Leaps of Faith: Entrepreneurship, Empathy and Ecosystems with Alejandro Ortega, StartLife

In this episode of the Innovation Brief, hosts Gabriella G. Hernandez and Gabriela  Matic sit down with Alejandro Ortega, Programme Manager at StartLife, co‑founder and Managing Partner at Deep Impact Venture Partners, and co‑creator of Inspira Diaspora. 

Alejandro shares his journey from feeling like an outsider in Costa Rica to launching startups, moving to the Netherlands, and now shaping agritech, foodtech, and cleantech ecosystems across Europe and Latin America.

Together, they explore what it really means to take a leap of faith as an entrepreneur, the cultural and structural barriers faced by founders from Latin America and the Caribbean, and why “founder mining” – backing people, not just polished startups – could unlock the region’s true innovation potential.

They explore:

• How personal history, family values, and a pivotal moment of loss pushed Alejandro to leave a comfortable tech job and commit to impact‑driven entrepreneurship
• Why programmes like StartLife are critical in reducing the “valley of death” for early-stage founders, from validation and mentorship to infrastructure and long-term support
• The limits of copying Silicon Valley in emerging markets, and what European ecosystems can learn from Latin American resilience and resourcefulness
• The role of diaspora communities - from Latin America & the Caribbean to the Balkans - in opening doors, sharing networks, and building new models of capital and cross-border collaboration
• The tension between chasing quick financial returns and building long-term, values‑driven impact, and why conviction matters more than hype

Whether you’re a founder, ecosystem builder, investor, or part of a global diaspora looking to give back, this conversation offers a candid, hopeful look at how we can build more inclusive, human‑centred innovation ecosystems.

Connect with Alejandro via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleortega/

Learn more about StartLife: https://startlife.nl/

Learn more about Deep Impact Venture Partners: https://deepimpact.earth/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Welcome to the Innovation Brief, the podcast where we have real conversations with leaders driving meaningful change across diverse sectors. I'm Gabriella Hernandez.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

And I'm Gabin Matic. Each episode will bring you insights from innovators who are shaping the future through bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and transformative work.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Today on the Innovation Brief, our guest is Alejandro Ortega, a Costa Rican native globetrotter, venture architect, and someone who has dedicated his career to catalyzing sustainable innovation across the globe.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Alejandro is the project manager at Start Life, where he leads the strategy and delivery of programs supporting founders in agri tech, food tech, and clean tech, helping startups move from early videos to real world impact. He's also the co-founder and managing partner of Deep Impact Venture Partners, an organization focused on unlocking the regional potential green technology, venture building, and connections between founders, investors, and diaspora communities around the world. Before that, he built companies himself, including the CD Balitech, who worked closely with Impact Startups, NGOs, and funds, and SATA developed his venture capital experience through the Newton Fellowship at London Business School. So clearly, he brings a rare mix of sound experience, investor perspective, and deep commitment to building long-term innovation ecosystems.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

If that isn't enough, Alejandro is also one of the great minds behind Inspiro Diaspora, a new global community of Latin American and Caribbean change makers committed to supporting innovation and impact back home. As someone from the Caribbean with a Latin American background myself and having lived briefly in Costa Rica, this is a conversation close to my heart. We're talking about opportunity, sustainability, the power of diaspora, and the future that we can build together if we correct the right people at the right time. Alejandro, welcome. It's a pleasure to have you here with us.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

It's a pleasure to be talking here with you. As you put it, it sounds amazing to be making so many mistakes in life, daring so many times to take a leap of faith and see what the world brings. But yeah, it sounds nice on paper, but I would love to talk more about the experience, which I think is not unique. It's just an experience that many people are going through. So that's my passion.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Oh, it's amazing. Well, thank you for again for joining us. And I guess we could just start there. How about you just tell us a little bit more about yourself and how did you get into this work?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

