Adriana Vela is an award-winning strategist, serial entrepreneur, and certified business and professional development coach who has been at the forefront of innovative technologies in the high-tech, biotech, nanotech, AI, and immersive tech sectors. Her enterprise successes include launching dozens of products, driving industry standards, leading million-dollar initiatives, and defining new markets. Entrepreneurial success yielded quotes or features in journal publications such as The Milken Institute Report: 鈥楳inds-to-Market鈥� and the San Diego Business Journal; magazines such as PM Networks, PharmaTech Europe, SmallTimes, Hispanic Business, and San Diego Magazine.听听
Prior to MarketTecNexus, she founded NanoTecNexus Inc and NanoTecNexus Learning Group. Under Adriana鈥檚 leadership, NanoTecNexus earned numerous awards including personal recognition from US Senator Dianne Feinstein.听 She partnered with UC San Diego Medical Center in a $20 million, 5-year grant funded by the National Cancer Institute for the creation of a Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence to reduce the suffering for cancer patients through nanotech-enabled solutions.
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Adriana Vela was 18 when she got her start as an entrepreneur鈥攁 self-made woman in the late 1970s. She knew at a young age that she wanted to be independent and have her own business, which stemmed from a core desire鈥攖o get out of poverty. She grew up poor and saw how disadvantaged her mother was and how she struggled throughout her life. Her mother didn鈥檛 have much of an education, Vela explained, because it just was not possible culturally. Vela said she was a child in poverty who didn鈥檛 want to be an adult in poverty.
鈥淢y one and only desire were to not be poor and born out of that desire was my willingness to do what it takes鈥攁cquire whatever education I needed and do it as fast as possible鈥擨 mean, I was 18 and I was starting a business, an actual big business with no experience, no mentors, no support,鈥� Vela said.
Since Vela entered the workforce at age 14, she听 collected experience and advice from the business people around her. That, along with her ambition and her research skills keep her a successful executive and entrepreneur over 25 years later. In those days, though, she moved 150 miles north of her hometown, rented an unfurnished apartment, slept on the floor, and went home after full days at a job to work on business and product plans. At 19, she was staying up until 3 a.m., researching companies she鈥檇 become a reseller for. She wanted to build a retail computer software business the likes of which would later become Egghead software--an off-the-shelf, retail software company.
With 15+ years in Fortune 100 companies and 15+ years starting businesses, now Vela advises corporate executives and companies based on the knowledge and experience she gained as an entrepreneur following technology developments in the past 25 years. Her programs have helped significantly improve leader confidence, interpersonal relationships and overall team effectiveness that led to raising funds, reducing costs or opening new markets.
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Vela鈥檚 secret to entrepreneurial success? Well, there are a few. The most impactful, though, have been her four tenets. They鈥檙e written in pen on a scrap of cardboard that hangs on the corkboard hutch of her desk in her office. In order, they are鈥斺€渙bstacles are the things you see when you take your eyes off the ball,鈥� 鈥渁dapt, improvise and overcome,鈥� 鈥淒WYSYWD鈥攄o what you say you will do,鈥� and 鈥渢hink like a man, look like a lady, work like a dog.鈥�
Vela knew and embodied the image of working like a dog, but in the 1980s it was more difficult to look like a lady in the workplace if that was what you wanted.
鈥淚n the 80s,鈥� Vela explained, 鈥減rofessional women almost had to鈥攖hey were really trying to look a lot more like the men to blend in. You know, wearing dark suits. Oh boy, I have so many Jones of New York suits鈥攏avy and black鈥攁ll the dark colors.鈥�
She said that over the past five years, it鈥檚 encouraging to see women dressing how they want in the workplace. She鈥檚 happy to see women being themselves and being strong in the workplace.听 Vela says that previously, if girls heard 鈥淥h, you鈥檒l make a nice wife when you grow up,鈥� women in the 鈥�80s resigned themselves to that role, that destiny. Vela says that now others are just going to have to deal with a new reality.
Vela advises the entrepreneurs of today that things are also different from when she went into business over 25 years ago in terms of market disruptions. The pace and magnitude of change in the market and in the roles leaders assume is unprecedented. In the past decade, 11 CEOs at top companies like Ford, Mattel, and General Electric鈥攖o name a few鈥攈ave been ousted due to their inability to keep up with technological disruptions in the marketplace, according to
鈥淚t used to be you could allocate the time to develop a strong strategy,鈥� Vela said, 鈥測ou could figure out what鈥檚 going on鈥攜ou could have a five-year plan. Honey, the idea of five-year plans no longer exists!鈥�
When there鈥檚 no time for strategy, there鈥檚 no time to sharpen your skills, as CEOs and senior executives acknowledge in surveys. The top five skill sets that senior executives identified they were lacking and which impacted not only their leadership but also the bottom line were leadership and delegation, conflict management, listening, mentoring and developing talent, and communication.
听She explains that every day senior executives have to fight to keep up with these market and technology-based disruptions that are so complex that they are often beyond the scope of their abilities. This leaves no time or energy for them to maintain and improve these interpersonal skills. Other polls show that although a majority of CEOs know their industry will be disrupted in the next five years, only 2 percent say they have a plan in place and over 17 percent said they have no idea how they will respond. Converging technology disruptions are redefining industries and upending business models.听
Vela talked about exponential technologies, which are one of the biggest issues causing disruption in the marketplace鈥攁 metaphorical relay race. She said that tons of startups failed after getting the green light from investors to ride the wave of a technology trend and innovate. Throughout the process and development stage, startups learn a lot even if they don鈥檛 make it to the finish line. Competitors or new companies learn from the mistakes of those who failed and carry the proverbial baton further.
鈥淗owever, where it gets interesting is when two or more of those batons come together and leverage each other鈥檚 ability to accelerate progress,鈥� Vela said, 鈥� 鈥極oh, I need part of what you鈥檙e doing鈥� and 鈥業 need part of the other piece鈥� and now you鈥檙e working together and you鈥檝e developed something bigger鈥攖he bigger baton鈥攖hat moves technology as a whole forward. Now you鈥檝e created something different.鈥� This part is not new. What鈥檚 new is the pace and complexity.
If you happen to be lucky enough, you may be a part of that bigger baton, and turn that threat of a technological disruption into an exponential technology. Meaning, you have to be able to disrupt yourself in order to stay ahead. This demonstrates that you can be future-ready by keeping your mind open as a company and a leader鈥攖he kind Vela would like to collaborate with on her next project.
鈥淗elping companies and their leadership conquer such disruptions is the reason I鈥檓 in business,鈥� Vela said. 鈥淐urrently I鈥檓 looking for companies interested in a case study that uses my programs as a way to significantly multiply their success and navigate disruption."
This article has been edited for length and clarity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of their employer or the American Chemical 中国365bet中文官网.
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