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Jos\u00e9 Luis Garc\u00e9s Bautista has developed a validation model for Born Global startups. His tool assesses the innovation and international capabilities needed to export successfully from day one.<\/h3>\n
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In Latin America\u2019s traditional business ecosystem, internationalization has historically been viewed as a gradual process. The conventional model suggests that a company must first establish itself in its domestic market and, after years of growth, venture abroad. However, doctoral research conducted by financial engineer Jos\u00e9 Luis Garc\u00e9s in Santander, Colombia, points to a different model: Born Global companies. These organizations do not view international markets as a distant goal but as their starting point.<\/p>\n
Based on research published in the Scopus scientific database, Garc\u00e9s not only analyzes this phenomenon in the region but also provides a practical tool for entrepreneurs to assess their export potential from day one. Unlike companies that internationalize their operations in stages, a \u201cBorn Global\u201d company is founded with the intent to export.<\/p>\n
According to Garc\u00e9s, who is also a professor, these firms emerge in response to an unmet need in international markets that conventional companies are not addressing. In his research, Garc\u00e9s shows how these firms identify an opportunity in a foreign market and design their products, warranties, and technical specifications to respond exclusively to that demand.<\/p>\n
These organizations share several defining characteristics, such as innovation (the product must have a high component of added value, design, or technology); a global mindset (founders and managers develop their production processes according to international standards); and they are most commonly found in software and technology, advanced manufacturing, and service industries.<\/p>\n
One example cited by the researcher is a company from Santander, located between Oiba and Barbosa, which\u2014without realizing it\u2014was operating as a Born Global company by exporting coffee cubes. Although coffee is an agricultural product, its innovative format enabled the company to reach international customers directly through digital platforms.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/info-empren-eng-892x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A Validation Model and Strategic Roadmap<\/h3>\n
At the heart of Garc\u00e9s Bautista\u2019s research is a structured self-assessment model. Validated by experts from the oil and gas industry, academia, and chambers of commerce, the model is divided into three key phases.<\/p>\n
The first focuses on identifying global opportunities, requiring innovators to evaluate their \u00abglobal mindset.\u00bb The model asks whether they truly understand the culture, economy, and political context of their target market. \u00abIf I’ve never exported, traveled abroad, or become familiar with international negotiation processes, the model will raise a red flag,\u00bb explains the professor.<\/p>\n
The second phase\u2014development and strategy\u2014assesses a company’s ability to build strategic partnerships, since a Born Global company cannot operate in isolation. It requires a strong support network that includes global marketing, communications, and, above all, skilled professionals capable of strengthening every level of the organization.<\/p>\n
The final phase focuses on risk assessment and management. Given the uncertainty of international markets, the model emphasizes continuous evaluation of strategic effectiveness and careful management of macroeconomic and cultural risks.<\/p>\n
Challenges in Latin America<\/h3>\n
The research provides an overview of how this phenomenon has developed across Latin America, highlighting cases such as Medell\u00edn, where in 2011 a software company adapted its operations to the business hours of Japan and China. In Ecuador, the pandemic boosted exports of processed products such as jams, while Brazil has found success with cacha\u00e7a, and Chile with specialized software for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).<\/p>\n
Despite these examples, experts such as Jos\u00e9 Luis Garc\u00e9s say that in Santander and much of Latin America, economic opportunities are being missed due to a fear of the unknown, a lack of documentation of innovations, and a tendency to prioritize the local market\u2014which ultimately dilutes the innovative nature of their products.<\/p>\n
A Call for Collective Action<\/h3>\n
The contribution by Garc\u00e9s Bautista of the School of Economics and Business goes beyond academic theory; it offers a practical roadmap with strong potential for real-world application. He also proposes a coordinated partnership among three key actors: academia, providing validation tools; government institutions\u2014including ProColombia and the chambers of commerce\u2014facilitating financing and market access; and the private sector, willing to assume the risks of international expansion.<\/p>\n
The message is clear: entrepreneurs do not need to wait until they have large-scale infrastructure to think globally. If a product offers genuine innovation and its founder develops an international business mindset, borders become merely geographical references rather than commercial barriers. Garc\u00e9s’s model is ready to serve as a catalyst for transforming local ideas into successful global businesses.<\/p>\n
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Head of Content, Journalist, Human Resources Management Specialist, Certified Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE) Teacher. publicaciones@unab.edu.coAssociated project Global Entrepreneurship from the South: Developing Born Global Companies in Emerging Economies. Jos\u00e9 Luis Garc\u00e9s Bautista has developed a validation model for Born Global startups. His tool assesses the innovation and international capabilities needed to export successfully […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"2880","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issue-11"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2355"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2363,"href":"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355\/revisions\/2363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unab.edu.co\/cienciaabierta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}