All posts tagged silicon valley

  • A Thank You message to two awesome Paisas

    TropicalGringo Thank YouAn article was recently published by Philip Beere, a Business Development and Sustainability expert from the US, about his takeaways and critique of the innovation environment in Medellin (after his spending some time in that city).  Philip interviewed me  for the article, but because of the focus of his piece, something very important to me (thanking two instrumental people from Medellin, “Paisas”) was not within the scope of Philip’s topic so I’d like to take a moment and send Luis Florez and Juan Pablo Ortega a personal and public thank you message.

    In a prior life, I spent five years working on initiatives to support new founders by connecting them with local and international entrepreneurs and by offering my advice from my years working at Silicon Valley startups and as a Venture Capitalist.  I feel incredibly satisfied with what I, and especially a great network of mentors, were able to accomplish. Nonetheless, after going deeply into debt and arriving at a grouchy old age where I became sick of a lot of silliness (I’m being diplomatic with that word) that takes place within the public “ecosystem” in Colombia, I decided to go back to the corporate world (my family is thanking me for that) as well as focusing on those early stage startups that I truly believe in as an advisor and shareholder.

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  • Startup dreams and some spicy Indian cooking

    TropicalGringo and Sanjay ManchandaI just had the most surreal experience. I was able to hook up with an old friend from our days working at a software company in Santa Cruz, California.  His name is Sanjay Manchanda and the company we worked for was called Santa Cruz Operation or SCO.  It’s been 20 years since I was living and working in Silicon Valley (e.g., Cupertino, San Jose and Santa Cruz). That was a five year period of my life (after moving from Pennsylvania) that I’ll never forget both for personal and for professional reasons.

    Sanjay and I had the good fortune to travel to London at the same time, he for Box (VP Product Marketing) and I for BBVA (Ecosystem Builder).  It was pretty amazing seeing him again after so many years. He still has the same calm, self-assured way about him and hasn’t lost his sense of humor and enjoyment of life (e.g., he’s always been a jazz enthusiast and a great cook).

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  • Evento de Founder Institute anoche con Juan Martinez

    • TropicalGringo-Founder-Institute
    • Founder-Institute-Colombia
    • Ciudad-de-Mascotas-FI
    • Juan-Martinez-Founder-Institute
    • Ciudad-de-Mascotas-Founder-Institute
    • Founder-Institute-Bogota
    • Founder-Institute-Recruiting-Bogota
    • Founder-Institute-TropicalGringo
    • Founder-Institute-Pitch-Bogota
    • Juan Carlos Martinez Founder Institute Colombia

    Ante noche tuvimos una gran evento de Founder Institute con enseñanzas y experiencias de Juan Carlos Martinez, CEO de Ciudad de Mascotas.  Tuvimos una audiencia de mas de 25 emprendedores y emprendedoras interesados en aprender mas sobre startups y el programa del Founder Institute Colombia.  Gracias a Wayra Colombia por patrocinar el evento y al gran apoyo de Edgar Castañeda y Camilo Lucero, co-fundadores de Lorapp!

    Durante el evento, Juan Carlos compartió sus experiencias creando y creciendo su startup, Ciudad de Mascotas, y ofreció varios consejos sobre como escoger a un co-fundador, el proceso de conseguir inversion (Ciudad de Mascotas recientemente cerro una ronda de inversion notable).  Juan Carlos y los demás mentores de Founder Institute son la razón por la cual el programa ha sido tan exitoso no solo en Colombia sino por todo el mundo.

    Varias emprendedoras y emprendedores se lanzaron hacer su pitch y tengo que decir que he visto un gran progreso en ideas y presentación durante estos últimos cinco años.  Estuvieron muy abiertos a feedback y sugerencias para mejoras todo lo cual es de admirar.  Realmente puedo ver que el ecosistema a evolucionado y esto es muy alentador.  Les dimos, adicionalmente, unos ejemplos de las preguntas que encontraran en el examen de admisión que mide su ADN de founder y aptitude para crear un startup de alto impacto.

    Tuve oportunidad para hablar sobre estos éxitos y sobre la estructura del programa de 4 semanas con presencia una noche a la semana y trabajo fuera de las sesiones en construir y lanzar un startup.   Founder Institute no garantiza el éxito pero si evita cometer muchos errores básicos que pueden ser bastante costosos para un emprendedor o emprendedora.  Para los interesados, la aplicación para el Founder Institute no tiene costo y se puede aplicar haciendo click acá: http://fi.co/apply/2001

  • Traits of successful startup founders outside of Silicon Valley

    Founder Institute Colombia mentors I think few would argue with the affirmation that creating a startup in Silicon Valley is a different experience versus creating it anywhere else.  Sure, building a successful business presents the same challenges, but the environment in Silicon Valley provides many benefits.  Nonetheless, everyday there are more and more examples of successful startups created elsewhere.  From SnapChat in Los Angeles, Etsy in New York to Allibaba in China and Flipkart in India.  These founders have a lot of the same characteristics even though the environment where they create their companies is a dimension away from the environment in Silicon Valley.

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