Welcome to the Innovation Conversation, a podcast
about innovators, both in business and real life.
Hosted by myself, Ricardo Rescual and Harry McCona.
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startup. from brands to investors to tips and
tricks on how to be successful to start. Hi,
and welcome to another episode of the Innovation
Conversation. Today we are joined by Laura Idiarte.
Laura, welcome. Hi Ricardo, thank you very much
for this invitation and I'm very happy to be
here. It's a pleasure having you here. Laura,
would you like to introduce yourself to the audience,
please? Sure. I am head of PR and communications
at Zero 100 conferences. We organize networking
opportunities in the investor's world. So we
work in the private equity and venture capital
industry. And I also have a podcast, the ESG
and Impact Talks, where I talk to investors about
these topics. We release an episode every two
weeks, so I'm very, very passionate about these
topics. Interesting. And, you know, how did you
get started in this industry? Well, actually,
I've always been very, I've been always part
of the financial services, right? I started 10
years ago, actually, like working for the Banks
Association in Chile. And while doing this, I
also started course on community relations in
the extractive industry, which is very specific,
right? But I was living in Chile. I even did
like a project on financial inclusion in the
mining industry. You know, I was very passionate,
always been very passionate about this. I had
worked in sustainability for many years, from
airline then in Chile as well. for a bank in
the Banco de Chile, which is the largest bank
in Chile. And my job was, I was in charge of
the financial inclusion strategy for the bank.
I've always done it from the more of the commercial
side of the financial services. And last year,
I joined the Zero 100 conferences and went directly
into the investors world. Even though it's all
about the financial services industry, this is
a very specific, very niche world, and I really
love it because it's the one that actually makes
the decisions on where this world is heading
to. Where VCs and private equities invest is
where the innovation is going to happen. How
did you find the transition? Was it easy? Was
it hard? Well, I had three years of doing a different
thing, away from the financial services world.
And it made me realize that I really like this
industry. So I think the transition was that.
I didn't transition from doing financial inclusion
and financial wellness into the investors world,
but I did this like other transition which was
from the financial services world to this other
like designing innovation world and then coming
back to the investor, to the financial world,
you know? And I think that I've been learning
a lot because I know in general I have an MBA
from I Business School. It's a very entrepreneurship
oriented school here in Spain. So I did have
a lot of venture capital and classes, classmates,
and like, you know, like a lot of people from
my generation either, either founded a company
or went to work for a VC, you know? So I didn't
know a lot about this world, but I didn't actually
like dive deeper, you know? And now I'm all in
and not only in, but I'm all in from what I like.
That is the ESG part. So I'm more than happy.
When you talk with investors, how concerned are
they with the ESG thing? Is it something that
they actually look out for or is it still something
on the back of their mind overall? Well, it depends.
No. And one thing is ESG and another thing is
impact. And I talk about both topics. And it
depends on the type of investor, right? If you
talk to a VC fund, that's an impact one. I mean,
the level of conversation, it's completely different
to another that's more generalist and that's
actually more ESG focused. You know, I think
the industry as a whole, it's very, very concerned
about this because they have to. The regulation
is asking them to start doing something about
it, right? You know, you have like this whole
CSRD and then you have this whole SDR here in
Europe and they have to actually make sure they
are being compliant with the regulation. I haven't
had conversations yet with funds or investors
from the US, for example. I did have the chance
to talk to European funds that invest in the
US and I can tell you that they do struggle with
with portfolio companies in the U .S. and without
this, I mean, without this in the U .S., it's
not a struggle, but the conversation is different,
right? Whereas here in Europe, where the rules
are there, they are for everyone. They are not
easy because they are new, they are changing,
but at least you have them. So we are all going
towards the same direction kind of, you know?
But when you think about like on a more international
level, okay, yeah, you have the US, but then
you also have another emerging countries where
the challenge is different. And investors are
either raising from these countries or investing
in these countries. So it's very complicated.