So, since I was very little, I think I never uh figured out how to how to fit completely. The only place where I saw that there was no judgment was in nature, with especially with dogs. And so my first adventure and my first passion was becoming a veterinary. And of course, I did not pursue that journey of becoming a veterinarian or a zoologist or becoming the Costa Rican JIF Urban, you know, like traveling the world, seeing every animal, becoming famous. But I did realize that through my skills, both in uh later in life, developing a little bit more about marketing, project management, finance, realized that through those skills, I could actually create a better vision of the world to be able to protect those things that I care and to be able to represent people just like me. So that's when I started that journey to studying outside of my country, meeting people from every different culture, realizing that the fact that I didn't fit was actually something that a lot of people was also feeling, and that that was not my weakness, that was actually my strength. And that that strength would allow me later in life, being actually an introvert, would allow me to connect with other people with different personalities, with different cultures through empathy. And that judgment that the animals, nature, and dogs didn't have over me was something that I could replicate with the rest of the people. So that has been my journey. Then uh life had a tremendous impact in the way that I grew, thinking that nature is the best, and you know, we have to protect it being Costa Rica and all of that. But also, my grandma had a lot of impact on this because she was also a globetroller. She was the first female director of the police in Costa Rica, which we don't have an army, so that was like a big thing. And I was a teenager doing uh stupid things, you know, not that stupid, but still a teenager. Everybody was afraid of my grandma, so uh she would make sure that the bad influences would isolate me away and they wouldn't come close to me. That was amazing. But she also would trust that I would make the right decisions from my heart, from my values, to always care for people and that I would eventually do something meaningful with my life to support the world. When she passed, was the moment where she passed during my birthday in 2018, and it was a slap in the face of being in a comfortable job, working in tech, having, let's say, a successful enough life, and realizing that I'm not doing enough with my skills and those capacities, and that I shouldn't be so comfortable with those in those shoes. So basically, I quit my job. I uh didn't tell my family that I quit. I rather being a Latin American, if you quit when you are in a comfort uh situation, is something that is very judged, especially by Latin American mothers. And so I rather be embarrassed of being fired for my jobs than be honest and say, well, I quit it because I'm starting my entrepreneurial journey. That would have been a crazy story to tell. But eventually, years later, she found that out and she understood, and it has been a whole journey. That is a journey that a lot of people have gone through as well. That's when I realized that since there is a lot of people going through this journey, maybe I can help them because I went through the same thing empathy again. And that's when I also started asking questions of why is it that we do things this way? Is there a better way? Do we have to go away from home to figure all of this thing out, to realize that we are part of a bigger community, that we should not be afraid of making mistakes, that uh we should not be judging ourselves in our own communities. A lot of asking questions on the status quo, who's maintaining this status quo? Is it the superpowers or is it ourselves that we are perpetrating the same difficulties and challenges that we keep uh giving the next generations? And so that's where my, let's say, by my new life after entrepreneurship started. And that is what I'm doing now, both working with the diaspora, working at Start Life and working on the buildup of deep uh impact ventures.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Before we dive into that kind of current work, I think that's a really, really beautiful journey. And thank you for sharing that. And I can see that, you know, the way you've been brought up, your family and all those experiences had a tremendous impact on you know how you decided to, in the end, live life and the decisions you made. One question that came up for me while you were talking, you said it yourself, I mean, culturally and the way you know things work, making that step going away from security and safety and the known and taking a risk like that and and going out there to ask all those difficult questions. It's not something that everyone's comfortable with. Can you pinpoint a moment or something that really gave you the courage to do that? Um, or has it just been something that's been lingering, you know, for so long that it just had to happen eventually? I'd love to dig into that a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

I would love to have a better answer to this question, but I think there is a, you know, a certain kind of stupidity on it. There is another part which is basically a little bit of ignorance. There is a lot of people that said that entrepreneurs are not necessarily the most informed people in the world, because if they were, they wouldn't dare to do what they're going to be doing. You, I mean, we all know about the valley of death. That does not sound appealing if you have a comfortable job, if you have a family, and then you have to go through the valley of death. And then you see the statistics of survival, and then you see that the rewards are not that good. And then you see that actually right now the world is focusing on on the greatest stories of heroes, but not focusing on values, focusing on just on results. And so, why would somebody dare to do this? The reality is that there is this search for something bigger that we all have. And sometimes we just have to close our eyes and take a leap of faith and realize that maybe staying where we are is also just, you know, letting life pass us through. I think the human experience is about daring to take different steps that we or navigate in different areas that we haven't seen. Because otherwise, we are just, I mean, we're just copying basically what other people did. So you never know who you are until you dare to take a leap of faith like this. And it takes a lot of courage, yes, but mainly you just have to close your eyes for a second, not overthink things. It's just like getting a bucket of cold water, and then maybe it wasn't that bad, or it was bad for a moment, but then you realize that you you can actually fly. You can actually do things that you never thought that you would be would be able to do.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

