Tour of Mexico

Tour of Mexico, 2005

In July 2005, Astecs arranged for a team of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, investor and professional service providers to

speak to entrepreneurs in 5 cities in Mexico. The tour was organized and sponsored by the Mexican government in conjunction with Fumec, the United States-Mexico Foundation for Science. The sessions were promoted by government bodies, chambers of commerce and local organizations—see promotional web site. Several hundred entrepreneurs, educators, incubator managers and members of the press attended the events. After establishing over 100 incubators across the country in less than 12 months, the Mexican government is anxious to help accelerate the growth of entrepreneurship and bring important new technologies to markets. After attendees learned the nuts and bolts of doing business in the US, they were invited to apply for inclusion in the TechBA business acceleration program in either San Jose California or Austin, Texas.

Dr. Raúl Carvajal of Fumec introduced the events in Tijuana and Monterrey. Dr. Alejandro Gonzalez, from the Ministry of the Economy in Mexico City, set the scene and identified how successful technology commercialization through entrepreneurship is recognized in Mexico as a vital driving force behind the economy in the coming years. The press covered the events with some enthusiasm interviewing Dr. Gonzalez and other members of the team.

Dr. Richard Caro, of TangibleFuture introduced the technology

commercialization process and discussed the elements of a good business concept drawing on examples from his experience in the field of medical devices. Dr. Caro's presentation focused on value creation and highlighted the mistakes that entrepreneurs often make in focusing exclusively on technology development milestones. He urged entrepreneurs to gather business intelligence, closely monitor their markets and focus commercial milestones in order to maximize value and achieve commercial success.

David Smith drew material from his book Zero-to-IPO to discuss the entrepreneurial journey and the special challenges facing technology entrepreneurs. David explained how successful startups in Silicon Valley and elsewhere target their exit routes, plot milestones, generate momentum, assemble a winning team, raise investment funds, regularly take bearings and plan for contingencies. Many attendees left the events with David's Zero-to-IPO books and roadmaps.

Dr. Po Chi Wu provided a valuable insight into the venture investors perspective explaining how business proposals are filtered and selected for investment. Dr. Wu discussed how the life of a technology startup naturally evolves as the company matures and how the cycle repeats itself when successful companies and entrepreneurs assist new startups to grow. As venture capital is just getting established in Mexico, Dr. Wu's perspectives and experiences in Taiwan and China as well as Silicon Valley were highly enlightening.

Mark Cameron White of White and Lee LLP, explained how companies were formed and structured in Silicon Valley from a legal perspective. He discussed the various options open to Mexican companies wishing to do business in the US—including commercial agreements with US partners, the formation of US subsidiaries and US parents. Mark went on to step the audience through the process of raising funds from US venture investors and explain how merger and acquisition transactions are structured.

Jon Rortveit, CEO of Tynax, explained what was involved in successfully migrating an overseas company to the US market. He identified the mistakes that are often made and discussed reasons why these efforts often end in failure. After explaining how the US market was much larger, more competitive and complex than any other, Jon discussed why it was important for new entrants to follow a rigorous and targeted market-entry strategy. He encouraged entrepreneurs to find local advisors and act like a local company.

Jorge Zavala concluded this session by encouraging Mexican entrepreneurs to grow internationally and invited the attendees to apply for support from his TechBA organization. TechBA has recently opened technology business accelerators in San Jose, California and Austin, Texas providing local facilities and support services to Mexican entrepreneurs wishing to enter the US market. Qualifying candidates receive a grant to help fund their development and growth into international markets.

In government offices in Mexico City, the

delegation was privileged to have an audience with Sergio A. Garcia de Alba Zapeda, the Undersecretary for Small and Medium Enterprises in the Secretaria de Economia. The team learned from Mr. Garcia that the Mexican government has carefully studied entrepreneurial initiatives in other countries across the world and is serious about accelerating the growth of the high technology sector in Mexico.