Entrepreneurial Thinkers with Rob Ryan

In this episode, Rob hosts the show while Ileana enjoys her Summer break. He is joined by a remarkable, inspiring self made Colombian American, Liz Bazurto, from the fast growing fintech company, Coinbase. She shares her incredible story growing up in and making it out of Medellin, Colombia, a city made infamous to most of us, by Pablo Escobar. She is a strong, self made, confident Latina who live...

In this special pilot episode of our new “Mentors Today Live” format, Rob and Ileana are joined by former Mentors Today guest, Tadashi Takaoka, (Episode #35, May 9, 2022) General Manager of Socialab Chile and former Entrepreneurship Manager at CORFO, an agency of the Chilean Government. In this enlightening live conversation on Twitter Spaces, Tadashi updates Rob and Ileana on what he’s working on...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by the dynamically talented Ariana Gómez, a visionary leader dedicated to transforming individuals and organizations into global agents of peace, prosperity, and positive impact. As the Founder and CEO of Technology for Impact and Alterleap, Ariana spearheads a next-generation boutique consulting firm that empowers boards, companies, institutional entitie...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by our guest Mónica Campos. Mónica is an accomplished professional currently serving as the Innovation Ecosystem Head at Nestle Mexico, located in Mexico City, she leads the "All-In" ecosystem, connecting top startups with Nestle to co-create innovative solutions that enhance the quality of life for their customers. During the interview, Mónica...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by a distinguished guest, Diego Serebrisky. Diego is a deeply experienced investor and is one of the first old guard of venture investors in Latin America. Currently overseeing Dalus Capital, a venture and early growth stage fund based in Mexico. His investment focus lies in high-growth Latin American companies with innovative technology and now more rece...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by René Lomelí, the Director of Operations at 500 Startups LATAM, a renowned venture capital firm in Mexico City. With over 10 years of experience at the company, René has played a crucial role in creating and leading the 16-week program for investments in Spanish-speaking Latin America, known as Somos Lucha, and has been involved in over 240 investments...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by a special guest, James Cummings, the Vice President of Business Development at London & Partners. James is a passionate advocate for promoting London's culture, creativity, and energy, and he has played a crucial role in establishing connections between the United States and the UK through his work at London & Partners. During the interview...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by successful entrepreneur and angel investor, Jeffery Potvin. With investments in over 70 companies and a member of multiple angel groups and screening committees, including York, Spark, and GTAN, Jeffery brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. During the interview, Jeffery shares his background in software engineering and e-commerce ma...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by their great friend, Cuco Vega, LEAP Global Partners, Head of Platform, in a very personal conversation, including his unique perspective on innovation, entrepreneurship and his own founder journey, which is a health/wellness journey many entrepreneurs will deeply identify with. Cuco has a well-rounded experience in International Operations, having foun...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Heather Carter, co-CEO at The Riveter. Heather is an experienced startup operator and natural relationship developer who has spent the past decade taking nascent concepts from vision to fruition. Heather shares her circuitous, serendipitous personal journey from the UK to Arizona and ultimately Los Angeles, where she lives today with her partner and th...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Oscar Eduardo Santiago Sevilla, a successful industrial engineer and entrepreneur from La Piedad Mexico. Oscar is the Founder and CEO of the Centro de Innovación y Competitividad A.C., where he helps entrepreneurs enhance their skills and fosters a culture of innovation. He is also a consultant, instructor, and external advisor on strategic planning, i...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Stéphanie Bermúdez, Founder and Principal at Startup Unidos, a dynamic entrepreneurial support organization serving the very unique region along the southern border of Arizona, USA/Northern border of Sonora, Mexico. If you are interested in entrepreneurship, innovation, and creating binational business opportunities, then you won't want to miss thi...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by one of our most diversely experienced and intellectually intense guests ever, Asher Jay, the Founder/CEO of Henoscene. She's been called by the NY Times, "a modern day Lara Croft." She's takes our audience on her adventure through her stories and cultural analysis of our place on our planet. She's talks about her entrepreneurial p...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by the Founder of SKNMUSE, Ezinne Iroanya and her Chief Creative Officer, and partner in life, Ambrose Price to hear the story of the building of one of the hottest, fastest growing Black beauty brand companies in the market today. They hit on the difficulties of raising capital as under represented founders and their early success. Ezinne shares her incr...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Cristian Raygoza, Founder and Managing Partner at Illuminar Ventures. Great founders in Latin America will want to meet him, and Limited Partner investors interested in diversifying their holdings will want to as well! He sees a massive talent diversity development and company building opportunity in Latin America. He is a dynamic young Venture Capital...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Rachael Kim, Founder/CEO of MyCommaLife & the Femtech Salon. Rachael shares her own personal journey of adversity, accomplishment and cultural upbringing, while she highlights the immense importance of creating more female centered products and services for women consumers and their health and well being! She considers herself an ecosystem builder,...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by, co-founder of misFans, Hiram Altamirano. Hiram shares a harrowing and tragic childhood story of being kidnapped at 5 years old, from his family's home in Mexico City! He recounts how this traumatic period of nearly a year, in his young life, shaped his and his mom's life well into his 30's today! Ileana and Rob engage Hiram in an exploration of the du...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Ana Cecy Mata Rodriguez, Sub directora de Fomento Económico del Municipio de Saltillo. Ana Cecy is a passionate community leader and one of the key voices of entrepreneurship and economic development in the Saltillo region of Mexico. She shares some inspiring thoughts regarding modern day feminism, as well as her strong beliefs that Mexican culture nee...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Andrea Campos, CEO/Founder of Yana (You are not Alone) the Spanish language, AI driven mental health and wellness platform in Mexico y LatAm. Andrea shares her unique story of an exceptionally strong, resilient, accidental Mexican entrepreneur,  who struggled with depression and anxiety, dropped out of University and obsessively sought solutions t...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Maria Morfin De La Parra, a Principal at Bimbo Ventures. She helps us understand Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) overall and in Latin America. We explore it's place in the entrepreneurial economy worldwide, and we learn the fascinating story how a 75yr+ global industrial giant like Bimbo Group, has innovated, gotten themselves invested into new an...