I mean, that's amazing. Thank you. Very, very true. And also, it strikes me as uh we talk about making the decision to change something, making the decision to make that step. Making the or staying in the status quo is also a decision. It's also a decision that you make, um, whether you consciously do so or not. So closing or opening a man is to the other opportunities, depending on your um outlook, um, is uh yeah, probably where the magic lies. So yeah, love that. Love that way, the way you just described that. So let's look at the status quo now. So for the last few years, you have been living and working in Europe, right? And currently your program manager for Start Life. Tell us a little bit more about that work and what you're currently doing.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Actually, this journey of StartLife started way early. The reason why me and my now wife decided to move to the Netherlands, we were co-founders of the same startup. We were doing things with insects. The company was called called Costa Rica Insect Company at the beginning, or Creek for short. And then we pivoted into a biotech company. And we realized, well, we don't have the infrastructure, the resources, or the knowledge to keep going forward. So we started meeting with the what we thought it was the kind of like the Mecca of insect agriculture and food in general, which was Vakingen University here in the Netherlands. Within Vaknamen University, there was a StartLife. And StartLive was pioneering a lot of deep tech into agri and food, and still is. But at that moment, we we were not able to come here for many reasons. Part of that was the pandemic. Um, so long story short, now three weeks into the new role as program manager of StartLive, it's kind of like a full circle moment for me, where we felt like we were always meant to be here to at least try and see what the ecosystem would bring. And but I did not think that I would be on this capacity of being able to give it a new vision, a new form, and and help people like me that are trying to go through the same journey, that maybe are trying to knock these doors, but they are not able to understand how to navigate them. And now I feel like with this journey that I've gone through, I can help them, I can reach out, and we can actually do better things. So my job is basically to make sure that we can uh reduce the risk of entrepreneurship, in a sense, by providing the necessary resources, by providing expertise, by providing stories of other startups that have gone through the same process, opening doors through the network of the Foot Valley within all of our partners around. We literally have three of the biggest RD facilities next door from our office. And I mean, that is already incredible. But the the talent that is around as well at Dakin University, it's already an international kind of talent. So that is also something that we want to connect. But at the at the core, there is the design of these programs, which is very different as I see it on approaching an university where everything is very theoric and academically focused, and not necessarily about making mistakes or challenging what exists. So, my role now is to bring this entrepreneurial experience to the team and together with the mentors and the experts that we have, adapt it to specific needs of the startups so that we can do two main things. Basically, make sure that they have a validated business model and that we can actually make sure that they reach that market fit. And with that market fit, we do the second point help them fundraise, extend their cash flows, and make sure that they stay alive long enough so that they can find that right break, that right timing where exponentially growth comes in and we can start telling the best stories. So, my role now, I think I want to focus it on towards empathy, understanding what they're going through and understanding also that going through an accelerator program is also a sacrifice. It's not only an opportunity, but it's a sacrifice for a lot of founders, especially the ones that are not based close by. They have to make a financial sacrifice to come here, away from their families, again, already trusting that this is going to provide them the tools that they need. So there is a big responsibility that I take over my shoulders in in this case. And I am just glad to have uh such an amazing team at Start Live and back in Egan. But I also think that we have to expand this community beyond our borders. And that is the the other part of the vision that I'm bringing to the team.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

That's really great. And that kind of I would love to kind of dig into that. We'll get back more into the, you know, looking further afield, but just kind of focusing on that point of providing the support for founders and so on, particularly those that are working on these kind of really innovative but also important solutions in terms of agrich, clean tech, and so on. What for you would you say is, you know, we've also worked on a number of programs, startup programs, uh, incubators, accelerators, and so on. And how would you say, or what would you say is the importance of programs like Start Life to these founders that are working on these solutions? And also how does it stand out from others?

