By José Ángel de la Paz

Angel investment in Mexico has evolved, but there is still room to expand its scope, explained Israel Pons, CEO and founding partner of Angels Nest LATAM.

“In the country, the number of angel investors has grown from 20 in 2008 to over 800 in 2018. However, less than 5% of investments in Mexico are carried out by this figure,” said the specialist.

Pons, as the keynote speaker at the INC Investment Forum, an exclusive forum organized by EGADE Business School within INCmty 2019, sought to share best practices with angel investors for placing their investments and achieving growth.

In his conference, “CrossBorder Angel Investment time to grow your portfolio”, Pons set out the elements that inspire investors to inject capital in startups or business ideas during the early stages. 

“They are looking for scalable businesses, protectable intellectual property, good ROI and a clear exit strategy,” he stated.

The keynote speaker recommended these strategies to angel investors for improving their portfolio:

• Consider that 50% of all investments fail.
• Build a portfolio with at least 10 investments.
• Take your time; there’s no hurry.
• Join an angel club or network.
• Maintain a fund of a further 20% for each investment for follow-up calls.
• Invest in projects with the potential for international growth.
• Operate in emerging markets with a high percentage of growth and technology adoption.

The INC Investment Forum was inaugurated by Rogelio de los Santos, President of the Eugenio Garza Lagüera Entrepreneurship Institute and Director of INCmty.

The forum included the panel “Experiences and insights on the early stage investment”, moderated by Fernando Moya, Director of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation, EGADE Business School.

The two-day program included the presentation of Next-e, 3D THEA, Kolecty, Nomu, Paroute and ALIS, six startups in Nuevo León and INC Accelerator participants, who are looking for investors, the panel “Investment ecosystem strategies and instruments”, and the workshop “Use of convertible instruments in Mexico”, among other activities.

Participating forum partners were Angel Ventures, Angels Nest, Dalus Capital, BlueBox Ventures, Angel Hub and Arkangeles.

By José Ángel de la Paz

The Undergraduate Business School of Tecnológico de Monterrey launched the new Entrepreneurial Family Institute for Mexico and Latin America, which seeks to serve as a benchmark in the strategic development of entrepreneurial families worldwide.

The announcement was made at the start of the exclusive INC Family Forum, which brings together the most important entrepreneurial families in the country and region, within the 2019 INCmty entrepreneurship festival.

“The creation of the Entrepreneurial Family Institute for Mexico and Latin America is a platform for realizing our institution’s vision towards 2030: leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship for human flourishing," explained Salvador Alva, president of Tecnológico de Monterrey, at the launch.

Ignacio de la Vega, dean of the Undergraduate Business School and EGADE Business School, said that the new institute will serve entrepreneurial families who recognize the challenges of today and seek to prepare and transcend by creating businesses, enhancing them through research, mentoring, consultancy, education and technology.

“We are forming a team of expert faculty and international consultants with methodologies that have been built and validated in our Latin American context. Our proposal consists of an interdisciplinary work model that is extremely sensitive to the concerns and dreams of our leaders and their families,” said Dean de la Vega.

In addition, María Fonseca, director of the Institute, explained that it consolidates the Tec’s efforts of the last 15 years in relation to family business education.

“We generate and integrate knowledge, enable and accompany business families and their leaders so that they can develop competencies and bring about transformation that will favor the generation of shared value and the flourishing of the family, business and its environment, for generations,” she explained.

She also highlighted that within the Institute’s academic offering, in February 2020, it will be launching the seven-day Executive Education program “Legacy of the Family-Run Company”, to be offered at the EGADE Business School site in Monterrey and the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland.

“Our technological platform will enable us to support thousands of families in early or critical stages, seeking to reduce the high mortality rate of businesses. We have big dreams and are determined, with dedication and passion, to accompany entrepreneurial families with purpose, who are aware of their impact on the development of Mexico and Latin America,” Fonseca added.

