Alberto Yepez, Forgepoint Capital | Lessons From 40+ Years in Silicon Valley

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

Today I spoke with Alberto Yepez, cofounder and partner at Forgepoint Capital, the largest venture capital fund in cybersecurity globally.

Alberto arrived on a scholarship to study in Silicon Valley +40 years ago, worked at Apple for 10 years, and then entered the world of cybersecurity, founding and leading as CEO multiple companies that were later acquired for hundreds of millions of dollars by giants such as Oracle. Alberto has also been an advisor to the National Venture Capital Association of the U.S. and to the University of San Francisco.

Youtube Timestamps*

[2:39] - Origin and Silicon Valley

Alberto has spoken about the influence on his life and career of the Jesuit values of excellence and giving back to the community.

Could Alberto tell us how and why the Jesuit mission had such an impact on his career?

Alberto has spent more than 40 years working, founding companies, and investing from Silicon Valley and, a few years ago, he got involved in some universities and technology initiatives in Peru and Latin America.

Are there some values, practices, or mindsets of founders in Silicon Valley that Alberto would like to see more of in Latin America’s startup ecosystem?

A few years ago, Alberto said that “economic groups such as the Slim and Romero families are the venture capital of Latin America. The problem is that they are very closed and only trust their families.”

Why is it important for these groups to be more open? Has Alberto seen any change in this in recent years?

[10:24] - Career in Silicon Valley

Alberto has succeeded in multiple roles: as an executive, as a founder, and now as an investor at the highest level of Silicon Valley.

If Alberto had to point to some principles or practices throughout his career that allowed him to have that success, what would they be?

Alberto was part of Apple in the 80s and 90s.

What lessons did Alberto take from his time at Apple that were influential in the rest of his professional life? Any story worth sharing?

Alberto mentioned that the concept of “mentor” is something very particular to American professional culture, while in Latin America it is not so explicit.

How did Alberto find his mentors, and what impact did they have on his career? How does he recommend starting and nurturing those relationships?
What are some of the things he has seen his best founders do to build and maintain that “relationship equity”?

[21:53] - CEO Lessons

In Alberto’s experience, what distinguishes an exceptional CEO from an average one? What skills must a founder develop to become a world-class CEO?
What are the most common mistakes founders make when they start their “company building” process?

Alberto became a specialist in restructuring companies such as Thor Technologies and Entrust, where he managed to revitalize the businesses and sell them.

In his experience, when a company with an established business stops doing well, what are the common reasons why that happens?

Alberto mentioned in an interview that a CEO must be able to recruit “excellent” technical talent.

What are some of the practices or strategies that the best CEOs Alberto has worked with have applied to find and retain high-quality technical talent.

Alberto has sold two companies and has been on the board of many others that have been acquired.

Beyond having a great product and business, is there anything a founder can do from the early days of their company to increase the probability of a successful M&A?

[40:18] - Cybersecurity Thesis

Before becoming an investor, Alberto spent close to 20 years working, founding, and operating cybersecurity companies.

What are some of the inflection points that are accelerating cybercrime and, therefore, the cybersecurity industry?
Why is it such an attractive market to invest in as venture capital? What do people understand the least about the cybersecurity market?
Is it a market where large global players from the U.S. or Europe are going to win, or does the nature of the problem leave room for local players to win?