SPEAKER_00 16:14

So, in general, I think the importance is very specific to your skills as a program and the people that are within these programs. I think startups are looking for three main things. The validation that their business model is is actually feasible and that they can uh actually put it into action and that there is a market. The third is the access, and this could be financial access as well, as uh corporate access or customer access, and that they are ready to be able to take that next next stage. The other thing that is very important is to extend their cash flows. So, in other words, they're looking for expertise, they're looking for access, and they're looking for free stuff for perks. And once you understand that, it's also about uh clearing out your your value proposition to what type of things you provide specifically with your knowledge that fit those three things. In terms of a start life, we provide general perks and free stuff, let's say, or or through our partnerships, where they can have access to shared kitchen facilities, shared lab facilities, access to lawyers, experts in IP regulation, experts in marketing as well. Those types of things that are gonna help them not spend too much money on things that are actually basic for the development of their business model or their access to market. The second thing is that we have an extension of mentors within the university, from the corporates, and they can already bring these access and expertise directly into their hands. And the third thing is that our program is designed to make sure that they can talk the two different languages, the language of the startups and the language of the corporates. Not necessarily because they're gonna be selling immediately, but they need to map that route to scale in the market. And if they are able to sell to this corporate level, very likely they're gonna be able to sell to smaller SMEs and other types of customers. Even the companies that are B2C also benefit from this type of frameworks. So that's how we difference ourselves. And now in the new era of AI and everything, I think the main thing is combining those three and adding an additional layer, which is the relationship building part. And that comes through ecosystems, to really knowing people. And this is people within the corporates, not seeing them as corporate, seeing them as people that work there, seeing the investors as people as well, and seeing the founders as people. And then we realize that we have actually a very homogeneous mix of people with fears and wants that can actually interact better with each other. And I think that's the beauty of the stage that we are, and the beauty of what the infrastructure that and the work that uh the team at StartLab has done before. Because now with the right tools and the right focus, we can keep growing from this part and really allow all of our partners and startups to feel like they're supported, not just during a program, but for the long run.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Yeah, I think that's crucial, right? Because you often notice in these programs, and we've seen this before in aerospace and in other industries we've done, where you know it's all quite nice while you're in the cushy um program setting and it feels safe and you're given all the answers to questions you might be having along the way. But once that's over, that's when actually the real work is done. Um, and it's counterintuitive to just let them be at that point. Actually, that's often when some of them will end up with support is really, really useful to put them on the right path. But I'm also curious about your other role. So you're also co-founder of Deep Impact Venture Partners. And as you mentioned, the funding side is a really, really crucial part of the success of those ventures. What sets the IVP apart from other funds or venture builders that work in this space? What can you share on that with us?

SPEAKER_00 20:28

I think the the difference is that again, we we're coming to empathy. The reason why we started this is not because we necessarily just want to make money. And I was having a meeting this week with a series of LPs and experts on fund structuring. And something that we were telling them is we still don't know whether we are making a mistake or not. We're gonna figure this out in in 10 years, but usually funds get designed from the LP perspective and down. What is the trending? What is it uh providing on a good IRR? And then once you launch is everything about how fast can you return the money, how fast can you pay the hurdle rate, how fast can you overcome these initial issues that you have so that you can actually get a carry? Because the reality for emerging managers is that you're not paying a good salary to yourself. So all of those things end up being put in the shoulders of the startups, and it's a lot of pressure. So, yes, in many markets that might work where there is basically an abundance of financial resources, but in emerging markets, that's not the reality. And also, as I was telling you before, is not the reality if they fail, is not the reality that they're gonna have of, oh well, yes, I failed, but I landed on my feet and then I I can launch again and I'm recognized as a second time founder with experience, which is the Nice way to see it, but it's not the reality of many of these countries because you failed, and then there is six months, one year, two years that you didn't work, and that doesn't count on your resume in emerging markets, it's not seen as experience. You didn't go to university, it's like taking a gap year. If you don't have money, if you're not coming from a wealthy family, then it's not something that you have the privilege to do. That was the case for me. That was the case for a lot of people that I know. And then it really puts a lot of pressure on this ecosystem and doesn't allow it to grow. Then you see a lot of migration, then you see a lot of issues in society, then you see that the startups that are coming from these countries are usually from wealthy people that went to other universities abroad. And so there is a lot of innovation and ideas that are getting exaggerated. So, long story short, that's what we understand. And we want to do it differently. We want to, my vision is that every founder, despite gender, cultural background, religious association or whatever, everybody should have a fighting chance to launch their vision into a reality. And then if if we can do that, if we can bring the resources for people to do that, then yes, putting money into that is going to be a very good deal. Trust me. The statistics are there, I don't have to oversell this part. But nobody's putting their money where their mouth is. And yeah, we do understand it because we have gone through this. And so our approach is to do what we call founder mining, which is instead of looking for startups and pipeline, we look for people with the potential of becoming founders. And that's where actually a lot of our initiatives have come alive because of the need of that. And so that's what I love, that's what I'm passionate about. And every time that we keep talking with founders, we realize that it's more needed, not only in Costa Rica, where we started with this idea, but that's how we started expanding across all Latin America. And we have seen great examples of this in Africa, in Asia. And so uh I realized that I wasn't crazy. I was just a little bit early. And we had been finding other crazy early people that are supporting us in this journey. So we are working on this infrastructure rather than working just on the capital part.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

