Mexico has placed itself in Latin America as the second best country for entrepreneurship, but there is still another side of the entrepreneurial currency.
A few years ago, the word entrepreneurship in the country was reserved for the extremely risky, for those who were able to “dare”; also for those who sought a yearning for independence or simply survival.
Things have changed
Entrepreneurship, today, means many more things than starting a new business. It is the acuity of detecting an opportunity and offering a solution; It is the raison d’être of creative and innovative entities before a world that increasingly contains more challenges. It seems that the entrepreneurial spirit becomes more in “a culture” than in a mere activity.
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/19 (GEM), our country has the second best environment to undertake in Latin America, after Argentina, although it still has many challenges to overcome, particularly in regulatory and tax matters.
In this area it is important to reflect on the fact that, given a situation of budgetary restriction and internal and global uncertainty, economic actors must join forces to continue awakening in our youth the interest in creating value. That is, sensitize and teach that youth to learn to “smell the opportunities”, to take the idea to the “market”, to shape it, to pivot it, until it reaches a “minimally viable product”, which is the cornerstone of the reputed methodology “Lean startup”, which is the most used and prestigious in the Silicon Valley.
It is not only in the educational field where the subject has generated much enthusiasm and adhesion recently, but also in other sectors, such as the financial sector and in the private company itself.
Corporate Capital Venture is required
Indeed, in Mexico and Latin America, greater Corporate Capital Venture is required; that is, companies that are willing to invest in startups to enter new markets or strengthen their presence even more in existing ones. This is because in this way they can obtain faster access to 4.0 technologies that allow them some specialization or speed in the solution of their businesses.
Also, we must insist more on “the corporate entrepreneur”, a word that sounded strange in a world locked in strategic planning and execution according to a strict business plan. Companies have found great value in generating new ideas, in disruption and even in being open to failure, because there is increasing evidence that a company that does not innovate is doomed to failure. Alexander Osterwalder himself, creator of the Canvas Business Model, states: “There are currently two ways to bet on innovation: one is to be an entrepreneur, working or betting on a startup, or being an intrapreneur”.
Undoubtedly, in Mexico, with the meager economic growth in sight, we are urged to continue promoting productivity and innovation that high-impact entrepreneurship encompasses, because, in the end, without these, the generation of wealth and the reduction of poverty.
Also published on Medium.