Mexico and startups in 2020, an entrepreneurial vision

What will the outlook look like for Mexican entrepreneurs in 2020? César Salazar, venture partner of the 500 Startups accelerator, gave his point of view on what could happen next in the world of startups within six years, using the technological advances and changes of recent times as a reference. What was happening in 2008? The giant Amazon launched the Kindle device to read electronic books remotely. In those days, we did not think that incubators, financing or even events like Campus Party (which this year takes place from June 24 to 29 in Guadalajara) could exist. For example, Tequila Valley was founded that year with the vision of uniting entrepreneurs. However, Salazar warns that today it is vital to nurture the entrepreneurial vision. We are used to listening and saying that there is not enough support, when today we have more than ever the opportunity for anyone to listen to and read us through social networks. The real question is: What will happen in the next six years? Predictions Connectivity will reach more than 80% of the population. Before we thought that not all people were going to have a cell phone, when in reality almost everyone has one. The medium through which we interact has changed and will continue to do so. Entrepreneurship will continue to grow. The availability of opportunity is doubling each year. It is almost certain that approximately five or six thousand new companies will be launched each year. The Internet will be transactional At some point, it stopped being academic and started being commercial. For 10 years it was a very simple business model in which people put c certain content with ads on top, such as Google, Twitter or Facebook. In the last four years we have applications like Uber or Amazon that do not need to place ads to make money, but instead offer the opportunity to make a transaction at that moment. “If they are based on the past, even if it seems innovative to others, they are not taking advantage of new things,” says César. So for startups to succeed in 2020, they need to focus on: Revolution in mobility Technological innovation is a very popular topic, we saw it with the topic of Google’s new vehicle. Every day we can have a new idea, but we must be aware that the technology to put all this into practice is already available. Challenges in urban planning The challenge for many is to eliminate situations such as traffic and the concentration of garbage; so new ways to solve them must be found. Before, a person built a house because they were going to live there forever, now many of us rent houses or offices because we know that we are capable of moving. Everything is more flexible and we can transform cities in real time. Food production There is no future in rural life. Nowadays, ways are being sought to optimize cropping systems and improve this business. Anyone who is not on board will not be able to continue moving forward to acquire better financial models. Health/Wellness Revolution The question is, if there are so many advances, why isn’t it easier to diagnose a disease? It is expected that later even doctors will cease to exist, since they will not be necessary as we have machines that analyze everything faster. Transformation in education Institutions no longer have control over education. Nowadays it is easier to have access to any content thanks to the internet. Even if you don’t study a master’s degree, there isn’t a day when you don’t learn something new. In the future, a degree will not determine what you know and what you don’t.