Mexican entrepreneurs launch start-up academy

Global Business

Mexican entrepreneurs launch start-up academy.00_01_48_08.Still002

In Mexico City, a group of entrepreneurs has teamed up to launch a startup academy in order to help inspire future business leaders. What will participants be learning and how it will help prepare them for a future in the business world?

CCTV’s Martin Markovits has more. 
Follow Martin Markovits on Twitter @MartinMarkovits

With a population of more than 20 million, a sprawling Mexico City is not only one of the largest cities in the world, but it’s also one of the main financial centers for all of Latin America.

Not surprisingly, new businesses are popping up in Mexico’s capital, including the first startup academy. Launched by 11 entrepreneurs earlier this month, Hustlers Academy teaches everything from hacking, business modeling and even how to navigate through taxes.

“We had two issues we wanted to address. The first is recognizing that in Mexico, startups have some problems with marketing and selling. The second is the people who are doing innovations at this moment in history, they’re not teaching. So we pulled together these 11 founders to share their experiences with our students,” Hustlers Academy President, Jorge Sanchez said.

Given Mexico City’s proximity to the United States, its low costs and its place as the largest Spanish speaking country in the world, it has made the city fertile ground for a new generation of entrepreneurs.

One of them is photographer Pamela Reyes, who runs a small media company. Nevertheless, she decided to enroll at Hustlers because she felt she needed to learn all sides of the business.

“Here you learn how to work in a group environment, and let you have very clear objectives. Because many people have these great ideas, but they don’t know how to sell it, and that can be fatal. You always need to have a big idea, know how to sell it, and above all, have a strategy and if it doesn’t work find another way,” Reyes said.

Just in its first month of operation, Hustlers Academy is already in the process of expanding. An internship program for people with no professional experience is in the works, and next year, the school will start a program that will focus on female entrepreneurship.

There are still challenges in starting up a company in Mexico, most notably the widespread corruption. But with an economy projected to become the world’s fifth largest by 2050 and a growing college educated workforce, Mexico City is in a great position to become what it hopes will be the next Silicon Valley.