Rodrigo Herrera Aspra: what were the businesses with which the Shark Tank exshark started his empire

In Mexico, there are several entrepreneurs who have stood out for their business skills and for accumulating great fortunes throughout their lives. In addition, they are recognized for their way of being, their simplicity and for being able to like each other and connecting with people.

Without a doubt, one of these entrepreneurs is the shark Rodrigo Herrera Aspra, who until a few weeks ago was a participant in the reality show Shark Tank Mexico, however, through his social networks he announced that he would leave the program.

At the same time as him, another of the reality show's most iconic participants also announced his departure. This is Arturo Elias Ayub, who was also one of the most prominent participants in the program. In addition, there were other prominent businessmen from Mexico on Shark Tank, with Carlos Bremer, Patricia Armendáriz and Ana Victoria García, among other business personalities, also participating.

Herrera Aspra is the owner of the pharmaceutical company Genomma Lab, considered one of the leaders in the dermocosmetics and over-the-counter medicines sector in Mexico and some Latin American countries. The businessman was among the top ten of Mexico's wealthiest personalities in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and managed to raise a fortune valued at $1 billion.

According to his official website, Rodrigo Herrera began to get involved in the business world from an early age and his first job was as a seller of tomatoes that he himself harvested through the hydroponic technique. His second job was found in a small hardware store located in Mexico City's Historic Center when he was just 17 years old, where he was responsible for servicing the counter, balancing accounting books and reviewing inventories.

Although he started working since he was just a child, the business career of the “shark” dates back to his university days, when he decided to change his career in Civil Hydraulic Engineering to that of Business Administration at the Anahuac University. At this time, and according to Expansión magazine, Herrera decided to pawn a watch in order to start his main business: Producciones Infovisión, which would later be called Genomma Lab.

In this sense, Herrera Aspra's first big business was the production of infomercials, since he considered that his knowledge of sales could contribute to the development of a scheme for selling through television. In fact, the idea of entering the drug and dermocosmetics sector was based on the visualization of infomercials, as he realized that this sector was in great demand in the Mexican market.

Realizing that the television sales strategy worked for several decades through telephone calls, the businessman concluded that the business should be expanded to other areas, because “I couldn't stand at the computer waiting for someone to call”, so he decided that, in addition to manufacturing and marketing of products for personal use, his company would be an in-house production and advertising agency and thus began to make commercials for his own products based on marketing strategies.

At the age of 23, Rodrigo Herrera contacted a group of doctors for guidance on the manufacture of his first skin product: Axepsia soap, which began to be sold through infomercials in 1996. Since then, the “shark” business has not stopped, because by 2000, his company had 10 brands of medicines and cosmetics under the Genomma Lab seal, one of the most recognized laboratories in its field in Mexico, the United States and Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Peru, Chile, Colombia, and Brazil.

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