An experience that is worth the challenge!

The MIP fellowship has given me the opportunity of an accelerated professional growth in the global center of innovation, the Mecca of all tech entrepreneurs, Silicon Valley. I joined Plug and Play Tech Center as a Ventures Analyst almost four months ago, with little experience in the field of innovation and venture capital but ready to seize this opportunity and learn about the ingredients of success of an innovation center, a startup, an entrepreneur and a team. All of these, with the hope that upon my return, I can bring some of the know – how back home and have a positive impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem there. Now, looking back, this journey has been much more than that. It has been an enriching experience both professionally and personally.

My first days at the Ventures team of Plug and Play were a mix of excitement about all the new opportunities ahead and uneasiness associated with the challenges I was facing. On one hand, I had to familiarize myself with venture capital – how deals are negotiated, what the difference between SAFE, Equity investment and Convertible note is, how the CAP table of a good investment opportunity looks like, etc. On the other hand, I had to understand the state-of-the-art technological solutions based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), etc. that the startups in the ecosystem provided and question them about their products and service. There I was – working in the investor of early stage Pay-Pal and Dropbox and the innovation partner of 300+ renowned corporations like SAMSUNG, Daimler, General Motors, Deutsche Bank, Toyota, etc. – expected to identify, interact and recommend for investment the next disruptor in the space. The weeks that followed were the steepest learning curve I had experienced – a lot of readings, long conversations with my colleagues, interactions with startups, shadowing of C-level meetings and questions, many questions. After one month in Ventures, I was put in charge of recommending startups to Panasonic and leading the meeting between their Head of Technology and the startups. I did sweat a lot during that meeting! The outcome: two piloting opportunities between the startups and Panasonic. Since then, I have met, talked to and brought to the Plug and Play ecosystem about 100 startups and have led about 25 meetings between startups and the C-level of big corporations like Toshiba, Moet Hennessy, Mars, etc. And that’s how I was reminded, once again, that “everything is difficult before it’s easy”!

The jump wasn’t easy and certainly I didn’t make it alone. I owe a big portion of climbing that learning curve to my mentor and colleagues – a group of bright and welcoming professionals (friends) that have supported each of my steps since day one and made working in Ventures fun. The culture of collaboration and team spirit enables an environment where everyone feels encouraged to learn, grow professionally and support the new members of the team. Indeed, the pace of technology advancement and new solutions in the market would be untraceable otherwise. The team bonding is nourished by various activities that we (the team) organize to spend time with each other outside the workplace. During my four months here, we have participated in charity events like decorating a local homeless shelter for Christmas, company-wide retreats such as the cruise to Mexico, sport events (what better to bring a group together!) and many other activities. I have recently joined the “Team People” – a dedicated task force within Ventures Team to ensure continuous learning, career development and other aspects related to employee satisfaction. Why? Because “the bigger the dream, the more important the team”!

While Plug and Play is the “Silicon Valley in a Box”, Silicon Valley is innovation, technology, disruption, entrepreneurship, research, venture capital and international cultures in one place. I knew of Silicon Valley before, but I couldn’t have imagined the level of exposure to all of the above and the endless number of events happening each and every day. During my stay here, I have had the opportunity to attend conferences such as the “SaaSTR” – the world’s largest B2B Conference; the “World Open Innovation Conference” in San Francisco; the “Future of IoT for Interior by Yanfeng” Demo Day, several University Pitch Day Events in Silicon Valley and many others events. Meeting young and experienced entrepreneurs, researchers and tech people has been an amazing opportunity and an experience in itself.

While I’m falling short of space but not of words, I want to highlight that the MIP experience has been well beyond that of “all of the above”. It has also been a cultural journey and a period for intellectual and personal development outside the work place. I have had the chance to travel to five different states, ten different cities, three national parks and many different cultural, historical and political sites. Each of the people I have met, from Airbnb and TURO owners to research fellows in Harvard and Stanford have made this journey diverse and unique. As I was reading Time’s new cover “Who gets to be American”, I thought about all the encounters I have had and I think I have a pretty good idea of how diverse and rich that answer would be. Lastly, only because of the ascending time order, during my MIP fellowship I have had the amazing chance to attend classes in Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Stanford. In Harvard, I had the honor to attend the Executive Program on “Cutting Edge Development Thinking” focusing on economic diversification and growth diagnostics, national determinants of growth, leading successful project implementation, etc. An exceptional experience to learn from and interact with amazingly bright development practitioners all around the world. In Stanford, I attended the Continuous Studies “Funding A New Enterprise” that covered both the legal and business aspects of establishing a startup. The two programs have given me valuable insights both on the business and policy making aspects of the innovation sector that I intend to use in the future.

It has been an incredible ride! Excited to see what the rest of the journey will hold and ready to size each and every opportunity along the way.