All posts in Movers and Shakers

  • January 22, 2015

    Founder Institute rising.

    Adeo Ressi Entrepreneur Magazine

    The latest issue of Entrepreneur Magazine just came out and it was great to see Adeo Ressi, creator of the Founder Institute, on the cover.  In this issue, he, along with other entrepreneurs talk about the characteristics of a startup founder. The print version of the magazine also has some sample questions so that you can take a quick version of the Founder Institute test to determine (initially) if you have entrepreneurial DNA.  The full version of the test can be taken here.

    For accelerators, it’s important to be very careful in selecting the candidates  with whom they will be working.  Most, such as YCombinator, choose based on a number of criteria that they discern from an online application and in-person interview.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Founder Institute decided to use an online aptitude exam that tests for a variety of characteristics.  It’s an interesting and unique approach.

    Read more

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  • October 31, 2012

    Medellin, A Center Of Innovation In Latin America

    First, many thanks to Alan for allowing us to write this guest article. I have known of Alan since my days writing for VentureBeat, and my opinion of him only grows every day. We’re lucky to have him as an advisor to ESPACIO.

    Espacio Launch Party

    Close to one year ago I arrived in Medellin, Colombia, not knowing what to expect from the city.

    From the first day though, I was struck by the openness of the people and the culture of opportunity. Much to my surprise, the ci

    ty reminded me of Silicon Valley, which is where I had resided for much of my life.

    This month my co-founder, Edinson Alberto Arrieta Aguas, and I launched a co-working space/entrepreneurial center called ESPACIO to help turn Medellin into the Silicon Valley of Latin America.

    To those who have not visited the city, the heading “Silicon Valley of Latin America” may come as a surprise.

    Espacio Medellin

    However, it is not just my partner and I who believe Medellin will become the center of innovation in Latin America. Many notable publications, including TechCrunch (HERE) and the BBC (HERE), wrote about ESPACIO and about Medellin as an innovation hub.

    We believe there are a number of reasons Medellin will become a center of innovation in Latin America.

    First, there is an organic tech community that is flourishing. Groups such as CoffeeGrid and the Medellin Entrepreneurship Society hold events with countless entrepreneurs to discuss new startups. This startup scene fits perfectly with the entrepreneurial culture that exists in the city of Medellin.

    Second, the Colombian government and the city of Medellin have been furthering many initiatives to develop entrepreneurship in the city. Organizations such as Ruta N and iNNpulsa provide countless benefits to both Colombian and foreign entrepreneurs. As one of these entrepreneurs, I have witnessed firsthand this assistance.

    Espacio MedellinLastly, many of the most promising entrepreneurs, whether they are from the city of Buenos Aires or the Startup Chile program, are moving to Medellin because of the quality of life and the opportunity to grow companies. At ESPACIO, we already have one Startup Chile company in the space and more are on the way.

    The culture of entrepreneurship in the city, the budding startup communities, and the movement of foreign entrepreneurs to the city is creating the perfect storm for an entrepreneurial community in Medellin.

    The mission of ESPACIO, the coworking space in the heart of Medellin, is to further the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Medellin. We’re looking to take 26 of the most creative entrepreneurs (50% Colombian, 50% foreign), and to be more than an office, but to be a community. In addition to affordable desk space offered, we will be providing classes, demo days, free marketing and PR advice, and more.

    If you are looking to build a business, there is no better place in the world to be than Medellin. I say this having spent much of my life in Silicon Valley and New York. If you are planning a visit to Medellin and would like to learn more about the entrepreneurial scene here, we provide a free weekly email with entrepreneurial events and updates (HERE).

    About The Author

    Conrad Egusa is the Co-Founder of ESPACIO and the Founder of Brownstein & Egusa. He is currently a Mentor at The Founder Institute. Conrad was formerly a writer at VentureBeat, and had earlier founded an angel-investor backed company in Silicon Valley.

    1 Comment / Movers and Shakers /

  • February 12, 2011

    Piola Brings Meetups and Barcamps Online

    Hernan & Tim O'ReillyThe other day, I had a great conversation with Hernan Aracena, co-founder of a startup called Piola offering an web conferencing solution for meetups and events such as virtual barcamps.  Lately, he hasn’t spent more than two months at a time in anyone country.  He’s been to Madrid, Miami and San Francisco (where he’s living now) going to hackathons and entrepreneurial events.

    Piola has gotten quite a bit of use in Latin America from radio stations such as RCN in Colombia as well as organizations that promote startups in the region.  The other day, Tim Draper from DFJ, spoke (using Piola) at a Brazil Tech Valley event.  Hernan and the Piola team know they were onto something when, in 2009, their first event generated over 5k realtime viewers without much marketing.

    After testing his product in Latin America, Hernan is ready to promote it to a more global audience and take his company to the next level.  Although he’s lived in Venezuela and Chile, he moved out to the valley because that’s where he feels he has to be to achieve his objectives. He’s already been working with a medical organization and a part of the UN as potential customers.

