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THE OPINION OF THE ALUMNI
Arnau Porto (Lic&MBA 06) Investor in the ESADE BAN “For the past eight years, I have worked as a professional investor. I began as part of the team at Blackstone matured businesses and participated in advising them to improve profitability. During my studies at Stanford, I co-founded a realestate company in Colombia, started as a BA supporting three class-mates, and did an internship at the Viking Global hedge fund in New York, where I am still working. In the last three years I have been a personal business angel. I have invested in Valhalla Energia, Lolli&Pops and Rocksbox; and in Spain, in Geenapp and Viwom. It is very inspiring to see a business grow and know that your contribution has helped. It is much more difficult for a Spanish entrepreneur to launch their project than an entrepreneur from the USA. The biggest challenge is the lack of a Venture Capital ecosystem. Venture rounds are very difficult to get; they are generally small and well below values in the USA. Therefore, I recommend taking the leap and going to the USA.” Xavier Carro (DGEI 07 / EMMV 12) Investor in the ESADE BAN “My career as a Business Angel began after a Board meeting of the BeMain Group, in which we decided we would diversify risk as a strategy, and to give value to surplus we would invest in and help grow startups. In this context and given my previous experience in managing and advising such companies, I decided to professionally delve into the joint venture and collaboration in the development and growth of selected companies; through this I invested in companies like BeMain Media, Notegraphy, Trovel and Signaturit; meanwhile there are many other projects I am studying for 2015. What interests me most about this type of investment is not only the potential profitability (which obviously is linked to advise, counsel and help promote good business ideas, so that these companies can offer high growth rates and sustainable returns over time.” Jacinto Roca (ADE Lic&MBA 99) Founder and CEO of Wuaki.tv “I have had the great fortune of being an entrepreneur with a good ‘exit’. The work was essential but not sufficient. The necessary final touch is luck (as they say, may the inspiration strike not have been possible without a group of Business Angels who initially invested small amounts, but that all together was enough to begin the adventure. Besides the economic upside, they have helped jobs in Barcelona. I feel a moral obligation to pay part of this luck back to new entrepreneurs. This is why I try to contribute a very modest investment in very early stage start-ups. Here the main driver is always the entrepreneurial team. Their vision and commitment to the project are certainly the determining variables in my decision.”
sify investments because the risk is very high. First off, the money to be invested as a BA can not be money needed for something else. You must be open to losing everything and it is important that it won't affect the family economy. Second, as the likelihood that a company will fail is high, you must try to spread your budget over 10 companies. This way you can be sure some of them will succeed,” says Luisa Alemany, director of the ESADE Entrepreneurship Institute. Training for investors is offered through the School of Business Angels organised by ESADE, refresher programmes organised by the ESADE Entrepreneurship Institute, as well as the Last Thursdays and the Legal Advisory Service, which are tools that assist the investor in this adventure.
Legal Advisory Service for ESADE Alumni entrepreneurs and investors