Ivan Cardenas, BeGo | The Tesla Playbook, Digitising Industries, and the Future of Mexico

The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

After working at Ford, Ivan Cardenas spent 5 years building software and solutions to automate the manufacturing of Tesla cars. There, he saw up close the big opportunities to improve logistics between the United States and Mexico.

Today, Iván is CEO and cofounder of BeGo, a digital platform for ground freight transport between the US and Mexico.

To date, Bego has raised 14 million dollars from international funds such as Soma Capital, Valley Oak Investments, and Y Combinator.

In this episode, we talk about:

The key factors that make Tesla an exceptional company
How Elon Musk’s leadership influenced his style of entrepreneurship
Including his perspective on remote work

Iván also told us:

Why nearshoring is a historic opportunity
And the logistics challenges that keep Mexico from taking advantage of it

Now, I’ll leave you with my conversation with Ivan Cardenas of BeGo.

Youtube Timestamps*

[01:40] - Experience at Tesla

How did Ivan arrive at the fascinating world of startups?
Ivan and his 2 brothers (a doctor and logistics) are the same: a passion for work, energy to always give extra. Where does that come from?

One of Elon Musk’s most impressive missions was “to create the machine behind the machine,” and Ivan had the chance to contribute to that mission.

He shares more about his time at Tesla and what his biggest contributions to the company were.

He was at Ford and then at Tesla, which is an exceptional company in almost every aspect of building a business: product, design, distribution, team, etc.

Well, they took paths different from the way automobiles were traditionally manufactured.

Can Ivan share 2 or 3 examples of things Tesla does genuinely differently from other companies?

Tesla faced a lot of skepticism along the way… which is normal in the startup world, but it was an extreme case given the eccentric figure of Elon Musk.

How did they keep the focus and the conviction in the company’s long-term vision, despite the noise and the criticism?

[19:13] - Work Culture

Tesla is known for having one of the strongest work ethics.

Ivan said they worked until 2 in the morning and came back at 6 in the morning, and that weekends were the same. It was not only the lower ranks, the technicians, but even the vice presidents.

How has his career at Tesla influenced the culture BeGo has today? What did he take with him, and what did he leave behind?
How does he measure this mindset oriented to “first principles,” or fundamental principles, when hiring?
How has he thought about implementing at BeGo an environment similar to Tesla, where people feel safe taking risks and proposing new ideas, without fear of a negative impact on their career?
How does he balance pushing and getting the best out of his team, without neglecting them and without falling into burnout?

At BeGo they look for people who are all in on the vision.

How does Ivan connect the office team with the mission of the carriers in the field?

[31:20] - Logistics

Ivan ran into the logistics problem BeGo solves during his time at Tesla. When he started studying ground transport between the United States and Mexico:

What were the most inefficient parts, where there was the most leakage, lack of information, wasted time, and in general an opportunity for technology?

Many B2B founders have a similar story.

They work for a large company, they run into a problem, and they do not find any effective solution on the market.

What recommendations does Ivan have about how to think about a business idea in this context? What should you pay attention to? What information should you look for? Etc.

Thinking about the digitization of freight transport, which today is a very manual process and is coordinated mainly by email, Whatsapp, and Excel

What percentage of the original problem has BeGo penetrated? How much is left to do in the digitization of information flows in the transport of goods?

As technology reduces friction, unexpected economic opportunities start to appear.

What is an example of opportunities BeGo could unlock as the infrastructure they are building penetrates the market further?

[46:42] - The Future of Mexico

Talking about nearshoring and how a startup like BeGo and its customers can take advantage of this wave:

Ivan shares some numbers and examples with us to put the scale of nearshoring in perspective

At BeGo, they are contributing to a key layer: the logistics infrastructure so that Mexico can take advantage of nearshoring.

What other limitations at the infrastructure level are their customers facing, the companies that import or export, that limit their potential to do business with the US?

Ivan said: “The future of Mexico is in its past because of the Tren Maya”.

What does this mean?

[1:00:34] - Rapid-Fire Round

What worries him most about the nearshoring opportunity for Mexico?
What message would he give to the founders and business owners who are hearing so much noise about the nearshoring opportunity?