Alicia Castillo Holley is an international expert in creating wealth. Passionate about entrepreneurship, innovation and venture capital, her views inspire and motivate individuals to be actors and not spectators of their lives.
She worked as a young scientist and professor before becoming involved in product development for a corporation and eventually turning into an entrepreneur and angel investor (See highlights below). In 2009, she returned to academia to investigate the role of the researcher in the wealth created from university's discoveries.
She has started nine companies -successfully exiting from five of them- and one non-for-profit; she has invested in a dozen of companies, and has consulted, mentored, or coached for hundreds of entrepreneurs. As a speaker, she has travelled to over 30 countries.
During the first two decades of her professional life, she had a successful and short career in academia, became the head of product development for a joint venture of two giants: Bayer and Shell, spent a self-funded sabbatical prior to continuing her education, and lost all of her savings to a bank crisis. It was then that the discovered entrepreneurship. She moved to the USA as a single mother with two children, two boxes and two suitcases to pursue a Master of Business Adminsitration at Babson College, twelve years later, she retired.
Worried, very worried about how we are destroying wealth, she has embarked to teach her hard learned lessons on wealth.
Castillo Holley has served as a panel member of several international business plan competitions, including WRI, Endeavor, Babson College, Western Australia Social Entrepreneurship Competition and Western Australia's Inventor of the Year. She played an pivotal role in the Development for the Entrepreneurial Curriculum and the Venture Capital Industry in Chile, where she lived between 1996 and 2002. Philanthropically, she supports organizations that foster education, social entrepreneurship and prevent and manage domestic violence.
She has been a guest speaker / lecturer at many prestigious organizations such as Babson College, Rice University, The Association of CEOs in Guatemala, Induexpo, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Universidad Federico Santa Maria, Instituto Profesional Santo Tomas, Universidad Francisco Marroquin as well as many private companies.
A global trotter, she visits several countries per year and lives between Perth, Australia and Houston, Texas.
2010 Upcoming events: teleseminars, book launch From Brainer to Gainer
Selected for Babson's Entrepreneurial Conference Doctoral Consortium
World tour: Australia, Asia, Europe, South America, USA (june-july)
Australia, USA (october)
2009 Publishes two more books and DVD: Funding Your Million Dollar Idea.
First world tour: Australia, Middle East, USA, South America.
Defines Wealthing(R) method, a systematic approach to weatlh creation.
Second world tour: Australia, Central America and North America
Starts PhD: role of the scientist in the results of research's commercialization
2008 Publishes first book: Creando Empresas Fabulosas.
Creates From Brainer to Gainer method, supporting the transformation of
scientists and researchers into wealth creators.
2006 Exits Ila Cao and Teablossoms.
Writes the Ten Unwealthy Habits.
2005 Starts Alicia Castillo Wealthing Group, joins Babson Founder's Club.
Provides consulting to several university based technologies.
Expando coaching practice to business owners and managers.
2003 Sells Ventures Latinas Chile, consolidates Venture Latinas USA.
Leads Coachville Spanish group
2004 Starts Teablossoms as an expansion of Ila Cao.
2002 Expands Ventures Latinas to USA.
Starts Ila Cao, cofounds Shades and Highlights.
Panelist at the Institute for Latin American Business - Babson College
2001 Helps reorganize Chile's first business incubator training system
Develops and trains professors on Teaching entrepreneurship.
Writes guide for angel investors and Venture Capital.
Invited guest speaker at Babson's first Latin American Conference.
2000 Buys and renames First Public as Ventures Latinas.
Founds Capital Semilla (Chile's first seed capital fund).
Co-founds Reklamos, a C2b initiative.
1999 Leads IDRC funded research project on Angel Investing in South
America, Chilean Pole.
Starts Ventures Latinas Training and Research
Creates two 140 hrs programs, one for scientists and one for intrapreneurship.
Trains first Endeavor's MBAs in Chile.
Participates in Endeavor's first selection panel and in the World Resources
Institute's first Business Plan Competition.
1998 Co-funds First Public Inc Chile (with a sister company in the USA).
Writes Guide for Business Plan - widely used in Latin America.
Leaves University as a full time academic, stays as a lecturer.
1997 Designs and starts Chile's 1st Center for Entrepreneurship - Univ. Adolfo
Ibanez. Also starts Universtity's Entrepreneurs Club.
Is invited to Australia, Canada and US.
Participates in America's first meeting of Centers for Entrepreneurship.
Participates in Price Babson SEE.
1996 Graduates from Babson and returns to Latin America.
1995 Works in Switzerland - Ciba Geigy's subsidiary Zyma.
1994 Moves to Boston - Armando Travieso Fellowship Babson College.
Loses savings.
1993 Self funded sabbatical, works for non-profits after Plantagro's closure.
Coordinadora Teatro de la Opera; volunteer at Casa de La Mujer and Scouts.
1989 Leaves academia, joins Bayer-Shell Joint Venture Plantagro.
Increases product launches from one per two years to eight per year.
Co-founds Cobup (Comite para el buen uso de plaguicidas), national industry
organization that fosters appropriate use of pesticides.
Participates as Industry representative on the Environmental Law discussions.
1988 Starts Dijar, landscaping company.
1986 Lectures at Universidad Central de Venezuela
1985 Early graduation, best thesis, starts Master of Science.
"Accomplice" on the newspaper "La Colmena", Maracay.
1982 Special prize youngest presenter at the Congreso Iberoamericano de
Microscopia Electronica. Eight presented papers at time of graduation.
1977 First scientific paper presented Convencion Nacional Ing. Agronomos.
Youngest presenter in the history of the conference.
Founded or co-founded:
Alicia Castillo Wealthing Group Ventures Latinas LLC (Founder - CEO)
Ila Cao (exited)
Teablossoms (exited)
Fondo Emprendedores SA (Founder - Board Member)
Ventures Latinas SA (Founder - Board Member)
Reklamos (exited)
Dijar (exited)
Asociación Cultural Humboldt del Centro (non profit) (exited)
First Public Inc Chile (exited)
Interim CEO:
MarkIT (Australia)
Ipom (Australia)
Angel investor:
Directory Systems (USA-Latin America) (exited)
Shades and Highlights (USA-India) (exited)