Nathan Lustig

Futbolito, Facebook and other Observations from Chile

Category : Startup Chile
Posted on December 5, 2010 by Nathan Lustig

Futbolito

I played pickup soccer last Thursday with Enrique, one of the other Startup Chile entrepreneurs and Cristóbal, a Chilean I knew from UW. We played 8v8 (futbolito) on a small field at San Carlos de Aponquindo, which is Universidad Católica’s soccer complex. It was a really cool setup on the far east side of Santiago, in an area called Las Condes, which is the foothills of the mountains. We played at 9pm, so we got a great view of the city from the field.

In addition to the main stadium and fields for plenty of other sports, there are at least 12 small sided soccer fields with artificial turf, lights, goals and everything you’d need to play a game. You can rent the fields and play with your friends. Enrique’s friends had rented the field and needed extra players so I got to come.

The level of play was like good high school with a few D3 college players thrown in and there were some fun differences from pickup games that I’m used to in the US. We played with throw ins when the ball went out and in the US, we normally just pass it in and get the ball moving again. Chilean pickup games include slide tackling, but they’re good at it, so there weren’t any bad challenges. Chileans play a technical style, with lots of small passes and quick footwork, but it’s not just one guy dribbling all the time. You don’t have to run nearly as much. Chileans would rather score with a bunch of small passes leading to an open goal, rather than take long, hard shots. Sort of like Arsenal’s style.

On defense, you are supposed to go in and make tackles, no matter where you are on the field. I’ve always been trained to drop, give ground and force the attacker to make a mistake, until they get close to the attacking third, so they were always urging me to jump in and make a tackle. My style worked most of the time, because they weren’t used to it. We also played with goalkeepers, which was much more fun than not, like we normally do in the US. I’m used to talking all the time on the soccer field, but I didn’t know any of the slang for man on, tackle him, you take him etc, so it was hard from time to time. I’m hoping to figure out a way to play at least once a week while I’m in Chile.

Facebook

It seems to me that Facebook is basically a dating site in Chile. People friend each other much more quickly here than they do in the US and use Facebook chat all the time. According to a few different Chileans, it’s normal to friend someone, then start chatting with them using Facebook chat, right away. I’ve been on the receiving end a few times and it’s quite different from what I’m used to. Most people don’t seem to use any of the privacy settings either. Apparently MSN messenger is really popular here too.

In the US, I use Facebook mostly to stay in touch with close friends, not meet new people. I rarely friend someone I just met and have my privacy setting up really high. I also rarely use facebook chat, in favor of gchat with my friends that I actually email. I also use Facebook to share blog posts and interesting links. Here, it seems different.

Nightlife

If you’re young and don’t like to dance, you probably won’t have much fun here. It’s quite the contrast to Madison, where most of the bars are consist of loud music and people just standing around. Here, there’s live music, djs and people love to dance. As any large capital city, there’s lots of great bands that come through Santiago, so we’ve seen Girl Talk and a few other bands. Lollapalooza just announced that they’re expanding from Chicago to Santiago while we’ll be here, too.

Pisco

The only liquor I’ve had since I’ve been here is pisco, which comes from grapes. It’s really good and we normally mix it with coke or sprite to make piscola or piscola blanca. It’s either 35 or 40% alcohol and really cheap. A 750ml bottle of really good stuff is about $10 and many times comes with a bottle of coke/sprite.

Protests/Strikes

I think I’ve seen some sort of protest just about every day I’ve been here. Most are very small, but there was a larger one a few days ago about the government’s attempt to cut government worker wages. I’ve seen people protesting animal rights, public workers and a few that I couldn’t figure out. The metro isn’t working today because the drivers are on strike, which isn’t a big deal since it’s Sunday.

So far, I’m really enjoying being in Chile. The people are nice, the weather is beautiful and business is going good. I have a few longer posts written that I’ll be publishing over the next few days, so be sure to check back.

Russia, Qatar Show FIFA’s Corruption

Category : Sports
Posted on December 3, 2010 by Nathan Lustig

sepp-blatter — Sepp Blatter: Bond Villain Look Alike

Nobody should be surprised by FIFA’s selection of Russia and Qatar as the next two hosts for the World Cup. FIFA, along with the International Olympic Committee are among the most corrupt organizations in the world (see Jack Warner). It’s clear that England was by far the best host for 2018 in terms of attendance, overall revenue and atmosphere. A world cup in England would have rivaled Germany in 2006, but it’s clear that’s not what FIFA wants.

I don’t buy FIFA’s insistence that they’re trying to spread the game around the world. All they are about is pulling off a decent tournament and getting rich themselves. Before the final vote, FIFA president and Bond villain lookalike Sepp Blatter spoke of the “evils of the media,” referring to a British press investigation that caused 6 delegates to resign amid corruption charges. According to the head of England’s bid delegation:

Robertson said: “One of the rumours sweeping Zurich last night was that there are 22 Fifa exco delegates as you know, and the rumour was that only three of them bothered to call for the technical reports and two of those bothered to call for those technical reports so they could release them to their own bid teams. If you have 22 exco members and they’re not bothering to read the technical reports, I think that probably tells you it’s not a football-based decision.”

