Jose G. - MBA Student From Mexico
Yana Immis
“If things work in Germany, why can’t they work in my country? I did my MBA in Germany to apply all the knowledge in my Start-Up in Mexico City.” Read Jose’s success story here!
| Place of Birth | Veracruz, Mexico |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Where did you live? | Xalapa, Mexico City (Mexico), Munich (Germany) |
| Education Level Prior to Relocation | Bachelor Degree |
| Reason of moving to Germany | MBA Degree |
| When did you move? | 2013 |
| How old were you? | 25 |
| Are you still in Germany? | No |
| What is your future goal? | Own Business Development |
| Where would you like to live further? | Mexico City 100% |
Chapter 1: Study Abroad Experience
I studied in a college in Guadalajara and failed the first semester. As a punishment, my father assigned me as a construction worker for 6 months. This is how I developed a love for the construction industry. It is a sort of family business.
He asked if I wanted to continue working or I wanted to study afterward?!
I chose to study after this nice punishment. And I decided to study abroad.
I had my reasons for this:
I wanted to prove myself that I was able to be a good student. I wasn’t a good student before. That was the first step
I wanted to do an MBA. I had a Bachelor degree already with construction supervision work experience and I wanted to focus on business
One of my cousins was studying in Italy and he was bragging about how amazing the stories in Europe are and how great that experience was. I saw him mature from this study abroad experience
One of my friends offered me to go abroad and study there together. So I said OK. Let’s do it. Let’s go to study abroad.
My friend sent me all the information and ironically, in the end, he didn’t go (isn’t it funny?) and I went all in and I only had to choose between Dubai, Europe or Asia.
The most difficult was to choose because I was accepted in all 3 locations. I didn’t want the USA or Canada because I wanted to experience a new culture &new everything!
My plan was:
To prove myself I can study
To travel a lot
To come back and work in the construction industry in Mexico
My cousin told me Europe has open borders and I could travel within 3 countries in 1 day by train, so that sort of sealed the deal.
I have decided – I will go to Germany. I will go to Munich – I will go for the FC Bayern Football team.
A real mature decision isn’t it?
In the end, it was the best decision of my life
Chapter 2: Germany & Mexico
I didn’t realize that I was moving abroad until I went out of the metro station and I saw the German architecture WHAT THE HELL HOW BEAUTIFUL.
I realized I was making a big change in my life only then. The language is cool, so different from Spanish, people – you can learn so much from them and their life because they are tough and they demand things. They have a structure in what they do. You can learn from people even if you don’t study there. The culture there is something you admire: the surroundings, the logistics, the punctuality.
Something that I loved there and we don’t have here in Mexico is the quality of 9 am – 5 pm life – the work-life balance.
That is so admirable. Security and amount of holidays as well as job security and employee protection. I had fun but I could also concentrate on studies.
I took full advantage of travelling in Europe during my degree, I travelled to experience culture and lifestyle. I did a beer tasting trip around Europe as well 😊 My favourite would be Bratislava and Munich and… Oktoberfest of all festivities!
I met great friends in my MBA class
Moose is my big bro (USA/Egypt)
Javier is awesome (Colombia)
Paula (Andorra)
Yerkin (Kazakhstan)
We were a family, it was cool!
I studied for 1 year in Germany and wrote my thesis about crowdfunding applied in Latin America.
I wanted to start a business in crowdfunding and do research and write my MBA E-Business Thesis about it and practical implications and building the company.
I did not take a professor as a promoter and it was a mistake!
I didn’t prioritize it at all. I just wanted to finish with thesis very fast and my big priority was my business…
…now thinking in retrospective I should have asked professors more I could have learnt more from them instead of thinking I knew everything on my own.
Take advantage of the professors while you can and ask as many questions as you can.
I had ideas and so many things are missing in Mexico City, that’s what I wanted to do. I started to put down ideas to do something good for my country.
If things are working right there, why can’t I do it in Mexico?!
I wanted to do something for my country.
When I finished my degree I left right away. I never regretted choosing Germany.
