At La Lonja de la Innovación we have a great team of mentors formed by experts in different areas. All of them, with their experience and trajectory, contribute to the acceleration of the startups through their personalized mentoring to entrepreneurs. Today we wanted to talk with some of them and ask them for the advice that they would give to entrepreneurs.
Self-confidence, but with self-criticism
Some of our mentors agreed on a fundamental characteristic that every entrepreneur should have: self-confidence. Thus, Miguel Ángel Torres, mentor in technology, advised “that they should dream, and that they should have confidence in themselves”. Meanwhile Alejandro Villarán, mentor in team management, internationalization and business development, adds to the above the need for self-knowledge and the importance of “building a vision with which they from the heart”. Something that nuances Granada Barrero, mentor in design, since she assures that, in addition to this, it is important that “they do not lose the capacity for self-criticism”, since “sometimes we fall in love with our ideas and it is difficult to get rid of them or to evolve them”.
It is precisely for this reason that self-confidence must have its limits, because entrepreneurs with excessive positivism will get stuck when the first mistakes are made. Our mentors also wanted to talk about this last point, mistakes, because it is an inevitable element along the path of entrepreneurship. Thus, Miguel Ángel explains that the best thing is that "they make mistakes as quickly as possible and at the lowest cost". How can this be achieved? Through an MVP, as our design mentor advises, "to overcome this pitfall it is best to test or prototype your product or service early, draw conclusions and implement changes until it is refined".
Market research
Respecto a todo lo anterior, hay otro consejo fundamental que no debe pasar desapercibido si se quiere triunfar. Alejandro resalta la importancia de “estudiar el mercado, la competencia y trabajar en una propuesta de valor que mejore en algo la manera en la que se esté solucionando un problema”. Es decir, algo que resume Rodrigo Delgado, mentor en emprendimiento, aconsejando a los emprendedores “que realicen un buen Plan de Negocio sustentado por un estudio de mercado riguroso, con una segmentación realista de sus potenciales clientes y volúmenes de ingresos esperados”.
With respect to all of the above, there is another fundamental piece of advice that should not go unnoticed if you want to succeed. Alejandro highlights the importance of “studying the market, the competition and working on a value proposition that improves the way in which a problem is being solved”. This is summarized by Rodrigo Delgado, a mentor in entrepreneurship, who advises entrepreneurs “to make a good business plan supported by rigorous market research, with a realistic segmentation of their potential customers and expected revenue volumes”.
Finally, they took the opportunity to give a few last pieces of advice that should not be missed. Alejandro Villarán explains that they should "focus on the customer much more than on investors, surround themselves with the best possible team, have confidence, passion and persistence". This advice is shared by Granada Barrero, who explains that "entrepreneurs have to be persistent" and warns that "it is not a linear path, but a cycle". For his part, Miguel Ángel adds that "they should let themselves be advised and be very alert, because the opportunities are very close, but sometimes we do not see them".