I love that. And I also did uh the you know founder first, the founder mining concept of looking for individuals who will have the potential to do great things makes a lot of sense for me. Particularly if you think about the setting and let's say more emerging markets. Can you share if you think back to kind of some of the founders you've worked with? What are some of the signals you get from a founder that tell you, right, yes, that person can adopt to a circumstance or a context, which might mean you know it's not particularly stable. There might be things coming at them that are difficult to navigate. What screams for you this is a great founder? What are those qualities?

SPEAKER_00 25:27

I'm gonna tell you about a founder that I spoke with this morning because I have it on top of mind. It's a founder that we uh unfortunately did not select for this current uh cohort at Start Life, but it's a founder that I want to invest in right now. Like I am just waiting for somebody to tell me that it's not a good idea because they are uh too early, there are a lot of things there, but I know that they are the right team. And particularly this founder is from Argentina, but not from Buenos Aires. And within a huge country like Argentina, that already makes a difference. So he's already basically a founder from Latin America, from a rural area in Latin America that already had to make a lot of struggle to get to Buenos Aires, to then get to somewhere else in Latin America, and then try to knock doors here. So the starting point for founders here in Europe or in the US is not the same starting point that it is for these founders in this other area. So maybe the attraction that they have is uh accounted in terms of resilience and how well they maintain their red lines, how well they they maintain their values and their vision. So that's what I saw from this founder and the capacity to stay hopeful, to stay clear on what is the endpoint, to keep building on conviction rather than FOMO. And that is something that I particularly consider as my day-to-day motto, which is basically to not be one of those that are chasing quick returns over the long-term value creation and the long-term impact in the world. Because again, I really believe that the startups have the capacity to change this status quo and create a world, a better world for all of us. And so that is one that I'm really passionate about. But this story is a story of many. But you can see that even with all of these difficulties of building, growing, scaling, there is people that lose their way and start acting very pretentiously. They start just trying to replicate other behaviors that work for other people that just became famous. And I don't want to mention them because it's free marketing. So, but yeah, there are very different stories that a lot of great investors would agree with, and they would tell you the reason why they did not invest in certain types of things. There is uh an interesting story from Google Ventures on why they did not invest in in one of these companies. They have a famous TV series on an Apple TV about this company. And basically, well, I'm talking about Terrans, they already went down, so I don't care. But the reason why they did not uh invest in Elizabeth Holmes was because everybody was on FOMO and they wanted to focus on conviction. And that is for me the biggest lesson of the day. So when looking for people, it's it's just the same thing. And of course, sometimes the more you do it, the more your intuition gets trained so that you don't feel it from the gut and not from the head. And because in the head, sometimes in paper everything looks perfect, but there is something else that with experience and and training intuition, you can actually see which founders are going to maintain that line. That does not ensure the success of the sort of, but I will tell you it would ensure the success of this founder, whatever they do in the future.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

100% on some of the things that you said a lot. But I know, for example, I've definitely seen, you know, coming from the Caribbean, for example, or startup, you know, innovation ecosystems and so on are not so mature. They look very different from, say, for example, how they look here in Europe, right? But yes, you do sometimes kind of see people maybe trying, I can give an example of seeing people that have, for example, been exposed to Silicon Valley, right? And thinking that they could just kind of copy that happening, what's happening there, into say a Latin American or Caribbean context, kind of ignoring the differences between the two regions, the different cultures, the different needs and stages of development. And I would just really love to know, given you're coming from a Latin American background from Costa Rica, having worked here in Europe and so on, what would you say that we could, say, for example, those of us here working in Europe in the innovation ecosystems here, could learn from the developing ecosystems happening in, say, Latin America and the Caribbean, and vice versa. Like what are some lessons that you think that could maybe be shared?

