Irene Garcia

The last two weeks I travelled and enjoyed my winter holidays, but I am happily back in Mexico focusing most of my time in two main projects. In one of them I am still helping with the screening of companies that blend social, environmental and economic values; and in the second one I am supporting entrepreneurs through an acceleration process that allows them to strengthen their business model and allows them to rethink their strategy so that they can achieve sustained growth.

For the last 5 months I have been exposed to different businesses, all of them very interesting, but I have realized that the two sectors that I enjoy the most are agriculture and housing.  I really like learning about new ideas in these two areas, and I am really happy that I have come to realize this through my placement.

I am looking forward to learning a whole lot of new things!

The last two weeks were very intense as we kept working on the screening process that would lead to the 10 finalists at the project we are currently conducting.

The diversity of models discussed at the final committee were very interesting, and many members had a hard time deciding which companies should continue in the process. Towards the end of the meeting they had built a consensus, and the 10 finalists were chosen.  The 10 social entrepreneurs will go through a half-year program that will seek that their organizations go through the next level of growth and also reinforce and develop greater impact through capacity building, increasing their social benefit.

Being able to contribute in this process has strengthened my satisfaction as it has allowed me to engage in a project that is delivering social value.

These past weeks we have been very busy screening entrepreneurial projects, as we had to choose 20 projects for the next phase. I was very lucky and had the opportunity to participate on the investment committee, which was very interesting as the committee participants shared comments and suggestions on how to analyze the companies.    

The 20 entrepreneurs which have been chosen had to send us new information and rearrange other documents for the 3^rd phase of the project. There are many projects that are very exciting.  So far we have went through the large scale screening, detailed interviews, and follow up data collection. By the end of the month we need to have the 10 finalists who will be granted a training and mentorship so that they can grow their business and impact as many people as possible. 

This past week I continued supporting the team with the same project, where we were screening over 100 entrepreneurs to see which will be the 10 enterprises that will receive an intensive academic training paired with a 6 month period with sessions which cover varied topics that range from marketing through business models. The entrepreneurs will also receive help on how to create, fund and implement a business growth plan and form a network of contacts.

I really enjoyed talking with the entrepreneurs and getting to know the diverse business models and ideas behind their enterprises.

Last week was pretty busy, as I am supporting with the screening of entrepreneurs for a program. We need to go through over 100 applications, which is quite a task. The funny thing is that the most difficult part is scheduling phone interviews with entrepreneurs, as they always end up re-scheduling again and again. Although I am a Latin American, I never had the opportunity to work over here, so I guess I am now experiencing the Latin American working culture!

The attitude towards time is less rigid than among Europeans, which can be sometimes pleasant, but may also be a challenge when you have a full day! But I am really enjoying other habits such as the abrazos (embrace), which I think is the nicest form of greeting people.

This last week I have been working a lot with the accelerator’s analysts in a project  in conjunction with a University and a bank. Its main objective is to promote social entrepreneurship helping promising enterprises grow, consolidate and develop through a training period and the deployment of capital.

I have been supporting in the filtering of the participating companies (which come from a broad variety of sectors)  in order to determine the finalists. It is a very interesting activity as it gives you insight into very different industries and business models.

The conversations I am having with entrepreneurs for this matter have made me realiaze that in the past 2 months I have learned a lot! Being almost at my half-way point, I must say there has never being a dull moment, and I feel as if I am gaining lots of skills.

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to the south of Mexico. I visited some ancient buildings in the Yucatan Peninsula. I particularly enjoyed the ruins of Uxmal, with its harmonious well preserved structures. I stayed at Merida, a beautiful small metropolitan city with a colonial architecture.

I also went along the Caribbean Sea coast staying in many beautiful beaches. There were also some ruins which were incredible, especially the ones located by the ocean.

Regarding my work, I summarized the outcome of my last Strategy BC, one of the activities of the acceleration process, where entrepreneurs received feedback from consultants in order to strengthen their companies. I coordinated the next meeting and I am preparing in order to help the entrepreneurs make the most of the next session.

I continued holding meetings with different organizations active in the seed capital sector.

I also had the opportunity to attend an event called green solutions, a platform that seeks to showcase the innovative technologies that focus on small and medium enterprises (SME’s) in order to find valuable initiatives to contribute actively in the climate change mitigation.

On Thursday I organized my first strategy BC, which is an activity that is part of the acceleration process of the companies, where I had to coordinate a meeting between entrepreneurs and their mentors. Through this process, the entrepreneurs receive advice and feedback from experienced consultants, which helps them strengthen their business model.

