Startup Costa Rica

1. a
development
opportunity
for
our
country
introducing
Startup Costa Rica

2. Startup
Costa
Rica
–
Learning
&
Accelera7on
1 2 3
Our
c
urrent
reality
Success
stories
abroad
Our
p
roposal
for
Costa
Rica
We
believe
in
Costa
Rica’s
talent
great
poten6al

3. 1
Our
current
reality
Many
good
things
happening,
but
s6ll
a
long
way
to
go
…

4. La6n
American
Accelerators
as
an
indicator

5. Costa
Rican
Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Market
Size
Costa
Rica:
• Popula7on:
5
million
• Capital:
San
Jose
• Great
Metro
Area:
50%
country’s
popula7on
in
800
sq
mi
(4%
total
area)
• $7.7K
GDP
per
capita
Central
America:
• Popula7on:
around
45
million
• 7
countries
• $2.5K
GDP
per
capita
• A
45
million
people
region
could
become
a
more
interes7ng
player
in
LatAm
(just
aSer
Brazil,
Mexico
and
Colombia)

6. Incubators
Events
Venture
Capital
Universi7es
Contests
Government
Costa
Rican
Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Some
Important
Players

7. Costa
Rican
Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
High
Level
Analysis
• Leadership (non government)
• Institutions
• Regulatory Framework
Policy
• Incentives
• Early customers
• Market Size / Focus
• Entrepreneur’s network
Markets
Finance
Diaspora network
•
Ecosystem
Domains
By
Daniel
Isenberg
• Tolerance of Risks, Mistakes and
Human
Failures
Culture
Capital
• Social Status of Entrepreneur
Supports
• Technical Experts, Advisors
• Entrepreneurship promotion (all
NGO category)

8. 2
Success
stories
abroad
Startup
Chile,
Silicon
Valley,
Israel,
Boston
…

9. Entrepreneurial
Hubs
Worldwide
• Silicon
Valley
• Started
around
1950
at
Stanford
University
• 1970-­‐2010
VCs
have
invested
$210B+
in
~10K
companies
• Israel
• Started
in
80s
targe7ng
technology
ventures
• Small
popula6on:
7
million
• 63
companies
in
US
Stock
Market
(NASDAQ)
• Boston
(Rt.
128)
• Started
in
60s,
now
recognized
as
a
hub
for
biotech
innova7on
• 100+
colleges
and
universi7es
in
Greater
Boston
area
• 1970-­‐2010
VCs
have
invested
$50B+
in
~3K
companies
Source:
hip://javiercuervo.com/?p=1354,
hip://bos7nno.com/2011/04/07/bostons-­‐colleges-­‐and-­‐universi7es-­‐map/,
hip://
engineered.typepad.com/thoughts_on_business_engi/2012/01/innova7on-­‐bostons-­‐route-­‐128-­‐vs-­‐san-­‐franciscos-­‐silicon-­‐valley.html

10. Startup
Chile
Case
[startupchile.org]
• $40K
funding
no
strings
aiached
to
foreign
entrepreneurs
• Relocate
to
Chile
for
6
months
to
help
boost
the
ecosystem
• Sponsored
by
the
Chilean
Government
(CORFO)
• Some
Facts:
• Idea
proposed
by
Nicolás
Shea
in
2010
• San7ago
City:
popula7on
5
million
• 1.600
applica7ons
• 70
countries
• Important
par7cipa7on
of
US
entrepreneurs
• 500
entrepreneurs
• 220
foreign
startups
with
$8M
funding
• Annual
Budget:
$15M/year
Source:
hip://javiercuervo.com/?p=1354,
hip://www.businessweek.com/ar7cles/2012-­‐04-­‐11/want-­‐more-­‐startups-­‐learn-­‐from-­‐chile