The new Institute’s inauguration culminated in a symbolic ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by Paulina Garza Lagüera Gonda, member of the FEMSA Board of Directors, and Susana Coppel, president of Coppel Community and Grupo Coppel board member.

By José Ángel de la Paz

Forty-seven business owners and executives graduated from the 2019 Board of Directors Executive Program, in Monterrey.

This EGADExEd program seeks to hone board members’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, so their organizations can thrive in a globalized business environment characterized by a high degree of competitive turbulence.

Up to 2018, 399 participants from diverse Mexican states, such as Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Veracruz, Guadalajara, among others, have completed the program.

This occasion marked the graduation of the twelfth generation, whose members received their certificates in a ceremony presided over by Ignacio de la Vega, Dean of EGADE Business School; Jaime García Narro, Associate Dean of Executive Education; Carlos Serrano, Executive Director of the Board of Directors Executive Program; and Osmar Zavaleta, Director of the EGADE Business School Monterrey site.

Clausurando la 12a edición del Programa de Formación de Consejeros #EgadexEd en Monterrey. 47 Consejeros , 12 profesores de @egade y el propósito de aportar una visión de valor compartido a empresas y organizaciones de Mexico y LATAM. Sigue #CDMX y #GDL @TecdeMonterrey pic.twitter.com/n4VAQbCNmZ

— Ignacio de la Vega (@Ignaveg) November 6, 2019

“I should like to acknowledge your effort and commitment in ‘acquiring’ knowledge that benefits your companies, the business fabric and the country in times of enormous challenges and change; the fundamental task of a board is to guarantee business governance and serve as a model for society,” expressed De la Vega, during the ceremony held at Club Industrial de Monterrey.

The EGADExEd Board of Directors Executive Program provides superior tools, procedures and structures for the functioning of this important collegial body, while strengthening specific competencies for leadership and the strategic vision to design the organization’s sustainable growth.

The program is offered at the Monterrey, Mexico City and Guadalajara sites, in ten-hour monthly sessions over two intensive days (100 hours in total), with conferences, panels and case discussions, given by world-renowned academics and consolidated business leaders who are widely experienced in corporate boards of directors.

Learn more about the program here.

By José Ángel de la Paz

EGADE Business School students, alumni and faculty will be participating in diverse activities as speakers and panelists at INCmty 2019, Tec de Monterrey’s entrepreneurship festival. Here is the School’s agenda:

Thursday, November 7

• 1:00 - 2:00 pm | Conference: Why we should all be journalists, given by Andrés Alba, graduate from the Full-Time MBA in Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
• 3:00 - 4:00 pm | Panel: Are entrepreneurs born or made?, with the participation of Dean Ignacio de la Vega.
• 4:00 - 4:45 pm | Panel: NoBI Health 2019 success stories, in which researchers present the initiative led by EGADE Business School.
• 4:00 - 4:45 pm | Conference: Do you want a brilliant future for your startup? Treat your customers like royalty, offered by Professor Eduardo Durón.
• 5:00 - 5:45 pm | Panel: Diversity, Inclusion and Gender = Social Innovation, with the participation of Maryangel García-Ramos, MBA student.

Friday, November 8

• 10:00 - 11:00 am | Panel: Can plastic be transformed to become sustainable? A circular economy proposal, with the participation of Professor Carlos Scheel and Eduardo Aguiñaga, National Director of the Master in Business Management Program.
• 5:00 - 6:00 pm | Conference: A look at what's ahead for the future of business, technology and design (Fjord Trends 2019), organized jointly by the Master in Business Management and Accenture.
• 7:00 pm | EGADE Disruptive Night: Uncertainty Management: Experiences of the corporation and the entrepreneur, organized by the Full-Time MBA in Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Saturday, November 9

• 10:00 - 11:40 am | Master Class Taller: New business development based on the circular economy, offered by Professor Carlos Scheel and Eduardo Aguiñaga, National Director of the Master in Business Management Program.
• 11:00 - 11:45 am | Panel: Results of NoBI Health, a success story, with the participation of José Ernesto Amorós, National Director of Doctoral Programs and Fernando Moya, Director of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation and NoBI Health project leader.