SPEAKER_00 30:55

It's very interesting that you asked me that question because I think that is the key question on why capital is not flowing to other regions. And sometimes it's just that uh is related to whether you have the right amount of success stories, is also who's telling the narrative, in what languages is the narrative being being told, and what are the additional complexities that you have in terms of politics. There, there are a lot of these things. But at the core, the the venture ecosystem should be focusing on the skills, the capacity of the founder to build stuff. And that also is an example of the type of investors and their expertise. When I was fundraising, I remember a lot of investors that are actually investing in in Latin America, they said that it was too risky. And after thinking and thinking and thinking what they meant, it was that they didn't understand what we were doing. Of course, it's really risky. Now I understand, and I I agree with them. It is very risky to invest in something that you don't understand. But that's their issue. Not understanding these capacities. So if you have the money to invest, maybe you use a little bit of that money to get you somebody on the team that actually is technical rather than just having 100% of the team being having a financial background, which is very important. But maybe you should understand what the service are building. And the same understanding where they're building. So you see a lot of funds, European funds, investing in Latin America, they're not based in Latin America. Nobody within their team is from Latin America. So we come back to the same point. How can you empathize? How can you know how to navigate these things? So it looks from a very colonialistic approach where you just say, you know what, we have to change their language because otherwise they are not going to be able to communicate to us. They don't even have religion, it said at some point, right? So we have to take our beliefs into them. And this is the same approach that goes through a lot of things. And I don't want to dig too deep into this part because it's not my area of expertise. There are experts on this, there are a lot of studies, but we keep doing the same type of things. So that's why I do not believe on these soft landings, because it's the same type of thing. I do believe on understanding what the ecosystem has and doesn't. And that is the demand difference in terms of just the putting them, the two ecosystems, let's say Europe, the US, and the UK, on a background, on a vacuum, sorry, and the UK and Europe as well. In Europe, you have the largest network of infrastructure, early stage infrastructure that you can ever find. And that allows founders to build without having the need for venture capital on the early stage. In the US, it's completely the opposite. You have a lot of venture capital, but you have to pay for all of this access to infrastructure. In the UK, you have a combination of this, and in Latin America, you have none. And in Latin America, you just have the people. So the thing is, in Latin America, they're still doing things and building without these resources. So when they get to here to Europe, they know how to navigate a lot of other things. While in Europe, because they had all of that, they become a little bit lazy. Not to be disrespectful on this, but when you are not feeling chased, when you are not running and you don't have challenges, your brain becomes a little bit lazy. Once you have a challenge, you don't know what to do. While in Latin America, we we tend to be really resourceful just because I mean the resources are not there, so we have to make the best with what we have. That's the reality. And so I think the US and Silicon Valley specifically has been so successful because this is a combination of a lot of resources shared and a lot of migrants with this mentality. And that's the reality of also London and many other ecosystems that have been growing is the talent with this resourcefulness and the capacity to bring uh people with experience that went through this, or exit founders, or people that work in the industry and in the corporate area, also hands-on investors because they also went through the same journey. And at the end of the day, access to these uh resources, infrastructure, and all of that. So the best ecosystem have a combination of that. And when it comes together, it's just it's just beautiful. Now, I do think everything uh has to start with what you don't have and nurturing what you do have. So there is no one single equation that solves all of this. But the key is not chasing, as as Gabriela mentioned before, not chasing other models, because implementing what Silicon Valley has is very different than what Latin America needs, which yes, is resources and capital, but how you build it and protect what you have, nurture that talent, nurture that mentality, and start building from the bottom up.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

100% agree. And you know, it's so funny when you're talking about the thing about it's risky, risky. And I hear that oftentimes when we're saying about understanding that, you know, as you said kind of earlier, entrepreneurship is itself risky no matter where you are. But oftentimes, you know, you said there are there are reasons for this, but lots of the capital and lots of lots of the human power, as you say, you know, we come from Latin America and the Caribbean, largely Aspra areas that are not that cool, you know, there are some kind of challenges that we face. But coming from these regions, we can see the opportunity, we can see the potential and so on. And I'd be kind of curious, especially given your work as a founder, as someone that helps support founders yourself and an investor. What is it that is excites you the most about, you know, the innovation capacity for the region, especially at this point?