For example, if you're an investor that raises
money in Europe, It's very hard for you to deploy
it in Latin America. If you have all this regulation,
if you are, for example, an SDR Article 9 bond,
you know, you cannot, you need all this data
to be available for you to report. And it's very
hard to do it like in a market like the Latin
American market where this is not a priority
and the rules are not the same. So I think this
is a very interesting topic and it's gaining
more relevance. And it's also very confusing
at the same time because of the new regulation.
I think that everyone has like different approach
to it. And that's what the whole new regulation
is trying to like clear up a little bit, no?
Like to make sure that we all speak the same
language and we're all on the same page when
it comes to to talking about impact on ESG. I
was just wondering, because I normally talk with
a lot of startups and they're always curious
on how hard it is to actually get investment
from other countries and other regions. How do
you normally find that? Is it hard for investors
to actually put down money? Is there any advice
you can give to startups if they want to get
some money from European investors that are building
something that is really impactful, it's really
going to change the world, but they just don't
happen to be in Europe, they happen to be in
Latin America. Is there like a magic pill or
formula they can do? Well, European investors,
they have to be compliant with their with the
European regulation and with what their LPs are
asking for. So if you're a Latin American company,
maybe you should also make sure that you understand
what they need and what they have been requested
from their LPs. That way you can actually maybe
give them the idea that you will be able to deliver
that information. I think that could be an option
because in the end, it's about the capacity of
the VCs to actually deliver and report the ESG
data that they need to report. They have to be
compliant. Otherwise, they cannot get the money.
Nowadays, it's very hard to get the money. It's
like this cycle, right? You want to be compliant,
you have to do this and you have to look for
companies that are able to actually help you
in this transparency data. So yes, it's complicated.
I was just about to ask you, are you finding
it that most companies complain that it's actually
very hard to get money right now or on the contrary
is actually it's a good moment because everyone's
talking about this topic. Well, it's very hard
to find money for everyone right now. Nowadays,
since like last year was a disaster in terms
of fundraising. And I think this year is also
being very hard. I mean, I see every. at every
conference that we organize, and there's a big
need for fundraising, and LPs are being very,
very careful about it, and it's tough. I can
say that the people that I've talked to that
do more impact investing, they say, yes, it is
hard, but we feel it's less hard for us. like
they might have it a bit easier, but under the
idea that it's very hard right now, you know?
So because there's this need, I mean, like there
is this climate change, there's this energy transition,
these topics, I mean, they're just like starting.
So many international, many like institutional
LPs and entities are really looking for ways
to take part in this and invest in solutions
that will actually tackle climate change and
help us to build a more sustainable world. So
probably that's the reason why they have it a
bit more easy, but still very hard. And how,
you know, from companies from within Europe,
are there any limitations? Because obviously,
I'm based in the UK, I know you're based in Spain.
Do you find that, for example, for British companies,
is it hard to get funding in Europe or the other
way around? How is that happening? Or not at
all? Actually, it's not an issue. Well, I think
that in general, European VCs are very pan -European.
They invest all across Europe. About the UK,
I cannot give you. I mean, I'm not sure. I have
spoken to people that invest only in the UK,
you know? But when it comes to the rest of Europe,
most VCs invest all across Europe. Like they
start maybe focusing on their own countries,
but then they end up if they want to grow, if
they want to find best startups and actually
can also raise funds from other places, they
start investing and fundraising. Interesting.