In addition, during the seventh edition of the festival, EGADE Business School is participating as the organizer of two exclusive forums:

• INC Corporate Innovation & Growth Forum, aimed at large corporations, with the objective of accelerating innovation for growth, and
• INC Investment Forum, targeting angel investors, entrepreneurs and C-level executives who would like to identify new ways to invest.

The outstanding keynote speakers in these forums will be: Dan Toma, founding partner of Outcome and coauthor of The Corporate Startup; Nir Kaldero, Data Science leader and Vice-President of Galvanize, and author of Data Science for Executives; and Israel Pons, CEO and founding partner of Angels Nest LATAM.

The INC Family Forum will include the launching of the Entrepreneurial Family Institute for Mexico and Latin America, an initiative of EGADE Business School and the School of Business of Tecnológico de Monterrey.

View the agenda on the official INCmty website: https://incmty.com/

By José Ángel de la Paz

EGADE Business School of Tecnológico de Monterrey has been distinguished, for the twelfth consecutive year, as the number one business school in Mexico and Latin America, in the Eduniversal  Business Schools Ranking 2019.

In this ranking, the International Scientific Committee (ISC) of Eduniversal annually makes a selection of the 1,000 best business schools in 154 countries. Its methodology allows a horizontal and inclusive comparison, since it classifies schools by country and in five levels of excellence, considering a survey of deans' vote of the best institutions in business education in the world, among other criteria.

This year, EGADE is once again the only school in Mexico and one of the four in Latin America within the 100 schools awarded with the highest level of "5 Palms of Excellence" and recognized as "Universal Business Schools with strong global influence". In this select group, EGADE is positioned within the 50 best business schools worldwide.

This achievement was celebrated with an award received by the dean of EGADE Business School and the Undergraduate Business School of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Ignacio de la Vega, during the XII Eduniversal World Convention, held in Bangkok, Thailand, where the results were announced.

Recibiendo con #OrgulloTec el galardón que reconoce a @egade como la Escuela #1 en Mexico y LATAM en XII Convención Mundial @EduniversalEEA. Recibimos también las 5 Palmas de Excelencia maximo galardón otorgado por Decanos de BS en el mundo. Gracias profesores, Alumnos y EXATEC pic.twitter.com/EWBpp7QW95

— Ignacio de la Vega (@Ignaveg) October 28, 2019

“This recognition motivates us to continue evolving our offer and our training model in order to anticipate the panorama of continuous change and continue advancing in the necessary transformation of business education. I thank each of our professors, students, graduates, collaborators and partners for their enormous talent, commitment and contribution to make this important achievement possible for so many years,” said Dean de la Vega.

See the results for Mexico in the Eduniversal Business Schools Ranking 2019 and the Top 3 by geographical zones, and the photos of the convention and the awards ceremony.

By José Ángel de la Paz

The workforce is transforming with every step of technological advancement, as is the way in which we learn, work and develop, affirmed Ignacio de la Vega, during the XII Eduniversal World Convention “Towards transformation and creativity in a hyper-connected world”.

“As business schools, we need to view technology as a tool, rather than a learning outcome, in order to rise to our greatest challenge: the development of agile, collaborative, innovative talent,” said the dean of EGADE Business School and the Undergraduate Business School of Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Third #convention day with @EduniversalEEA in #Bangkok
Plenary session with Professor Nathasorn Boontanorm from @sasinthailand and @Ignaveg from @egade
about #creativity through action #learning.#education #innovation #digital #businessschools pic.twitter.com/KYDi3jeT66

— Eduniversal EEA (@EduniversalEEA) October 28, 2019

At the event, Dean de la Vega participated in a plenary session called “Creativity through action learning”, where he shared with deans and directors of schools from all over the world how EGADE Business School and the School of Business are incorporating new, more flexible formats for action learning, thereby developing  students’ capacity to remain current through independent and lifelong learning.

