Andrés Echecopar is one of the business angel most renowned in Spain. Initially, he was a PWC partner, specializing in acquisitions and mergers in the banking sector, and later worked for one of the largest venture capital funds in Europe. After the 2008 crisis, he decides to invest part of his personal assets without much success. That was the moment when he decided to join the network of business angel from ESADE, in which he reviewed a multitude of innovative projects. In 2015, after those years of apprenticeship, he decided to invest again, this time achieving good results. He has currently participated in 25 projects of which 22 are still active, allowing him to live off the benefits they generate.
Thanks to his extensive experience, Andrés knows well that anything can happen when you start a business and considers that there is no manual with the exact steps to achieve success, but he points out during the talk that "the idea is not the key, it is the execution”.
What business angel, Andrés stated that he was looking for certain characteristics in an entrepreneur to invest in his project, among which are: having some experience in previous projects, being able to listen actively, having a high degree of empathy and resilience, and finally "that let help”.
Among the anecdotes of the crazy investments he has made, Andrés shared the one about a fly farm during the talk. Project that he met at a meeting similar to the one held at the Carabanchel nursery and which consists of flies that produce worms that devour all kinds of waste and are then used for all kinds of purposes such as cosmetics or insect meal. "You are going to hear a lot about insect meal in the future," says Andrés, pointing to the rise of this new type of livestock.
Because Andrés fervently believes in the technological tsunami that is coming and that is going to change our lives in the next 25 years. “This is going at a gigantic speed, if you take the list of unicorns worldwide, a decade ago you had two or three a year, now there are more than 50”, Andrés comments.
After the Coffee Break, Andrés shared a coffee with the attendees listening to some other elevator pitch, an activity that he is passionate about since, how he recounts that a friend of his told him: "you never stop pitch”.
If you could not attend, you can check the video of the session on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MadridEmprende/videos/).
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