Entrepreneurial Thinkers with Rob Ryan

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Jeff Wallace, Founder of Global Kinetics and Co-Founder of, "Silicon Valley in Your Pocket." He is a well known, very experienced entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, an active Angel investor and LP Investor into new fund managers. He is deeply passionate about entrepreneurship as an economic engine. He talks to us about his simple, but ambitious belief that the knowledge, relationships and experience of "Silicon Valley" should be accessible to entrepreneurs anywhere in the world, at any time. His passion for the world's founders is contagious.  If you're a global founder, or investor who wants access global deal flow, you'll really enjoy this episode. 

Jeff's work at Global Kinetics is focused in his market development accelerator to early-to-mid stage clients seeking to establish/expand operations in the US market & a long-standing enterprise mobility industry veteran. He is a Co-Founder of Silicon Valley in Your Pocket (SVIYP), a mobile & online platform that allows global entrepreneurs to access Silicon Valley content, coaching & connections as they build viable businesses. In addition, he is an Executive Board Member to the Rutgers Business School Road to Silicon V/Alley Program (RSVP). He is a Founding Investor of Batchery, a global incubator for tech startups. Jeff is an EIR for SKTA Innopartners. He is an Advisor and Fund Investor for UC Berkeley's incubator, SkyDeck.

He was previously with Cognizant & Brillio where he was founder & Global Practice Head for the Mobility practices & focused on Internet of Things (IoT) & user experience (UX). Prior to this, he was a serial entrepreneur founding several businesses from the mid-1990s. He was awarded the prestigious BridgeGate 20 Award, recognizing him as one of the top 20 business leaders & “difference makers” in S. California’s IT & new media community. He is a mentor and advisor to several Silicon Valley technology accelerators where he advises early to mid stage companies. He is an active angel investor and a member of Berkeley Angel Network. Jeff is a Board member for Innovate Marquette SmartZone in Michigan where he helps support the entrepreneurial eco-system in which new tech-based business ideas can start, grow and succeed. He frequently speaks at international conferences & corporate events & has published extensively about enterprise mobility, UX, IoT & startup / entrepreneurial related topics.

He holds a BA degree in Economics/Finance from Rutgers College & an MBA in Strategy, Entrepreneurship & Technology from UC Berkeley. He is based in San Francisco enjoys the Silicon Valley lifestyle.”

Feel free to follow and engage with JEFF here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jwallace913

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffwallace913/

Website: https://siliconvalleyinyourpocket.com

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you, so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Will Stringer, CEO/Partner at Chisos Capital. Will educates our audience on the truly innovative business model of their Venture Fund. He shares his story of inventing this solution, when solving his own problem, in classic entrepreneurial fashion. He posits the hypothesis that we could transform entrepreneurial economies, and create more sustainable returns for Investors, by more directly investing into the entrepreneurs themselves- not just companies, or products or FOMO trends. In a world of unending hype and empty promises around "innovation" and "investing in founders", what Will is building at Chisos is actually both. 

Chisos is a unique early stage alternative investment company utilizing a Convertible Income Share Agreement to invest at the earliest stages of business ideation and formation.

Will is responsible for creation of the Convertible Income Share Agreement, development of the underwriting and diligence criteria, fundraising, financial planning and general operations of the company. Will is an angel investor and advisor to multiple early stage companies. From October 2018 to January 2020, Will was an advisor to a global payments company working to digitize gold and bring transparency to the gold supply chain. From 2015-2019, Will worked on the investment team at Cockrell Interests, a single family office based in Texas where he managed all phases of illiquid investment execution including sourcing, diligence and ongoing portfolio management.

Prior to Cockrell, Will was an Analyst in the Energy Investment Banking Group of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Will graduated with high honors from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A. in Finance and Business Honors.

Feel free to follow and engage with WILL here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdstringer/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wdstringer

Website: https://www.chisos.io/

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you, so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by, Martin Haiek, the dynamic young CEO/CO-founder of Around, Latin America's largest network of subscription based dedicated workspaces. He talks to us from the kitchen space of the company's Mexico City Headquarters where he shares insights into their journey from ideation, through multiple relaunches, a global pandemic, rapid client growth and venture capital raising. He helps our audience understand the rapidly changing "Future of Work" and how his customers are telling him they expect office spaces to serve their needs today and in the future, and he describes a market in which ultimate flexibility with an array of options is the key. Ileana explores Martin's really unique founder journey... from his world travels, studies and recording in a Berlin music studio made famous by David Bowie,  to launching a Craft Brewery in Buenos Aires and moving to Mexico. This episode is a very human, relatable conversation that'll be interesting to you no matter your role in the entrepreneurial economy. 

Martin was Born and raised in Argentina, He studied Economics in Buenos Aires and Berlin and completed a Mobile Design and Development program at Hyper Island in Sweden.

