The Diligent Observer Podcast

Episode 13: Growing the Alamo Angels from 30 to 130 Members in 4 Years | Sebastian Garzon

• Andrew Kazlow • Season 1 • Episode 13

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Juan “Sebastian” Garzon serves as the Executive Director of Alamo Angels, the largest angel network in Texas. In his role, he facilitates access to capital via angel investing to companies across the U.S. and Latin America. Through his strategic guidance, Alamo Angels has invested in over 50 companies to date.

Sebastian's exceptional acumen and dedication have been recognized by industry peers and publications alike. His notable accolades include being named to the prestigious Texas Top 100 for 2024, as well as being recognized as a recipient of "40 Under 40" in Corpus Christi. Moreover, his commitment to continuous growth and excellence led him to complete the rigorous VC Unlocked program, a collaborative initiative between Stanford University and 500 Global, designed to empower emerging venture capital leaders from around the world with cutting-edge insights and strategies.

Beyond his career in investment, Sebastian is also the visionary behind Passport2Fluency, a company aimed at empowering individuals to enhance their Spanish language skills. Through Passport2Fluency, he embodies his passion for education and cultural exchange, making a tangible impact on the lives of countless learners seeking linguistic proficiency and global connectivity.

During our conversation, he discusses: 

  • The importance of curating high-quality companies and connecting with the right investors
  • Growing Alamo Angels and their focus on Latin American startups
  • Cultural differences between U.S. and Latin American business interactions
  • Leveraging community-driven approaches and simplifying the investment process
  • The role of strategic partnerships and cultural intelligence in building trust
  • Integration with Velocity Texas and shared resource benefits
  • Creating a sense of community and facilitating organic learning through events
  • Expanding investment opportunities in South Texas and cross-border activities
  • Long-term potential of startup activity and nearshoring trends

Connect with Sebastian:

LinkedIn | Instagram

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All opinions are personal and may not reflect the views of The Diligent Observer. Not investment advice.

Juan Sebastian Garzon: [00:00:00] If you ask me, what is the 20 percent that we need to focus on, I will say definitely curating good quality companies as well as getting the right investors in the room. That's really where it's at. 

Here in the U. S. We tend to be a little bit more transactional sometimes, and that doesn't play well with people in Latin America, right? So you really have to go out for dinner.

You really have to go out and get a drink before you establish a conversation from a business standpoint. 

We want to make sure that people know that San Antonio is definitely an option. 

 We're the only one, at least in Texas, as an angel network that is investing in LATAM. 

Andrew Kazlow: Welcome to the Diligent Observer from PitchFact. I'm your host, Andrew, and every week I share insights and strategies to help angel investors make better bets. 

 my guest today is Juan Sebastian Garzon, the executive director of the Alamo angels. One of Texas' largest angel networks. Under Sebastian's leadership, the Alamo Angels have invested in over 50 [00:01:00] companies across the us and Latin America. He's been recognized in the Texas top 100 for 2024 and was one of Corpus Christi's 40, under 40. Sebastian is also a graduate of the VC unlocked program at Stanford University. And is the founder of Passport2Fluency, spanish language education company. During our conversation, we dive into Sebastian's journey with the Alamo angels, exploring how he's grown the network from 30 to over 130 members. 

 We discussed the group's unique focus on Latin American startups, their expansion into the Rio Grande valley. And Sebastian's perspective on curating high quality deal flow. Sebastian also shares insights on creating value for angel investors through education, connection and simplified investment processes. 

I hope you enjoy learning from Sebastian as much as I did.  

Sebastian. Thank you for being with me today. 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Andrew, I'm happy to be here. Thanks for the invite.

Andrew Kazlow: So, Sebastian, I have a lot of questions for you, specifically around your journey [00:02:00] with Alamo Angels. Before we get into that, I was reviewing your background and I learned something. That I wasn't aware of before. And that is that you spent some time working at Disney. Is that 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: I did. I sure did. Yes. 

Andrew Kazlow: Say more about that. I'd love to hear your experience working for an amazing company like that 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Yeah. Well, and you brought that up. I don't think that I've ever worked in a better company I mean, the corporate culture that I've experienced at Disney it's one that I've never experienced anywhere else and the learnings that I've got from that experience. It's something that I cherish.

Always try to apply on any of my own either my own company or any other professional endeavors that I have. I actually did the college program. that must have been, I don't know, close to 10 years ago now. And it was amazing. I was part of the merchandise department.

