Adventures in entrepreneurship and venture capital in Latin America
In a previous post, I talked about how money is just never in a hurry and how you really need to plan for a looong process when fundraising, especially if you are in a nontraditional business or geography (in Mexico, I have seen good companies with solid investors take 9 months for fundraising from start to […]
“La esperanza es lo último que se pierde” In January 2015, my father passed away as a result of cancer. A professor emeritus at the University of Washington, my father had a well-lived life. He worked on the first lunar samples from the Apollo missions and made scientific discoveries such as the new mineral Ghoseite. […]
We all come to the Valley for pretty much the same thing…we have a huge idea that can change the world (or at least, disrupt an industry). Yeah! Welcome to the Shark Tank! However, to create your company, you need two main things: money and talent. So back in February of 2015, we had successfully developed an […]
In winter 2013, two Columbia engineers walked away from glittering opportunities in New York to start a new venture in Guatemala. After discovering shared interests in their second year, Javier Mata and Frank Pinto kept in touch as Javier later founded a vacation rentals startup and Frank developed software for a Techstars company. Raised in […]
This is part II of the interview with Hugo Nájera. If you missed, part I, you can find it here. Hugo Nájera Alva is head of digital banking at BBVA Bancomer. He is in charge of multichannel technology, digital channels, financial inclusion, new digital business, virtual payment systems and digital marketing. Previously, he was chief […]
In my last post, I presented some of the challenges for the financial industry and a few ideas how to overcome them. Following up, I’ve conducted a series of thought leader interviews to share insider knowledge on opinions and potential solutions. This post is Part 1 of 2 of at chat with Hugo Najera Hugo Nájera Alva is head of digital […]
We spent the last 18 months creating, iterating, fixing and re-iterating our Mimoni online lending service. We operated for all that time just in Mexico City, where we have our home office, in order to keep it in as controlled a setting as possible. Earlier this month, we launched in three other cities. We started preparing for […]
Where is the financial system going? I think there are a lot of mixed signals in the air. We get really excited about alternative financial products and services thriving: Lending Club going public on what can be considered a very successful IPO, while at the same time Wonga writes off $300M of debt, humiliating what used […]
It had to happen at some point. Our customers are finally getting on the digital bandwagon. Before you roll your eyes at these late adopters, note that these are lower-middle-class Mexicans making about US$500 per month and enjoying one of the most expensive and slowest broadband speeds in the world (can you say telecom monopoly?). In […]
“A buen hambre no hay pan duro” In 2010, Edrizio De La Cruz walked away from Wall Street to become an entrepreneur. As a JP Morgan investment banker, Edrizio previously led international financing deals in excess of $100 million in value. He leveraged this experience to gain admission to the Wharton School of Business, a […]
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