Startups Big and Small Take the Stage at Tijuana Innovadora 2014

From Shark Tanks to the Big Leagues

On Sunday, startups small and large took the stage at Tijuana Innovadora 2014. Startups still in the incubation phase wrestled it out in a Shark Tank style pitch to try and garner support. In the bigger leagues, Uber, a company which still labels itself a startup despite having now expanded to more than forty countries, also took the stage to talk about its story and lend some words of encouragement to entrepreneurs and would-be startups.

Ryan Graves, Chief Operating Officer of UBER, was the presenter at the first conference I attended. Standing in front of a large audience, dressed somewhat casually in a blazer and tennis shoes, he talked about how an app-based startup launched by four guys has managed to spread to 43 countries, and hundreds of cities. He discussed the different services UBER offers, and the various sectors it services, ranging from party-goers, and students, to businesspeople, and entire families. He talked about how the way people think about commuting has changed in markets where Uber operates, and also about the disruption that this has caused specifically in the taxi-cab industry.

Uber COO Ryan Graves at Tijuana Innovadora 2014
Uber COO Ryan Graves at Tijuana Innovadora 2014

Ryan Graves is a San Diego Native, and said that he used to enjoy crossing into Tijuana to go surfing and partying, and he is happy to see the response Uber has received in the short three months since it launched in Tijuana. Throughout his speech, Ryan Graves stated that one of greatest misconceptions is that all markets are different, and that at Uber they instead try and find the similarities because there are always more similarities than differences. But, when asked what difference he saw in Tijuana compared to San Diego, he stated that they have a "great team in Tijuana" and it was much faster to build a great team in Tijuana then in San Diego.

As far as what the future holds for Tijuana in terms of cross-border travel, and if a user will ever be able to catch an Uber in Tijuana and take it all the way to San Diego he said that he believes that that one day this will happen, but that it will probably take years of discussions with high-up people. Uber's operations in Mexico are currently limited to Tijuana, Mexico City and Guadalajara, but they will be launching in Monterrey soon (but they aren't saying when exactly yet).

Panel of judges deliberate on winning pitches
Panel of judges deliberate on winning pitches

Almost immediately after Ryan Graves exited the stage, a table was set up and a panel of judges assembled for the next event, "Shark Tank", presented by Startup Mexico. Nervous presenters came out one after the other to "pitch" their startup idea to the panel of judges within allotted time that was shouted out to them as they got closer to running out of time. After the time was up, the panel of judges asked them questions and gave them constructive criticism.

The ideas ranged from app based startups such as a social media type application to match blood donors to recipients in need, and an app to pay for parking, to actual product ideas such as a robotic vest to provide physical therapy to patients, and some sort of towel that can be affixed to exercise equipment to keep it clean and hold valuables such as cell phones in place. The latter two startups took home the prizes to great excitement.

Shark Tank Participants and Tijuana Innovadora Founder, Jose Galicot, do the "winning pose" for the crowd.
Shark Tank Participants and Tijuana Innovadora Founder, Jose Galicot, do the "winning pose" for the crowd.

I skipped out of the room before a conference on "Mexican Wrestling and the Cinema" got started, and instead headed over to the movie theater type room where the "Mexican Diaspora" conferences take place. On the agenda was a talk titled "B2B Dialogues", or Border to Border Dialogues, and the main topic discussed was an initiative organized by the World Economic Forum out of Geneva, Switzerland called Global Shapers. For the first year ever, the Global Shapers initiative – which operates via hubs in hundreds of cities throughout the world – has opened up hubs in both San Diego and Tijuana.

The hubs are operated by "curators", who are in charge of building up the team of "shapers" and helping them hone in on crucial problems in the city to develop projects to tackle these problems.

In Tijuana, the hub curator is Miguel Marshal, co-founder of HUB STN, and in San Diego, the curator is Mario Lopez, CEO of The Cross-Border Group. They discussed the dynamic of the Global Shapers Community and how they hope to not only develop meaningful projects in their cities, but have some sort of cross-border impact as well.

The discussion was moderated by Emma Cruz, partner at HUB STN, and Francisco Gudiño, who works for the Secretary of Economic Development in Tijuana. They opened the floor up to questions from the audience, to receive feedback on what the audience believes to be primary problems for the city. Neither hub disclosed what the final project would be, as the projects are still in the works, but Tijuana's hub curator, Miguel Marshall, indicated that Tijuana's hub project would be related to migrants in the city.

Border to Border Dialogue of the Mexican Diaspora, Tijuana Innovadora 2014
Border to Border Dialogue of the Mexican Diaspora, Tijuana Innovadora 2014

In Tijuana, the majority of comments from the audience also discussed the effect that the thousands of deportees that arrive in the city each year have on the city, and the problems that arise as a result, including drug use, unemployment, and an overall bad image for the city. According to Miguel Marshall, he is very happy with the feedback and comments received from the audience, because it "demonstrates that we are on the right track with the projects we are working on."

borderzonie@gmail.com

@borderzonie

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