I still travel once a year back to Europe, my second home, mi amor! I am not a big planer, so I decide, as any Mexicans do, on the plane! Jajajajajajajaja I go when and if it feels like it’s the time to go. I wish I could make it next year and be back there for Oktoberfest.
I studied well in Germany, well, enough! MBA in Germany brought me the value and I definitely grew up. I cannot say how, but all my friends, my family said somehow I came back a different person.
I felt better than I had been before. A different perspective, rich experiences.
For me, when I came back, it is like someone put the pause button from the moment I left. Everything was the same, but I wanted more. I saw my friends – they stayed in the same status quo and I, on the contrary, was hungry for new knowledge and experience. All that happened after the MBA.
Chapter 3: CEO & Start-Up
When I came back from Germany I did not want to work in construction anymore. I came back not fully knowing what I would do but from one day to another I tried different business ideas and I found my niche.
I right away moved from Xalapa to Mexico City to make money! I didn’t know the people though, so I started building networks and connections.
You don’t need investments to start a company,
you need a good team.
I went to networking events to get to know programmers & developers. I talked to companies and asked for references, I started building the pool of contacts.
First I joined a company in Mexico City and achieved a high position.
I worked for 1.5 years there then quit to start my company.
I returned because I was asked to become the CEO and since I know that my company would take a long time to start up I agreed on the condition I would only work 2 days a week.
I have a fixed income that is good and time to dedicate to my startup.
I was a co-founder of real estate crowdfunding. What we did there we put investments of regular people like 500 USD and we built a digital platform where they could invest. We are the top 3 in Mexico Nation!
Right now we are funding more than the industry itself. This allowed me to understand issues and to meet the relevant people in the industry. I know the industry from inside out. That’s why I know the whole picture and can sell my product for them.
Oh, by the way, I meet all the time the people who think my Start-Up won’t work out.
But I don’t listen. Because if you have a good idea, the only one who can tell you something is wrong is your customer.
If you have an idea, you have to test it. You only know if it doesn’t work if you tested it 20-50 times with your customer. You have to put the product to the customer, face the need with them and then solve the problem for them. Start-Up actually doesn’t start with an idea, it starts with a problem that a customer would want you to solve. That’s it.
I returned in 2015 so now 5 years after I am not successful yet but it is getting there. I know my way, I’m happy, it will work. This is one of the qualities of entrepreneurs: never hesitate in your ideas, be open to challenges and wisdom from abroad and understand how to apply it in your goal!
I have my first partner in the company now. He is German actually. I was searching for investors and co-founders so I found this guy and oh my God! He is awesome!!! A 35-year-old doctor of astrophysics genius.
In order to be a very effective team you need to have diversity – it is the key. We are totally opposite in our thinking, that is how I build my team now.
About My Company
We found out that there is a big problem for real estate constructors because only 20% of small to medium size constructors have access to financing.
The onboarding process is a nightmare, it can take you 6 months to get pre-approval. Banks don’t rely on the data provided directly from the constructor because it could be false. And here we are!
In our company, we:
Develop the projects for financial institutions that give credits for real estate developers
Build the software where we can get reliable data from outside altogether
Analyze solvency of the user or the company
Check if the project is well based on data
Optimize the portfolio of financial institutions based on machine learning
Work with 200 different bank products
With one click we do a 3 month job. This could be a slogan 😊
What is the challenge of my business? A whole bunch of them. Right now is a cultural aspect of “I do things like this for 20 years and I don’t want to use technology” – conservative approach.
Once we prove that we can add value, customers will stay with us for life. That’s why I do demos, that’s why I go one to one to real estate developers to show the numbers.
Working for yourself is difficult. It is challenging to have your own agenda priorities and to push yourself. It is not easy to start your own business and think everyday life would be the same.
But hey! Learn to solve problems after they happen.
Never stress yourself in advance there is no need for it.
I would like to recommend some great books for prospective students. I read a lot, I don’t know if is needed for success I just do it because it gives me understanding! Here you go:
