Alejandro Betancourt Lopez - Embracing Innovation and The Diversity of The New - TheBroTalk

12/04/2020 Alejandro Betancourt Lopez: Embracing Innovation and the Diversity of the New - TheBroTalk
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 September 27, 2019
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The career of Alejandro Betancourt Lopez is one marked by your Inbox!
adaptation and innovation. Armed with two undergraduate
Your email address
degrees (economics and business administration) from
Massachusetts’s Su olk University, Betancourt returned to his
native Venezuela — he is the great-grandson of Hermógenes SUBSCRIBE!
López, who was brie y president in the late 19th century — and
began working in the oil industry. As he advanced professionally,
he came to increasingly embrace new technologies and expand his
expertise into the sustainable-energy sector. And as he embraced
life as an entrepreneur, he went onto diversify his portfolio into
other elds, including nance and cutting-edge retail products.
His success is built on the idea of welcoming innovation and

bringing new approaches to established business models – he has
become ever more fascinated with technological change. While his
career has expanded into the European Union via Spain, the
opportunities that high-tech a ords the developing world has
driven him to work in both South America and Africa. The prospect
for new lines of communication and development presented by
the Internet is now a focal point of his investing and business
e orts.
“When we think of an entrepreneur we usually have the idea of a

person who creates a company and develops his own business, but
entrepreneurship has other facets […] Corporate entrepreneurship
https://thebrotalk.com/bro-bio/alejandro-betancourt-lopez/ 1/8
is the set of initiatives that are developed within companies to

create and generate value by promoting innovation with internal
actions or by incorporating external knowledge to generate
business opportunities,” Betancourt wrote in a blog entry entitled
Corporate Entrepreneurship: Innovation Inward [all quotes are
translated from the original Spanish]. “We must always remember
that changes and the generation of ideas are slow processes in
which the results may take time to appear. However, perseverance
is important. As leaders of our companies, we must try to
encourage and reward entrepreneurship to achieve continuous
innovation in our products and services.”
Betancourt’s professional career began as a manager at several

companies, including the commodities trader Guruceaga Group
and BGB Energy (the Venezuelan arm of Kawasaki Heavy
Industries). He was also the Latin American commercial manager
for ICC-OEOC, a U.K. company that provides technological solutions
to the o shore oil industry.
Eventually, Betancourt reached a point in his career when it was

time to branch out on his own. He had accumulated a deep
understanding of not only the oil industry but other sectors as well
— including the particulars of international trade within the energy
sector. He had also developed a great appreciation for technical
application of innovation and an understanding of how it could be
adapted across the modern economy.
“In general, it is essential to focus on looking for a niche market

and identify a product or service that generates a better value than
competitors o er in terms of quality or price,” he sums up in his
blog Business Ideas to Undertake In 2019. “The options to undertake
are very numerous — it is only necessary to know how to manage
risk and be aware that constant innovation is a prerequisite for
every successful entrepreneur. There will always be processes to
improve and lessons to learn.”
In 2007, in partnership with Pedro Trebbau López, Betancourt

founded Derwick Associates in order to play a leading role in the
expanding thermoelectric power sector. At its outset, the
company’s focus was overseeing the development and
construction of e cient electricity-production facilities and the
supply chain for their operation. It also o ered testing and
commissioning services.
Its strategy was to apply innovation and cutting-edge technology to

a eld — power generation — that, like the oil-extraction industry,
had become somewhat established in its ways. Within a few years,
the company had established itself as a leader in Venezuela and
the wider region. It has built eleven simple-cycle thermoelectric

power plants that have brought 1,386 megawatts onto the
Venezuelan power grid and gone on to expand into wind, and solar
projects as well. One of the underlying goals of the company is to
create opportunities for homegrown research and development in
Latin America.
A project in pursuit of that goal is the Technological Turbine Center

(CTT) in Guácara, Carabobo State. Designed to provide faster and
more comprehensive services to regional power producers — who
have often had to wait for contractors from elsewhere in the world
— it was a signi cant leap forward for Central America’s energy
sector. The project received a “best technological initiative in Latin
America” award from the Spanish magazine Capital in 2013.
When the project was announced Betancourt — whose company

was also expanding operations into Spain at the time — spoke to
the Spanish daily newspaper ABC.
“Spain has technology centers in the area of energy storage and

very important networks. The technological advance of Spain in
these centers is overwhelming. We want to invest in that
technology and take it to countries like Venezuela,” Betancourt
said. “[This is] a bet that aspires to position Venezuela as a great
technology provider in Latin America. Come to our workshop
instead of going to Germany or the United States. If you are from
Mercosur [the economic bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay,
Uruguay, and Venezuela] or Alba [consisting of ten member states
in the region], going to CTT will be cheaper and more e cient.”
Similarly, Alejandro’s company entered into a joint agreement with

