I haven’t started packing yet for my trip to South by Southwest (SxSW), but I am running around trying to get everything in order here in Bogota, Colombia before I leave. I’m going to be moderating a panel at the SxSW Tech Summit (this is the first time it’s being held) on the startup/investment ecosystem in Colombia. At the same time, I’ll have a chance to visit SxSW and meet some interesting people.
There are tons of presentations and I’m sure there will be some interesting ones, but I’m more interested in meeting people and talking with them, which is probably why the parties are so famous (for meeting and talking with counterparts). I’m going to take my video and camera equipment and blog to my hearts content. In part, to let others know how this experience is stacking up and, also, as a public note-taking exercise.
If you’ll be there in Austin this week, I’d certainly enjoy meeting you. Please let me know either at @acolmenares or emailing me at alan [at] tropicalgringo [dot] com We’ll see how things go.
When you think of startups and venture capital investing, the last thing you’d probably think about is Colombia and for good reason. Although a local gaming company recently received a respectable investment from a local VC, that’s been the exception rather than the rule. Nevertheless, after spending some time with Adeo Ressi here, it is quite apparent that his company, the Founder Institute, could have an incredibly large impact on the local startup/investment ecosystem.
Although other countries are further along in building up their startup ecosystems, Colombia has some interesting raw talent that is open to getting guidance on how to grow and develop their startups and a dearth of quality accelerator programs. It’s within this vacuum that the Founder Institute enters the scene. I’ll be discussing this further at the SxSW Tech Summit on March 16th. For now, I’d like to talk more about Adeo’s visit to Colombia.
First off, after talking with Adeo over the phone several times during the past months, it was really great meeting him in person. As the below photos show, we were able to talk with a diverse group of people and had some fun at the same time. We were able to meet with some applicants to the Founder Institute, the local mentors, a radio interviewer and some government officials.
For the most part, entrepreneurs have been slogging away without much interaction with Silicon Valley and that has left Colombia a bit behind in terms of development in digital startups (with a few exceptions). Hence, it’s no surprise that a program, such as the Founder Institute’s, that guides founders and connects them with networks of mentors and investors, is generating so much interest. In the process, getting a solid team of mentors and other players together for the program has done wonders to get this small group of players organized.
It certainly feels like some subtle though powerful things are happening that can create a big impact on this country. Time will tell, but I’m pretty confident that things are going to get a whole lot more interesting down here.
Finally, as the below video shows, Adeo held one of his Ideation Workshops for about 70 potential and current applicants:
Ya muchos pudieron asistir al taller de Adeo Ressi durante su primera visita a Colombia. El objetivo del Founder Institute es graduar a fundadores listos para articular su vision y su concepto de negocio ante inversionistas y colaboradores. En los 17 ciudades de todo el mundo ya se han graduado 290 empresas y 40% de estas han recibido inversion aunque este es un promedio y todavia no sabemos como va ser el resultado en Colombia.
Adeo está muy contento porque ya contamos con casi 80 personas en Colombia que han aplicado y 4 personas ya se han matriculado. En adicion a los excelentes mentores de empresas como PagosOnline, Mantaraya Travel y otros, contaremos con CEOs de empresas exitosas en EEUU y estos podrían ser (falta confirmaciones) los CEOs de DropBox, Evernote y otras empresas. Si está interesado o interesada en mas detalles, escuche a nuestra entrevista con Diana Leon en Caracol Radio.
Algunas personas que asistieron al evento con Adeo, me pidieron que escribiera otro “post” en mi blog sobre el programa. Sin embargo, me parece que con las entrevistas con prensa que han habido, las explicaciones en los eventos y la informacion en el sitio del Founder Institute (en español) hay muchas fuentes de esta información.
Los que desean, pueden seguir analizando y pensando pero para los que quieren tomar accion, faltan 9 dias para que se termine el periodo de inscripción sin costo (USD $50). Los que quieren hacer algo que les apasione y quieren aprender lecciones de emprendimiento que antes solo se podrían aprender mudandose a Silicon Valley, apliquen de una vez ya que todavia no tiene ni costo ni compromiso.
Acabo de recoger a Adeo Ressi en el aeropuerto. Al llegar a su hotel nos relajamos y comenzamos a hablar por primera vez en persona (habiamos hablado mucho telefonicamente). Me encantó escuchar la vision de Adeo y hacia donde veía que iban las cosas. Fuera de eso ambos nos sentimos bastantes relajados y comentamos que era extraño lo natural que era la relacion sin habernos visto antes.
Me encantó verlo acá en Colombia ya para que pueda ver porque yo me he quedado estos 15 años y lo encantador que son las personas de acá. Hay muchos retos por delante y bastantes cosas para lograr y fué bueno escuchar como van las cosas en los otros paises y el avance que ha tenido el instituto a traves del ultimo año (bastante progreso). Bueno, mañana tenemos un dia largo y lleno de actividades entonces creo que es buen momento para dormir un poco para tener energias para las reuniones con prensa y otras cosas.
I haven’t started packing yet for my trip to South by Southwest (SxSW), but I am running around trying to get everything in order here in Bogota, Colombia before I leave. I’m going to be moderating a panel at the SxSW Tech Summit (this is the first time it’s being held) on the startup/investment ecosystem in Colombia. At the same time, I’ll have a chance to visit SxSW and meet some interesting people.
