Investor Connect - 485 - Juan Alonso-Villalobos of Startup Wiseguys

In this episode, Hall welcomes Juan Alonso-Villalobos, Fintech Program Director at Startup Wiseguys. Headquartered in Tallinn, Harjumaa, Startup Wiseguys is a mentorship-driven accelerator program for early-stage B2B SaaS, Fintech, Cyber, and Sustainability startups, providing seed capital (€30K), office space, and most importantly – world-class mentors. The intensive 5-month accelerator program is focused on validating, developing and selling products to business customers. Over 250 international and local mentors with B2B startup experience help startups move through those stages much faster than they would on their own. Founders are also prepared to sell their vision to investors, and the program culminates in a Demo Day, where startups get to present to venture capitalists and angel investors. Focused during the last years in the investment and startups world, Juan is himself an entrepreneur at heart, having launched several projects (and closed some of them too). Juan has been Fintech Director in Startup Wise Guys for the last 4 years, and although also supporting startups from other sectors, he sees all the startups within Fintech, Insurtech, or other "money-related" regulated businesses. As he says, he was already part of one of the first "fintechs" in Spain and France, within ING Direct, which was there to challenge the status of banking at the time. He is a Partner of his own consultancy firm, PMLG Advisory through which he gives support to International PE firms seeking to develop their Spanish businesses. Juan has developed his professional career mostly in financial services (banking and insurance) in C-level positions covering very different organizational areas: Finance, Marketing, Business Development, Strategy, Digital. These multi-expertise skills allow him to have a 360º view on businesses. A vast experience in consultancy, banking, insurance, and capital markets. He holds BA degrees in Law and Business, both from Comillas University in Spain, and gone through Executive Education in CEDEP (Fontenaibleau – France). He lives (most of the time) in Madrid with his wife, also a tech entrepreneur, and his four children. Juan advises entrepreneurs and investors, discusses how he sees the industry evolving, and shares some of the challenges he has faced. You can visit Startup Wiseguys at www.startupwiseguys.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/startup-wise-guys, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/StartupWiseGuys. Juan can be contacted at [email protected], and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/juanalonsovillalobos/. Music courtesy of Bensound.