Simón Bolivar University in Caracas to create opportunities for
training and career advancement in the energy sector. Such e orts
t into the company’s commitment to not only mitigate the macro
issue of climate change, but also the micro impacts of development
on the localities.
The company has established several in-house social responsibility

initiatives. Its Green program sponsors reforestation and energy
e ciency campaigns that target young people. The Foundation
created under Alejandro’s leadership supports educational
initiatives, especially in sports, science and technology (STEM), and
e orts by the O cina Nacional Antidrogas (ONA, National Anti-Drug
Organization). The corporation also donates cash and makes in-
kind contributions to communities in which it is active via its
Hermógenes López Foundation, which has supported schools,
community centers, and e orts to preserve the culture of the
region’s indigenous people.
“The Hermógenes López Foundation is something which is of

extreme importance to us all. We created the Foundation to ensure
that our communities — and especially our children — are getting
the best future possible,” Betancourt explained in a company press
release. “When we take on a project, like building the Carmen
Salles School in Ciudad Bolívar, we don’t just complete the build
and that’s the end of it. We become completely involved in the
projects. By doing this, we can ensure that the projects are
successful and continue to be successful in the future. Knowing
that we are making a di erence is great, and we hope to continue
doing more things like this for as long as we can. We are conscious
that our electric power plants do generate emissions, so we are
constantly looking for ways to balance out these emissions. To try
and leave a greener footprint on the world, we also take part in
ecological (environmental?) events and reforestation campaigns.”
O’Hara Administration
After founding and leading a business to a prominent role in the
energy-production sector, Betancourt decided to explore new
opportunities by founding O’Hara Administration. It’s an
international asset management company with a stake in a wide
range of investment vehicles, including two other companies that
Betancourt is active in, Paci c Exploration & Production
Corporation (formerly Paci c Rubiales Energy) and Hawkers.
Similar to his previous e orts to modernize electrical production

outside developed countries, O’Hara ties into Betancourt’s belief in
the need to strengthen the underlying business and
entrepreneurial infrastructure of developing nations.
“The importance of banks for a country’s economy — and, of

course, for the global free-market economy — is something long
accepted and assumed. But, although in the developed countries it
is already a more than consolidated sector, and its role is not a
matter of debate, the same does not happen in developing
countries ,” Betancourt writes in a blog entitled Banking
Development as a Decisive Factor for Third World Economies. “In
countries with developing economies, not only is there a lack of
funds and nancing capacity, but in many cases, there is also a
huge de cit of access to banking in more physical terms. Although
the growth possibilities of these countries are enormous, in many
cases it is not easy to establish and prosper, since their conditions
are not similar to those of European, American, or Asian states.”
BDK group
This has led Betancourt into

being active in developing
banking service in Africa,
including holding a major
stake in the Banque du Dakar
(BDK), based in Senegal and
serving French-speaking
Africa. The bank was created
by a group of international
investors who saw the need
to create an economic engine
Source: www.bdk.sn
in the sub-Saharan region.
“Opening banks in Africa is one of the biggest challenges, as there

are great di culties. However, BDK e orts are already paying o
and thanks to a series of agreements we have managed to
establish in countries such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Guinea, and
Mali. Through our o ces, companies and individuals can opt for
payment solutions and nancial savings, investment, or nancing
products, including microcredits,” Betancourt explains in his blog
Business Development, Key to the Future of Africa. “The nal objective
is to favor the population’s approach to banking products by
allowing them to do business and, therefore, energize the business
development that is so necessary throughout the continent.”
Paci c Exploration & Production

A major investment in 2015 by O’Hara into Paci c Exploration &
Production was a throwback to Betancourt’s early days in the oil
industry. It was already a major Latin American oil company when
he became director of its board after acquiring approximately 20
percent of its stock. He has overseen continued growth as it has
expanded into Peru, Mexico, and Venezuela.
“We were nimble, fast. We wouldn’t ask for a down payment; we

took the risk,” Betancourt explained to Bloomberg in 2015 about his
aggressive move back into the petroleum sector. “We have taken
similar risks many times before. And we will continue to do it.”
Hawkers
Speaking of taking aggressive risks — and unlike his investment
into an industry with which he was deeply familiar with Paci c
Exploration & Production — in 2016 Betancourt partnered with
several Spanish investors and infused 50 million euros into the
sunglasses startup Hawkers. He became president of the company
in November of 2016. The goal is to make the company a force in

