allvp research: the state of mexico's startups 2016 results

THE STATE OF MEXICO’S STARTUPSFull Survey Results

2016

2

THE STATE OF MEXICO’S STARTUPSIntroduction

What is the startup founder experience like

in Mexico? How does the local startup

ecosystem compare to its U.S. cousin?

These are critical questions, and it's

important to get input on them from the

founders driving change in Mexico's

dynamic and vibrant startup landscape.

To that end we replicated First Round

Capital's recent "State of Startups 2015"

survey to shed light on these topics. The

Mexico landscape is still young and as such

lacks a depth of data; comparison with

other ecosystems can offer a valuable

analysis. We surveyed a broad set of

founders based or working in Mexico to

gauge their sentiments and compare them

against their peers in the U.S. Hopefully

their answers can help other founders,

investors, or even dreamers thinking of

starting their company.

3


1. Do you expect it to get harder or easier to raise

venture capital in the next 12 months?

5%

12%

38%

38%

7%

Much easier

Somewhat easier

Neither harder nor easier

Somewhat harder

Much harder

4


2. How many firms did you pitch when raising your last

round of funding?

7%

14%

17%

21%

17%

14%

10%

30+

21-30

11-20

6-10

3-5

<3

Inside round

5


3. How long was your entire fundraising process for your

most recent round?

66%

5%

12%

9%

0%

9%

4+ months

4 months

3 months

2 months

1 month

< 1 month

6


4. If you intend to go public, how long do you think it will

be until your IPO?

33%

21%

26%

14%

7%

No intent

7+ years

5-7 years

3-5 years

1-2 years

7


5. Has your company ever raised a bridge round?

34%

66%

Yes

No

8


6. How do you think the M&A market for startups will

change over the next 12 months?

11%

5%

33%

37%

14%

Far fewer acquisitions

Slightly fewer acquisitions

About the same acquisitions

Slightly more acquisitions

Far more acquisitions

9


7. How many years do you think it will take for your

company to become profitable?

10%

2%

14%

57%

17%

Already profitable

5+ years

3-5 years

1-3 years

< 1 year

10


8. How many founders does your company have?

10%

52%

29%

9%

1

2

3

4+

11


9. If you have at least one co-founder, how would you

define your co-founder relationship?

34%

46%

9%

5%5%

Best friends

Collegial

Don't have one

I fired them

Strained

12


10. How large is your team today?

2%

3%

21%

45%

19%

10%

101-250 people

51-100 people

21-50 people

6-20 people

<6 people

Just founders

13


11. What is the male to female ratio of your team?

14%

34%

33%

19%

Mostly female

Close to 50/50

Mostly male

All male

14


12. Does your organization have a strategy to promote

diversity and inclusiveness?

31%

14%

45%

10%

No, no plans

No, but planned

Yes, not formal

Yes, formal policy

15


13. How important is international presence to your

business over the next year?

37%

18%

16%

12%

18%

5 (Very)

4

3

2

1 (Not)

16


14. Which platform are you the most focused on?

45%

41%

7%

2%2% 2% 2%

Mobile

Web

Desktop

Hardware

VR

Social Media

Not a tech company

17


15. How many people do you think you are going to hire in

the next 12 months?

3%

3%

12%

17%

31%

33%

75+

51-75

21-50

11-20

6-10

1-5

18


16. Approximately what percentage of your team is

engineering?

53%

28%

16%

3%

>25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

19


17. How much does a mid-level employee at your

company make (salary + bonus)?

7%

19%

52%

22%

45,000-70,000 MXN/month

30,000-45,000 MXN/month

15,000-30,000 MXN/month

<15,000 MXN/month

20


18. How much equity does a mid-level employee at your

company receive?

2%

0%

4%

0%

5%

0%

7%

2%

5%

4%

14%

57%

2.21%+

2.01%-2.20%

1.81%-2.00%

1.61%-1.80%

1.41%-1.60%

1.21%-1.40%

1.01%-1.20%

0.81%-1.00%

0.61%-0.80%

0.41%-0.60%

0.21%-0.40%

0.00%-0.20%

21


19. What is your most critical hire in the next year?

5%0%

4%2%

4%0%

4%0%

4%2%

16%5%

18%7%

30%

OtherFinance JuniorFinance Senior

Operations JuniorOperations Senior

HR JuniorHR Senior

Product JuniorProduct Senior

Marketing JuniorMarketing Senior

Sales JuniorSales Senior

Engineering JuniorEngineering Senior

22


20. What is the average tenure of a non-executive

employee at your company?

2%

0%

7%

19%

21%

16%

36%

5+ years

4-5 years

3-4 years

2-3 years

1-2 years

< 1 year

Too early

23


21. How much time do employees have to exercise their

option after leaving the company?

