Category: Chile

Uber vs. Taxis: The Chilean Version

Category : Chile
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Note: This post originally appeared in spanish in El Mercurio, one of Chile’s largest newspapers with the title Uber contra los taxistas. This battle has played out in major cities around the world and is currently coming to a head in Chile, with the same mass taxi protests and government intervention to ban Uber and similar services.

The national debate has been focused on the battle between Uber, Cabify and “yellow cabs” during the past few weeks. Most people have focused on this battle as if it were the only battle between technology and the status quo happing right now and have only focused on one part of the battle.

As a tech investor and also a foreigner, I’ve seen this battle many times from afar in the US and from close up with companies that we’ve invested in. (more…)

An Economic Slowdown Is a Good Time to Launch a Startup

Category : Chile, Entrepreneurship
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A version of this post originally appeared in Spanish as a column in El Mercurio, Chile’s equivalent of the New York Times with the title Una desaceleración es un muy buen momento para lanzar un emprendimiento.

As some context to my non-chilean readers, Chile, along with most resource producing countries, is currently going through an economic slowdown. Most of Chile’s government revenue comes from Copper sales, who’s price has gone down by 55% from its peak. Although Chile’s not in a recession yet and Chile’s economy is in great shape compared to other Latam countries, unemployment is up, businesses are investing less and people are worried.

Here’s the original column:

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Introducing Ttanti: Patagonian Wood Watches

Category : Chile, Latin America Startups and Investing, Magma Partners
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ttanti wood watch

I’m really excited to introduce Ttanti’s Travelers Collection, wood watches direct from Chile’s Patagonia. Max and Angel, have been working on Ttanti for 2+ years to make it a reality. Although its outside of our primarily tech focus at Magma, we loved the project and the team and decided to help out.

We’ve been working with Max and Angel for the better part of 18 months, helping them go from a 100% Chilean made prototype, to a Patagonian designed watch with a Swiss made body, all expertly finished off by hand by Chilean artisans. Ttanti is one of our portfolio companies that I’m most proud of because of how far they’ve come. (more…)

The Best Thing a Chilean Can Do is to Leave Chile

Category : Chile
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After five years in Chile, I firmly believe that the best thing a Chilean can do to better his or her life is to leave Chile. Traveling is ok, but to get the full benefit, a Chilean should live and work abroad, ideally for at least a year. Working in another Latin American country is ok, but to get the full benefit, a Chilean should try to live and work in the US, Europe, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand or another well developed country with a completely different culture and set of values. It’s easy to see the difference in attitude in a Chilean who’s been abroad and one who hasn’t.

Both upper class Chileans and non upper class Chileans should leave Chile, but for different reasons. For non-elite Chileans, their lives get instantly better getting out of Chile’s classist system. They instantly have more opportunity, are more likely to get evaluated for who they are, how smart they are and not their skin color, where they went to school or their last name. Non-elite Chileans quickly realize that lighter skin and blonde hair isn’t always aspirational in every part of the world. (more…)