Reinventing yourself and changing your own market perception

Twenty four months ago I was working in New York and taking the first steps towards what would turn out to be my first job offer at a startup. It was the culmination of a long process - it took me years to get there - that ultimately did not work as planned (after accepting the offer I had received, US immigration authorities ruled out against granting me an O-1 visa that would have replaced my then in force L-1 visa).

Things have evolved substantially since then. Shortly after the disappointment I experienced when my visa got denied, I landed a job at another startup in Spain and, a bit less than 1 1/2 years later, I will be shortly taking a new role at a promising fintech company in Berlin as country manager for Spain.

Even though I cannot say that I have hit a home run yet, I can't help feeling a sense of pride for having accomplished a big transition from professional services - first as an M&A and finance attorney, then in biz dev roles - into the startup space. Little by little, after investing a lot of time and effort, I have been able to change the market perception of my own brand as an employee.

Although certain countries tend to have more flexible recruiting cultures that appreciate transferable skills - e.g. I find the US quite flexible, while Spain is just the opposite - your college degree and work experience will vastly determine how you are perceived in the job market. As you grow older, the "weight" of such background becomes heavier and makes switching industries and functions increasingly harder.

That being said, I thought it would be useful to share my experience and contribute a few thoughts from my own "reinvention" process:

1. Understand your role's and industry's perception: some functions (e.g. financial roles) and sectors (e.g. management consulting) put you in a better place to make a transition, even at a young age. Some others (e.g. law practice - that was my case) are more ring-fenced and harder to leverage outside of their own circle.

Don't get caught for too long in something you know you don't want to do long term, even if it pays well (and assuming you can afford to let it go). You will regret it a few years later.

2. Leverage the master's degree window of opportunity: studying some kind of master's degree can be a good way to change roles and industries (again, I find Anglo-Saxon work cultures more open to change than others). However, bear in mind that the window of opportunity for such a transition is limited: 1 to 1.5 years following graduation, I'd say.

For instance, I completed my MBA from NYU to pursue such change in 2008 when, unfortunately, everything started to fall apart; so my ability to switch was severely compromised.

3. Embrace the two-step transition: you may be able to switch functions and industries at once, but doing so in two separate steps is more realistic and financially rewarding. Leverage what you already know for tour first move; then use what you are learn (and who you know) at your new gig to complete the second step.

I transitioned from being a lawyer to business development roles in professional services. Then, I was able to switch to business-oriented roles in the tech space.

4. Get out of your day-to-day comfort zone: if you want things to change but you keep doing the same things that you typically do in your usual work environment, such change will be much harder. You need to let fresh air into the room. Get out of your comfort zone and find ways to get closer to the industry where you want to be.

I find events and meet-ups particularly useful in this regard. There are plenty of things out there in substantially every industry, so start digging up information and investing time. It is going to be a bit stressful and tiring, but nothing is free, I'm afraid.

Also, network carefully and regularly. Reach out to friends and acquaintances who can make an intro for you. Sometimes it will feel a bit awkward and overwhelming to take the first step but, in my experience, a majority of people are willing to help if they can. Be tactful, thankful and open to return the favor.

5. Show that you really want it: there are many ways these days in which you can show where your interests lie. Start following people and being active (tweet, retweet) on Twitter, start your own blog covering the topics and industries you are targeting, open a Medium profile, be mindful of your Linkedin profile (share your content, tailor your profile), etc.

Again, this will take quite a bit of time but you have an arsenal at your reach.

6. Worship your job hunting: looking for a job is not easy, it is a job in itself, even more so if you are fighting to get to a place where you have never been before.

On the one hand, make sure that you are looking in the right places (it is not the same to look for jobs in, say, startups, than in pharma companies). Once you have spotted those, create customized job search agents to spot openings in a centralized way, search regularly, be methodic and keep track of where and when you are looking.

On the other, make sure that your resume and cover letters convey the messages that you need, both in terms of framing and adapting your background in an appealing way (as you will seldom be as well suited for the roles as others with more specific experience) and highlighting the passion and interest that you have in a specific area.

And if you make it to an interview, research the company as if there was no tomorrow. This is an area where you can beat other candidates who, at first sight, may be better suited for the role.

7. Don't be desperate. It takes time to change jobs. It takes even more time to do so when you are switching drastically. Keep trying, hang in there and cheer yourself for any small accomplishment.

I wish I had been able to transition well before it happened. There were times when I thought about giving up as things were not moving as I would have expected. But I was resilient...and it ultimately paid off.


I hope this helps, until next time!

Startup fundraising - some simple, yet practical, lessons (I)

Over the last few months I have been working on fundraising. It is a challenging process that takes time, effort and organization. At this point I can share some piece of advice based on my own experiences which will hopefully help entrepreneurs and/or startups going through this process for the first time.

There is a lot of thorough literature out there on this topic, which has been contributed by people way more experienced than I am and who for sure have many more war stories than I do. My goal is not to provide the definitive fundraising guide but to simplify things a little and just provide some easy steps for those who get involved in this process for the first time or so. These are a few:

(1) Invest time in research: there are hundreds of investors out there and each one of them is different.  Put in some good prep time to figure out who you can contact as a potential investor in your venture. Some things to look at are:

• investment stage: angel investors and investment clubs tend to focus on very early-stage investments (ie. seed), while venture capital funds range from seed stage to early, growth and later stage - follow the letters typically attached to post-seed financing rounds in which they have participated (A, B, C, etc... - moving along the alphabet means later stage);
• sector focus: venture capital investors typically target different sectors but that does not mean that everyone targets everything. Do not waste time and energy approaching those funds whose investment strategy lies outside of the sector where your startup operates; 
• geographic focus: make sure the investors you target typically fund companies from your continent / region / country;
• business model: leaving geography and vertical aside, some investors primarily or exclusively focus on specific business models. For instance, marketplaces are really hot these days. 
• who does what: funds' websites typically provide information on the team members, their backgrounds and areas of expertise (but not necessarily their respective emails). Identify who in each team is potentially best suited re: your company;
• Crunchbase is your best friend: it is the best free database out there to research for investors and to identify rather quickly - do not forget to check investors' websites too - who can be a potential good fir for you