And is there, you know, when you talk with all
these VCs and stuff, did they ever tell you,
you know, if a company does this, I'm never going
to invest in them? Or if they do this, I'm 100
% going to invest in them. Is there any like
red flags that I'm always on the lookout for
or stuff like that? Well, more than red flags,
it's about like the company and founders have
to know that all these have their own strategy,
right? So you have to do your homework, not like
go to their website, see what they have been
investing in. and try to adjust your pitch to
what they actually are looking for. Sometimes
founders just throw themselves to anyone and
in the end, that's annoying for the business
because they are always being maybe like... Chased
by too many founders, no? I just attended South
Summit last week, you know, here in Madrid. And
well, I mean, the ones that had the investor
stack, they were kind of like a bit overwhelmed,
you know, because there was like all these founders
with these great ideas trying to get in touch
with them. But in the end, if you are pitching
your, I don't know, AI solution to climate tech
found that only invests in whatever, you know,
like that's not AI related. I mean, you're just
wasting your time and their time as well. Yeah.
So you have to do your homework. And of course,
I did hear, I mean, actually from a conversation
I had, I don't remember when. And someone told
me that they have to actually show and prove
that they know what they're talking about, you
know? So if they don't know what they're talking
about, or they show any ignorance on the topic
they are pitching, that's like, okay, red flag,
goodbye, because it's very complicated. specialized
the VC, the harder it is for a founder to actually
talk to the VC, right? Yeah, of course. But it
does make sense. I mean, you wouldn't want to
have a founder in an area they don't fully understand.
And then to have them run the company in an area
they don't fully understand with someone else's
money, that's a recipe for disaster, right? That's
not going to work out well. And this is coming
from like, like, top down, actually, because
they're more and more LPs that are very specialized.
I have interviewed an LP that only invests in...
He only invests in biotech. And he knows about
it and he's an expert on it. So imagine if he
only invests in VCs that do this. So for him
to talk to the VC, I mean, the level of conversation
that they are going to have, You know, it's going
to be very high. So the VCs level of conversation
with the portfolio companies has to be that high
as well. You know, and I've spoken, for example,
I've heard some family offices saying, you know,
like, we don't like generalists because we need
people to actually like commit to a sector and
specialize because that's the way you can actually
think that or say that they really know what
they're talking about. This morning, I had a
conversation with Energy Transition BC. I asked
her this question, what do you think about generalist
funds and you, that you are very specialized
on? What's your take on this? She did give me
a really great answer. She said that I mean,
they are very specialized, you know, and these
very specialized funds are kind of new, you know,
because then you have other VC funds that have
been around for 20, 30 years, you know, and have
invested in many, many companies, have heard
thousands of pitches, you know, so they know
a lot about like startups. So she said like,
the cool thing about this is that I think that
there's space for both, you know. Because, I
mean, you never invest, well, a business invests
on a portion of stakes. So in the end, they don't
normally go by themselves, but there are also
other businesses investing on the same company.
So the fact that you have, okay, the very specialized
one that knows all the technical part, but then
you have the other one that knows all about how
the startup ecosystem and how founders work,
et cetera. is also like a good, they complement
each other, which is a point of view that I didn't
have before this competition this morning. So
I think it's very interesting like to speak to
people and ask these questions and understand
like there's a space for everyone, you know,
but yeah, we need founders to be very prepared
and passionate about their topics, you know,
and And when you're passionate about something,
you do a lot of research, you read about it,
you talk about it, you really care for it. Do
you think it's hard to get into the VC world?
To start working as a VC or to actually get your
foot in the door overall? I think now it's very
hard. At least harder than it was like a few
years ago, right? When there was a lot of money
and a lot of opportunities to actually raise
money. I think now it's getting, it's very hard
and only those that had like a really good strategy
are the ones that are being able to still to
keep fundraising and in the long term are the
ones that are going to like stay around, right?
I think it's very, I mean, being a VC, it's very
hard. Like being, I'm not like entering the world.
