Draft:Marcus Dantus

Marcus Dantus
Citizenship	Mexican
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, Angel Investor

Marcus Dantus is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, known for creating, operating, investing in, and advising startups across Mexico, the United States, and Latin America.

Early life

Dantus was born in Mexico City on November 7th, 1967. He has russian, bielorussian, ucranian and polish ancestry. His mother, Olga Mochán, (1946-2012) was a Montessori teacher and a  Montessori guide trainer, she owned a Montessori Kindergarden and Primary School (Casa de los Niños NAN). His father, Leon Dantus, (b. 1945) was a  factory general manager (Productos MetalicosStandard) and is currently a Director in a Montessori High School in Phoenix, Arizona. Marcus´grandparents emigrated in the early 20^th century to Mexico where they resided until their passing.

Marcus was born into a middle class family and had a normal childhood. He was a good student but had disciplinary problems since early childhood. His maternal grandfather, Isaac Mochán was a successful entrepreneur, arriving in Mexico as an Mechanical Engineer and early in his career set up the electricity in Mexico City´s Périferico, the City´s main beltway. His paternal grandfather, the original Marcus Dantus, was a merchant and owned a couple of stores in downtown Mexico.

After finishing High School he took a sabbatical year in which he traveled to several countries in Europe, Israel and Egypt where worked several jobs and played guitar on the streets to earn a living during his travels. During college he worked as a boucer and bartender in order to pay partially for his education. .

Career

After graduating, Dantus began his career at Leo Burnett, an advertising agency. He later worked in tourism, film production, and commercial production. In 1994, he founded Latin American Telecom, an internet telephony distribution company, marking his entry into the tech industry.

Dantus founded Mexico.com in 1996, which grew into asignificant Internet company in Mexico. He also established Simitel, a software development company, and Peerant Inc., a call-routing company over Skype. Helater founded Innovamedica, a medical device developer, and Startup Mexico, anentrepreneurial initiative in Mexico.

Dantus has been involved in various councils and organizations, including the Mexico-US Entrepreneurship and Innovation Council(MUSEIC) and the Mexico-France Council for Entrepreneurship and Innovation(COMFEI). He has also been an advisor to social organizations such as Agora International and Ashoka and served as the President of the Latin American and the Caribbean Business Angel Network (LACBAN).

Dantus has been a guest professor at institutions such as MIT, Harvard, IPADE, and ITESM. He co-created the Entrepreneurial Center at Centro University and directed the Startup Module for the Masters in Internet Business at ISDI Mexico.