Martin had the opportunity of traveling and getting to see firsthand so many countries and diverse cultures in such a short period of time — he says his most valued experiences include recording at the same Berlin-based studio where David Bowie recorded, and launching one of the first craft beer brands in Buenos Aires. Prior to Around, he worked with and advised more than 150+ startups and throughout his early career, he consistently saw "office space" as a main problem when growing their teams.

Feel free to follow and engage with MARTÍN here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinhaiek/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martin.haiek/

Website: https://around.to

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you, so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Alex Mitchell, the SVP Unlocking Innovation, where he oversees all founder-facing efforts, including recruitment, all incubation programs, as well as investments of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)  Impact Fund and LACI Cleantech Debt Fund. Alex and our hosts share their enthusiasm for the urgency and opportunity of Clean/Green technology and mobility solutions in today's entrepreneurial economies. Alex emphasizes many of the Innovations in transit and green policymaking across many of Latin America's biggest cities and shares his hopes to bring those here to the United States. He dives deeply into LACI and it's programs, Investment Funds and deep focus on an "Inclusive Green Economy." He highlights LACI's 3 pillars; Unlocking Innovation (startup facing), Market Transformation (Intentional Partnerships with Corporate & Governments) and Enhancing Community (intentional acknowledgement of Cleantech creating "Green Collar Jobs" to far more diverse communities.)

He joined LACI from Groupe PSA in Paris where he was VP of Corporate Strategy, co-leading the company’s acquisition of Opel from General Motors and leading the company’s work on autonomous mobility. Alex previously headed an automotive industry vertical at the World Economic Forum, with a focus on autonomous mobility.  Alex has also served as the VP of retail sales at an LA-based EV startup Coda Automotive and worked at Toyota Europe and McKinsey.

Alex is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA from the School of Arts and Sciences as a Fellow of the Lauder Institute Global MBA program.  He holds a BA from Stanford University.  His rescue dog makes frequent guest appearances on his Zoom calls.

Feel free to follow and engage with ALEX MITCHELL here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexmitchell98/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamalexmitchell

Website: https://laincubator.org

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you, so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Eric Eide, Managing Director at the Alliance for Southern California Innovation. Eric is one of the brightest thought leaders and policy catalysts in the Los Angeles and Southern California entrepreneurial economy. He's part policy wonk, part innovation driver, and is  a people centered relationship builder. International travel throughout his early life, studies and career really shaped his global view and belief in the massive economic potential of Southern California. He talks about the growth of Venture Capital, Industries and the demographic growth of the region and connecting it to the world. 

Eric is an economic development leader with experience in the private sector, and municipal government, and academia. As the Managing Director at the Alliance for Southern California Innovation he leads VC/investment engagement, thought leadership, and innovation community, building efforts with startup communities, local government, and community partners.

Before joining the Alliance, Eric grew the Government Relations team at Bird, an electric scooter company where he expanded operations internationally. Previously, he served as Director of International Trade for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. In this role, Eric worked to increase international business activity, facilitate the import and export of goods, and attract investment to Los Angeles. Eric also served in the U.S. federal government as an Advisor for Strategic Partnerships at the U.S. Department of State, where he collaborated with U.S.-based entrepreneurs, firms, and universities with interests in South and Central Asia. In a prior role, Eric represented the U.S. Small Business Administration with the startup community and improved the overall performance of a $2.6 billion federal SBIR program that funds early stage technology companies.

Eric holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan, where his research focused on innovation ecosystems, industrial policy, and globalization

Feel free to follow and engage with ERIC here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eeide/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EricEide

Website: https://alliancesocal.org

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of the Americas at large!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you, so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Alex Santana, VC and Startup Business Development Manager at AWS (Amazon Web Services) in Mexico. Alex shares his really unique "early" perspective having been a witness to the growth of "entrepreneurial economies" across Latin America over the last 10+ years. He tells stories of having helped grow some of the best known global entrepreneurial support organizations, StartUp Weekend, Techstars, SeedStars and NXTP Labs into Latin America and Mexico. Alex's father and grandfather were businessmen who exposed him to life of entrepreneurship. He is a Civil and Industrial Engineer by his studies, whose first technology efforts were in construction, and has now become a well known "community builder" across LatAm. He forecasts his vision of the next chapter of what he calls a "maturing of the entrepreneurial economy" across Latin America and Mexico, which he says was accelerated by the Pandemic.  

Prior to his current tenure at AWS, Alex previously served as Regional Manager LATAM at Seedstars, Regional Manager at Techstars, Country Manager at NXTP LABS Mexico and he was a three time startup founder himself in Colombia and Mexico. He and his fiancé Rebecca live together with their beloved cats in Mexico City.

Feel free to follow and engage with ALEX here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexsantanag/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexSantanaG

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexsantanag/

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you, so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are thrilled to be joined by one of the original founders in the first generation of the modern day Mexican entrepreneurial economy, Jennifer Reyna, CEO/Co-founder of OkBoy! OkBoy is building a new platform transforming the category of "Home Services" both for consumers and the tens of thousands of small business (PYME) local providers in the "home services" market across Mexico. This episode is about much more than this company though, as we learn Jenny's story as a founder, as a proud Mexicana and as a mother. Jenny's story spans the last 10 years of entrepreneurship in Mexico, as she has built multiple companies from $0 to plus revenue, raised venture capital, and been a well known founder across media and the industry in LatAms. Jenny shares her stories of resilience, "failures" and triumphs building companies Gaszen, DadBox and now OKBoy. She shares inspiration and practical advice for women founders but also for founders of any type. She's a big dreamer, with the talent and skill of an experienced operator. 