He mentioned the renovation of EGADE Business School’s portfolio with the launch of the EGADExEd MicroMasters, MBA Online and Master in Business Management programs. The latter, highly innovative program employs the blended learning methodology, which combines face-to-face and online sessions, workshops and bootcamps to strengthen students’ critical thinking, leadership and teamwork through participation in dynamic experiential and immersive activities.

He highlighted the School of Business’s implementation of the Educational Model TEC21, a comprehensive education experience grounded in challenge-based learning, allowing students to interact with their professors and the real business environment in order to develop the disciplinary and transversal competencies that will prepare them, from the very beginning of their degree program, to lead the way in job market opportunities.

Dean de la Vega went on to explain that, within the framework of this model, the company Coppel joined forces with the School as a national education partner to transfer business reality to the Tec Business classrooms. Through the Coppel challenge, approximately four thousand new students developed a situational diagnosis of the company and proposals for improving its business model.

The session in which Dean de la Vega participated was moderated by Nathasorn Boontanorm, Program Manager of Sasin School of Management. Other participants were Jean-Philippe Charrier, President and CEO of Shiseido Asia Pacific; Subramonia Sarma, Director of Action Learning, Asia School of Business; and Anastasia Zavodchikova, Executive Director of the City Business School, Russia.

During the convention, EGADE Business School received the award for the top business school in Mexico and Latin America, after the announcement of the Eduniversal Business School Ranking 2019 results.

By José Ángel de la Paz

A total of 43 students from nine business schools of the Global Network for Advanced Management met at the EGADE Business School locations in Mexico City and Guadalajara to participate in two of the 19 modules of Global Network Week, held from October 14-18 around the world.

EGADE Business School received students of 18 nationalities from FGV Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), Fudan University School of Management (China), INCAE Business School (Costa Rica), the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (India), Koç University Graduate School of Business (Turkey), Pontifical Catholic University of Chile School of Business (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile), UBC Sauder School of Business (Canada) and Yale School of Management (United States).

We are pleased to welcome 40 MBA students from partner institutions of the @AdvancedMgmt to learn about "Leadership and Corporate Entrepreneurship in Latin America" and "Strategic Innovation and Management in Emerging Markets", as part of #GNW2019 pic.twitter.com/D9K1QTuojT

— EGADEBusinessSchool (@egade) October 14, 2019

The modules taught at EGADE were: "Strategic Innovation and Management in Emerging Markets - Latin America" in Mexico City; and "Leadership and Corporate Entrepreneurship in Latin America" in Guadalajara.

In addition to attending courses taught by EGADE Business School professors and industry experts, students visited companies that play a key role in the innovation and corporate entrepreneurship ecosystem, and also enjoyed cultural tours.

Students in the Mexico City area visited the archaeological region of Teotihuacán, the National Museum of Anthropology and 3M Mexico’s innovation center. Those in Guadalajara visited the Wizeline facilities, the Bosch innovation hub, the historic city center and the town of Tequila.

Scenes from #GNW2019: @AdvancedMgmt students in their Company Visit. The Bosch innovation center, is smart building in Guadalajara, which main objective is to support brilliant young social entrepreneurs. pic.twitter.com/MOVBEY06ot

— EGADEBusinessSchool (@egade) October 18, 2019

During the week, participating students talked about their experience: “This is my first experience of the GNAM, and I can recommend Global Network Week to anyone who has the opportunity to attend. Come and get to know Mexico and the EGADE Business School; it is an unforgettable experience,” said Dilara Edebali, a Turkish student from Koç University Graduate School of Business.