    After hearing Hernan’s story, there are some characteristics that, in my mind, make him a talented entrepreneur:

    1. Outlook and energy. From the outset, it’s obvious that Hernan is an extremely positive person as is evidenced by his demeanor (see interview below) and comments.

    2. Talent. Hernan likes building and working within a team.  He refers to his co-founding team members as “artists” and measures their talent, but also their commitment to the project before bringing them on.

    3. Product Development.  From the get-go, Piola has iterated its product numerous times working out the kinks and developing an API that helps customers and partners deploy the solution.

    4. Customer Development.  As the below photos show, Hernan took a road trip throughout Latin America meeting with all kinds of users of the Piola platform. The photos below give a sense of Hernan enjoys his work (check out the last one with Hernan and Tim O’Reilly). :)

    5. Willingness to learn and seek guidance. At a suggestion from his friend, Andres Barreto, he moved over the San Francisco to connect with everything that’s happening in the Valley.  The company has been focused on product and customer development, but are now trying to get some help in deciding on a business model that makes sense.

    Talking with Hernan, I was kind of reminded of the talk that the CEO of Airbnb gave at Y-Combinator a few months back about their search for a business model and a product/market fit that could take his company to the next level (he’ll also be checking out a session of the local chapter of the Founder Institute this week).  If that’s a valid comparison, then I think Hernan and his team have what it takes and believe that we should be hearing interesting news about Piola and Hernan in the near future.


    Watch live video from aracena1 on Justin.tv

    2 Comments / English, Movers and Shakers /

  • February 3, 2011

    Movers & Shakers: Fisgo

    Yesterday, I had an excellent conversation with the impressive group of guys behind Brazilian real estate and automotive aggregator service Fisgo.  Brazil has been experiencing more than 20% growth in both markets and the World Cup and Olympics are sure make things even more interesting.
    The team, based out of Rio de Janeiro, includes Federico Alves as CEO as well as Eduardo Rodrigues and Helio Lemos.  This group has previously worked at Buscapé, QueBarato and other Internet sites.  As mathematicians and experienced developers, they definitely have the chops to give Fisgo the technological tools (e.g., cloud computing, etc.) necessary to have a high performing site.
    The big challenge in my mind is marketing and branding.  Although, they mentioned that new traffic is increasing by over 80% in monthly visitors, they definitely have a substantial hill to climb to get users to go to their site first instead of established players such as Zap in real estate (or new players such as VivaReal).
    However, if they are able to establish their brand, the aforementioned companies in addition to Mercado Libre and others will most likely become Fisgo customers looking to get quality lead traffic driven to their sites.  The real competitors are companies such as TrovitBrasil, a division of Trovit, an aggregator in a number of countries.
    The performance of the site is quite fast and the user interface is well designed although the choice of including banner ads is interesting as it could detract from the focus of getting users to other sites.  Needless to say, I’m sure a savvy investor (or investors) will see great potential in this business when they dig further.
    Since it just launched a few months ago, this phase is more focused on proving the model and they seem to have good data to show this.  With investment and guidance, I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone take advantage of the platform that this team has built to expand into new geographic markets, new segments such as group deals and other areas.
    The company plans on talking with investors in a few months and I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about them in the near future.

    FisgoYesterday, I had an excellent conversation with the impressive group of guys behind Brazilian real estate and automotive aggregator service Fisgo.  Brazil has been experiencing more than 20% growth in both markets and the World Cup and Olympics are sure make things even more interesting.

    The team, based out of Rio de Janeiro, includes Federico Alves as CEO as well as Eduardo Rodrigues and Helio Lemos.  This group has previously worked at Buscapé, QueBarato and other Internet sites.  As mathematicians and experienced developers, they definitely have the chops to give Fisgo the technological tools (e.g., cloud computing, etc.) necessary to have a high performing site.

    The big challenge in my mind is marketing and branding.  Although, they mentioned that new traffic is increasing by over 80% in monthly visitors, they definitely have a substantial hill to climb to get users to go to their site first instead of established players such as Zap in real estate (or new players such as VivaReal).

    However, if they are able to establish their brand, the aforementioned companies in addition to Mercado Libre and others will most likely become Fisgo customers looking to get quality lead traffic driven to their sites.  The real competitors are companies such as TrovitBrasil, a division of Trovit, an aggregator in a number of countries.

    The performance of the site is quite fast and the user interface is well designed although the choice of including banner ads is interesting as it could detract from the focus of getting users to other sites.  Needless to say, I’m sure a savvy investor (or investors) will see great potential in this business when they dig further.

    Since it just launched a few months ago, this phase is more focused on proving the model and they seem to have good data to show this.  With investment and guidance, I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone take advantage of the platform that this team has built to expand into new geographic markets, new segments such as group deals and other areas.

    The company plans on talking with investors in a few months and I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about them in the near future.

    4 Comments / English, Movers and Shakers /
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