I don't know. I haven't thought about it, but
being one, it's very hard. I mean, I see them
at our conferences. And it's because of the fundraising,
right? That's a very tough part. And it's always
going to be there, right? You always need to
fundraise. Maybe, okay, you have to stop fundraising
that much when you are already ready with the
fund, but then you'll be fundraising again. So
you have to know how to do it. And I think that's
something that Some VCs didn't know before because
it depends. I think, I mean, what's happening
here in Spain, for example, from the conversations
I have had is that many VC, many VC bounce, they
were small. They had their, um, like their LPs,
you know, very, uh, like their loyal LPs. So
they will always get the funding. But when things,
things got harder. And in order to also be able
to grow, you had to start like going out and
fundraise, you know, and this is like something
kind of new. You know, you have to, you have
to learn like know how to do it. It's not easy.
I mean, I always say it reminded me to the times
when I was a business journalist working for
a newspaper in Chile and I had to basically like
chase all the CEOs from the companies that I
wanted to talk to, you know? So when you're fundraising,
this is kind of like similar, you know? They
have to chase the out piece. And that's very
hard. I mean, it's not easy. And you have to
like, be have a really like a personality that
that can, you cannot be shy, you know, because
if you're shy, how we're going to approach this
person, you have to be very, like, genuine, but
also like People have to trust you because in
the end, they're giving you money, right? So
they need to trust you. You are going to ask
them for money. So you have to be very patient
because it's not like you're going to ask for
money today and you're going to get the money
tomorrow. I mean, it's about building relationships
and these relationships can take years, you know,
like two to three years of talking to these LPs
in order to get the money. So it's very hard
to be a VC. What about family offices? Because
family offices is always a bit of a mystery,
I think, for most people. They don't fully get
how they work and they don't fully get how to
approach them or if they should approach them
in the first place. How do you find that connection?
Well, it depends. There are family offices that
make direct investments and they're mostly, for
example, family offices that have made their
wealth with their specific business in a specific
industry or many also other, for example, tech
entrepreneurs that made their own wealth as well.
So I think that you have to do research. It's
not easy because there's not that much information
available out there. But you can always find
some. speak to people, talk to people. Of course,
there are other family offices that invest in
funds. I think it's also related to knowledge.
If you don't know that much about something,
you can do it through a VC or through private
equity. Because in the end, they do know. lowering
the risk. Whereas when you invest directly, you
are putting your money into something that, I
mean, if it works, it's awesome, but if it doesn't
work, you're just like, and you might not know
that much about it, no? But I've been, we have
been working a lot with family offices and they,
there are more family offices interested in investing
into the alternative assets world, you know,
and private equity, like bio -private equity
and venture capital. It's one of these new spaces
for them to invest in. But yes, it depends. It
depends, but you have to do the research. Because
there are bigger ones, there are smaller ones.
There are multiple family offices. It's a very,
as you said, it's kind of like a very, I don't
know, unknown world, right? But it's growing.
I mean, there are many family offices that do
a lot of impact. They care. I mean, actually,
there are many, for example, I have the opportunity
to talk to fund of funds that only invests in
ocean solutions. This is that investing company
that generates great solutions for the whole
ocean issues. So he told me that his LPs are,
a lot of them, of course, they are family offices
with families that actually care about the ocean
and the whole like taking care of the ecosystem,
you know? So that happens a lot. Which countries
do you find that not have the highest amount
but are More receptive to all this, to raising
funds, to raising funds, to working with companies,
to getting things off the ground overall in Europe.
Do you think the Spanish market is good for companies
launching startups or they should actually go
and look out for investment in other countries?
Well, I think that the Spanish startup ecosystem
is growing a lot. Like we are, for example, we
have these hubs like Malaga is becoming into
this very techie hub, you know. We have events
like South Summit that gather all the most relevant
startups in the southern region of Europe and
also Latin America. I think Spain has this strength
compared to other European countries, which is
Latin America. Like Latin American companies
really want to come to Spain and either maybe
learn from the ecosystem. And also there's the
Latin American LPs who invest in Spain, which
there are a lot of them. It's not necessarily
great. I mean, from my point of view as a Latin
American person, I'm from Bolivia. So you would
think that, I mean, the investments should be
done where they are needed the most, right? So
from an impact point of view, which is the world
that I love, there's a lot to be done in Latin
America. But on the other side, I mean, it's
about like, certainty, you know, about you knowing
that there's this very strong regulation behind
all the investments, et cetera, no? But we, well,
in Latin America, we do have a lot of, I don't
know how familiar, familiarize you with Latin
America, but we do have really interesting countries
with. very interesting and attractive ecosystems
for startups. Like, for example, there's Chile,
there's Mexico, there's Brazil. I don't know
that much about Brazil, like to me, Brazil has
always been like a completely different world.
