Presented on Sept. 22nd Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization at UTPA. A presentation for young entrepreneurs to inform and inspire to connect and create their local community. Living and succeeding in the RGV has been a lonesome and dangerous venture. The road ahead continuous to be tumultuous but there are positive economic indicators and positive enrichment from private and public sectors.

1. Bet the Farm on the RGV
Tech Community
Olmo Maldonado
V.P. CTO GMG Agency, LLC

2. Who?
Born in Mexico
Raised in McAllen
I.B. Lamar Academy Alpha Class
UTSA B.S. Electrical Engineer
UCLA M.S. Electrical Engineer

3. Who?
Ex-Googler, Frontend Software Engineer
Picasa Web Albums (now Google Photos)
MooTools Developer
C.T.O. / V.P. of
GMG Agency, LLC
www.gmgagency.com

4. Who?
Tech Tuesdays & Code#RGV Founder
RGV Tech Startup Community Activist
(Social) Entrepreneur
Homebrewer
www.codergv.com

5. Survey
How many of you are ...
Marketing
Sales
Administration
Undecided
Entrepreneurs

6. What is an Entrepreneur?
My answer:
a brutally honest,
stubborn,
inquisitive,
oppotunity seeker,
workaholic, and
aims to make millions or more in many ventures.

7. Survey
How many of you are dying to leave the valley?

8. Survey
Of those that want to leave; do you want to
leave because ...
There are no jobs
The culture sucks
There's no money (VCs, Grants)
Any other reasons?

9. Some unfortunate facts
About the RGV

10. Valley earning consists of
60.6% Public, Health,
Retail, Construction
~13.3% Prof. Services
~10.1% “Other”
SOURCE: Bureau of Economic Analysis

11. Growth?
Brownsville
McAllen

12. Poorest in the Nation
#3 Starr County
#12 Willacy County
#22 Hidalgo
#60 Cameron

13. Education
Only 58.3% of Hidalgo County residents 25
years and over are high school graduates or
higher
And only 15.1% of Hidalgo County residents 25
years and older have a bachelor’s degree or
higher
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey.

14. Bachelor Degrees
Ranked 98th out of 100 based on the
proportion of residents with a bachelor’s
degree.

15. What happened to us?
Focused
(dependency) on retail
Brain drain
Age Demographics
Age
RGV
2000 (%)
RGV
2010 (%)
San
Antonio (%)
0-19 38.2 37.3 28.1
20-34 22.2 20.2 24.98
35-54 23.5 23.9 26.27
55-64 6.6 8.7 9.92
65+ 9.5 9.9 10.73
Source: U.S. Census Bureau

16. Any good news?
About the RGV

17. We’re still growing … in 2010
City
Population
Increase (%)
Relative
Hidalgo 67.3 +43.0
Mission 51.9 +20.2
Edinburg 49.9 +25.1
Pharr 41.9 +17.6
McAllen 24.3 0.0
Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2010

18. Expected Population of
Hidalgo County in 2020
1 million or more
Source: Texas State Data Center, Population Projections, 0.5 Scenario.

19. Current GDP of Hidalgo County
$13.8 Billion
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

20. High School Dropout is Now Only
11.8% in 2009
Hidalgo County Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy 2011-2015

21. Low Cost of Living
Harlingen #1
McAllen #3
U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011 American Community Survey

22. Let’s Compare Cost of Living
City 1 Bedroom Apt.
McAllen $708.33
San Antonio $862.50
Austin $1,332.81
Palo Alto $2,500.00
San Francisco $2,720.06
Source: Numbeo.com
Almost 4x lower cost of living

23. Higher Education Enrollment
UTPA +44%
STC +146%
Hidalgo County Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy 2011-2015

24. UTPA Engineering Graduations
Doubled2004 and 2008
Hidalgo County Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy 2011-2015

25. Bottomline:
A watershed in RGV’s history.

26. Trends
Focus on education, and reducing brain drain.
More community and cultural diversity.
See: Palm Fest, Jardin del Arte, Indian Festival

27. Trends
Cities investing in entrepreneurs. See: Ruby
Red Ventures, McAllen I&E, more soon™
Private investors and firms looking within the
RGV for diversifying their portfolios.

28. Trends
Older generation focusing on passing down the
torch. See: Leadership McAllen
Review your city’s advisory boards. Most have
vacancies.

29. Opportunities
Educational technology and training of teachers
Create your own interest groups/festivals and
communities.

30. Opportunities
Be part of think tanks or participate in Business
Plan competitions.
Get involved in (tech) startups and take risks
with other people’s money.

31. Opportunities
Medical software, e-medicine, e-commerce
Find disrupted industries, and help them cope
with changes or evolve.

32. What will you commit?
What’s stopping you?

33. My personal commitment
In 2013, I made a 25 year commitment
that renews every 25 years.
To create, cultivate, and empower
our local tech community.

34. Tech Tuesdays, Code#RGV, and ...
Every last Tuesday
SCNE 2.102
Starts 6:30 PM until 8:00 PM
www.codergv.com
Every 1st and 3rd Thursday
McAllen Incubator
7:00 PM until bust

35. What have I learned?

36. 1. There’s a lot of Tech in the RGV

37. 2. You’re not alone

38. 3. The RGV is your oyster.

39. olmo.maldonado@gmail.com
/ibolmo /ibolmo
www.gmgagency.com