These 4 tips helped Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt Lopez build his billion-dollar empire
With a net worth of $2.6 billion, Hawkers sunglasses president and Auro Travel founder Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt López’s unique approach to marketing and branding has made his investments a wild success. Known for his use of influencers and social media to promote his brands, his investment philosophy has helped him grow several businesses from modest sales to overwhelming success. But what’s at the heart of the Venezuelan billionaire’s investment philosophy? Read on to learn his four time-tested tips.
1. A human-centric investment approach
Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt López says the key to his business’s success is his focus — on people. “My first point of focus when choosing an investment is people” — specifically those in the C-suite, the captains of the ship. “There are 10,000 good ideas out there, but not all of them amount to a successful venture because there are many factors that make them successful. And for me, the most critical one is the people.” Betancourt López is used to betting big on colleagues. After being approached by the creators of Hawkers sunglasses in 2016, he led the brand to become a household name, thanks to his clever leveraging of social media marketing. Free sunnies begot lots of likes — and success. Soon after joining the brand, he landed another big win for Hawkers: a 50 million euro (about $54 million) financing round.
2. Perseverance pays off for Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt López
Behind the glamour lies the true grit. “What I have learned is nothing comes easy,” says Betancourt López. Enduring and evolving through the unpredictable twists of entrepreneurship separates the wheat from the chaff. So buck up, starry-eyed entrepreneurs: The bumps in the road to success are as unavoidable as New York City potholes. Like when Betancourt López founded Auro Travel in 2017, it was initially perceived as a risky venture by analysts, but today it stands as the premier provider of private car services in Spain, boasting approximately 2,000 ride-sharing licenses within the country. Betancourt López’s strategic approach has proven highly successful, giving rise to the creation of Arrow, a pivotal division within Auro. Arrow plays a vital role by licensing its ride-sharing permits to other enterprises aiming to operate within major Spanish cities, including the bustling capital, Madrid. As he puts it, “You have to be there to make sure that you push through and keep everybody working and you keep everybody focused, and you keep everybody being creative and evolving and innovating.”
3. Remedy inertia by focusing on innovation
It’s easy to start an enterprise, but staying with it through the difficult times and remaining committed to the venture can be difficult. And then, there are those sleepless nights. “I’m not sleeping, I’m going crazy, but it can’t stop,” he confides. Betancourt López remedies this common pitfall by laser-focusing on constant innovation. “Once I start something, I just don’t stop,” he says. “I try to see every single avenue that could happen or every single option out there that could turn negative and try to mitigate it beforehand.” Still, he warns, “Even if the idea is great, even if you have the right people, even if everything is aligned, it’ll always surprise you with different things that are not expected.”
4. Diversification is the best investment insurance, says Betancourt López
“I always wanted to be an investor,” Betancourt López recently confided. My first investment was in Citibank when I was 17, which taught me some of the most fundamental lessons of my career.” Fundamental lessons that everyone from a venture capitalist to an average Joe on Main Street looking to make the next big trade can learn from. “If you’re focusing only on one investment, that’s a problem,” he says. “I know it can be really hard to accept that you’ve got to get out of a bad investment. I die fighting. I’m a good buyer, but I’m a terrible seller. So, you have to understand when is the right time to move on and not throw good resources into bad money as good money into bad money.” Considering his lucrative investments in Hawkers and Auro, we’ll take his word for it.