But when you think about Latin America, like
Chile, Mexico, Colombia, you know, there's a
very interesting startup world going, like happening
there, right? What about the regulations? Is
it as flexible as it is in some countries in
Europe? Or is it is it very cumbersome to actually
launch a company overall there? Well, I know
in Chile, Chile is very, you can launch a company
in one day. Yeah, that's at least that it was
that way a few years ago when I was living there,
we had this startup Chile, we had all this regulation,
I think in terms of innovation, Chile did a great
job. you know, on like making things easy for
startups to start. I remember the conversation
was that it was a bit hard to, like if you failed,
then it was a bit hard. Like the conversation
was different, no? But to start, you could do
it. And there's like a lot of innovation going
on in Chile and on that way. But it's a very
small market, right? So the normal path for a
company to keep growing is to move to Mexico.
You know, Mexico is a big market with many opportunities,
you know, and I think Mexico is also a great
example. I'm not that familiarized. I mean, I
don't know that much about the Mexican regulation,
you know, but I can tell you that Chilean companies
that want to grow, they go to Mexico. They go
to Mexico and they do well. Laura, tell us a
bit more about your podcast because you also
have a podcast. So what do you talk about on
your podcast? Well, my podcast is my baby. What
I do is I interview people from the investors
world, like it can be LPs or OGPs, you know,
to talk about ESG and impact. And this is a very
complicated topic because you can see that everyone
has a different idea on it, you know, because
it's kind of new, you know, and it's very interesting
to discuss about it with different people with
different perspectives and different, you know,
for example, yes, I was saying before, if you
talk to an impact fund, I mean, they are going
to talk to you more on, you know, what impact
is for them, you know, how they, how it is important
to, like, look for solutions that are going to
make this a better world and not necessarily
focus on data availability, which is what ESG
is more about. ESG is more about reporting. It's
about your ability to gather the information
and show that you are doing something. about
these environmental, social, and governance issues.
It doesn't necessarily mean that you care that
much about impact. There's this example that
one of my interviewers gave me once and said,
for example, Shell has a very great ESG performance.
You know, they are actually like top something,
like top five in ESG reporting, but they are
an oil company. So, but they do this, they do
really good job in delivering the data, you know,
like they do. And that's the thing, like they
are very good in gathering, delivering, and maybe
measuring, you know, but in the end, they do
what they do. So that's a little bit like the
difference and I think that with this whole like
greenwashing, you know, there has been a lot
of misuse of ESG, misuse of impact and these
topics and terms that are very important. are
now being mainstreamed. Not mainstreamed, but
they are being under scrutiny. You see what's
happening in the US. You don't want to say. Some
people rather not say that they care for ESG
because it might be bad for you to do it. It's
because we are because of all this greenwashing,
because of this lack of understanding and of
agreement on the terms. But for example, there's
this ESGVC here in Europe that is like a group
of partners of all the most relevant VC firms.
in Europe, but worldwide now. I mean, it started
in Europe and what they do is they are trying
to set some ground rules, some maybe basic information
and frameworks for founders to be able to report
ESG data. Because the problem in the in the VC
world and startup world, actually, is that you
cannot ask a founder to be compliant with the
regulation if they don't even know, like, for
example, if you ask them, yeah, I mean, like,
yeah, what's your diversity and inclusion policy?