Prior to her leadership of OKBoy, Jenny created companies focused on impact in the agriculture, energy, and health industries. She has planted cactuses; brought to life a 100% IoT product made in Mexico that sold in 4 different countries; raised capital from angels, national and international venture funds and she’s taken teams from 0 to sales in two different companies. Jenny was previously CSO at DadBox, CO-founder of Gaszen, one of Mexico’s earliest success stories. She lives in Leon, Guanajuato, is a graduate of Tec De Monterrey, a Latitud Fellow and most importantly a loving mother to her son. 

Feel free to follow and engage with JENNIFER here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferreynap/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jennreynap

Website: https://www.okboy.app/home/

Business Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/okboy.app/

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you, so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team

In this rare episode without an external guest, two great friends, our co-creators, Rob and Ileana, share a very personal conversation about life, adversity, confidence and community. We are so excited to welcome back our fearless co-creator Ileana to the show, following her few month hiatus. In this episode you will hear Ileana share the story behind what kept her away these last few months, and in that journey you'll be inspired and encouraged to never lose faith in life's potential for good, even in your darkest moments of fear and uncertainty.

Feel free to follow and engage with ROB and ILEANA here: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAmRobRyan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamrobryan/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robryan/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ileanajaf/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ileanajaf/

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers, and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English, and a fun dose of Spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team

In this episode, Rob was so grateful to be joined by one of the most dynamic young founders in Latin America, Sabrina Castelli, Founder and CEO of Mujer FInanciera, Latin America's fastest growing financial education and community platform for Women. Mujer Financiera was one of the 7 projects selected by the Ministry of Production of Argentina to access the 2019 Impact Seed Fund. Its app was chosen as the most innovative solution in Latin America in the Financial Inclusion category at FinnoSummit Mexico 2019 and was awarded at Galicia Innovation in Argentina in November 2019. She shares her tremendously personal story of her upbringing and her mother's experiences, which serve as the "Why" behind her vision for her company. She shares her hugely ambitious vision for her company and she hopes, for the region's potential for greater female empowerment, over the next decade. 

Prior to her leadership of Mujer Financiera, Sabrina had a successful career as an Accountant, and later sales executive after having graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration with honors from the University of Buenos Aires. She worked in auditing, finance and financial planning for different multinational companies and Investment Banks, before transitioning to the business side of her career where she grew to become a Regional Sales Manager of more than 60 commercial advisors who sold online products from Argentina across LatAm in (Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, Argentina and Mexico). Most recently she worked as Commercial and New Business Development Director at a Digital Marketing Boutique Agency for clients such as American Express, Delta Asset Management , Sullair, Banco Mariva, Danone, Toyota, La Nación among others.

Feel free to follow and engage with Sabrina here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrinacastelli/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sabricastelli/?hl=es

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sabricastelli?lang=es

And to know more about Mujer Financiera here:

Website: https://www.mujer-financiera.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mujer-financiera/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mujer_financiera/?hl=es

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MujerFinanciera

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you, so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team

In this episode, Rob is joined by the dynamic Leslie Feinzaig, Founder and Managing Director of Graham & Walker, a $10m Venture Capital fund and community. Leslie's mission, which began in her Seattle basement, is to reshape the Nasdaq by investing in tech companies founded and led by women or women led/mixed gender teams. She proudly states that her measure of future success, will be " whether there are more women led companies at the future College Job Recruiting fairs of her now young daughters."  In 2017 she started a Facebook group for women CEOs of tech companies, which quickly grew to become the most prominent network for women-founded startups and aligned investors in America. In the years since, her company has connected thousands of women founders with hundreds of VC firms across the US and she has launched this new VC fund! 

Born and raised in Costa Rica, of Polish and Jewish descent, Leslie's life story is a testament to the value of multi-culturalism.  Leslie moved to the US to attend Harvard Business School, after completing her undergraduate studies at the London School of Economics. She has since been named one of Forbes Most Powerful Women from Central America, the Puget Sound Business Journal 40 Under 40, and Seattle Magazine's Most Influential People. Leslie serves on the Boards of the Harvard Business School Equity and Entrepreneurship Initiative, the Washington Technology Industry Association and the Girl Scouts of Western Washington. She is also a contributing writer for Fast Company, TechCrunch and Entrepreneur and Fortune Magazine.

Feel free to follow and engage with Leslie here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeslieFeinzaig?s=20&t=-DyFpHjfhJy9PAnLRA8T_g

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lesliefeinzaig

Website: https://grahamwalker.com

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you, so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team