And with that, there was a lot of guest interaction. There was a lot of long shifts. We are [00:03:00] in October right now as we're recording this podcast. And every October it reminds me of my experience because I was there during the fall. And if you were to go to Disney on October 31st, Everything you see is going to be Halloween related, right?

From decorations to merchandise to landscaping, everything is Halloween. And you know how they are about the little details. But then if you go there on November 1st, everything is now Christmas. And so, it's a quick turnaround and the little details make a difference. And guess who had to, who had to help on that arrangement in terms of changing everything from one thing to another, I was part of that crew.

So it was a really, really long shift working all night to make sure that everything got done. But we made it happen and, we created magic by making sure that people had the best experience they could possibly have. Some of the items or some of the things that I always [00:04:00] highlight is the corporate culture is really what makes Disney special.

And it's just the little details, right? So for example I will never tell you that I was an employee. I will tell you that I was a cast member, even though I was on the merchandise department and I was not performing per se. But you know, when you are on stage, when you're working, You are always performing, you are giving your best, you are making sure that people have a good time.

So, that's part of that. We don't ever say, hey, we have clients or customers. We will always say we have guests. And that is because, if you have someone visiting you at your place, it's your guest, you want to make sure that they have a good time, that you curate and you provide them with the best experience that they can possibly have.

And one of the things that I really enjoy the most. They're all about creating magic, magical moments. And so I'll give you an example. If I am on the merchandise department and for some reason I am able to see that there is this kid that just rode a ride and forgot to take their hat off, their Mickey Mouse hat off, [00:05:00] and they lost it, right?

And they come out of the ride, they're crying. They are just upset. I am entitled to go and reach out to that family and take them to the store, give them a new hat. and create a magical moment just like that. So those are the type of things that made a difference and I can go on and on but all I will say is 

definitely one of the best experiences of my life and one that I carry 

with me for everything that I do. 

Andrew Kazlow: Incredible. It's fascinating that a short stint. Left you with such a strong impression. I'm curious to hear how the details piece. It sounds like that theme has carried with you into a lot of your work. And I would imagine that has really shaped your approach to managing Alamo angels and passport to fluency and your other work.

I'd love to hear how you see that playing out today

in the work that you're doing.

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Yeah. [00:06:00] For me I think the reason for which they have such a strong culture is because they truly take the time to give you those fundamentals. And I think a lot of times you take certain things for granted. As an example, what is your mission? What is your vision? What are your values? And as long as you know who you are right through those fundamentals, then everyone is now aligned and everyone is drawing on that same direction.

And it was not until I got to experience that, that I truly realized the importance of those fundamentals. Most of the time, and most people will blow them off. Okay, well, We've got a mission, we've got a vision, but, that's just something to check, right? You gotta do it just because I guess that's best practice, but nobody truly pays attention to that.

So as an example over there, it's very visible. So if you are if you are a cast member and you are in a break room, as an example, The values are going to be there, right? Like everywhere that you go, you, you are always reminded of them [00:07:00] prior to you being on stage prior to you doing or performing whatever you are supposed to perform they actually take you through Disney university and they truly give you all these fundamentals and they truly make sure that you understand. What you are getting into and towards the end of that one training part before you actually go and perform whatever you're supposed to do.

You, you actually need to acknowledge that I feel good with this. I buy into this mission, into this vision, into these values, and I am now ready to go and do it all. So translating that into what I do now, it's very important for me to do those fundamentals on anything that I do, whether it's Alamo Angels, Passport to Fluency, my own company.

Two months ago, I was appointed as the president of the Colombian Association here in San Antonio. Colombian, born and raised. And so first thing that I did, mission, vision, values. We did have a mission. We had a vision, but we did not have those values. And that's one big thing for me. [00:08:00] And I really aligned everyone in the team to listen to what we are building, but most importantly, to truly buy into what we are doing so that we can then move forward in terms of, aligning ourselves with whatever we've set for those values to be.

So. That's an example of how I've translated that into 

My life throughout this time. 

Andrew Kazlow: Love it. I would love to learn more about each of 

those. Work areas, but let's talk specifically about your work with Alamo angels. Clearly you're doing something right because you guys have exploded from 30 ish members to over 130 as of my last count. I'd love to hear the story of Alamo angels and how you first got involved.

And maybe some of

the highlights of the journey. As the 

group has matured over the last few years. 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Andrew, I've been in the world of angel investing for over a decade now. I was part of the team [00:09:00] that helped create the South Coast Angel Network, which is in South Texas, in Corpus Christi specifically. That actually was the very first group in the region that got started because of our efforts as a team.

