Tweet This article originally appeared on FoxNews. Venture capitalists take note, Latin America’s Internet entrepreneurs are ramping up. A recent panel at SXSW Interactive entitled “Accelerating Killer Latam Startups” featured three digital pioneers and start up investors from the region, each with a roadmap to finding and investing in new companies. Bedy Yang and her colleagues at 500 Startups, a seed fund and startup accelerator, have organized “Geeks on a Plane,” an invite-only tour of Miami, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires May 10-20. Together, they

Tweet This article originally appeared on FoxNews.com According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics open businesses three times faster than the national average. Once regarded as a minority group, Hispanics now represent the fastest-growing segment of our economy. To make their businesses successful, Latino entrepreneurs in Southern California turn to Eduardo Figueroa, a consultant, author, and workshop leader for almost twenty years. Figueroa reports that many of his clients start their own businesses because they have been laid off and don’t have any other option.

Tweet This article originally appeared in the Fordham Business Review. I recently re-discovered it and wanted to share it here as I found it very relevant today for executives that work in the Caribbean or Latin America. Click here to read the first and second posts in this series. Cultural Identity: Between the United States and Latin America Mr. Molina feels that Puerto Ricans differentiate themselves from the United States culturally and politically through the term “La nación,” (The Nation). “The nation is a cultural

Tweet This article originally appeared in the Fordham Business Review. I recently re-discovered it and wanted to share it here as I found it very relevant today for executives that work in the Caribbean or Latin America. Click here to read the first post in the series. Cultural Impact: Beyond Language José Molina illustrates that communicating in English goes way beyond language. American business people respect interrupting and getting your point across; whereas, in Latin America they value position power and formal hierarchy. “The higher

Tweet This article originally appeared in the Fordham Business Review. I recently re-discovered it and wanted to share it here as I found it very relevant today for executives that work in the Caribbean or Latin America. In the century since July of 1898 when Puerto Rico became part of the United States, Puerto Rico has experienced incredible changes due to the influx of not only American tourists, but more importantly American business executives and entrepreneurs. They have provided a significant number of jobs to

Tweet Which region will provide growth for your business in 2011? Paul Gunning, the Chief Executive Officer at Tribal DDB, recently told me, “Latin America is another China” because it has “millions of consumers with rising purchasing power.” A number of recent articles support that claim: This article from Forbes – Forget China, Look To Latin America – highlights that, “with inflation a concern in the Far East, commodity and consumer-driven economies like Brazil and Chile may be 2011′s biggest winners.” It goes on to

Tweet Recently, I read two books on innovation with two entirely different approaches. The first, Change by Design, was a disappointment even though it is the better known of the two. It actively sells the concept of innovative design. The second, The Victorian Internet, provides greater insights into the process of innovation and the pitfalls of new technologies through a historical context. It tells “the remarkable story of the telegraph and the nineteenth century’s on-line pioneers.” You would think that the book written by the

Tweet My friend Joshua Cody and I have been enjoying watching some of the videos on TED.com recently including this one from Rory Sutherland of Ogilvy, who argues that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value.  He goes on to show how advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself, and gives some humorous examples from history.  Take a look…

Tweet Franklin Vargas, Director Latin American Marketing at Genius presented the pros and cons of the Panregional Media Buy from the perspective of a large IT company at Portada’s Panregional Advertising Summit in Miami. See his slide here that summarizes his conclusions. Even though he presented the pros and cons equally, many attendees did not like his presentation because it challenged the concept of pan-regional advertising, for which Miami is a hub. Pros: 1) Good fro massive reach 2) More strategy and brand control 3)

Tweet My friend David Berkowitz told me about a new white paper that his agency – 360i – recently launched: 2009 Social Marketing Playbook. It highlights four questions that all marketers should ask when putting together a social marketing campaign: 1) Does the opportunity meet your brand’s objectives? 2) Does the opportunity leverage your brand’s existing arsenal of assets? 3) Does the opportunity abide by the social media rules of the road? 4) Does it provide significant value exchange? In addition, the playbook features social