41%

8%

18%

0%

2%

10%

10%

10%

Can't exercise

1 to 3 years

12 months

9 months

6 months

3 months

30 days

Immediately

24


22. What's your policy on employees selling secondary

shares?2%

19%

63%

16%

Free to sell anytime

Need Board approval

No policy

Other

25


23. Do you have annual performance reviews?

28%

38%

17%

17%Yes, and tied tocompensation

Yes, but not tied tocompensation

No, we do them on adifferent cycle

No

26


24. What's the hardest executive hire you've made?

6%

2%

6%

8%

17%

26%

36%

Other

HR leader

Design leader

Product leader

Marketing leader

Sales leader

Engineering leader

27


25. Who is allowed to work remotely?

26%

57%

14%

3%

A select few

Anyone can

No one can

Only engineers

28


26. What time do most people get into the office?

7%

17%

60%

16%

I don't know

10am-11am

9am-10am

Before 9am

29


27-30. Do you offer complimentary meals in the office?

Breakfast

Dinner

Lunch

Snacks

4%

0%

96%

Everyday

Most weekdays

Never

4%

9%

88%

Everyday

Most weekdays

Never

0%

4%

96%

Everyday

Most weekdays

Never

20%

25%

55%

Everyday

Most weekdays

Never

30


31. In total, how many advisors do you have on your cap

table (including options)?

40%

9%

22%

29%

None

6-10

3-5

1-2

31


32. How much equity did you give to each of your

advisors on average?

57%

5%

0%

0%

4%

0%

7%

9%

2%

5%

2%

9%

We don't offer equity to advisors

2.01%+

1.81%-2.00%

1.61%-1.80%

1.41%-1.60%

1.21%-1.40%

1.01%-1.20%

0.81%-1.00%

0.61%-0.80%

0.41%-0.60%

0.21%-0.40%

0.01%-0.20%

32


33. What's the price per month per square meter at your

office this year?

México, DF

Monterrey

Guadalajara

Queretaro

León

Somewhere else in

Mexico

Chile

Argentina

Colombia

U.S.

3%

22%

30%

46%

751-1,000 MXN

501-750 MXN

250-500 MXN

< 250 MXN

0%

50%

0%

50%

751-1,000 MXN

501-750 MXN

250-500 MXN

< 250 MXN

0%

0%

0%

100%

751-1,000 MXN

501-750 MXN

250-500 MXN

< 250 MXN

0%

0%

0%

100%

751-1,000 MXN

501-750 MXN

250-500 MXN

< 250 MXN

0%

0%

0%

100%

751-1,000 MXN

501-750 MXN

250-500 MXN

< 250 MXN

25%

0%

50%

25%

751-1,000 MXN

501-750 MXN

250-500 MXN

< 250 MXN

0%

50%

50%

0%

751-1,000 MXN

501-750 MXN

250-500 MXN

< 250 MXN

0%

0%

0%

100%

751-1,000 MXN

501-750 MXN

250-500 MXN

< 250 MXN

20%

20%

40%

20%

751-1,000 MXN

501-750 MXN

250-500 MXN

< 250 MXN

0%

0%

100%0%

751-1,000 MXN

501-750 MXN

250-500 MXN

< 250 MXN

33

THE STATE OF MEXICO’S STARTUPSAbout the Respondents

34. Where is your company headquartered?

10%

2%

2%

3%

7%

2%

3%

3%

3%

64%

USA

Colombia

Argentina

Chile

Somewhere else in Mexico

León

Queretaro

Guadalajara

Monterrey

Mexico, DF

1. Survey n=60.

34


35. Are you CEO, Founder or both?

81%

17%

2%

Both

Founder

CEO

35


36. Are you female or male?

9%

91%

Female

Male

36


37. How old are you?

9%

21%

7%

34%

26%

3%

51+

41-50

36-40

31-35

26-30

21-25

37


38. Which sector best describes your company?

2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

3%

3%

5%

7%

9%

10%

10%

17%

26%

Tourism

Telecom

IoT

Finance

Logistics

Consultant

Fund raising

Education

Energy

Health

Enterprise Digital

Mobility

Consumer Internet

Fintech

38


39. How old is your company?

3%

0%

7%

17%

59%

14%

10+ yrs

7-10 yrs

5-7 yrs

3-5 yrs

1-3 yrs

<1 yr

39


40. What was your last funding round?

11%

2%

7%

4%

20%

36%

21%

Other

Bridge round

Series C

Series B

Series A

Seed

Pre-seed

40


41. Do you have operations internationally?

38%

62%

Yes

No

allvp research: the state of mexico's startups 2016 results

Small Business & Entrepreneurship