If you continue to go down all the way down towards the Rio Grande Valley, which is borderline with Mexico there is also another angel network, the Rio Grande Valley Angel Network. And I recall they used to drive up to Corpus Christi to learn about the journey that we have gone through as we created the the network in Corpus Christi.

So indirectly also shaped and guided the creation of that other network. So that's how I got started. And because of that, a good friend of mine in San Antonio called me and said, Hey, we're looking for someone to lead Alamo Angels. And that must've been about four and a half, five years ago. And I came and I saw what we had and I saw the potential, particularly, a city like San Antonio, and so for me, it was a no brainer trying to shape it in such a way that we can do something [00:10:00] meaningful at the time that I came on board.

I was tasked with transitioning Alamo Angels from being a standalone entity to being an entity that is part of a bigger organization. I'm taking this call from Velocity Texas, which is an innovation center here, pretty much downtown San Antonio. This is our parent entity and I always credit Velocity Texas because if it was not because of this organization, We wouldn't be here where we are today.

Most angel investment networks around the nation are a standalone entities, and as such, they're run with very limited resources. That's not to say that we have unlimited resources, but we do have the support of that bigger organization that has been around for 40 years now, actually turning 40 years this year.

And so with that, we've got that solid foundation that any organization can benefit from practical examples that I can give you include in terms of marketing, in terms of accounting, we [00:11:00] actually leverage their marketing office and their accounting office. So we have a shared resources type of relationship, which truly allows me to do what, in my opinion is what we need to do, and that is seeking out good quality companies.

As well as recruiting accredited investors and then doing that matchmaking. And that's what I've been doing. And I will say that's the reason for which we are, where we are today, which like you say, taken Alamo Angels from 32 members in 2020 to over 132 in 2024. So it's been a long growth, but definitely not something that I've done by myself.

Velocity takes us as a big supporter and we also have a great board 

and a 

good team that has helped us get where we 

are

today.

Andrew Kazlow: Say more about the things that you focus your time on. in my experience, talking with angel network

operators, it's really hard to run an angel group for a lot of reasons. 

I'd love to hear what you have found [00:12:00] to be that sweet spot of, these are the things that add the most value to the network.

Like this is the 20 percent of the work that I do that drives 80 percent of the value. For the community. What is that 20 percent for you?

Juan Sebastian Garzon: For me, it's two folded. It's good quality companies as well as accredited investors. There is probably a lot of people that will meet the accreditation requirements. But that does not necessarily mean that they will have an interest on investing on these startups, or if nothing else, giving you an opportunity to learn about how do I do it in hope that they will then actively participate on this asset class.

One of the challenges that I've seen is if you go to the coasts, either the East or the West coast, this is something that is, is part of people's portfolios, right? Investing on venture capital and doing angel investing. As you go to other places particularly towards the middle of the country, that's not necessarily something that we are so familiar with.

[00:13:00] So there is an educational element that needs to happen. But with that, if you ask me, what is the 20 percent that we need to focus on, I will say definitely curating good quality companies as well as getting the right investors in the room. That's really where it's at.

You can do anything else. I remember when I first came forward, they started doing marketing campaigns, spend some time and money on doing some of that. But at the end of the day, it's really about marketing or making a big splash about what you're doing is really just. If you have good quality companies, your investors are going to be happy if you have good investors that are actually participating on these investment opportunities, your companies are going to be happy with their experience.

And they're going to go back and tell their network, which is most likely founders, very smart founders, just like them, that they had a good experience in Alamo Angels and those 

companies are going to come to us. So, to me that's where the 

magic formula stands. 

Andrew Kazlow: And you're clearly prioritizing that. I know you lead a [00:14:00] regular Texas angel network call that's focused on collaborating and helping drive, sharing of solid deal flow. I'd love to hear more about how you tactically, like, how do you find these great deals? How do you spend your time

in order to build those relationships and bring in that deal flow, 

which is so important for the group to.

Thrive and grow. 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: For both sides of the coin, it's all about relationships. If I want to get more investors, I leverage the existing relationships that I have with my own investors for them to bring people to my network. More likely than not the people that we have in our network are surrounding themselves with the type of people that we want to have here externally, right?

Like socially, they have friends, they have family that are a good fit for what we've got going on. So as long as we. Offer them with a good experience. They will tell others about that and others will come. So that's one. And then the other in [00:15:00] terms of the companies themselves is the same as long as we give them a good experience.

