I have been very lucky in my 25 (time flies!) years of experience to pretty much work in the areas that I enjoy the most. As a corporate lawyer I started doing M&A and capital markets deal for big corporations working in big firms in Chile and in NY, but some years ago together with some colleagues we decided that was the right time to have our own start-up so we founded our law firm, which some years later joined DLA Piper. Besides being the country managing partner, in the last decade I have been spending more time working in corporate governance but my favorite work is (being an entrepreneur) to assist entrepreneurs in taking ideas to become real businesses.
Why start-ups? Because frequently start-ups are disruptive and consequently it is an area that requires innovation and creativity to be able to solve non-traditional legal problems. Furthermore, what I like the most of working with entrepreneurs is the direct relationship that they have with innovation, technology and development of new solutions for real life problems including the impact on social issues.
My experience in Venture Capital formally started on 2007, when we started the first practice group in Chile (and probably in the region) specialized in Venture Capital legal services. During these years we have advised clients in several landmark transactions, many of them the first to be closed in Chile, such as the first significant exit for a Chilean start-up company ever (sale of Needish to Groupon), the first Series A or Series B ever done in the country and recently the biggest exit up to now (sale of a majority stake of Cornershop to Uber, working as joint counsel).
In addition, I enjoy teaching future lawyers in matters related to corporate law, venture capital and corporate governance, being a tenured professor at the leading law school in the region.
However, my biggest accomplishment is my family. With my wife we have 5 children and even when at moments we would love to have them in a boarding school quite far away, they are tons of fun, I couldn´t be a prouder father. We love to travel, and if our traveling involves skiing, trekking or being close to nature, even better (although the best part is just being together). I also enjoy sports, at this age more watching that playing, being a longtime supporter of my local professional soccer team and my fantastic football team in the US: Go Blue Michigan!