Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
00:23:54 · Rohit Malhotra
[00:23:54] S1: Yeah, I agree on that. And Marcus, you've led LAC's Business Angel Network and now run Fondo Angels. So what does Latin American angel investing needs more to you? Do you need more capital, better deal flow or better educated investors? What is it that would move the engine investing forward?
00:24:18 · Marcus Dantus, Rohit Malhotra
[00:24:18] S2: I think it's a lot of things. I think culturally, for example, we need to change. We need to be less adverse to risk. We need to tolerate failure. You know, there's some cultural things there. I also think that systemically there's something that needs to change. For example, we need more exits. You know, the stock market in Mexico is not that, you know, it's not that active, so it's very difficult to really do an IPO. There's not a lot of mergers and acquisitions between large corporations and small companies in our countries, in Latin America in general. I think that can be mitigated by actually, you know, opening companies outside of Mexico and accessing other markets for exits. I also think that, you know, there's there's even fiscal rules that affect investing. For example, in Mexico, let's say I invest in 10 companies and nine of them lose money and one of them makes me money. I cannot consolidate that in my accounting. The ones that lose money, I just lost it. And the one that makes money, I have to pay full taxes on that. Whereas even as a fund, not just as an angel investor. So I think that there are many things that need to change culturally and systemically in order to truly create more angel investors and create more investment into companies. Companies. [00:26:00] S1: Very interesting. And Marcus, you spend a lot of time in London a bit and across Europe judging and speaking. So what should a founder in Mexico City learn from those founders in Europe and US and what should European founders learn from Latin America?
00:26:17 · Marcus Dantus
[00:26:17] S2: I think that the most important thing that founders need to learn anywhere in the world is that we're all humans, we're all similar, we all have the same opportunity. We just have different ecosystems. Yeah. There are ecosystems that allow companies to thrive much faster and much bigger, and there are ecosystems that don't. And and if you live in an ecosystem that doesn't, then then you either need to adapt to it and and and, you know, get external helps for for for the things that the ecosystem is not bringing to you, or you need to change the ecosystem. But perhaps the most important thing is that we are as capable as anyone else. And we can create amazing companies such as anyone else. I mean, you know, I've I've seen entrepreneurs in places like Silicon Valley or New York or London or Spain or, you know, many many of these or or or, you know, Tel Aviv, you know, many of these amazingly, you know, advanced ecosystems. And when I talk to the entrepreneurs, at the end of the day, it's the same. We we we have that capability. There are some things that I think need to be a little bit more, you know, that need to expand in knowledge in the Mexican entrepreneurs or Latin American entrepreneurs, things like finance or innovation or thinking globally and acting locally, those kinds of things. But I think that the talent exists, the creativity exists, the ideas exist, and the need exists. So there shouldn't be a reason why we are not successful.
00:28:13 · Rohit Malhotra
[00:28:13] S1: Right. And, you know, Marcus, you talked about AI, but what jobs or businesses in Latin America do you think AI will reshape first and how should an SMB owner prepare for that AI revolution?
00:28:31 · Marcus Dantus
[00:28:31] S2: Look, Rohit, this is a very controversial subject. But let me tell you my point of view. I am personally very optimistic with AI, very optimistic. Actually, the thing that worries me with AI is not that the killer robots are going to destroy us. It's more that these very large companies might not be as successful as they deem to be, and there is a financial crisis because of their downfall. That's actually the thing that worries me. I think that AI is a fifth industrial revolution. And with every industrial revolution, you know, you know, we talk about electrification for... Or mechanization, you know, the first one. Everybody was worried that the machines were gonna cut our limbs, you know? And and with electrification, everybody thought that we were gonna be electrocuted. With computers, everybody thought that we were gonna... Our minds were gonna shrink because the computer was gonna do everything. And then with the Internet, we were gonna lose our identity. And of course, with AI, killer robots are gonna get us. In every single industrial revolution, if history has taught us something, everybody was worried about losing jobs. And in reality, a lot more jobs were created. And not just a lot more jobs, but more value added jobs that got better salaries. When machines were created, yes, some of the people on the, you know, factory line lost their job, but many of them became machinists or design machines or maintain machines or, you know, the same happened with computers, you know. When computers started, a lot of jobs were gonna be lost, but then we have a million jobs of programmers and, you know, system operators and system maintenance. I think a very similar thing will happen with AI. I think that a lot of new jobs are going to be created and the jobs that currently exist will be enhanced. Now mind you, there is another factor that changes things, which is the speed at which AI is being adopted. And so... And I think that both education and legislation need to catch up with it. And those are the two main things. But if we regulate it properly and we educate people on how to use it, I think a world of opportunities will come. You know what's interesting, Rohit? I heard the other day throughout, you know, for the past one hundred and fifty years, technology has evolved incredibly in human society.
00:31:25 · Marcus Dantus, Rohit Malhotra
You know that there's only one job, only one that has disappeared? And you know what job that is? Elevator operator. [00:31:34] S1: Yeah. [00:31:36] S2: So, I mean, if you think about it, I don't see the doom yet happening, but I do think we need to hurry and we need to control and regulate and educate people into this technology. [00:31:52] S1: Very interesting because I come from a very small town called Chandigarh in India and I saw an elevator operator and I was surprised that he was asking me which floor do I want to go. So in very small cities in India or Southeast So that [00:32:11] S2: job hasn't even disappeared. True. [00:32:16] S1: You know Marcus if an 18 year old is listening to this podcast and he might be overwhelmed with what he needs to learn when he graduates out. What advice would you give to him on how to prepare well for a job when he graduates in four years' time?