You know, I recall vividly 3 months, 3 or 4 months ago, a company out of Houston, she came here, she had gone through all their angel networks as most founders do. And her comment was, I've never had a better experience as I go to a place where I am pitching investors as I have in Alamo Angels.

And it goes from initial communications. I like to think that we are very responsive and that we, we provide clear guidelines and a better understanding of what they should expect. It goes to when they come and pitch offering them a good experience in terms of truly giving them a platform where they can shine and a very professional way in which we run things.

I think it's very notable, right? Like, when you come just like a Disney is the little details. So when you come to an Alamo Angels event, you will know that it's an Alamo Angels event because of the little things [00:16:00] that we do. As silly as it sounds, just having our name tags and everything is very well branded and having the colors in the room.

We have lights, we have banners, we have things that will make you feel truly like you are in an Alamo Angels event. We have name tents our presenters when they come, they also have their own name tag, which is a different color that helps identify everybody else that they are not just any regular person.

They are one of the presenters. And that usually helps so that they can engage in conversation with these investors, which is at the end of the day, the reason for which they are coming here. Most of our founders, by the way, come in person and we have had people that come from Seattle, come from New York, come from California, from Florida.

Obviously there is a big number of them that come from Texas, whether it's San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Dallas, but they really make it a point to come. So that they can pitch in person. [00:17:00] We actually also have companies that are coming all the way from Latin America. And so we have had companies that came from Bogota, Colombia Monterey, Mexico, Guadalajara, Queretaro Mexico City.

So that's the type of dynamic that we experience here. But at the end of the day, when these companies, regardless of what they're coming from, when they come, they experience what we've done for them. They know the type of professionalism. That we offer as we are running this organization, they go back to their networks and they tell them, this is a place where you should be looking into, right?

And so last time we checked, I think it was close to 60 percent of our deal flow. It's actually coming from referrals. So it's very community driven. And these referrals are coming either from our own investors, 

from other founders, or from partners that we have established 

relationships with. 

Andrew Kazlow: That's incredible. It sounds like you're really leveraging the theoretical power of the angel community, right? One of the core reasons for joining a community, as opposed to doing this on your [00:18:00] own is the expanded network, the expanded expertise through shared diligence and other awareness. And you guys seem to have figured out the right mix for facilitating that on a repeatable basis.

What are the other things that. You have seen make the experience for your members, high quality. It sounds like the core fundamental is bring great deals because at the end of the day, if we're not investing and these deals aren't resonating, then what are we doing? What are the other things that you feel like?

You guys do that make the experience so positive

such that a 

member's willing to 

invite

their friends to come

alongside them, 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: I think it's creating a sense of community. So it's not a transactional type of approach. It's truly a relationship based approach. One of the things that I did when we took over was creating a value prop that was easy for us to explain and [00:19:00] execute on. And this value proposition included the concept of investing, educating, and connecting.

And I think that's the formula has worked very well for us in terms of investing. Obviously we have pitch events every single month where we feature at least three companies. And so, that's how we do it. We also facilitate investment opportunities, which is the other thing, right? So if you come to one of our events you like the companies, you follow the process after the pitch event, then there is usually a deep dive session.

From there, we do a little bit of due diligence and it's very community centric. So people are engaging and sharing their insights as well as their findings. Then you truly start getting a little bit more involved with the investing side of things. And if you do get to a point where you say, you know what, I actually like the company and I want to invest on that.

We make it as easy as possible for you to do so. And it's almost kind of like creating a neat trade account. You just go through, through our system, you create your account. And then [00:20:00] you, from there on, every company that you want to invest on, you just select your allocation and just follow the process.

And it's super simple. The only time that it'll really require of you is for you to set up the account just like anything else. But from there on, we've already got your bank account. We've already got everything that we need. So it's just a matter of saying, yes, I want to invest on this.

And boom, in less than five minutes, you are able to do so. So simplifying that process provides a good experience. And that's what we do in terms of investing in terms of educating, 

We offer.

Andrew Kazlow: before we move on, I want to ask about that and 

I want to hear about educating and connecting. 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: sure. 

Andrew Kazlow: I've heard a lot of angel operators talk about this pain point of how to mechanically facilitate the investing 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Mm hmm. 

Andrew Kazlow: in a way that 

simplifies. Yeah. I like this. I want to move forward. Most angels.

Don't have massive legal teams or tons of experience in facilitating the mechanics of making that investment. Say a little bit [00:21:00] more

about how you guys deliver that clean 

kind of seamless experience for your members. 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: We leverage other resources. So

we're outsourcing these, this operation precisely because of the right, as we were evaluating how to do it. One of the options is let's just do it in house. But that was a little bit of a pain point because it's not as easy and need at the end of the day, it becomes a barrier.