(2) Get introductions from your network: VCs, in particular the most reputed ones, receive countless pitches, so being able to stand out from the crowd to get their attention is critical. You will hardly succeed if you go through their general "info@vc.com" inbox. Analyze your network (e.g. LinkedIn) and ask friends, colleagues, fellow startups and other contacts to make an introduction for you; this will certainly not guarantee any funding but it will at least give your pitch a better chance to be read.  Plus it may help that friend of yours to score a point with the VC if the latter decides to fund your project.

In the absence of an introduction, find ways to avoid the general inbox. Look for the right person's email (see last bullet above), reach out via Linkedin or Angelist, etc...

(3) Try to build rapport and credibility from the outset: you are not going to be given many opportunities (most likely you will just have one shot) to get any given investor's attention. Making a good impression from minute 1 may give you the chance to start a conversation. On the contrary, a bad first impression will shut the door in your face. Yet obvious, these are some things to take into consideration:

• avoid typos, both in your communications and in the pitch deck;
• write an effective email (in particular if you have not been able to secure an introduction): in addition to some general guidelines like these, try to build a connection (e.g. referring to the addressee's past investments or industry focus, following up from a previous event where you met) with your counterpart and do your best to capture her interest (e.g. the "magic" your product is bringing to the market, any awards or competitions your startup may have won);
• be professional in everything that you do: reply promptly, follow up timely, etc.

(4) Organize yourself: unless you are operating in a very niche space (in terms of sector and/or geography), the research mentioned in (1) above may result in multiple potential leads. This means that you are going to be communicating with a lot of people/organizations and that the flow of information (who and when you have contacted, outcomes from calls/email exchanges, follow up actions, contact details, etc.)  will be very significant. You may think that your amazing memory will be able to retain everything clearly, but that is wrong. Find ways - a CRM, spreadsheets, organization tools like Redbooth etc. - to keep your information organized; otherwise you will be wasting the precious time that you need for a whole lot of other things.


In subsequent chapters I will be touching on a number of other aspects to be accounted for during the fundraising process. But I hope this helps for the time being.

3 apuntes sobre el South Summit 2015

El pasado viernes 9 de octubre terminó el South Summit, la conferencia española más importante - y una de las más importantes de Europa - en el ámbito de la tecnología y el emprendimiento. Fueron dos días y medio intensos y productivos, si bien el balance final habrá que realizarlo dentro de unas semanas, una vez vayan madurando los diversos leads generados.

Algunas ideas que me vienen a la cabeza tras mi primer South Summit:

- necesitamos más South Summits en España: en líneas generales, se trata de un evento muy bien organizado y de calidad. Me parece una iniciativa muy buena y me quito el sombrero ante María Benjumea por impulsar este evento.

Lo importante es que esto no se convierta en simplemente algo de tres días al año, sino que cada vez más y en colaboración con otras iniciativas y con el apoyo de las grandes empresas y de los poderes públicos, vayamos poco a poco creando un ecosistema y cultura más favorecedores para las startups en España.

- ay, nuestro nivel de inglés...: me gustó que el idioma "oficial" de la conferencia fuese el inglés, me parece un paso interesante y valiente en la dirección de quitarnos esos complejos que tenemos desde pequeñitos los españoles a la hora de hablar idiomas.

Dicho lo cual, el nivel de inglés medio sigue siendo bajo (el presidente del gobierno fuese incapaz de dar su discurso en inglés) y eso es, sin duda, un problema muy importante a la hora de que inversores, sobre todo los extranjeros, decidan confiar en emprendedores españoles que quieren internacionalizar sus negocios.  En este sentido, me llamó en especial la atención y me sorprendió - para mal - el manejo del idioma de algunas personas con puestos de mucha responsabilidad en grandes multinacionales. No sé cómo serán capaces de defender su gestión cuando vayan a comités en EEUU, por ejemplo.

El gráfico muestra el English Proficiency Index realizado por la empresa EF. Si queremos competir en el ámbito internacional en igualdad de condiciones, tenemos que estar arriba en este ranking. Desafortunadamente, estamos en mitad de la tabla.


- el poder del networking: sin perjuicio de asistir a algunas charlas y aprender cosas nuevas, es evidente que a conferencias como estas se va fundamentalmente a conocer gente, ya sean inversores, partners, proveedores o potenciales clientes. Me resultó en este sentido inspiradora la charla que nos dio Alex Barrera en el bootcamp celebrado en el Google Campus un par de días antes del comienzo de South Summit.

Dado que uno de los objetivos primordiales del foro era poner en contacto a inversores y emprendedores, quizás eché de menos algo más de tiempo y recursos dirigidos a posibilitar dicha interacción. Aunque conseguimos algunos leads interesantes, creo que era una ocasión ideal para hacer muchísimo más.

También me resultó curiosa, y útil, la puesta a disposición de los asistentes de una app llamada Bizzabo que permite una gestión integral de eventos, incluido el contacto entre la comunidad de asistentes. Si bien sufrió algunos problemas técnicos en varias ocasiones, ofreció un valor añadido al networking tradicional en persona e improvisado.


En conclusión, un evento muy interesante que espero que perdure en el tiempo y siga creciendo. Será la mejor señal de que vamos por el buen camino.