Adventures in entrepreneurship and venture capital in Latin America
I first met Diego Solorzano and Jimena Pardo from Carrot at an Endeavor ISP in London. I was impressed as they passionately described their vision for building Carrot into the first car-sharing service in Mexico City. As a result of their passion and resourcefulness, Diego and Jimena were selected as Endeavor Entrepreneurs in June of […]
“Al mal tiempo, buena cara” In March of this year, I was pitching a well-known Silicon Valley investor over cappuccino at Mayfield Bakery & Cafe in Palo Alto. At the start of our conversation, the investor leaned forward and looked at me intently. “What’s the problem you’re solving?” she asked, with a hint of challenge […]
“The standard argument is that diversity is good and you should have both men and women in a group. But so far, the data shows the more women, the better.” — Thomas W. Malone, professor at MIT Sloan School of Management A few years ago, MIT professor Thomas Malone conducted an experiment which assessed a […]
“Se requiere de todo un pueblo” Almost twenty years ago, Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote a book entitled “It Takes a Village: and Other Lessons Children Teach Us.” Clinton’s story shared a vision for raising children which leveraged the support of family and a broader community. This theme applies to startups as well. If you read […]
“Árbol que nace torcido, jamás su tronco endereza.” In June of 2013, I was sharing a demo of kernel with an accomplished Silicon Valley investor. I highlighted our intuitive user experience and short time-to-value. I mentioned our innovative product roadmap. And I explained several ways that customers could rapidly receive value from kernel. Then I […]
“Podrá la memoria del futuro superar la memoria del pasado y la desazón del presente?” About a month ago, Leonardo and I were having a conversation with the partner of a well-known venture firm in Silicon Valley. The topic was whether there were any emerging startups from Latin America which could eventually achieve $1 billion […]
“Si de tu vecino ves la barba cortar, pon la tuya a remojar.” If you’re based in Silicon Valley, it’s impossible to overlook the abundance of startup activity around you. As of November 2013, AngelList claims almost 75,000 startups worldwide of which approximately 14,000 (over 18%) are located in Silicon Valley. At present however, only […]