If you as an investor, you have to exchange 10 different emails and take five different actions before you are able to invest. I think at some point you're just going to say, you know what, this is a little bit of a headache as much as I like it. I just don't have the time for that. Got to remember that our audience are very busy people.

And they're angel investors for a reason. They must have done something good in life in order to get to a point where they are now investing on this asset class. And so I am always very cognizant of that. And I always trying to simplify the way in which we can offer these [00:22:00] experiences. So we actually use an SPV provider.

It's called Canopy. That's the one that we've identified as the best opportunity for our group where, once again. It's a platform. It's a whole platform. It's got everything very well put together. We did not have to do anything, and they take care of everything, right? From creating the legal entity so that you can invest in the companies to maintaining that so that you can get your K 1s once a year.

And if in the event of an exit or a liquidation event, obviously they can also help us with that, so. Everything is streamlined through that and knowing that we didn't have the resources internally. We just had to outsource it. Now the there those are the pros the cons, you do have to pay the price for that but at the end of the day if you If you balance things out if you put them in a in a scale you'll realize that you know paying a small fee for that is not necessarily something that's gonna break your bank number one And number two, it's actually going to make it way easier for people.

[00:23:00] So, that's one thing that we did. And then the other is we actually leverage our own community. For example, anytime that we have a legal question, one of our members, it's a VC attorney. And so, he's usually the one that we go to and and we have very affordable rates with him due to our unique relationship.

And so he's always telling us, Hey, you got to change these or no, you know what this is good. I don't think it'll be a, an issue for our group. And so just leveraging our community 

so that we can get the answers that we need and make things as professional

as we can. That's the other part. 

Andrew Kazlow: So every angel group needs to

get a good VC attorney In their membership.

Prioritize that kind of skillset 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: In all honesty, 

I think that's definitely a 

good idea. Just so that they have a trust, trusted advisor that they can. Contact and 

truly, 

Check all the dots before they make

any decisions. 

Andrew Kazlow: Okay. Back 

to connect and educate 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Yeah, so that was all about investing.

And then the other [00:24:00] parts of the, of that formula are educating and connecting. And so in terms of educating a lot of people want to do this. A lot of people are accredited investors, but they just don't know how to go about investing on this asset class.

And for that, what we do is again, trying to simplify things and expedite things as much as possible. As soon as you sign up to be an Alamo Angels member, you actually get access to a fundamentals course. Again, outsourcing that, that way I'm not the one that is doing it. And I want to offer the most professional experience that I can possibly offer.

And so if it's already out there, why don't just leverage that? And so we have a relationship with a company that does the angel investing one on one class. It's a highly intensive course. It's Monday through Thursday, two hours per day, and you can take it live or you can take it on demand, basically watch the recordings, but that truly gives you all the in and outs of angel investing.

And our hope is that people will then hit the ground running after taking these classes. [00:25:00] From there on every other month, we invite the subject matter expert to speak about a topic of interest that will make you a better angel investor. So all the topics are going to be. Aligned with that goal.

And that's basically what we do. And then, of course, organically you educate yourself just by being in the room. Just by being at the pitch events and listening to the questions that more sophisticated investors are making. Or attending a deep dive session where, we really get deep into some of the elements that, that the companies have.

Just listening to others and also getting to hear their insights and their findings, you organically start learning a little bit more about these. So just being surrounded by these individuals, it's also a part of that educational journey. And then last but not least is connecting, right? So even though for our pitch events and our educational offerings, there's a little bit of networking built into them.

We always take the time to do social events throughout the year, typically on a quarterly basis. [00:26:00] Where it's all about. Let's just go have fun. Let's just go do something social. Let's do something in such a way that people get to meet each other and we continue to nurture that community. What we've seen out of this is friendships are formed, business relationships are formed.

And there is a cohesive way in which the community is operating because they get to know one another at a personal level. So that's what I was saying. It's not necessarily transactional. People actually get to know each other. And to me that's how we are able to offer a good experience either 

to 

new members or to the companies that come to us because it makes them feel a lot 

more comfortable, 

you know? 

Andrew Kazlow: Isn't it an amazing what happens when you get. Smart people that are ambitious together in a room for an extended period of time. The things that evolve out of that always. Amazing. So I'm sure you guys have seen a lot of that over the last few years. 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Absolutely. 

