact
Let's talk.
If anything on this path resonates with you — a project, a role, a small business to put in order, or just a good conversation: