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    Jose Cobian

    Jose Cobian

    Startup Investor & Freelance Consultant. Formerly, @circlepay, @hoteltonight. @okuriventures, @tetuanvalley, @oliverwyman & @monitorgroup, among others.

    Entrepreneur Madrid Northeastern Universi...
    jmcobian.com
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    About
    Achievements

    Hi, I’m Jose (a.k.a Cobi), a European startup investor based in Spain. I’m a board member at @Tetuan Valley, Europe's first 100% free-of-cost startup accelerator for first-time entrepreneurs. Additionally, I collaborate on a regular basis with consulting firms @CapsysGroup and @Itasu on a variety of projects.

    Previously, I led the launch and expansion of both blockchain & fintech trailblazer @Circle and mobile-first hotel bookings pioneer @HotelTonight (acquired by AirBnB in 2019) in Southern Europe.

    Prior to that, I led @Tetuan Valley as its CEO, I advised several VCs and investors in over 30+ investment mandates from deal-sourcing up to due diligence, and I developed and led several startup acceleration programs, tech incubators, and academic programs to foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Spain.

    Before that, I was a Management Consultant for @OliverWyman and @MonitorGroup.

    Describe the most impressive thing you've done.
    Skills
    Business Strategy Go to Market Strategy Lean Startups Startup Management Startup Founder Networking Competitive Analysis Business Model Development Customer Development Business Model Innovation Sales New Market Development Internationalization Python Marketing Customer Relationship Management Management Microsoft Office Data Analysis Management Consulting Recruiting Business Operations Operations Management Marketing Management Product Management Product Strategy Spanish English Automotive Budgeting Consulting Documentation Due Diligence English language Microsoft Outlook Sourcing Telecommunications Venture Capital Bilingual CSS HTML Javascript SQL Travel
    Locations
    Community of Madrid Spain Lisbon Madrid
     
    Experience
    Independent
    Independent
    Startup Investor & Freelance Consultant 2018 - Present (almost 8 years)
    Leading business growth, company scalability, new product/service launch and international expansion projects for startups, SMEs as well as digitalization, growth, international... more expansion, cost optimisation and organizational restructuring projects for well-established large corporations and institutions across various industries and geographies.

    Some examples of key casework so far include:
    • Advised various early-stage VCs & startups and invested personally in 3 startups: Onyze.com, Meetzy.io, and Swipoo.com (more angel investments to be announced soon!)
    • Provided on-going strategic and operational advice to Europe’s 1st non-profit startup program TetuanValley.com as an official Member of its Board of Advisors
    • Led 16+ cost optimization, organizational restructuring, and collective negotiation projects for ITASU (consulting firm), for 9 clients in industries like FMCG, fashion, travel, security, automotive and life sciences
    • Conducted 15+ strategy generation and implementation projects, as well as capability building mandates for top-tier clients in the life sciences sector for Capsys Group (consulting firm)
    Freelance
    Freelance
    Senior Consultant & Advisor 2015 - 2017 (over 1 year)
    Led different growth, international expansion and turnaround projects for startups, SMEs and well-established large corporations across various industries and geographies.... more Some of these projects included:
    • Designed and led a growth and turnaround project for a Spanish e-commerce company in the cosmetics sector, redefining their B2C & B2B business lines, AARRR model, operations and team structure.
    • Conducted a U.S. market and consumption trends study for a major European football club
    HotelTonight
    Exit
    HotelTonight
    Country Manager, Iberia (Spain, Portugal & Andorra) 2013 - 2015 (over 2 years)
    Joined the pioneer in mobile hotel bookings backed as its Country Manager for Iberia. Key achievements include:
    • Launched and grew operations within these 3 countries.... more from 2 cities to 120+ destinations and from 12 to 1000+ hotels signed
    • Led all PR, branding and demand generation efforts positioning Iberia within the company’s top 5 regions in bookings and top 3 in growth
    • Co-led our London office (25 employees) and co-wrote the company playbook used for every new country launch
    Tetuan Valley
    Tetuan Valley
    Member Of The Board Of Advisors 2013 - Present (over 13 years)
    Tetuan Valley is a fully independent and self-funded non-profit association that spun out of Okuri Ventures and is responsible for running Europe's first 100% equity-free... more and cost-free startup pre-accelerator programme: Tetuan Valley Startup School.

    Since its inception Tetuan Valley Startup School (or TVSS) has taught and mentored hundreds of first-time entrepreneurs worldwide on how to kickstart their startup projects and go from idea to prototype and to getting its first few clients and/or users in just 6 weeks.

    As such, the goal of TVSS has been to bring together a supportive community of likeminded entrepreneurial individuals and talented startup mentors, so that together they can make each other's paths into the startup world a little bit easier and increase their chances of success in finding their place in it.

    Among many others, some notable startup projects and companies that have been built by Tetuan Valley Startup School Alumni are:
    - BNext: https://bnext.es/
    - Rentger (acquired by Idealista.com, January 2021): https://www.rentger.com/
    - Teltoo (acquired by Haivision, July 2020): https://teltoo.com/
    - Arbor: https://arborfintech.com/
    - Motoreto: https://www.motoreto.com/
    - Homming: https://www.homming.com/
    - Triporate: https://triporate.com/
    - Yinius: https://www.yinius.es/
    - Poin: https://poinplaces.com/
    - RatedPower: https://ratedpower.com/
    - Pibisi: https://pibisi.com/
    Partner / CEO 2010 - 2013 (over 2 years)
    Led Europe’s 1st non-profit startup program (Tetuan Valley) building and managing an international community of 300+ first-time entrepreneurs and 150+ mentors through free... more and open-sourced programs.
    As of March 2013, I handed over my day-to-day responsibilities as Partner & CEO at Tetuan Valley, incorporated it as a Non-Profit Association and joined its Board of Trustees.
    For further information visit www.tetuanvalley.com
    Okuri Ventures
    Okuri Ventures
    Partner 2010 - 2013 (over 2 years)
    Joined a bootstrapped VC & startup consulting firm as Associate Director. Appointed Partner of the firm and CEO of our leading brand (Tetuan Valley) within the 1st year.... more Key achievements include:
    • Built and developed 4 brands including a VC advisory practice, a non-profit pre-seed startup program, a seed-stage startup accelerator fund and a startup investment course for traditional investors
    • Invested in 13 startups, mentored over 100 startup projects, helped over 300 first-time entrepreneurs and advised several VCs and investors in over 30 investments from deal-sourcing up to due diligence
    • Designed and organized programs, courses and events around tech entrepreneurship for different public institutions, universities as well as public and private clients in Spain, Portugal and other EU countries
    Scarafaggio
    Scarafaggio
    Founder, Co-Founder / Advisor 2009 - 2013 (over 3 years)
    Startupbootcamp
    Startupbootcamp
    Associate Director 2011 - 2012 (about 1 year)
    Oliver Wyman
    Oliver Wyman
    Consultant 2009 - 2010 (over 1 year)
    Monitor Group
    Monitor Group
    Consultant 2007 - 2008 (over 1 year)
    Merrill Lynch
    Merrill Lynch
    U.S. High Grade Financial Analyst 2006 (5 months)
    FIAT
    FIAT
    Sales & Marketing Assistant for the Aftersales Division 2004 - 2005 (5 months)
    Founder
    Scarafaggio
    Employee
    HotelTonight, Merrill Lynch, Oliver Wyman, Monitor Group, Startupbootcamp, Tetuan Valley, Okuri Ventures, FIAT, Freelance, Independent
    Investor
     
    Incubator
     
    Advisor
    Arbitratio, Yo Coso
    Attorney
     
    Board Member
     
    Mentor
     
    Member
     
    Acquired
     
     
    Education
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