Andrew Kazlow: Very cool. Okay. So I want to [00:27:00] explore more about your Latin America thesis. I don't know many other angel groups that have the level of engagement that Alamo angels has with Latin America. So to say more about. That journey, how you built those relationships, obviously you were born in Columbia.

So you have a lot of this natural connection points. What is

Alamo doing to drive these connections and make this happen?

Juan Sebastian Garzon: I think that's a big differentiator for us, right?

And by the way, you talk about the level of activity that we have with LATAM, but I will also say that we have a pretty high level of activity in general, because we actually are meeting every single month. Most other groups that I know of are meeting either bimonthly or once a quarter.

And so the activity levels that we have as a group are pretty high and we are able to get there because we actually have professional staff that are, that, that is running these, including myself. I have a manager that helps me, and we [00:28:00] typically have a couple of interns on top of the shared resources that we get access through velocity.

So all of that obviously is what helps us be so active. In terms of Latin America, yes, to my knowledge, we're the only one, at least in Texas, as an angel network that is investing in LATAM. The reason for which we wanted to do it is I do believe that the emerging markets are big opportunities. If you look at the emerging markets, you will quickly realize that Asia is potentially the one that is the most sophisticated.

They have the most unicorns. They have the most exits. The highest activity as it pertains to a startup activity, of course, but also venture capital activity. The challenge with that is We don't really have anything in common, right? And so it didn't really make much sense for me to go towards that side of the world But when you look at Latin America, there is a lot of alignment particularly with a city like San Antonio San Antonio is probably one of the cities that has [00:29:00] the most alignment with the Hispanic community that you can ever find anywhere in the nation.

There is a lot of Mexican citizens particularly that have emigrated to the U. S. and have set San Antonio or have found in San Antonio a home. And so that alignment, I think, is truly what helped us make this a success. I was in Stanford almost a year ago, a little over a year ago, and I was surrounded by very, very smart individuals.

I did a VC class at Stanford for two weeks, and all of my classmates were actually coming from all around the world. There were only a few from the U. S. and from LATAM. Most of them were actually coming from the Middle East and Asia. And I quickly also realized that, the emerging markets actually have big, big opportunities and it's just like anything else in life is if you get in early, the payback is probably going to be higher than if you wait too long for you to get in.

That's basically a thesis that [00:30:00] I can tell you in terms of why we're looking at emerging markets, but particularly that time as an opportunity for us. I'll tell you that we are still very much focused on the U. S. market. So as an example if you come to a pitch event and we featured three companies, at least two of them are going to be U.

S. based. One of them will be that time. You will never come to a pitch event of Alamo angels where most of them are going to be that time companies. So we're not at that point but we are exploring and getting our feet wet trying to figure out how that market evolves. And I still

believe that there is a lot of potential there. 

Andrew Kazlow: I love it. And I think that's so valuable. I haven't done a lot of research in this space, but the light research I did showed that VC investment in. Latin America and Mexico specifically is about a tenth of the overall VC investment here in the U S. And so an order of magnitude smaller, [00:31:00] but representing a pretty significant opportunity over the coming years.

And I think it's really valuable that you guys are making that accessible to investors here in the U S that's super, super important connection. And. I'd love to say more about how you're specifically building those relationships. I know you guys do trips, you do events, how are you finding these companies and Bringing

them here.

Say more about your 

strategy and how you're specifically doing that. 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Very relationship driven as usual. We've taken the time to go to these places and get to know the ecosystems. So last year, I think we went towards the end of last year, almost a year ago, actually, we went to Monterey and we did a tour And we really get to meet all the ecosystem players, the innovation centers, some of the corporates that are supporting innovation. Some of the public private entities that are really, helping move these innovation economy forward. Universities, one thing that I'm [00:32:00] not sure if you are aware, but Monterrey specifically has the tech of Monterrey, which is basically the MIT of Latin America. And so it's it's like the pedigree of that university and the graduates from that university it's very high up.

And so there is lots of things happening on that side because of the high educational opportunities that they can offer. And so we went down there, we got to meet everyone, they got to meet us. I did a podcast there as well. Got to meet with some government officials that are driving that discussion in terms of, supporting innovation and trying to identify ways in which more investment can happen on that particular industry.

And continuing in, in touch with them. So I often talk to a lot of those players and. I also actually have invited them to come to San Antonio for different events, including San Antonio Startup Week. The first time that I invited them, we had, I would probably say maybe 12 to 15 people that took us [00:33:00] up on that offer.

