

Real Intercontinental
Hotel San José
August 13th-14th, 2019
The Event
The I International Startups Conference Costa Rica 2019 is an innovative, educational and up-to-date event in which leaders, entrepreneurs and industry mentors showcase success stories and share their vision on the latest trends within the Startups world.
Through keynotes, networking activities, talks and discussion panels, local and international experts share their perspectives, experiences, challenges and opportunities for those who venture or who already belong to this fascinating ecosystem.
It is an event that convenes, connects and educates.

Who should attend?
Startups community
Incubators and accelerators
Angel investors
Fintech, digital marketing, e-commerce, innovation
Corporations, local and global
Government officials
Legal firms
NGO's
Financial sector, public, private and cooperative
Universities
Co-working spaces
Business chambers and associations
…among others
Speakers
CEO, Duco
DAN BALTER

Dan is an experienced entrepreneur with a proven track record on multiple projects with international success. He specializes in ecosystems and innovation development. Dan is an expert in acceleration processes and intrapreneurial strategies. He is former Vice President of StarTAU, Tel-Aviv University's Entrepreneurship Center, which is the largest entrepreneurship center in Israel and one of the top 25 in the world. In addition, he mentors, advices and lectures at accelerators, universities, corporations, and governments around the world on entrepreneurship, innovation, and on how to develop entrepreneurial ecosystems. As the Global CEO of Duco group, he leads breakthrough partnerships and ecosystems design and works with clients in various industries, such as the Israeli Federal Bank, the Israeli Defense Forces, NASA, Intel, Orbotech and many others.
CEO, The Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship
LISANDRA RICKARDS

Lisandra is Chief Entrepreneurship Officer at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship Caribbean, where she has developed and delivered scaled initiatives to over 2,500 caribbean entrepreneurships, including developing equity, loan, crowdfunding and grant opportunities, designing and developing the core content for the Centre’s free and open online platform, helping to launch the Alpha Angels Network of business angels in Jamaica, as well as impact analysis and reporting. She has conducted economic and statistical research for the best-selling books Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics; consulted for the Ministry of Finance in Jamaica; worked at Bain & Company in New York City; and has helped develop a global brand strategy for Caribbean conglomerate GraceKennedy. She was previously Director of Business Development at the RMP Group, a private investment firm based in Orlando, Florida that targeted businesses in the United States currently servicing Fortune 1000 clients for investments of growth capital. Lisandra has an MBA with first-year Honors from Harvard Business School, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Student Marshal. In 2008, she was featured in the CNBC documentary "The Money Chase: Inside Harvard Business School".
CEO, Establishment Labs
JUAN JOSÉ CHACÓN

Juan José founded Establishment Labs in 2004, starting from a house garage in the suburb of Pavas, Costa Rica. He is currently the CEO of Establishment Labs Holdings Inc. after its creation in 2013. Juan José is co-author of more than 45 patents that help advance implant and surface technologies, RFID and biosensors, 3D technology and surgical instrument development. In 2018, Establishment Labs Holdings Inc., a company dedicated to the manufacture of breast implants, placed US$66 million in shares during its first day of listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the US.
Ambassador, Lean Startup Co.
JAN BIGOS

Jan is an innovation consultant and Lean Startup Co. international speaker. He provides consultancies to corporate clients and conducts workshops mainly on the Lean Startup methodology, Business Model Canvas and tools for Customer Development. He has organized and facilitated events for companies and entrepreneurs in Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, United States and Colombia. Jan is a graduate of the Copenhagen Business School where he wrote his thesis on the Lean Startup methodology and its application by the Danish Startups. He has two certificates from @Strategyzer Masterclass, which are workshops on Business Model Innovation taught by Alexander Osterwalder. He also works at Wayfair, a Fortune 500 e-commerce platform in Berlin, where he is responsible for creating his own portfolio of suppliers and helping with the digitalization of the upholstery sector in Poland.
CEO, Hitlist
GILLIAN MORRIS

Gillian is founder and CEO of Hitlist, a travel related app. Rated by TIME magazine as one of the 50 best apps of 2016, Hitlist was recognized as 'Best New App' by the AppStore in 83 countries. Named by PhoCusWright as an influential Young Leader, Gillian has been a speaker on travel innovation and trends in distribution channels at events such as SXSW, Skift Global Forum, IATA's Annual General Meeting and TravelTechCon. Before entering the world of startups, she was a consultant, journalist and educator in Turkey, China, the Gulf countries and Syria. Her work has been published in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Buzzfeed, CNN, CNBC, TechCrunch, The Next Web and LifeHacker. Gillian's work in emerging markets has made her a passionate advocate of entrepreneurship and private investment in developing countries.
CEO, PROCOMER
PEDRO BEIRUTE

Prior to PROCOMER, Pedro held corporate leadership positions for multinational company Intel in Europe, Latin America and the United States. There he served as Chief of Staff for two Global Marketing and Sales Directors and was involved in global commerce, innovation and multicultural strategic projects. He coordinated Marketing, Sales and Operations for 56 countries in a group of more than 8,000 employees. Pedro holds a degree in Law from the University of Costa Rica and a degree in Business Administration from the International University of the Americas. He completed his MBA at Carlos III from the University of Madrid. He is Chairman of the Essential Costa Rica Country Brand Committee, the governing body that oversees and promotes the brand on a global scale. Throughout his career in PROCOMER, the International Trade Center has classified it as the number one commercial promotion organization in the ITC ranking, where more than 50 TPOs are located.
CEO, Distilled Innovation
CARLOS JARAMILLO

