Mentor Ramón Crespi: “Embracing neurodivergence is about turning your unique perspective into your greatest strength.”

While Crespí's entrepreneurial journey alone stands out—especially given his early start in life—his story takes on even greater significance following his later-life diagnoses of ADHD and dyslexia. Rather than viewing these diagnoses as obstacles, Ramón embraced them, transforming what many might see as challenges into his greatest strengths: his creative, innovative mindset and problem-solving ability.

Crespí is a Spanish serial entrepreneur and investor with experience spanning multiple decades in several positions across different business verticals and has collaborated with publicly traded companies and multinational corporations in the Nordics and globally. With that said, he is a very welcome addition to Helsinki Incubators’ roster of mentors.

For much of his life, Crespi struggled to understand why he thought and acted differently from others. His path was not traditional, marked by rapid success, sudden failures, and impulsive decisions that left him questioning himself. The answers came in 2021 with his ADHD and dyslexia diagnosis.

“Before my diagnosis, I felt out of place, like I couldn’t fit into the usual ways of working,” Crespi reflects. “I would start businesses, take huge risks, succeed for a while, and then hit a wall. I couldn’t understand why my approach seemed so chaotic compared to others. But when I got my diagnosis, it all made sense. My brain works differently.”

This was quite the revelation for Crespi, but true to form; he took the silver lining from the proverbial cloud and set upon transforming what he once perceived as weaknesses into powerful tools that he could put to great use. 

“People with ADHD have an incredible ability to hyper-focus, think creatively, and learn rapidly when something excites us,” he explains. “Once I understood this, I stopped fighting it and started using it to my advantage.”

This newfound understanding led to his most recent and ambitious venture, CRAZEE, a strategic consultancy powered entirely by neurodivergent thinkers. “To me, CRAZEE isn’t just a business; it’s a statement,” Crespi says proudly. 

“We’re proving that neurodivergent individuals bring something unique and incredibly valuable. We thrive in areas where others struggle, particularly in creative problem-solving and innovation.” He adds.

Crespi was already an entrepreneur long before his neurodivergence diagnosis. Born and raised in Majorca, Spain, his first venture was a business in the then-booming real estate industry, a somewhat bold undertaking considering his age (18) and his lack of any experience at the time. It did, however, mark the beginning of an entrepreneurial journey filled with risk-taking and boundary-pushing.

Moving on from the real estate industry, Crespi’s creative energy and instincts took him from industry to industry. By 21, he had launched the first Ferrari and Maserati rental service in the Balearic Islands, catering to luxury tourists who wanted to rent dream cars. “Much as I would’ve wanted, I didn’t have the money to buy a Ferrari, so I thought, ‘Why not rent them out?’ It was a creative solution to fulfil a dream and tap into a niche market,” Crespi recalls.

From luxury car rentals, Crespi ventured into renewable energy, launching a company that sold solar panel projects across Europe. He even created a brand that exported Spanish ham to markets worldwide, including Mexico, the U.S., and China.

Crespi’s neurodivergence, though undiagnosed at the time, was clearly already shaping his career. He says that impulsiveness led him to take risks others would avoid, and his creativity helped him pivot quickly when needed. Still, it wasn’t until his diagnosis that he fully understood why his career path had unfolded the way it had.

With CRAZEE, Crespi is not only creating a business that leverages neurodivergent thinking, but he’s also on a mission to break the stigma surrounding conditions like ADHD and dyslexia in professional environments. 

“Too many companies see neurodivergence as a limitation,” he explains. “More often than not, focus on the challenges rather than the strengths, which can be highly valuable attributes like creative thinking and problem-solving.”

CRAZEE is Crespi’s way of showing the world that neurodivergent individuals have much to offer. The consultancy solves complex problems for industries like government, defence, and large corporations using out-of-the-box solutions. “We’re doing what traditional consultancies can’t,” Crespi says. “We’re seeing solutions where others see dead ends.”

As a mentor with Helsinki Incubators, Crespi brings his entrepreneurial expertise and experience with neurodivergence to the table. For him, mentorship is about helping others discover their strengths, particularly when they might need to fit into more conventional moulds. “I know what it’s like to feel out of place,” Crespi says. “That’s why I’m so passionate about mentoring. I want to help others, especially those who think differently, find their path.”

One key piece of advice he has for neurodivergent entrepreneurs is to embrace their uniqueness. “Don’t try to fit into a mould that wasn’t made for you. Instead, determine how your mind works best and use that to your advantage. Once you stop fighting who you are and start leveraging it, you’ll find that the doors open much more easily.” Crespi advises. 

Through his projects, Crespi has amply shown that businesses need more neurodivergent thinkers, not fewer. His consultancy demonstrates that creative problem-solving, driven by people who think differently, can tackle some of the world’s most complex challenges. “We’re showing that being different isn’t just okay—it’s powerful,” Crespi says. 

Crespi firmly believes that the unique ways neurodivergent people think are valuable and essential for innovation in today’s world. “There’s a huge untapped potential in neurodivergent people,” Crespi says. “But for that potential to be realised, we must change how society views neurodivergence, which is currently less an asset, as I see it, and more of a limitation.”

However, this mission is about more than just business success for Crespi. It’s about changing how people understand and value neurodivergent individuals. “The world needs more of us,” he says. “And as long as we keep breaking the stigma, there’s no limit to what we can achieve.”

Conventional mould or not, Crespi says that he sees a place in entrepreneurship for all types and would love nothing more than to see teams that thrive based on differences and unique perspectives, “Entrepreneurship is a journey of courage, passion, and perseverance. It’s about creating something new while embracing who you are. Whether or not you fit the traditional mould doesn’t matter. Turning your differences into strengths and showing the world what you’re capable of is what matters.”