It's like, okay, I'm helping people, you know,
like, it doesn't make, and they have to start
kind of like, not making up, but just trying
to fill in the blanks with whatever information
they can actually have or come to their minds
instead of actually thinking of what is our approach
and what can we do about this environmental,
social and governance issues from our company,
from within our business, from within the business
that we are in and what we are trying to do.
you know, instead of trying to like make up and
say, yeah, we have more and hire 10 women, you
know, just to make sure we are very gender balanced
company. It's a really hard one, to be honest,
because I find that, for example, the events
that I run, it's me and my business partner,
we both men but we had all the interns were all
females. So technically, we would overfill the
criteria for everything, because we actually
had a lot of female staff. So it was it was well
balanced in that sense. But at the same time,
now that we just had interns, now that they've
all left, it was like, oh, now we're stuck with
the same problem again. And it's it's a hard
one to do, because you don't want to you don't
want to be in a position where you're not complying
with things. But at the same time, it's like,
well, What can we do to make us compliant? Should
we just hire someone, even though we might not
need someone, just to make sure that we're compliant?
So it's a tricky one, isn't it? For most companies,
just starting out. Yeah. And then if you analyze
your own information, like with that, like EEG
lens, right? And then, okay, yes, you have, you're
mostly, you have like a, like you're very gender
balanced or maybe you have even more female employees
than male. But then if you go with through the
numbers of seniority, then you're not doing well.
It's very complicated, but in general, I think
that what ESGVC is trying to do is to give frameworks
for portfolio companies in general, to actually
report on what's relevant for them and at the
point that they are. You were mentioning AI.
at the beginning of the conversation or recording
yet. I mean, AI is another thing. It's also because
AI is about investing in AI, but also about you
being able to use AI to do your job, your work
and also about, okay, how you are being, how
careful you're being with AI in your own company,
you know, like, like setting up ground. rules
now, so in the future you don't have problems.
So I think that's another topic that I know that
ESGVC is trying to give founders some base knowledge.
And what's interesting about ESGVC is that they
started because many of their portfolio companies
were asking them for help on this. And that's
the thing. They do want to do something about
it, but they don't know where to begin. And I
think that's a problem with regulation, right?
I find it very hard because even here when I'm
running my business, me and my business partner,
we always struggle with the fact that As much
as we have no issues whatsoever in being as diverse
as we can possibly be, sometimes it is hard to
be as diverse as we can possibly be because it's
just the two of us. We don't have, you know,
anyone from a different background. And that's
also okay if that happens, but that's, you know,
it's a complicated position to be in a lot of
times, to be honest. And because you don't want
to be seen as someone who's not. But at the same
time, you also want to be open to new ideas and
making sure everyone gets their fair chance and
opportunity. So, yeah, it's a tricky world sometimes
to navigate. But also you have to ask yourself,
why would that be important for your company?
And it's not just about being able to say, yes,
we are very diverse. But also being able to say
maybe that's not what I can do right now, report
on right now because it's not relevant. We are
just two people. But maybe what are the data,
what's the data that you actually could report
on and it could make sense with your specific
business. So I think that's the idea that we
should have in general. We cannot measure everyone
with the same rule. We cannot assume that everyone
has to deliver data under the same rule. with
same reporting requirements and I think that's
the problem because in the end you say okay you
have to feel this and if you don't have this
information you have to say I don't have it but
you have to explain why not you know and then
in the end it's like you don't want to leave
anything blank you know so you just start like
getting nervous and think okay what can we do
about this you know and it's a waste of time
and energy and it's useless So, but I think that
in general, this is something that it's, I mean,
we know there's something to be improved and
there are a lot of conversations on these matters
and I think they will just, they'll fix them,
right? This is like just the beginning, no? Yeah,
we're getting the game started and it gets better
as we go along, which is... normal with all these
things. I always say that the good thing is that
we're talking about, you know? The more we talk
about it, I mean, even if it goes mainstream,
I mean, even if it ends up being like a very,
you know, way to, you know, we speak too much
about this and people get like bored of it. Just
the fact that we, for example, that we know that,
okay, It is important to have a diverse team,
not only talking about having women, men, having
people from everywhere. We now think it is important.