Carlos is an entrepreneur, innovation consultant and Global Shaper. He has helped companies develop sustainable businesses, products and services through Open Innovation. He has led innovation processes in companies such as Compañía de Galletas Noel, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Coca-Cola, Bancolombia, Corona Organization and Team Foods. He has served as a lecturer and facilitated innovation workshops in Bolivia, Colombia, Spain, South Africa, Argentina, Egypt, Costa Rica, China, the Dominican Republic and Switzerland, with the participation of more than 8,000 corporate leaders and young entrepreneurs at events such as the Annual Meeting of New Champions of Innovation (2018), the World Economic Forum of Latin America (2017) and One Young World (2013 and 2011). He volunteered to develop and strengthen social innovation ecosystems in Colombia and the rest of Latin America.
Senior Manager, SEED by EY
JOSÉ MIGUEL ALFARO

José Miguel founded his law firm SEED in 2009, coordinating legal issues for important companies in various fields within the impact investment spectrum, such as sustainability, technology, conservation, microfinance, fair trade, culture, education, volunteering, health, sports and developing. He actively promoted socially responsible investments and the improvement of the business social ecosystem in Latin America. In 2018, his firm became SEED by EY - EY Central America's business unit in charge of strategic growth markets, including venture capital, startups, SMEs, social enterprises and impact investors. With this integration, SEED by EY Central America scaled even more its presence in the Latin American markets, with technology-based solutions for legal services. He is legal advisor to Carao Ventures and its portfolio of companies. During his career, José founded the Pro Bono Committee of Costa Rica. After completing his MBA in Oxford with a Skoll scholarship, he was selected as Global Shaper, a community of the World Economic Forum.
Regional Digital Business Consultant, GBM
JOSÉ ANDRÉS HERNÁNDEZ

José Andrés is a digital trends and technologies consultant with more than six years of experience in the software and digital products development industry. He has a specialization in High Technology Digital Marketing from the Fondazione COUA, is a fan of the gamification and enthusiast of the internet of things. His role has led him to establish operations in CAC (Central America and the Caribbean), Mexico and Colombia.
Latam Cloud Solutions Sales Leader, MICROSOFT
DIDIER MORA

Didier is Leader of Microsoft's Cloud solutions specialists team, which include among other solutions, SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, as well as databases and applications for the Latin American region at Microsoft, with more than 12 years of experience in the field of technology, both as an Infrastructure Manager from the customer's point of view, as well as with direct experience in leading manufacturers solutions, in contact centers, hardware solutions and services. He is Systems Engineer and a telecommunications specialist focused on enabling digital transformation through cloud or hybrid technologies that improve the performance of clients' businesses. He posseses MBA studies aimed at digital businesses, and is an expert in the management of budgets, negotiation and monitoring of metrics and best practices. Oriented to the fulfillment of objectives as well as the effective management of change.
Program
Tuesday, August 13th

The event will start at 05:00 pm with registration of attendees at Arboleda room, followed by the Lean Startup Night and Welcome Reception, from 06:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
THE LEAN STARTUP METHOD vs COMMON SENSE
¿What comes before the MVP (minimum viable product)?
The Learn-Build-Measure circle
Innovation accounting and its components
Program
Wednesday, August 14th
The Event will start at 07:30 am with registration of attendees and a Startups Morning Coffee, followed by the first keynote at 08:30 am.
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THE MISSING LINK OF THE STARTUP NATION - WHAT IS MISSING TO BECOME A STARTUP NATION?
The Startup Nation and the crisis of a rapidly changing world · What are the advantages and disadvantages of an ecosystem like Israel vs that of Costa Rica? · Is there an added value that can be established in order to develop a large and strong ecosystem?
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OPEN INNOVATION: THE JOINT OF STARTUPS + BIG CORPORATIONS
Innovation ecosystems · Co-creation · Corporate incubators
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SCALING THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP : BEST PRACTICES OF THE “BRANSON CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP”
Training entrepreneurs to structure their businesses for growth · Mentorship programme for entrepreneurs · Preparing entrepreneurs to capitalize on investment opportunities.
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FINTECH AND OPENBANKING: THE NEW TREND IN CENTRAL AMERICA
The role of fintechs in regional markets · Financial services to end consumers · How can these integrate with their corporate counterparts?
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DISRUPTION IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY: THE POWER OF COMMUNITIES
Platforms and shared economy within the Tourism industry · Innovation as a challenge and an opportunity · Success stories and predictions for the industry.
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TEN KEYS TO START A GLOBAL BUSINESS
How to position my startup or company · Key conditions to develop and grow a business with global potential · Identifying market needs, problems and solutions.
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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, DUE DILIGENCE AND LEGISLATION
New regulations and taxes · Challenges and opportunities for Startups on the Legal aspect.
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ANGEL INVESTMENTS
Speaking in money language with investors · "From mince words to money", how to effectively materialize the investment · Angel Capitals: Main success and failure factors when appealing to angel investors.
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SCALABILITY OF BUSINESSES WITH PURPOSE IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT
The virtuous circle between SDG's, entrepreneurship and businesses with purpose · Key factors to take into consideration to maintain a global business and achieve scalability.
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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE 4th INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Digital disruption, the intelligence revolution · Digital transformation, a changing society · New products and business models.
Sponsors
Sponsors or business partners are important key players of the I International Startups Conference Costa Rica 2019. We work closely with all our partners to maximize their commitment and ensure we offer an event of the highest level. To inquire on opportunities and availability, please contact us.

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