Back home!

by Jimena Pardo

May 25th, 2022

Today I'm joining ALLVP as its third partner! Much like other entrepreneurs and investors, I started my entrepreneurial career by accident. Just when I was planning to start my masters degree, I went to lunch with friends including one of the only VCs in Mexico. There I met Federico, a brisk guy who rushed me into a meeting on Monday, 8 am. Soon after, I was co-founding Carrot, along with Diego Solórzano, a carsharing company and ALLVP’s first investment.

Building Carrot will be one of the most exciting and enriching adventures of my life, not only for the ride, but the amazing people I was riding with. We built the biggest carsharing in LATAM which became a trailblazer for the entrepreneur and startup ecosystem in the region. Together we celebrated amazing triumphs, and endured extremely rough times. We had an enormous amount of fun, but mostly, we worked closely to overcome all the difficulties that came our way.

Carrot Carsharing team at our HQ, circa 2012.

After running Carrot for six years, I joined Meta (Facebook) as Product Growth Manager for Mexico and SS LATAM, where I worked with amazingly talented people to identify the local needs and nuances from our region and build products that would impact and benefit our users. Facebook was not only the top product school I could find, it also helped me unlearn biases and behaviors and replace them with those from empathy, respect and diversity.

Meanwhile, the Mexican startup ecosystem was growing with itchy feet. True to the values of Endeavor, I started mentoring and “paying-it-forward” to other talented entrepreneurs in topics I felt passionate about: building product, go-to-market and growth. Nevertheless, it always felt like I was missing skin in the game. I found myself wishing I could actually invest in these founders, not only with my time, but with capital that could empower them. I started investing as an angel and loved the experience.

During that time, my relationship with Federico had transformed into what has been an always-on mentorship-friendship throughout the years. As I witnessed how ALLVP continued to unlock milestones for the ecosystem, my entrepreneurial heart bumped with excitement (and tbh, FOMO) every time we met. More recently, I met Antonia and was impressed by her intelligence, sharpness and wittiness. My visits to Sierra Mojada (ALLVP) became more frequent. I wanted to be closer and closer to the firm and the community around them; my dearest Pati, Mafe, Blanca, Delbys, Natalia, Nico and Elyes, the brilliant entrepreneurs, and their limited partners. I also fell in love with the portfolio; Fintual has helped me grow my savings without spending time on them, Super Insurance has got me covered, and I just love talking to Yana. Not to mention Cornershop!

Fede, Anto and I, at ALLVP´s entryway, 2022.

Today, our partnership transforms into a deeper relationship and lets me close the circle. From founder to investor, I’m now all-in. I am joining ALLVP with a handfull of operating skills to serve our founders. I have built companies while having a deep product sense, which is a rare unique experience in our region. I am resilient, hard working and ambitious, but I also have an open mindset, which our own team and my partners will appreciate.

The diversity of skills among our team will help us consolidate our leadership in venture capital with a deep commitment and wide value to our formidable founders. I look forward to bringing a fresh perspective and restless energy into ALLVP, which includes expanding to new industries and technologies solving the hardest problems in the region.

For our present and future founders; I’ve been in your shoes, I am committed to help you go through your endeavor and succed.

For my partners and team; let’s keep on growing and winning together.

For our ecosystem and region; let’s build together a fair, efficient, empowering community that will allow us build successful, impactful businesses.

As John Denver sings... -”Hey, it's good to be back home again, YES IT IS!”-

Reach out!

Through jpardo@allvp.vc / @pimepardo

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Originally published via LinkedIn