Fernando Hernández and 'Cool Calling': The Performative Branding of Modern Entrepreneurship

• Fernando Hernández, a 30-year-old entrepreneur from Alicante, has gained significant social media attention for his "cool calling" technique.
• He founded the tech consultancy Aszendit in 2021 and now promotes his methods through a second brand, GAS, using a high-intensity rhetorical style that blends Silicon Valley jargon with aggressive local slang.
• Critics argue that the phenomenon is less about technical consulting and more about selling a performative, "winning" identity to mask the reality of precarious, high-stress labor.

The Cool Calling Phenomenon

• Hernández claims to generate nearly one million euros in monthly revenue, overseeing 120 employees and offices in Madrid and Barcelona.
• The "cool calling" method rebrands traditional cold calling by emphasizing the use of pen and paper over digital tools, framed as a "cool" lifestyle choice rather than a tedious sales chore.
• His content features shouting, motivational speeches, and extreme displays of ambition, aimed at converting social media viewers into prospective students for his courses.

Context and Critique

• The phenomenon is seen as an import of American "hustle culture," following in the footsteps of previous Spanish internet personalities like Llados, who focus on "shark mentalities" and wealth coaching.
• It reflects what Mark Fisher termed the "privatization of stress," where systemic labor anxieties are repackaged as individual challenges solvable through personal attitude and "flow state" productivity.
• Analysts suggest the business model relies on selling the mood and mindset required to endure repetitive, high-pressure sales jobs, effectively commodifying worker enthusiasm.