Yesterday, December 17, a Coffee Break was held at the Carabanchel business incubator in which we were able to share the entrepreneurial career of Alejandro de León de Anima Venture the first company builder in Spain focused on social entrepreneurship. A company builder It is a concept between an investment fund since it provides financing to companies and an incubator for accompanying them from the beginning.
He began his working career in the world of banking where he spent 4 years, however, due to his entrepreneurial spirit, he decided to get out of that sphere that was too constraining for him. His first step into the world of entrepreneurship was to create classes for foreign children who needed support in Spanish to be able to keep up with their homework at school.
Later, he made the decision to go to Nicaragua to open an NGO with which he gave scholarships to children and young people. This business was later supplemented with microwd, a company that is dedicated to giving loans to women located at the base of the economic pyramid, so that they can develop their own businesses, mainly in Mexico, Peru and of course, Nicaragua.
He then started his first company, car rental by the hour, an experience that was not as satisfactory as he thought, so he recommends that those present never forget to sign a partnership agreement to avoid future problems for the company. time to liquidate the company.
Alejandro comments that he is very clear about his philosophy, saying that he asks his clients what they want and when they tell him what they want, he sells it to them, something that “Although it seems easy, it is not.
The creator of Anima Venture He defines himself as a friend of trade, because he believes in trade is a tool for peace, since it also dignifies people. In addition, Alejandro considers that he sets up companies because it is what he likes, his idea is not to sell them, but to achieve maximum profitability with them by doing something that can bring benefits to people.
Also, a few years ago, he set up a philanthropy project, a bookstore called Tuuu Bookstore, in which the user pays what he wants for the book he wants to read. Its main ideal when developing this project is trust in the human being, and it currently works on its website, and in two physical bookstores in Madrid.
Without a doubt, despite his youth, Alejandro has an extensive career in the world of entrepreneurship and commerce, since he is not only the founder of Ánima Ventures, but also co-founder of Bluemove (startup with social impact), and also combines all this with his work as business angel by investing in projects like Meat, Wibrick and Lazzus. Despite his fabulous career in the world of his own company, Alejandro does not consider that everyone is a born entrepreneur, nor that entrepreneurship is for everyone. For him it has been a personal option, he simply did not see himself having bosses too much, which is why he considered that option, which in the end has been highly positive for him.
Alejandro has advised the future businessmen who have accompanied him in the Coffee break, based on his own experience, saying that “when I set up businesses, I always do it thinking about solving a problem, but at the same time, thinking about who I am going to sell it to”. Alejandro is clear that dedicating himself to social entrepreneurship, as he does, does not imply giving up earning money with his business.
He also wanted to remind those attending the event that things must be very clear, since it is not enough to fall in love with everything that is done, or with the product that you want to sell, but it is more interesting, to fall in love with the fact of finding the solution when sales are not as profitable as you would like.
Alejandro wanted to give the best advice to those present declaring that "Being an entrepreneur is nothing more than thinking that the future is better than the present"
To end the day, the attendees shared a coffee and made networking in the meeting room of the business incubator.
If you were unable to attend, you can check the video of the session on our website. Facebook.
To attend the Coffee break or other events that we organize in the Madrid Emprende network of business incubators, do not forget to subscribe to our activity bulletin or consult our schedule.
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