All posts tagged bogota

  • August 24, 2011

    eCommerce Day hoy y Cartagena ayer

    CartagenaHoy, al final de la tarde estaré hablando en uno de los ultimos paneles del dia en el evento llamado eCommerce Day Bogota.  Es un panel al estilo de acá donde uno lleva una presentacion.  Esto es un poco diferente de lo que hicimos el año pasado en South by Southwest donde fue mas en formato conversador.   Vamos a ver como me va con la presentacion y la reacción del publico.   Si estas leyendo esto despues de dicha presentacion, y si la viste, ponga en los comentarios lo bueno y lo malo. :)

    Por otro lado, la semana estuvo muy chevere en Cartagena hablando en el Congreso de Banqueros coordinado por AsoBancaria.  Fue una experiencia muy enriquezedora y recibi excelentes comentarios sobre mi expocision sobre Innovación Digital.  Gustó mucho mi mensaje de cambiar paradigmas y las disrupciones que vienen en camino para la industria financiera.  Fuera de todo eso, me pude fumar 4 tabacos (cigars) en el balcon de mi hotel!

    Fue excelente ver a Juan Manuel Lopez, parte del equipo del Founder Institute Colombia, a Alejandro de Comparamejor, a Miguel de Accion International y a un viejo amigo de BanColombia (Jorge Ivan)!

    7 Comments / Español, General /

  • June 12, 2011

    Great Visit from Founder of YouSendIt

    Ranjith Kumaran in ColombiaI really enjoyed Ranjith Kumaran’s visit last week here in Bogota. Ranjith came to mentor at the Colombia chapter of the Founder Institute.  He also spoke at the alumni association of one of the most prestigious universities in Colombia.  As you’ll hear if you play the streaming version of this presentation he lays the blame on my doorstep for leaving him with little time to work on prettying up his slides after the several social engagements we had.  Also, Ranjith, very intelligently, stopped by the coast and experienced the amazing atmosphere in Cartagena before arriving in Bogota.

    It’s been about two months since the Founder Institute semester started here in Bogotá and it’s been so gratifying to see the impact that it’s been having on the local ecosystem.  It’s tough to put into words the different levels on which the Founder Institute is starting to transform things here. Something I’ve really enjoyed is the observing the founders as they realize that people like Adeo Ressi and Ranjith Kumaran and the local mentors (building this group has been one of the best things about the Founder Institute for me) are so incredibly accesible and fun to be around.  My impression of Colombia is that, in some respects, it’s quite a formal society, and, because of this, many expect people who have earned a certain level of success to build a wall around them.

    Ranjith and AlanI have to say that the interest in technology startups is accelerating at a rapid pace here in Colombia.  There are really big organizations and companies (some multinationals) who are interested in nurturing this environment.  Nonetheless, it’s the Colombian startups such as CO Internet (Platinum Sponsor) and the regional “Paypal” called Latin American Payments that understood how transformational the Founder Institute will be in this country and decided to sponsor this initiative in Colombia.  Between these sponsors and the local mentors, the energy and interest in giving back has been the common denominator in supporting this initiative and that characteristic is obviously present in people like Adeo and Ranjith.

    While he was here, Ranjith was also able to stop by the Caracol Radio station for an interview.  The Founder Institute session was excellent and, along with local mentors Camilo Gomez and Christian Boelke, Ranjith was able to review a number of the ideas from the Colombia founders.  Ranjith was also able to talk about his new loyalty startup called PunchTab which recently closed a $850k funding round.  Aside from specifics, it helps local entrepreneurs to hear HOW Silicon Valley entrepreneurs even talk about different aspects of their business from customer acquisition to customer development.

    Aside from the impact that these external mentors have on the local environment, it’s great to see the impact that Colombia has on these mentors.  If you listen to any of the interviews, Ranjith comment about the fact that he travels around the world and he quickly felt like Colombia is one of those places where he could spend quite a bit of time in the future.

    No Comments / English, General /

  • June 6, 2011

    Emprendedor Digital en Colombia – YouSendIt

    Ranjith KumaranQue bueno ha sido conocer hoy a Ranjith Kumaran, fundador de YouSendIt y fundador de la nueva empresa llamada PunchTab la cual acaba de anunciar una inversion por USD $850.000 hace unos dias. Ranjith llegó anoche a Bogotá y hoy estuvimos recoriendo algunos lugares de Bogota mientras conversabamos sobre una variedad de temas.

    Yo admiro a cualquier emprendedor ya sea de EEUU o de America Latina por su capacidad de ejecutar.  Los emprendedores de todos los paises son ante todo ejecutores.  Los que combinan esto con una vision poderosa y una capacidad para inspirar a otros, tienen una ventaja adicional.  La conversacion con Ranjith hoy fue bastante candida y abierta.

    Ranjith and Alan

    Mañana, él estará hablando en Uniandinos en la mañana (patrocinado por .CO Internet), luego en Caracol en la tarde y en el Founder Institute en la noche.  Ranjith ya me adelantó que sus presentación son bastante como las conversaciones que tuvimos hoy con el mensaje que no hay que ser superdotado para lograr gran impacto en el mundo digital.  El estará hablando sobre lo que él ha hecho bien y lo que no ha hecho tan bien para demostrar que seguramente muchos en Colombia y America Latina pueden lograr el éxito que el ha logrado.

    Update: Los fundadores en el programa del Founder Institute encontraron increiblemente valiosa toda la informacion que compartiió Ranjith.  Adicionalmente, junto con Christian Boelke y Camilo Gomez (dos mentores), Ranjith analizó varios de las ideas de los emprendedores. Luego salimos y nos tomamos unas cervezas y hablamos mas relajadamente sobre temas varios.

    No Comments / Español, Jugadores Claves /

  • March 5, 2011

    The Adeo Ressi Impact in Colombia

    Adeo Ressi ColombiaWhen you think of startups and venture capital investing, the last thing you’d probably think about is Colombia and for good reason. Although a local gaming company recently received a respectable investment from a local VC, that’s been the exception rather than the rule.  Nevertheless, after spending some time with Adeo Ressi here, it is quite apparent that his company, the Founder Institute, could have an incredibly large impact on the local startup/investment ecosystem.

    Although other countries are further along in building up their startup ecosystems, Colombia has some interesting raw talent that is open to getting guidance on how to grow and develop their startups and a dearth of quality accelerator programs.   It’s within this vacuum that the Founder Institute enters the scene.  I’ll be discussing this further at the SxSW Tech Summit on March 16th.   For now, I’d like to talk more about Adeo’s visit to Colombia.

    First off, after talking with Adeo over the phone several times during the past months, it was really great meeting him in person.  As the below photos show, we were able to talk with a diverse group of people and had some fun at the same time.  We were able to meet with some applicants to the Founder Institute, the local mentors, a radio interviewer and some government officials.

    For the most part, entrepreneurs have been slogging away without much interaction with Silicon Valley and that has left Colombia a bit behind in terms of development in digital startups (with a few exceptions).  Hence, it’s no surprise that a program, such as the Founder Institute’s, that guides founders and connects them with networks of mentors and investors, is generating so much interest.  In the process, getting a solid team of mentors and other players together for the program has done wonders to get this small group of players organized.

    It certainly feels like some subtle though powerful things are happening that can create a big impact on this country.  Time will tell, but I’m pretty confident that things are going to get a whole lot more interesting down here.

    Finally, as the below video shows, Adeo held one of his Ideation Workshops for about 70 potential and current applicants:

    5 Comments / English, General /
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