SPEAKER_00 37:20

We have seen a lot of great examples in in other regions, for example, India. Now everybody's talking about how great India is and how fast they are innovating. But this has been happening just not in India. A lot of Indian migrants have been operating in the UK, in the US for a long time. And it was thanks to a lot of political changes that affected the Indian migrants that made them return home. So, with this shift of mentality and so many global problems, this is something that I see as great potential on the Latin American diaspora getting together here outside of the region, returning back home and creating the future that we want for ourselves. That is the potential, that is the thing. And with so many political difficulties in the region, I think we just need people with a little bit more of experience on what is out there, how powerful the region could be, all of these great resources that we have, and the fact that we are also all brothers and sisters once we come out of Latin America and the Caribbean. And it is just this feeling that it feels really nice on the heart, and even I have goosebumps when I think of this, but it's I feel so connected with with other people from Latin America and the Caribbean. I I feel it like literally like family, although I am from a small country of 5 million people in Costa Rica, in Central America. I mean, I feel like I am part of the over uh what is it, 350, 400 million people that we have in Latin America. And it's really nice because we all share challenges, we all share a lot of lack of resources, but we all have the same family values, the same values for nature, for protecting our who we are. And the more we discover that, and the more we keep answering that question of who we are as a region together, I think we we can reach great heights and we can create a lot of the solutions that first we need for ourselves, but also that the world needs. I see a lot of potential. I don't know if it's gonna happen in two years, five years, 15 years, but I know it's going to happen.

SPEAKER_01 39:47

And that's, I guess, the right outlook to have, right? But we do know that there are some challenges that are quite structural, right? And there's barriers that really stand in the way of innovation and entrepreneurship. And I'd love to hear from you, which of these barriers do you think are some of the hardest to change? Because they're potentially, I don't know, invisible or culturally embedded, or you know, what comes to mind when you think about the biggest barriers currently?

SPEAKER_00 40:13

In terms of the political perspective that we have in Latin America, I used to think that, you know, and this is a real fact that usually politicians try to make sure that people stay ignorant and away from information so that they can actually manipulate them better. And it creates certain types of bubbles and then separates uh certain kinds of people, and it uh basically perpetrates the same issue with socioeconomic development, where you have one side very progressive, thinking that the world could be better and understanding finance in one way, and then you have the other one that is just they just want chaos and anarchy at the certain point because nobody has helped them before, and it's quite understandable. That is one of the biggest challenges, but there is another another group of people that I quite until recently I started to realize maybe I was in on my own bubble with the people that I knew and they were trying to make something better. But it was, I think, in January when when Trump invaded Venezuela when I started looking at this very differently, where it created a divide on values of being able to create impact and be in certain control of things, but not wanting to do that because financially it makes sense. And that is a bigger problem because you are in control, you are in power, you are in a position where you could do a change, but you don't want that change to happen because if it happens, you don't know whether you're gonna stay there. And it basically creates this vicious loop, and that is the I think the biggest challenge. And we see a lot of uh the capital being delivered or moved to uh emerging markets that is going through these networks. And so, what do you think that they're gonna do? That is the indeed the question in my worry with all of this. So, for me, that is the issue that it gets to tell a narrative of, oh yeah, yeah, we're doing this, but not necessarily doing it with the right mindset, the right values, and to the right people. And so it is a challenge because you still have to deal with those types of networks. You cannot just fight against them, but you have to do it with uh an understanding that you have red lines, and that means that this takes longer. Because if you go through them, then networks open up. If you don't, then you have more challenges, more walls. And so it becomes really political at the end. But I do believe also with those challenges comes understanding of reality that it's not just about solving the problems structurally. If it was about that, I think with ChatGPT or Claude, we would solve all of the issues. But it's a matter of relationships. And that is basically what we are focusing on. That is where we see hope, but we still need a lot of help. And hopefully it's gonna come from a lot of people like you, like me, a lot of networking, a lot of sharing values rather than just statistics. And once we do that and we understand that we are on the same boat and we have the same alignment, good things are gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02 43:31

So I actually first connected with you through your initiative in Spira Diaspora. Can you tell us a little bit about it and where this idea kind of came from?

