8 important topics from the INCmty entrepreneurial festival

As has happened every November since 2013, INCmty brought together entrepreneurs and experts from Mexico and around the world, for its first totally virtual conference.

This entrepreneurship festival is organized annually by Tecnológico de Monterrey in order to inspire, connect, and empower entrepreneurs, investors, and businesspeople to promote innovative business ideas.

From November 2 to 6, top-class and internationally renowned speakers enriched this event with ideas and knowledge related to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

These were some of the topics that were shared during INCmty 2020:

 

 

New ways of working and doing business

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the massive growth of online payments, video conferencing, and working from home.

Experts such as Raul Camposano, CEO of a startup in the electronics industry, mentioned that 2020 has been a great year to invest in technologies such as Artificial Intelligence.

 

 

Others like Pete Rodríguez, CEO of the electronic company Alphacore, warned that the market will be increasingly difficult for new entrepreneurs in this area.

“(Tech) startups can develop very fast. However, it is very difficult to compete with large companies,” he commented.

 

The circular economy: a trend in sustainability

The waste of one company can become the raw material of another.

“The implementation of this type of economy can become a way of innovating a business,” said Mark Esposito, co-founder of Nexus FrontierTech.

Within the circular economy, the aim is to save material by using waste from other processes, reducing pollution and generating profit for more companies.

 

 

The Heineken Green Challenge was held during the festival and, on this occasion, recognized entrepreneurs participating in the circular economy.

This year’s winners were a sweetener for diabetics made from corn residue, soaps made from edible oil waste, and foods made from barley residue.

 

Play like a champion now!

Working hard, having a plan, building your skills, and never giving up are tips for success from experts like Terrell Owens, a former NFL player who broke multiple records in his career as a receiver.

“You have to be consistent. You should also believe that you’re going to be good, and that you are worthy not only of being good, but being great,” he commented.

Owens shared his three Ds: the desire to stand out, dedication, and discipline. He suggested enjoying what you do and taking advantage of adversity so as to be able to grow.

“Don’t expect to become a champion over the course of many years, play like one right now!” he shared.

 

 

 

David Meltzer, entrepreneur, speaker, and co-founder of the marketing agency Sports1Marketing shared 4 values and 5 criteria for making successful decisions.

Values such as gratitude, empathy, and forgiveness as well as the importance of having credibility and having an impact on people are some necessary factors in being able to do this.

“The ideas that I share are ways to make good decisions. It’s very important not only in life, but in business,” said Meltzer.

 

Leadership must adapt to the current context

“The pandemic has accelerated changes. Now, the leaders of the future have to become the leaders of the present,” said Jacob Morgan.

The futurist and speaker shared 9 tools for the leaders of the future, as part of an investigation carried out with company executives and LinkedIn.

 

 

The new leader that Morgan speaks of must focus on thinking globally, serving his employees and customers, and using information and communication technology effectively.

“You have to adapt: some leaders have been fired due to an inability to adapt to the situation,” he said.

 

Reinventing yourself: the new challenge for companies and brands

“Today, we should be learning and developing the skills that we are going to require in 5 years,” mentioned Dora Valdez, a specialist in business strategy and leadership and CEO at Hello Management.

She, along with Gabriela Mitri, founder of SpeakHers Academy, shared that crises can be opportunities to grow as long as companies reinvent themselves.

Using technology, paying attention to skills such as empathy, and developing new partnerships are some of the tips that the experts shared.

Also Jacob Pace, CEO of the largest music production company on TikTok, states that new brands must use technology in the best possible way in order to be successful.

“You have to be curious to be able to create a new brand, and you also have to accept, from the beginning, that not everything is going to work out perfectly,” he said.

 

 

Entrepreneurship: an ally for mitigating the post-covid crisis

Jonathan Ortmans, President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) affirms that entrepreneurs are those most qualified to face crises like the one that seems set to loom after the pandemic.

Characteristics such as courage, innovation, and being able to take advantage of opportunities are skills that entrepreneurs can capitalize on in the midst of a crisis.

 

 

Similarly, Aarón Rodríguez, co-founder and CMO of the Jeff platform, mentions that the same crisis could generate a wave of entrepreneurship.

“Year after year there is a clear increase in the number of searches for the words ‘investment’ and ‘entrepreneur’, and now, with the pandemic, it has accelerated exponentially,” said Rodríguez.

 

Education and medicine: the best investment options

Investment experts Ian Chiu and David Castelblanco said that the education and medicine industries are good options to invest in during the pandemic.

“Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia can develop the market for health care (...) addiction treatment, and rehabilitation platforms,” said Castelblanco.

“Currently the focus is on the investment funds related to educational technologies,” Chiu said.

Other investment opportunities that they recommended were apps and software to facilitate processes that stopped being face-to-face due to the pandemic.

 

 

The customer experience: the goal of the entrepreneur

“It’s as much about what you sell as how you sell it,” says Brian Halligan, founder and CEO of Hubspot, a digital marketing company.

The entrepreneur affirmed that those who come out on top are those who create the best experience for their customers.

Halligan claimed that this experience is primarily based on the happiness customers can get from a brand.

 

 

Another of his suggestions was that companies get online quicker, since lots of people are doing it, and it is an opportunity to strengthen the customer relationship.

“The platforms are really good, relatively easy to adopt, and they are not that expensive.

“Invest (...) in hiring excellent marketing specialists and content creators to become a media company,” he suggested.

 

8th INCmty festival

The guiding topic of INCmty was ‘Digital Inclusion & Sustainable Future’, so as to promote the reduction of the digital divide and encourage social development towards a sustainable future.

“In the current climate, the entrepreneurial ecosystem demands spaces where innovative minds can be concentrated, and where business proposals contribute something more to society and to the planet,” underlined Josué Delgado, Director of INCmty.

 

 

 

Additional information from Ricardo Treviño and Tec Review

 

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