international fashion.
Of all of Betancourt’s holdings, it is the one in which he can most

directly explore his interest in the possibilities of technological
innovation in the marketplace. The ability to use social media —
instead of traditional media advertising campaigns — appeals to
his innovative spirit, especially as it relates to business operations
outside of developed nations.
Source: www.alejandrobetancourt.es
“Hawkers generated a business model based on the strategy of

creating an innovative and user-friendly market, thanks to the
opportunities of digital transformation, which has revolutionized
the fashion and accessories industry,” he writes in his blog Hawkers,
The Innovation Revolution. “One of the keys to the success of
Hawkers has been user-focused marketing through social
networks. Social networks have served as advertising tools to
position the brand, as data collection instruments to make key
decisions, and as a means to campaign with in uencers that
dominate these platforms. Facebook recognizes us as the company
with the best advertising performance in Europe, the East, and
Africa. And on Twitter, we have managed to break records of
organic trending topics.”
Betancourt is very bullish on his company and his foray into direct
retail.
“We’re going to eat at Ray-Ban,” he told El Mundo in an interview

late in 2016. “With Hawkers, we did a study of the company and
saw that it was an innovative company. We invented a concept of a
market that was not being used — the sale of quality designer
glasses at an a ordable price through Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram, and Google.”
The use of developing technology that is global in scope makes

Hawkers the perfect vehicle for Betancourt’s ambitions.
The company has enjoyed strong growth and, supplementing its

robust online sales, it is now expanding into brick-and-mortar retail
with its agship Madrid store and new outlets in Barcelona, Rome,
Mexico, and Columbia. It has also created micro-stores throughout
Spanish-speaking Europe.
“As a manager and enthusiast of a brand that started with 300

euros and that, in less than four years, has billed €100 million in 50
countries thanks to the Internet and good digital marketing
practices, I can say that today Hawkers represents a reference
point to establishing a business. It continues making history in an
increasingly changing and competitive world,” Betancourt summed
up in the blog post Break Schemes to Make History.
Conclusion
Though still under the age of 40, Alejandro Betancourt Lopez has
built a vibrant career based on his investment in and management
of diverse holdings. Recognizing the power of new technologies
and innovation to impact established business models, he is
forging ahead with initiatives cutting across industries and
business models.
Connect with Alejandro Bentacourt Lopez
@alejandrobetancourtl on Instagram
@betancalejandro on Twitter
Alejandro Bentancourt Lopez on YouTube
Like Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt López on Facebook
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12/04/2020 Alejandro Betancourt Lopez: Embracing Innovation and the Diversity of the New - TheBroTalk

HOME  BRO BIO  Alejandro Betancourt Lopez: Embracing BECOME A MEMBER!

Join our Ranking System, earn

Alejandro Betancourt points, customize your

Lopez: Embracing upvote comments and more!

     Don't like commitment? No

His success is built on the idea of welcoming innovation and

“When we think of an entrepreneur we usually have the idea of a

is the set of initiatives that are developed within companies to

Betancourt’s professional career began as a manager at several

Eventually, Betancourt reached a point in his career when it was

“In general, it is essential to focus on looking for a niche market

In 2007, in partnership with Pedro Trebbau López, Betancourt

Its strategy was to apply innovation and cutting-edge technology to

the wider region. It has built eleven simple-cycle thermoelectric

A project in pursuit of that goal is the Technological Turbine Center

When the project was announced Betancourt — whose company

“Spain has technology centers in the area of energy storage and

Similarly, Alejandro’s company entered into a joint agreement with

The company has established several in-house social responsibility

“The Hermógenes López Foundation is something which is of

Similar to his previous e orts to modernize electrical production

“The importance of banks for a country’s economy — and, of

This has led Betancourt into

“Opening banks in Africa is one of the biggest challenges, as there

Paci c Exploration & Production

“We were nimble, fast. We wouldn’t ask for a down payment; we

in November of 2016. The goal is to make the company a force in

Of all of Betancourt’s holdings, it is the one in which he can most

“Hawkers generated a business model based on the strategy of

“We’re going to eat at Ray-Ban,” he told El Mundo in an interview

glasses at an a ordable price through Facebook, Twitter,

The use of developing technology that is global in scope makes

The company has enjoyed strong growth and, supplementing its

“As a manager and enthusiast of a brand that started with 300

Connect with Alejandro Bentacourt Lopez

Glen Wakeman: Discovering the

Bro Bio: Eric Pulier’s Life As An

When sports, tech and Business

 ALEJANDRO BETANCOURT LOPEZ

Be the First to Comment!

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Copyright © 2017 | TheBroTalk

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