Some of our #GNW2019 in Mexico City, thanks to all of you for making this week such a rewarding and productive experience!

Watch the full video: https://t.co/BncJ2vKtjZ@AdvancedMgmt pic.twitter.com/DyGHXva5Ul

— EGADEBusinessSchool (@egade) October 18, 2019

Inderjit Bajwa, an Indian student at UBC Sauder School of Business, explained: “I feel fortunate to belong to this network, which brings people from different countries together for a week to network and have a good time. I hope to repeat the experience in the future.”

While Leandro Palma, a Brazilian student of FGV Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo, said: “I had a great opportunity to learn about innovation and the Mexican economy, and to take advantage of the experience and teaching of the excellent professors of the Program."

Seven EGADE Business School students participated in Global Network Week modules in Mexico City and Guadalajara, and 56 others traveled to 11 countries to attend modules taught at Yale School of Management, ESMT Berlin, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and SDA Bocconi School of Management, among other schools.

By José Ángel de la Paz

A new global study measuring awareness of, and engagement with, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and applied to more than 26 thousand people across 174 nations revealed that fewer than half of respondents were aware of the 17 SDGs adopted by the United Nations in 2015.

The survey, whose objectives included measuring global leaders’ level of knowledge of, and commitment to, the SDGs, considered the opinion of students and graduates of the 30 business schools belonging to the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM), including EGADE Business School.

The study, entitled "Rising Leaders on the Sustainable Development Goals. Findings from a Global Survey for Business Schools,” was conducted by the Center for Business and the Environment of Yale University, in collaboration with the GNAM network and Schlange & Co. consultants, yielded five main findings:

• Finding #1: Fewer than half of respondents were aware of the SDGs. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework is not well recognized around the world. Business school students showed a higher level of awareness than the general public, but still, less than 60% had heard of the goals. 
   
• Finding #2: Quality education and good health were consistently ranked as top priorities. Climate action was also a top priority, but showed more regional variability. We hypothesize that concern for climate action may be a “luxury” available only when more immediate concerns, such as economic well-being and clean water and air, are allayed. 
   
• Finding #3: There was a significant divide along gender and regional lines when assessing the importance of gender equality. Over 31% of female respondents ranked gender equality as an SDG of immediate concern, compared to approximately 15% of male respondents.
   
• Finding #4: Action is needed across all segments of society, led by governments. Respondents see an active role in all segments of society (including business, academic institutions and NGOs), led by governments, in achieving the SDGs. The importance of partnership between these agents came through as a priority. 
   
• Finding #5: Respondents are using the voting booth and short-term economic decisions to move on sustainability. This suggests that sustainability considerations are more prevalent in shorter-term transactions such as buying goods and voting, even where those transactions have longer-term implications. 

With regard to these results, Todd Cort, Faculty Co-Director for the Center for Business and Environment at Yale (CBEY) and Professor of Sustainability at Yale School of Management, commented: “We hope they provide ideas on models of collaboration and how business schools can incorporate the SDGs into their discourse and curricula, instigating changes and promoting peace and prosperity for the planet."

Additionally, José Ignacio Sánchez Galán, CEO of Iberdrola, said in the introductory text of the study: "Decarbonizing the economy and laying the foundations for sustainable growth are essential to guarantee fair and solid economic growth in the future, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals."

The Sustainable Development Goals, which respond to global challenges and set goals to be achieved by 2030, are: No poverty (SDG 1); Zero hunger (SDG 2); Good health and well-being (SDG 3); Quality education (SDG 4); Gender equality (SDG 5); Clean water and sanitation (SDG 6); Affordable and clean energy (SDG 7); Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8); Industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9); Reduced inequalities (SDG 10); Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11); Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12); Climate action (SDG 13); Life below water (SDG 14); Life on land (SDG 15); Peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16); and Partnerships for the goals (SDG 17).

Download the report with complete results here. 

Consult the results for different GNAM members here.

Learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals here.