In this 2022 in Review episode, Rob and Ileana live-streamed their conversation looking back across a year of growth, new stories and wonderful guests on Mentors Today. The two reminisce over the deeply human stories and terrifically smart people they got to visit with and learn from, but they also proudly discuss the very intentional diversity of the show across gender, race, identity and geograp...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Blaine Doyle, Co-Founder/CEO at ChektAhora and ImmunoCheck. Blaine has an incredibly unique life story to share. He is an Irishman in Mexico, building to solve the healthcare delivery problems and disease eradication problems across Latin America! He is a deeply experienced scientist and researcher, multiple time entrepreneur, capital raiser and true b...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are honored to be joined by a truly unique innovator and builder,  Adriana Tortajada, CEO and Managing Partner at 1200.vc. She is a deeply experienced pioneer in the design and launch of public and private programs promoting the entrepreneurial and venture capital ecosystem across the US and Latin American region. Recognized as one of the first female leaders,...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana, are joined by Bruce Hamilton, General Partner at Mech Ventures. Bruce and his partner, Mario Mitchell, are building the "Roc Nation" of Venture capital, following in the footsteps of music and entertainment/sports industry icon, Jay-Z. In their vision they'll not only reinvent and expand the venture capital industry, but they'll revolutionize how venture firms...

In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by an incredible Argentine entrepreneur in the retail/healthy living products industry, Melanie Wolman. She's the co-founder of The Food Market: an online and physical store retailer for organic and sustainable products in Argentina, promoting fair trade. She shares incredibly simple, yet important advice as our "Mentor For the Day", while also shari...