So maybe tomorrow, when you have to make a decision,
you will pay attention to it. Not today because
you don't need it today. You are just two people,
but tomorrow, yes. And I think that's what this
is about. It's about being able to Put the like
the need on the table, you know, so in the future
when you have to Make decisions, you know that
you have to take that into account We always
travel we always travel at the conferences when
we are looking for female partners from you know
venture capital funds or private equity or you
know, it's not easy and we are trying to at least
have one woman on stage for each panel and we
struggle with it. I've been lucky to have you
as a guest on the panel we've had in Madrid on
our first event. I think you were the only lady
on stage, unfortunately. We couldn't get anyone
else. But in the UK, surprisingly, it's actually
super easy. We never struggle with that. We always
manage to get a really good ratio. And it's something
that for us, we don't even see it as a necessity,
it's more that it's not even let's fill it up
half half, it's more okay, who can we find to
talk about these topics? And it naturally occurs
that way, which is great, because we don't even
need to think about it, right? But I get what
you're saying, in other countries, it is a big
issue, you need to actually look out for people,
okay, can we find another female speaker, please,
or someone from a diverse background here, because
there are people there, we want to listen to
them, but sometimes they're hard to find, which
is which is annoying. Well, that organic balance
is, I mean, the ideal, right? Because then you
don't choose just, I mean, you don't, you choose
the best one. You don't maybe, in general, this
is happening in general, like for me, even like
senior positions in general, no, like instead
of choosing the best one, they're choosing the
second best one because it's a female, you know,
like, and stuff like that, which is an issue.
It's an issue. And, and, and it's a bit of a
It's a pity, but it's also good, because that's
the only way you can actually start having more
real balance. But I think that your situation
is awesome. It's great. And that's the ideal
world in general. In the future, the idea is
for these topics to be very organic, that people
don't have to talk about them anymore. because
they are not an issue anymore. You're not going
to wonder if everyone is from the same country
and everyone is from the same university. No,
but everyone is from all over the world and etc.
I think that the fact that we're talking about
it now is just the beginning to end up on a more...
We should talk about it more because it shouldn't
be an issue. We shouldn't be having conversations.
For example, here, obviously, there's different
family protection laws, but we shouldn't be having
a conversation about why women are still forced
out of jobs to take care of kids in the UK. That
shouldn't even be happening in the first place.
For me, as a man, it really upsets me that this
is even happening. you shouldn't and it seems
like this you know as a company um you know when
i look at thankfully not thankfully but i haven't
had the opportunity to hire anyone at that stage
of their lives yet but it's not an issue for
me in the slightest we have family yeah of course
go pick them up from school go do whatever work
whenever you can that's completely fine by me
i don't care uh that's that's how it should be
um but yes for i guess for other companies it's
a big issue No, but in the UK and everywhere,
this conciliation, it's like a myth. It doesn't
exist. In the end, when you become a mother,
you have to make decisions and it's not easy
to find places where they actually give you that
flexibility and understand that it's... it's
part of it. It should be like everyone should
be able to have that flexibility. I don't know.
Do you have kids? No. I do. I have a son. But
I know how hard it is. And also I see with, for
example, my sister, she has a very high position
in a pharmaceutical company and I can see how
she needs the flexibility. And I can also see
they always give her the flexibility to take
care of her own child. And that makes a big difference.
And I don't, I always think what would happen
if she was, for example, to live in the UK and
it wouldn't work. They wouldn't give them that
type of flexibility. And it's really a shame.
Because ultimately having families, having kids,
it benefits us all, right? I'm not saying let's
have as many kids as possible. I'm saying that's
the way that we as a species work. We reproduce,
we have kids, and we should take care of the
younger generation. So, you know, as business
owners, we should take care of people with families.