And it was just out of a text message that I had sent out. And I was like, Hey, San Antonio Startup Week is coming up. Anyone that wants to come, come check it out. We opened up our doors through velocity for people to come to learn what's going on in here, but also to have basically like an open house of Alamo angels.Cause I had a lot of people asking me, Hey, how do I get in touch with you? How do we pitch your group? And so it was an opportunity for them to come and see it for themselves. And so continuing and nurturing that relationship, it's important. Earlier this year, June timeframe, I think we actually also went to Guadalajara.

And this was now part of a delegation of people coming from San Antonio and it was the same, right? Getting to know the ecosystem establishing relationships and making sure that we're connecting dots. And also letting them know that there is an opportunity here in Texas and specifically in San Antonio as they are looking to not only get access to capital but also expand.

A lot of times they want to access [00:34:00] the U. S. market and they don't know how to start. And we want to make sure that people know that San Antonio is definitely an option. And there's a lot of different reasons for which they should consider it, but they need to know first and foremost, that it's an option.

And from there on, we can capitalize on that opportunity. So that's the type of approach that we've taken. And, I can go on and on, but I've got really good relationships in Panama. As an example, I've been to Panama a couple of times. Same thing, getting to know the ecosystem for them to get to know us.

Some people from Panama have actually flown into San Antonio, so that I can then tell them, you've gave me an opportunity to learn about your ecosystem, now 

give me an opportunity to show you what we've built. And that's 

how we've been operating. 

Andrew Kazlow: it's really interesting. You talk about some of the value ads you can provide for these entrepreneurs to help them get connected into the U S ecosystem. I've been talking and thinking a lot recently about. This concept of you have to win the winners, right? you're not guaranteed the opportunity to invest in the great opportunities.

You [00:35:00] have to earn that right. And 

I love the way that you guys are clearly focused on building a strong value ad for these Latam. Entrepreneurs to come

and get plugged into the only angel group that's focused 

on this sector. I think that's really, really powerful. 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Andrea, the one, one last thing that I will highlight is it's easier for me just because I speak the language and I know the culture, right? So I think we have a little bit of a competitive advantage when it comes to that too, because I can relate, right? And there are certain things, particularly in the Hispanic culture that are very important.

One of which is trust, you really need to trust people and the Hispanic culture, it's also very relationship driven. So. Here in the U. S. We tend to be a little bit more transactional sometimes, and that doesn't play well with people in Latin America, right? So you really have to go out for dinner.

You really have to go out and get a drink before you establish a conversation from a business standpoint. And those are the type of [00:36:00] cultural intelligence elements that I think people need to keep in mind as they are looking to expand and attract 

opportunities from other markets. 

Andrew Kazlow: Well, speaking of expansion, you guys recently launched a new location back to Rio Grande Valley. Say more about that journey. What was the logic? What were. Some of the key objectives there, maybe some lessons learned going multi

site is always a journey from every founder I've ever talked 

to. So say more about that story.

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Yeah, So this is something that's been on the works for two and a half years now, and it finally became a reality. In May this year, we actually made an announcement that we were expanding and opening a chapter in the Rio Grande Valley. Our home there, it's in Brownsville, which is the second largest city within the valley.

And they also enjoy the presence of SpaceX, which, as you know, it's a, it's It's a monster. It's a huge company and doing great things. And [00:37:00] so that has propelled their growth. And strategically speaking, that's why we wanted to start there. But more than that, really we had the right partners in place.

As we were seeking this expansion, we really wanted to make sure that we had alignment with the partners that we were doing this with. And down there we have the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, which is basically their economic development corporation. Who have provided us with that support.

We also have the University of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. They have an innovation center called E Bridge, and that's the home of the Alamo Angels down in the valley. And so these are people that we trust. These are people that I've known for years. One of them I've known for close to a decade now because we've been in the same circles.

We actually met funny enough, we didn't even meet in Texas. We met, I want to say, might have been in Denver or Portland in a conference. And since then, we've engaged and we established a relationship. And [00:38:00] as these opportunities come up, we've taken advantage of them. But it comes down to the partners.

I think that relationship is very important to us and having the right partners have helped us make that move. Now, from a big picture standpoint, the reason for which we want to do it is if you ask me, Hey, Sebastian, do you think we're gonna see a lot of startup activity happening in Texas, particularly in South Texas?

I will say there will be some, but we're still a long way from that happening. We're not going to be the next Silicon Valley, and there is a lot of things that are happening here. That will help us get there, but it's not going to happen immediately. So that's not where I necessarily see a big opportunity where I see a big Opportunities on leveraging the access to capital that we can tap into as we are exploring the whole south texas region one thing that I know is and I know it because I spent a few years down in corpus christi I went to school at A& M down there.

