Gustavo Cisneros Presents Opening Remarks at the Florida International University - Americas Venture Capital Conference

Please allow me to extend a warm welcome to you all -- and tell you how delighted I am to be part of this important meeting of innovative business owners and entrepreneurs.

We are gathered at this new and exciting forum for those seeking capital for growth in South Florida and the Americas -- a place where the new ideas and concepts for global businesses of the future -- meet the proven techniques and strategies of successful businesses today.

I am proud to have been invited to be a part of this distinguished event and would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the organizers of this conference, in particular my good friends President Rosenberg, Executive Dean Joyce Elam and Director Dr. Irma Becerra-Fernandez. Also congratulations to the entire FIU team and the many collaborators that have made this event a success.

In a very short period of time the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center has become an international leader in entrepreneurship research, education, and outreach, as well as one of the nation’s top entrepreneurship centers.

The Cisneros Group is proud to be associated with this growing community of business leaders, educators and scholars, all dedicated to the same principles we have adhered to in our own business through the years.

Success in the challenging 21st century will be based on a combination of advanced technology, knowledge and innovation. In a word -- education.

Since the 1980's the Cisneros Group has made its own commitment to Florida’s success and the region’s future.

Venevision International -- our Spanish-language entertainment business has been here for more than twenty years, and our corporate offices are in Coral Gables.

We have been able to develop an established presence in the global television industry. Our programs have been a great success in the local marketplace, and they have also been produced and adapted in 104 different countries and cultures, as well as translated into more than 20 languages.

Also, six years ago, we established Venevision Studios and Venevision Productions in Medley, where we have fully-equipped, state-of-the-art digital studios, which allow us to keep up with the stringent demands of our clients. It is an example of one of our businesses that is 100% Floridian. Recently we have met with great success with the launch of Eva Luna, airing in prime-time on Univision. The product was fully developed in Florida, from zero. It has now obtained a 70% market share, the equivalent of more than 3-million Spanish-speaking households, a number which is still climbing. Last Friday it was one of the top three broadcast programs in the US among adults 18-to-34 in Spanish or English.

We believe Florida is an exceptionally attractive place to do business. It offers a well-trained, well-educated, multi-lingual workforce recently rated number one in America by CNBC, and is a proven and effective gate-way to Latin America.

We also share the Pino Center’s focus on working with growing companies in Latin America and South Florida, leveraging technology and proven management strategies to help take organizations to the next level.

In many other ways the Center and its founder’s goals and ambitions mirror those that have inspired the Cisneros group over the years.

The Cisneros Group began more than 80 years ago. Today we are one of the largest privately held media, entertainment, and telecommunications organizations in the world. We wholly own -- or control -- companies ranging from broadcast television and television production to travel resorts.

Services and products generated by our Group are present in more than one hundred countries, reaching hundreds of millions of consumers.

From the beginning we have always nurtured growth and fostered new ideas -- both within our company and through business relationships with outside firms.

Today we act much like a private equity group, buying, creating value and selling corporate enterprises -- with our core businesses concentrated on media and telecommunications.

For the past five or six years most of our growth has been generated from within, for example, the development of our Venevision International business. We are now nurturing new business initiatives in the US, Latin America, Europe and Asia. One of these examples is Venevision Plus, also headquartered in Florida, which has become the number-one in audience share in Santo Domingo and Venezuela, and we plan to expand to the rest of Latin America in the next 12 months.

At the Cisneros Group we have had our fair share of bold entrepreneurial successes. But we have also tried to learn from the obstacles and difficulties we have faced over the years.

We have created a corporate philosophy and culture that is consistent and has served us well over the years.

We too are challenged by the disruption caused by the emergence of new media and new technologies. Our traditional business model, particularly in broadcast TV, is continuously under threat and as such we must constantly review it and work very hard to stay ahead and continue to lead in our markets.

This is not an easy task and requires a lot of entrepreneurial spirit. New ideas and business models have to be explored, tested, nurtured and developed -- while at the same time keeping an eye on our current, profitable operations. This dual dynamic of exploring new businesses -- while continuing to exploit existing ones -- is necessary in order to generate the opportunities that will provide growth for the future.

We have already launched many new initiatives and we are currently in the process of revisiting our corporate strategy, our managerial structures and asset allocation procedures in order to make this process successful and ensure it has adequate support and resources.

This is not a reactive response -- this is developing new and better ways of doing business. Over the years we have also learned how important it is -- in business -- to cultivate a wide range of contacts. That is, a web of contacts that can serve as a con-do-it for information and a basis for solid partnerships.

And we believe that if you want to be successful, you need the courage to make decisions but maintain a willingness to listen to the views of others.

Overall, our guiding principles for building and growing an entrepreneurial business are:

1. Focus on opportunities capable of offering quality services to mass markets.
2. Assume calculated risks.
3. Strike a balance between central control and operational autonomy.
4. Make human resources a top priority
5. Identify the essential elements to expand your business.
6. Keep in mind what private initiative means for a nation’s economic progress.

The Cisneros Group is dedicated to enhancing the economic well-being of the community in which we live, giving back to our fellow citizens, encouraging the development and sharing of wealth with those who helped produce it, and building a sustainable community of lifelong learners.

This conference comes at a crucial time. It is a time when businesses -- and people from all walks of life and all parts of the world -- are looking for answers, for constructive solutions to problems, and for the inspiration to fuel growth and success in the future.

This is a place where we can begin to propel dreams towards reality and help creative new ideas to bear fruit.

We are honored to be here at such an important time -- the first of what we hope will be an annual celebration of the power of venture capital to fuel entrepreneurship and the growing importance of Miami to investors in Latin America and the world. Again, we welcome you to this important event.

Thank you.