That's just the way it works. But yeah, it's
always complicated. What do you think that the
UK has this, like... Why do you think, I mean,
is this an issue like everywhere? I know there
are some countries with, for example, better
policies in terms of maternity or paternity leave,
you know? Here in Spain, we have a good policy
in terms of like, we, like both parents get the
same, you know? But in the end, when it comes
to like, okay, the job themselves, like there's
no, there's no like flexibility or always in
a hurry or always have to be like, you know,
like Owing time, you know? I think it's a matter
of people being aware that there is a difference.
There are different ways that we as a society
will have a man and woman will have different
career paths and different moments in their career.
And that's perfectly fine. And we should accommodate
for them. For example, I read a very crazy statistics
that said that a female worker in reality ends
up making less money. uh overall during the duration
of her career first because she never negotiates
as high as a man then because she only applies
for jobs where she knows for 100 she can actually
perform and then because whenever she has kids
she then takes back a step so if she never negotiates
and she never changes job she actually ends up
with less money by the end of the career than
a guy would and that's just crazy and it's crazy
that we don't teach young women about that and
say actually when you walk in the room you might
not be able to fill 100 % of the requirements
of a job. But if you feel 70 % or 60%, tell you
what, just go for it. Just say you want a job.
And when you negotiate, just go for the highest
record you can think of, because that's the way
you should do. And yeah, things like this that
we should be talking about should be happening
right now. Yeah, I mean, and hopefully in the
future, that will be, again, won't be a topic
anymore. But now, today, that's an issue. I mean,
as you were saying, I mean, I'm also very lucky
to have like that flexibility. But I did have
to make some decisions in order to be able to
have that flexibility. And making decisions,
it means that you have some transition times
that are not easy. They are not easy and that's
the problem. And some people don't even have
the opportunity to take those transition times.
I think that's the most complicated thing. It's
a luxury, I think. To be able to have a support
network to make the decisions you need to make,
to be able to have a support network that allows
you to grow and have the down moments that you
have when you're growing, that's very important
and that's hard. That's a blessing to have and
I need to be lucky to have that. All that, it's
about ESG and impact. It's about ESG. The more
companies are reporting on this topic, the more
uncomfortable they will feel if they see that
they are not improving. So from that part, that's
the ESG part. That's really great. And from the
impact part, it's about creating solutions that
will actually help to pursue or achieve a more
balance the world. There's a really cool movie
by Michael Moore, the guy who did bowling for
Columbine, and he does this fascinating comparison
between the way that people work in the US and
the way that people work in Italy. And he says
well in italy you get two hours for lunch you
get paid vacations you get paid medical insurance
or paid health care and when you have kids you
can take it take time off to take care of the
kids you can take time off to you know spend
some time with them when they're born and then
the us workers think oh my god is this for real
yes it's perfectly normal to have that and then
they tell the italian workers this is what we
have in us and they said this must be a joke
you mean you cannot take you know vacation days
no you cannot take time for lunch. No, you need
to pay for your own health, health care. That's
really weird. And it's things like this, we should
actually be talking about societies like, what
do we actually want for our society? But you
know, it's a much bigger conversation, I guess.
Yeah, but it's happening more often. So it's
good. I mean, the fact that we ended up talking
about this. Yes. It's an issue. So so it's gonna
be solved. in the future, hopefully. Hopefully,
yes. Laurie, if people want to reach out to you,
how can you do so? I think that my LinkedIn,
I'm very, very responsive on LinkedIn in general.
So you just can add me on LinkedIn and message
me out. I'm there. That's my name, Laura Idiarte.
Sabalaga, I mean my full name. So you can just
look for me. Sounds good. Laurie, thank you so
much for your time. I really appreciate it. No,
thank you, Ricardo. It was nice and great having
this conversation with you. It's been a pleasure.
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