11. Recent
Na6onal
Ini6a6ves
• Startup
America
[www.s.co]
• White
House
ini7a7ve
launched
in
2011
• Set
of
entrepreneur-­‐focused
policy
ini7a7ves
• Complemented
by
Startup
America
Partnership:
• Provide
valuable
resources
and
connec7ons
to
help
young
companies
grow
• Support
regional
startup
ecosystems
• $1B
value
to
support
startups:
exper7se,
services,
talent,
customers
and
capital.
• Other
countries
with
similar
efforts
(privately
funded):
• Startup
Britain
[www.startupbritain.org]
• Startup
Spain
[startupspain.com]
Source:
hip://javiercuervo.com/?p=1354

12. 3
Our
proposal
for
Costa
Rica
Learning
and
Accelera6on!

13. Startup
Costa
Rica
• A
similar
approach
to
Startup
Chile
and
now
Startup
Spain
could
help
boost
the
entrepreneurial
ecosystem
in
Costa
Rica.
• Some
challenges
unique
to
Costa
Rica:
• Resources
available
from
Government
or
Private
sector
won’t
be
enough
for
this
kind
of
effort
• Size
of
the
market
and
popula7on
make
Costa
Rica
a
less
airac7ve
des7na7on
• Hypothesis
to
address
challenges:
• Combined
the
high
poten7al
talent
and
green
des7na7on
to
build
the
case
for
Costa
Rica
• Target
this
effort
as
a
regional
ini7a7ve
based
in
Costa
Rica,
so
interna7onal
agencies
funds
can
be
requested
Source:
h*p://www.businessmodelalchemist.com/2011/11/make-­‐your-­‐business-­‐model-­‐clear-­‐
with-­‐vivid-­‐thinking-­‐guest-­‐post-­‐by-­‐dan-­‐roam.html

14. Startup
Costa
Rica
–
Business
Model
• Work
in
progress
–
Ongoing
inquiry
process
to
get
addi7onal
feedback
from
experts
in
different
areas
• An
interes7ng
model
for
reference
is
Startup
Spain
(diagram
below)
• The
business
model
will
be
based
on
two
pillars:
Learning
&
Accelera7on
Source:
hip://startupspain.com/accelerator/

15. Startup
Costa
Rica
Ideas
to
address
issues
…
Educational events will help to reinforce
the entrepreneur’s network
• Leadership (non government)
• Institutions
Central American Scope
• Regulatory Framework
Policy
• Incentives
Startup Costa Rica (SCR) will become
• Early customers
part of the leadership missing.
• Market Size / Focus
[ Eventually SCR will try to influence
changes in the other factors ]
• Entrepreneur’s network
Markets
Finance
Diaspora network
•
Ecosystem
Educational events will help
Network required for Accelerator
Domains
to improve perceptions and
encourage the right behavior
By
Daniel
Isenberg
• Tolerance of Risks, Mistakes and
Human
Failures
Culture
Capital
• Social Status of Entrepreneur
Supports
• Technical Experts, Advisors
• Entrepreneurship promotion (all
NGO category)
- Educational events are key to address these issues
Accelerator Diaspora Network
- Accelerator Initiative

16. Startup
Costa
Rica
–
Main
Components
• Annual
Conference
• Startup
School
• Angel
School
• Hackathons
&
similar
events
Learning
• Meetups
• Workshops
• Support
Contest
Development
Some additional ideas:
• Promotion Agency for “Foreign Entrepreneurial
Investment” (CINDE for Startups)
• Entrepreneurial Internships Abroad
• Compe77on
• Diaspora
Network
• Co-­‐working
Spaces
• Demo
Day
Accelera7on
• Startup
Promo7on
Abroad
• Seed
investment
• Follow-­‐up
investment
• Growth
Support

17. a
development
opportunity
for
our
country
Thanks!
Startup Costa Rica

18. Back
Up
Slides

19. Domains
of
the
Entrepreneurship
Ecosystem

20. Startup
Ecosystem
Ranking
–
April
2012
Source:
hip://blog.startupcompass.co/