Speakers

Joad Lopez is the founder of JL International SL, an international franchise expansion advisory firm based in Barcelona. Over more than a decade, he scaled his own brand, eyescream & friends, to 8 countries across 3 continents through 47 cross-border deals, before closing it in 2019 after losing approximately €340,000 in failed expansions across all 8 countries. Those failures became the foundation of his Global Systemization Matrix (GSM™) framework, which he now uses to help founders expand their brands globally. He has worked with brands and companies including Las Muns, Yolé, Densité, and Boom Cakes and Republic Investments. He teaches International Business Strategy at EU Business School Barcelona and delivers keynotes at various entrepreneurial and franchise events across the world, the most recent one at the Saudi Franchise Expo in Riyadh in 2026. His advice is built on expensive mistakes, not theory.