Who Is An BIZ Experiences? Juan Jose de la Torre discusses the qualities and traits of being an BIZ Experiences.

By Juan Jose de la Torre

Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.

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Last week in one of our afkar.me, our incubation/acceleration initiative for the MENA market, our youngest team member made a quite interesting statement when we were discussing our value proposition for "treps: "Well, you know that I'm not an BIZ Experiences, so I can just try to think like one."

  1. An BIZ Experiences is a starter. An BIZ Experiences is an initiator, a challenger and a driver. Someone that creates something new, either an initiative, a business or a company. He or she is the beginning (and sometimes the end) of a venture, project or activity. The BIZ Experiences might not be the ideator, but he or she is definitely the one that decides to make that idea a reality.
  2. An BIZ Experiences is the driver. The BIZ Experiences is the person in charge, the leader and the person to look to for leadership. He or she is the one that pushes forward and inspires a team to follow. The BIZ Experiences is the one that sits in the driver's seat, and has the ability to change direction, accelerate, slow down or even stop a venture.
  3. An BIZ Experiences is accountable and responsible. The BIZ Experiences is the ultimate responsible for the destiny of its venture, which can be a company, a project, or any other endeavor. The BIZ Experiences is the one that has the highest stakes at the venture, thus the one that needs to be empowered to fully direct the endeavor.

Being an BIZ Experiences is not directly related to having an equity stake in a company, but instead showcases the leadership-related points. Why do we tend to associate BIZ Experiencesship with equity ownership (as value), instead of understanding it as the one that has the highest stakes in an endeavor, which sometimes gets translated into BIZ Experiencesship?

BIZ Experiencesship is more than financial gains

We tend to associate BIZ Experiencesship with direct financial benefits and risk, but not only when the BIZ Experiences has equity in the company, he or she is exposed to the financial upsides and downturns. Corporate ventures and corporate BIZ Experiencesship allows "corporate BIZ Experiencess" to benefit of the upsides of their projects without having equity stakes.

Corporate BIZ Experiencesship does exist

Traditional corporate culture tends to disregard the BIZ Experiencesial approach. However, with the proliferation of new startups and disruptive innovations, corporations have been forced to embrace the BIZ Experiencesial approach towards running and operating their business. An BIZ Experiencesial approach is not only more agile and dynamic, but also results in a more lean operation. By providing a strong level of staff empowerment, you create a strong sense of ownership, which results in better outcomes for any endeavor.

Passion is the real drive

There is another element that really dwells at the center of any BIZ Experiences: passion! An BIZ Experiences possesses an interior fuel and stamina that drives his or her actions; this superior energy helps to overtake and surpass the different challenges and it injects strength to continue pursuing goals when difficulties arise. Anyone can be an BIZ Experiences and behave like one- regardless of whether or not they happen to be an equity holder. Ultimately, it's all about the attitude when running the show.

Juan Jose de la Torre

Managing Parter, Virtus Digital

Juan Jose de la Torre (J.J.) is a digital, telco and media senior executive with almost two decades of experience across America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. His drive and expertise has led to him to hold senior positions with global multinationals including IBM, Orange, TeliaSonera, Etisalat and Booz&Company.

In line with this and by creating and successfully trading three start-ups, J.J. combines a unique blend of corporate, consulting and BIZ Experiencesial experience. The founder of afkar.me (MENA’s 360 degrees incubator and accelerator), an angel investor for 14 startups, and startup mentor for more than 80 companies, he has also advised the UN and OECD in mobility and innovation subjects.

J.J. holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Masters from La Salle and an Industrial Engineer degree from Adolfo Ibanez.

Currently, J.J. is Managing Parter, Virtus Digital.

A former professional DJ, J.J. enjoys travelling and adventure sports. He currently lives in Dubai with his wife Maria and his two sons.

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