From Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur – Episode #006 of Caminando al Trópico, a space full of flavor made
Today we are going to talk with José Penagos, an entrepreneur with great experience and founder of IFM.
Directed by Jose, from Trópico Digital, a digital marketing and online advertising agency.
It is commonly said that an entrepreneur will always be an entrepreneur.
In the midst of the digital revolution that has transcended generations over the last 30 years, the need has arisen to constantly adapt processes and services to serve users immediately.
Today I have the pleasure of talking with José Ignacio Penagos, who knows these processes very well, as he has worked as a communicator, professor, and above all, an entrepreneur.
José is the founder of IFM, a company that began in Bogotá in the late 90s and now, more than 20 years later, has consolidated as an entrepreneurial company with international reach.
Join me to listen to how this talented entrepreneur keeps innovating his ideas and how he motivates people around him to start working in the present instead of waiting to be “ready” in the future.
It’s not about teaching to think about the future… You control your today, and that’s what you need to teach people and entrepreneurs.
2:57 I never saw my dad employed in anything… He has always been his own boss.
3:21 I didn’t have the example of someone who is employed and follows a schedule.
4:23 Many people think that becoming a business owner means getting money from others for oneself, but that’s not true.
4:52 The entrepreneur takes a risk that no one else does, and if that risk fails, the loss is theirs, but if it goes well, everyone wins.
6:08 Any venture that starts something, that’s entrepreneurship.
7:48 If there is no family support, everything can collapse.
8:52 I have always said that entrepreneurship is worth it, but do it with other people, not with family.
9:50 Make it clear that you are the entrepreneur. If you don’t get family support, look for others.
11:18 They say “be careful” out of love. They want to protect you, thinking everything will fail. But it’s also a sign of lack of confidence in the entrepreneur.
14:22 The entrepreneur doesn’t have to know everything… The entrepreneur has an idea and what they will do is turn that idea into reality.
15:18 The entrepreneur needs to know defeat to learn what to do next.
17:55 What needs to be done is to reinvent oneself.
21:18 I saw that in Spain there was all kinds of information, and no agency was replicating or consolidating it… And I created IFM as an alternative cultural, educational, and green news agency.
24:45 Everything starts and everything ends, so you have to reinvent, reuse, and recycle yourself.
25:34 For me, there’s no better friend than an enemy, because they teach me the opposite and what one sometimes doesn’t want to hear.
26:20 When you have a product, you want even your opponent to consume it.
29:45 Contacts are contacts, not friends. But some contacts can surprise you.
32:48 I was the first journalist to let the world know about Andrés Escobar’s death.
33:20 I had an information network with taxi drivers, street vendors…
35:11 I went against Pablo Escobar from the microphones. Pablo Escobar set two bombs on us and burned our radio station.
36:02 I had first-hand information on what was happening in the neighborhoods, and Pablo Escobar didn’t like that.
37:07 We have not been victims, we have been consistent with what we were doing.
48:05 We are and have a generation of lazy people.
48:48 We have created a generation where we solve problems for students.
51:05 Nowadays, anyone who studies anything doesn’t know what they will do in the future.
51:55 We need to train them for life, not for a specific thing.
52:38 Universities will remain, but they need to change fundamentally.
1:00:55 From school, young people should be taught basic economics.
1:03:02 It is important for the entrepreneur to know the value of money.
1:05:20 Every day, as there are fewer jobs, everyone wants to do their own thing.
1:07:35 The doctor, dentist who sets up their clinic is just as much an entrepreneur as the communicator who decides to be a consultant.
1:09:40 In Latin America, we have thought that it is the government that should solve our problems.
1:12:27 The entrepreneur sometimes undertakes at the wrong time.
1:14:44 We are very good at saying we have ideas, but very bad at executing them.
1:19:16 Money comes when you are in action, it comes.
1:22:20 It’s not about teaching to think about the future… You control your today, and that’s what you need to teach people.
What advice would you give to Nacho from 20 years ago?
Don’t involve your wife’s family in business!
I would advise myself not to argue so much.
Now that you know more about Trópico, I invite you to keep reading our blogs and listening to our podcasts. Here are some titles that may interest you.
https://www.tropicodigital.com/es/ofreciendo-servicios-al-hogar-en-demanda-con-nicolas-parra-triko-app/
https://www.tropicodigital.com/es/industria-4-0-y-negocio/
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