During the weekend I went to the Zocalo, Mexico’s city beautiful central square. The beauty of the architecture in building after building is stunning. The main square, the Cathedral and the Palacio de Bellas Artes are all so impressive.

This will be a short post since last week I had to fly all the way to Europe in order to vote for the Venezuelan elections!

Nonetheless, it was a very busy week. I held several meetings with different organizations that are active in the seed capital financing scenario. The conversations were very interesting, as the people shared their insights on the industry, how they think it will evolve, and the challenges and chances that lie ahead.

I will continue holding such meetings during the coming weeks in order to learn more from the industry and continue mapping the sector.

This past week I have been mainly working at my seed capital sector mapping project. I must say the team has been extremely helpful in facilitating contacts and introducing me to people who might be able to help me, which is making it easier for me. I believe I am improving my people skills, which is a great thing.

As I have been involved in a lot of things lately, I still need to gain exposure to some of the accelerator programs, and I will start doing so this week. I will be in charge of organizing and running some of the Strategy Boot Camp sessions, wich are part of the services offered to the entrepreneurs thorugh the accelerator.

Aside from the work, I have visited some museums und new parts of the city, which is so huge that I feel as I wont have enough time to see it all!. I have also visited some “tianguis”, which are open air markets where people sell their crafts. I must say that I am amazed by the quality, beauty and variety of the crafts here.

Last week I flew with the team to Monterrey, as we had an event where entrepreneurs pitched their enterprises to investors in order to find funding and keep growing their enterprises.

I spent two days there, and had the opportunity to meet some very interesting people and more importantly, watched the presentations of ca. 30 entrepreneurs. It was amazing to see the improvements they achieved after receiving the feedback from the accelerator’s team.

Besides Monterrey, I had a meeting with one of the managers of one of DF University’s incubator to see if they could provide us with pipeline, in case they would find something suitable. It seems as if incubators are flourishing in Universities.

The last two weeks have flown by and have been filled with a variety of projects.

One of my main projects was to conduct some market research for a company that we are currently assessing, to determine whether it would be interesting to invest in it. This has been very valuable as I had the opportunity to acquire knowledge about an interesting sector.  On another note I feel like I am now fully integrated into the team and my tasks are required for some of our workstream to progress smoothly.

I am also supporting with the organization of some activities for an event that will take place this week in Monterrey, and where many entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to meet some investors. I am very excited to have the chance to assist to such an event.

There has also been quite a bit going outside the office. Last weekend was Mexico’s “grito”, the “Independence Scream”, where most people join into a popular festivity. On top of that I moved to a new apartment, so I have really had my hands full!

Last week I continued sourcing for entrepreneurs, and interviewed four more enterprises to evaluate their interest to participate in the program.

My placement is allowing me to be involved in all facets of the firm, including sourcing deals, assisting portfolio companies, and conducting market research studies. This last week in particular, I have been reading a lot about the student loan sector in Mexico, a sector that, if properly developed, could hold great potential in providing youth from low income backgrounds the access to higher education and thus, allow them to improve their living conditions.   

Although the impact that the business ventures I am exploring still remains to be seen, I find it very inspiring to be able to talk with such motivated people and watch their attempts of finding solutions to improve their communities.

During the week I had the opportunity to attend an impact investment mapping exercise. It was an initiative to identify stakeholders in the impact investing field, including the participants and the relationships between them. The idea is to create a visual representation of the sector, and identify both the strengths and the weaknesses it has.

Through the workshop I had the opportunity to meet some very interesting people and explain them about Village Capital’s model. This week I have also been interviewing some entrepreneurs to test their potential interest in participating in a VilCap’s program.

On a more personal note, I am still discovering Mexico City. I am amazed at the beauty of the city and how huge it is! I had my first “rush hour subway adventure”, a crazy but interesting experience!

This week I have been working on the screening of some start ups to see if they qualify for Vil Cap’s program. I have pre-selected 30 that I want to interview during this and next week either over the phone or face-to-face. I am looking forward to learning about the broad variety of businesses that the entrepreneurs are creating.

I also had the opportunity to go to the “Start-up Week”, which was an event that seeks to gather a lot of actors in the small and medium enterprises arena to help with start ups’ creation and growth. I though it would be a great opportunity to find some incubators, business accelerators, etc, which proved to be right.

During the three weeks I have being here I have met fascinating people from a variety of areas of the impact investment sector, and have had the opportunity to participate in some interesting conversations.  I am really enjoying my experience so far.