You have to put the hook in the water to catch the fish

On Wednesday, I was invited along with the entrepreneur I am working with from Clausen to attend a welcome lunch hosted by Gabriel Rozman. Gabriel R. is a retired EY Partner who worked in over a dozen offices through the course of his career with the firm. After retiring from EY, he accepted a position with Tata Consulting as the Executive VP of Emerging Markets. Gabriel has contacts everywhere and he runs in very interesting and powerful circles. He is the President of Endeavor Uruguay, which is why we were invited to lunch with him. The lunch was at the upscale Restaurant Olivia in the local free zone.

The driveway for Restaurant Olivia, Montevideo. The resturant is the brown building on the right side.

Also attending the lunch was the Office Managing Partner of the local Montevideo EY office, the other two Fellows and their entrepreneurs, some of the staff of the local Endeavor office, and Gabriels charming wife. The meal was excellent and Gabriel is such an interesting person. The two hour lunch was not nearly long enough and was great fun.

The Fellows with Montevideo EY Office Managing Partner Ricardo Villarmarzo



The best part of the day though was once we left. As my entrepreneur (another Garbriel) was driving back to Clausen, we had a great conversation about the barriers that entrepreneurs face in a poor, non-entrepreneurial country like Uruguay. It is clear that Gabriel has been fighting an uphill battle for a very long time, but he remains enthusiastic and keeps on fighting. As with every entrepreneur, he chases many opportunities, most of which do not pan out. About that he very astutely stated "You have to put the hook in the water to catch the fish". It was a great chance to start to get to know Gabriel and I feel like he is getting more comfortable with me.