Alejandra Merit: The Entrepreneur Awakening a New Creative Generation
Discover the story of Alejandra Merit, founder of Veneno: her leap into entrepreneurship in Spain, the challenges, lessons and the movement inspiring a new generation.
Where she comes from — and why she started
Alejandra Merit never fit into the “right” path.
She didn’t enjoy studying, didn’t love following rules and couldn’t picture herself repeating the same office job for decades.
But she did know one thing:
she wanted to leave a mark on people.
For years she tried to adapt to the traditional rhythm—until she realized she was postponing the life she actually wanted. That’s when she understood something fundamental: the “perfect moment” doesn’t exist.
Three years ago, she made the decision that changed everything:
she left a stable job to pursue an idea she didn’t yet know how to build.
She had no experience running businesses.
No contacts.
No flawless plan.
But she had one conviction:
she wanted to create something that awakened something in people.
The leap into the unknown: building Veneno with zero experience
The story of Veneno doesn’t begin with an Excel sheet — it begins with an impulse.
Alejandra decided to open a gastrocultural space without any background in hospitality, operations, construction or branding.
And yet, within months, she launched:
a 400 m² warehouse
over €600,000 in initial investment
a team of more than 20 people
a community of 100,000 Instagram followers
All built from scratch.
“I tried to find investors and no one took me seriously.
I was just a girl with no experience.
So I decided to document everything… I wanted to prove that Veneno was going to be full.”
And it was.
But Ale insists that this was never the main goal.
The goal was always the community.
Veneno is not a restaurant. It’s a movement.
Veneno was born to create experiences that shake people out of their routine.
The “venom” Ale talks about is the same feeling she had when she quit her job:
a mix of vertigo, creativity and the desire to live differently.
That’s why Veneno doesn’t operate like a traditional restaurant.
Veneno runs daily experiences: afterworks, workshops, themed parties, meetups, unexpected happenings and activities you won’t find anywhere else.
“Half of the things we do make no sense…
last week we had a bouncy castle in the middle of the restaurant.
And that’s where the magic is.”
For Ale, a business isn’t built only with a concept — but with a culture.
And culture is built with people
Entrepreneurship is not about having all the answers
It’s about daring to learn while building
If there’s one message Ale repeats clearly, it’s this:
nobody starts out knowing.
Entrepreneurship is a constant exercise in learning on the go, correcting, failing fast and adjusting — even when there are no manuals, no instructions and no guarantees.
Her story is a reminder that entrepreneurs aren’t born from perfection,
but from the courage to begin.
“When the DANA hit, my financial Tetris completely fell apart.”
Entrepreneurship has euphoric moments — and moments that test everything.
When the DANA storm hit Valencia, Ale had to:
halt construction
renegotiate with suppliers
fight for every euro to keep the project alive
convince her team to keep believing in something that didn’t yet exist
And once the space opened, a new challenge arrived:
tight margins, unpredictable costs and months where profitability came at the very last minute.
“It’s crazy how adding a tiny bit more vermouth can make me lose €1,500.”
That level of detail and financial tension reflects the reality of entrepreneurship in Spain, where, according to the GEM Report, over 50% of entrepreneurs quit due to lack of profitability or financial issues.
Ale didn’t quit.
She learned to sustain the project even in its hardest months.
The human side: doubts, fears and everything unseen
This interview doesn’t just reveal the founder of Veneno.
It reveals the woman behind it:
the doubts before opening
the exhausting months of construction
the criticism and hate that comes with visibility
the personal sacrifices
the people who shaped her journey
the moments she almost gave up
and the ones that pushed her forward
Alejandra Merit is not just an entrepreneur.
She is the reflection of a generation that wants to live differently.
A generation that doesn’t seek “what’s correct,” but what’s real.