SPEAKER_00 43:44

Basically, we have seen that there are a lot of Latin American diaspora meetups and groups and things like that. But there is a lack of engagement, especially towards entrepreneurship. So it seems like everybody rather goes and talks with other networks to. try to open up more doors. So what I wanted to do was to be able to tell stories of success, of inspiration, therefore the name, on the diaspora that we could showcase. And by that maybe we would believe that yes, it is possible. So that's how I started with these events and trying to unify different communities working in the US, UK, and Europe to unify all of this.

SPEAKER_01 44:26

That sounds like a really, really cool initiative. Well I'm someone from Balkan Heritage, for example, another large diaspora community. And often people like that want to contribute and they just don't know where to start. What do you think is the most effective way that people like that can support innovation back home?

SPEAKER_00 44:47

You know, I think the most important part is understanding that the experience that we all have is unique and the resources that we are accumulating and the doors that we are opening up should be open for our diaspora. And we we we leave these doors open for for the rest. I think it it accumulates it compounds then the network compounds the the experience compounds. And so that was my my hope with all of this and we have again seen a lot of good response on this. But I believe that something as simple as finding angel investors, finding VCs, finding founders, finding talent that wants to work on a startup and putting them all together to work together is where we can actually start finding these solutions. And once we do that and we are able to help ourselves on these vacuums with all of the resources without the complexities that we already discussed in Latin America, maybe we can take those examples back home, but already working together, which is the challenge once we are there, because we have all of these excuses here is basically just finding out how to connect and aligning and then we can actually replicate it in another place. I think if we are already here we should use and take advantage of the resources in our favor and then we already have a huge network although our diaspora in Europe is not that big is actually very very specific. Most of it I think is around 50% is related to entrepreneurship in some in some way. One more kind of question going a little bit sideways who comes to mind as an innovation leader whose work you really admire or feel is driving real impact, whether that be inside or outside of your area of work well there is this Mexican guy I met in in London Emilio probably he's going to listen to this he works for Innovate UK and he has been doing this work as well with the diaspora in the UK for a long time trying to use also his network and his position to to connect with a lot of first entry Latin Americans going there. So I think that is part of the inspiration I take there is also Alvaro in Silicon Valley and Nicaragua that has been living in Silicon Valley for the past 25 30 years doing amazing things. There are a lot of other stories around the the globe of people that are committing to deliver value in in different ways. So I I just cannot think of just one I think I am more inspired of the connections for example I was trying to connect with different networks and then I found many people that were trying to do the same with in a smaller scale and so that's when I saw the opportunity to start connecting all of this one of the networks I connected with now with the just yesterday with Europe was the La Familia Foundation in the US they have VC Familia, Angel Familia, Founder Familia. I am part of that and now we are actually trying to combine in spira diaspora and their initiative to keep expanding these initiatives over here and together the UK and Europe. So they are part of the inspiration that we have here and again an example of things that are possible for for the future of Latin America but we have to remain open to not think that just one initiative is going to crack down everything and that we should be isolating ourselves or that these other communities are competition because we are not competition. We're just trying to to solve different parts of the same puzzle.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

Wholeheartedly agree there is space for more than one or two people doing this and actually there is very much the need to tackle challenges of that size with um a big community and people working together. All right Alejandro thank you so much for sharing your insights with us today. What is next for your team how can listeners connect with you learn more about your work or support it?

SPEAKER_00 49:08

Well I'm very active on LinkedIn I am one of those people that try to read every single message that goes through. So if you want to connect that way or reach us out at StartLive, literally my email is on the website but it's alejandro.ortega at startlife.nl and honestly we are launching a series of events every two Wednesdays we have at the office workshops that are completely free for anybody in the community to join in talking about different things from IP to how to run autonomous vehicles in specific farm, how to launch pilots you name it. And after that we always have drinks we're going to be also launching a lot of diaspora or inspirate diaspora events. And well after that I think the main question is what should I be paying attention are there other initiatives out there that I should be attending people that I should be connecting with. So I'm more interested about what the rest of the community is doing because I am here we have the network we have the resources but it's more about what how can we showcase more of these initiatives and how can we get connected.

SPEAKER_01 50:26

I love that yes absolutely anyone listening you'll be able to contact Alejandro through um this episode as well as any posts you might have found it through and yeah continue that discussion that conversation and share any pointers you might have. But Alejandro we will let you go now thank you for joining us and that is a wrap on this episode of the Innovation Briefly