Bismarck Lepe, Wizeline: Building world class startups from Mexico and Silicon Valley , Ep 141

<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 24pt;">Bismarck Lepe, Wizeline: Building world class startups from Mexico and Silicon Valley , Ep 141</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bismarck Lepe was part of the first batch of entrepreneurs to leave Google, ready to take the world by storm. And that he did. His first startup was Ooyala, an online video platform company that he built from zero to a $400M exit. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today, a seasoned entrepreneur, Bismarck is President and CEO at Wizeline, a global product development company that helps its clients solve their biggest challenges with design and technology. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I sat down with Bismarck to talk about his nomadic childhood between the US and Jalisco in Mexico and how he veered from wanting to study medicine to taking an interest in tech startups and eventually founding his own. We also discuss the harsh truths about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and how Guadalajara’s tech ecosystem has evolved over the years. </span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stories around entrepreneurship in the media</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bismarck explains that being the first is always the hardest. When Bismarck launched Ooyala’s operations in Guadalajara in 2010, attracting talent was a challenge. Most engineers wanted to work at more established companies like IBM, Oracle or HP. He explains that there was a shift in that mentality as more startup stories began to be featured in the media. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Learn more about how these stories shaped the local ecosystem and served as inspiration for the next generation of talent in this episode of</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Crossing Borders</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Being penny-wise and pound-foolish</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When refl