At a news conference in Zurich Anson, asked if England should bid to host the tournament again, said: “I would say right now, ‘Don’t bother until you know that the process is going to change to allow bids like ours [a chance] to win. When you have the best technical bid, fantastic inspection visits, the best economic report, and, from what people told us, the best presentation, it’s quite hard to stomach that all that seemed to count for absolutely nothing.

“Having only 22 guys only voting gives them too much influence. Running two bids together was clearly a huge mistake. Everyone who had a vote and a bid clearly wanted to trade that vote for something that helped them get over the line in that campaign. Australia had a very good bid and they got one vote, we had a very good bid and we got two, the USA had an unbelievably strong technical bid and got three. Six votes in the first round between those three, there’s something not quite right.

“You have to open it up to all member associations and have transparency and open voting so everyone knows who voted for whom. With 22 guys having so much power it becomes very, very difficult.”

Wikileaks recently revealed a cable calling Russia a mafia state, so it’s no stretch that their government/oligarchs/mafia found a way to funnel into FIFA’s welcoming hands. I actually think Russia will host a fairly good tournament, just like South Africa did, especially if they do the grouping so that you don’t have to travel huge distances. Russia has good night life and the climate will be great for a summer tournament, but I think FIFA took personal gain over the potential to have one of the best tournaments ever.

Qatar is another story. They have oil money and want to get on the world stage. Again, it’s no stretch that they were able to funnel some into FIFA’s open arms. I just don’t see how Qatar will be able to host a decent tournament in June and July. I know they’ll have air conditioned stadiums, but the best part of the tournament is seeing the country and hanging out with people from all over the world. With temperatures peaking at 50C, I can’t see it being very fun. A Qatar travel site says “anyone who can leave Qatar in the summer does.” Add in the fact that it’s close to terrorist hotspots and doesn’t allow Israelis to enter, I can’t see Qatar being able to pull off a really fun World Cup. I understand why the US didn’t get it since we just hosted in 1994, but Australia would have been a really good choice, too.

FIFA delegates may not have accepted bribes (I think they did, but I don’t have evidence), but FIFA has other reasons for picking developing countries. In South Africa, FIFA basically rented the country out for 6 weeks. They got the government to change laws and make new ones to restrict advertising. They got South Africa to allow “blue lights” to drive as fast as they wanted and ignore traffic laws, and even got the police and organizing committee to sweep all sorts of misdeeds under the rug. See my post about FIFA’s corruption from July for more details.

The last World Cups have been held in South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar, all developing countries without extremely strong rule of law. All four are willing to sacrifice rule of law for the chance to be on the world stage. I’m not sure that I blame them either. I just don’t think we’re likely to see a World Cup or Olympics in a developed country any time soon. Sepp Blatter FIFA would rather take money and make their own rules, far away from the prying eyes of the British or American press.

You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Til It’s Gone, so Seize Your Opportunities with Alacrity

Category : Personal Thoughts
Posted on November 25, 2010 by Nathan Lustig

I’ve been planning to write this post like this ever since getting accepted into Startup Chile, but it all came together the past few days.

I have stayed in a hostel in Santiago for the last nine days until I found an apartment yesterday. When I went to take a shower the first day, it was great. Nice bathroom, high pressure, plenty of hot water. After 14 hours of traveling, it was exactly what I needed. The next morning, I went to take another shower and everything was great again. After about 5 minutes, the water got cold. Frigid. I had to get out.

Some days, there was no hot water at all and I skipped showering, some days I had the same hot shower as my first day. You never know how good you have it until it’s taken away from you. Luckily for me, I only lost hot water, not something more important like this young Packers fan. Because I knew what it was like to lose hot water, I got really good at washing my hair as quickly as possible. I took my chance to shower with hot water with alacrity. Big word, I know, but my Mom’s been saying that to me since I was 3 to get me to do things, so I had to use it here.

It’s easy to think that you’re living your life to the fullest, but you truly don’t know how good you have it until you lose it. You can try to live like you’re dead as Dave Winer suggests in his yearly Thanksgiving post, but it’s much easier said than done. For me, it’s easier to take a step back every once in awhile and think about all of the things I have: health, great friends/family, ability to travel, flexibility to start my own business, rather than the things I don’t have. If you have a few basic things, you’re pretty much set.

When opportunities come up, seize them. Take the trip, learn the instrument, start your business, go talk to people. What’s the worst that could happen? Live for opportunities and experiences, not things. When you’re looking back, you’ll remember your experiences and the people you made your memories with, not the things that were around you. Control what you can, let the rest roll off your back. If Entrustet‘s taught me anything, it’s that in the long run, we’re all dead. Don’t diminish what you have, because it could be taken away at a moments notice and when you have the opportunity to do something awesome, do it. You won’t regret it.