I did my bachelor's my master's ended up working for the university. I was very [00:39:00] much Part of that community and I knew the players and I knew how things operate. One thing that I know is that there is a lot of money all throughout the South Texas region, Corpus Christi, Laredo the Rio Grande Valley.

And so that's where it's at. In my opinion, we're able to tap into that opportunity and educate these community to the point where they now become active angel investors. We can go from writing a hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand dollar check to writing a half a million dollar check Because we now have access to that capital One interesting thing that happens here is San Antonio is the largest city as you are driving South towards the north and so because of that it becomes kind of like that big brother or big sister type of figure And so these smaller communities are always looking up to San Antonio because that's typically the first place that they go to as they are making their way up.

And so also leveraging that, [00:40:00] and we are, in fact, a more sophisticated in a lot of ways community. Then some of the others specifically, as it relates to investing on startups. And so leveraging the fact that we have that sophistication and now. Providing these other communities an opportunity to get up to the same level and contribute and help curate these experience and help provide access to capital to these founders.

That's the goal. So starting with the Rio Grande Valley, but we like to continue to expand throughout South Texas so that we can really centralize this investment activity. Offer opportunities for them to be up to the same standards and make a bigger and 

broader 

impact on the companies that

we're investing on. 

Andrew Kazlow: What are some trends or things that are happening in your universe that you're excited about right 

now? 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: I think because of the pandemic, there's two things, number one, the pandemic prior to the pandemic, it used to be the case that investors were, will only invest in [00:41:00] their own communities or places where they can drive to. And the pandemic as horrible as it was, there is some silver linings one of which is the way that we do business now it's actually opened up doors for people to communicate with one another and to do business with one another, regardless of the geographic location where they are at.

 Access to good investment opportunities. It's now easier than it used to be. And so getting access to these, I think it's, it excites me because I'm now looking at companies that otherwise, if it was not because of this phenomenon otherwise I probably would have never gotten access to.

And so that excites me. And that continues to happen. Like I said, we got companies from California, from Silicon Valley coming to San Antonio. Pitching here our network. And so these are the type of things that get me excited. And then the second one is, continuing to look at the macroeconomic environment.

There is a [00:42:00] big thing happening right now, which is going to drive the innovation economy. which is near shoring. There's a lot of activity happening in terms of moving some of our reliance in China and manufacturing of a lot of the products that are being commercialized throughout the world in the other side of the world and moving it closer to the U S and obviously what makes the most sense for the U S is Mexico, just because of proximity, because logistics, because of.

Time zones. And so I see a lot of activity happening throughout latin america, particularly in mexico That will continue to drive business opportunities and those business opportunities if you talk about manufacturing you may be saying, okay Well, are you going to invest on that? And the answer is probably not But there's a lot of those elements that will benefit from innovative Activities that will then enhance the manufacturing process And that's where these startups will start popping in, and that's where we'll start seeing a lot [00:43:00] more opportunities as it relates to investing because of the near shoring effect.

And there is a lot of cross border activity that's also happening. And so we, again, coming back to the concept of we are the largest city in the south from Mexico. The. People have to go through as they are expanding, are exploring the U. S. market that then we want to capitalize on that activity. So cross border is something else that excites me and that's very much tied with the phenomenon or the concept of nearshoring. 

Andrew Kazlow: And how can our audience 

stay connected with you and your work at Alamo? 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: For me, I think LinkedIn, it's it's probably the better place. So you can find me my, I go by Sebastian, which is my middle name, but my first name is Juan. So Juan Sebastian Garzon it's usually how you can find me. And I'll say that's probably the better place for me personally.

Now, as it relates to Alamo angels, we do have a website, of course, Alamo angels. com, plain and simple. And so if we have founders [00:44:00] listening to this podcast and have an interest to learn and apply or submit an application to pitch the Alamo angels, you can do so through the website. If we have investors trying to learn more if it just so happens to be that we have investors either from the Rio Grande Valley or San Antonio that want to learn more about Alamo Angels, then the website also 

has some information.

And so I think those are the two resources that I will 

offer.

Andrew Kazlow: Well, Sebastian, this has been fantastic. I've learned a lot. Thank you so muchfor your time today, and I look forward to speaking again soon. 

Juan Sebastian Garzon: Andrew, thank you so much for the invitation, and I look forward to that as well.

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Andrew Kazlow

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