Category: Startup Chile

Hey Entrepreneurs! You Need To Talk About Your Ideas!

Category : Entrepreneurship, Startup Chile
Posted on June 14, 2011 by Nathan Lustig

When I was in Chile, most of the Chilean entrepreneurs were afraid to talk about their ideas. They would say “I’m working on a project in technology” or “I have an Internet startup that I think can change the world.” I’m seeing the same problem in Madison, especially with young or first time entrepreneurs. It’s a huge problem in places that would like to become startup hotbeds. People are afraid to talk about their startup ideas, mainly because they think people will steal their ideas.

In the Valley, NYC, Boulder, Austin and other startup hotbeds, everyone talks openly about their startups. It’s how you test your ideas and get feedback. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gotten great from other entrepreneurs. Or the times times someone has said “oh, that’s an awesome idea, you need to meet so and so” or “I’m a reporter for (insert publication), I’d love to cover your story.” or “I’m a programmer/biz dev/sales specialist and I’d love to work for you” or “you should partner with (insert company).”

I met the guys who acquired my first business, my first programmer, my attorney/mentor, my current business partner Jesse, got countless press interviews and tons of other connections just by talking to people. Entrustet would be nowhere near what it is today if we refused to talk about it for our first year and a half until we were fully launched.

These connections and conversations ARE the ecosystem that people talk about. If all of the startups in Silicon Valley suddenly stopped talking to each other, deal flow, partnerships and innovation would stop. You need to make ideas run into each other for innovation to happen. You need other smart people giving you feedback if you want to succeed.

So what are you scared of? Do you think some other entrepreneur is going to steal your idea? Do you think your idea is so special it can’t see the light of day? I don’t remember which startup guru said it, but if your idea is 1 in a million, 3oo other people in the us are working on it. For my Chilean readers, that means 16 other people in Chile are working on it! Entrepreneurship is all execution, not the your idea. As my friends at Planet Propaganda like to say, “I’d rather have a ham sandwich than just a good idea, you can at least eat the sandwich!”

If you think you wont be able to succeed because someone else knows a little bit about your idea, you probably shouldn’t be starting your business. You need to out execute everyone. You can’t be scared of someone copying your idea. You need to get feedback and make connections. The only way to do this is to talk to people!

Entrepreneurs who are already working on their own companies are the least likely people to steal your ideas and they are the most likely to give you actionable, valuable feedback that will help your business grow, or connect you with a partner or investor your need to grow your business. The tiny risk that someone will steal your idea pales in comparison to the huge benefits you can get in feedback, advice, press and partnerships. Entrepreneurs, for the most part, want to help other entrepreneurs. They are smart and think like you. What better way to challenge your thinking than to have another smart person think about your ideas with you?

It’s a problem in Chile, Madison, Milwaukee and other aspiring startup hubs. The other week, I talked to a 20 year old UW student who wouldn’t tell me more than he was into “green technology.” I can’t help you if you don’t tell me more! Moral of the story: it pays to talk about your ideas!

Travelogue: Pucón and Lakes Region

Category : Startup Chile, Travel
Posted on June 12, 2011 by Nathan Lustig

My parents came to visit me in Chile at the end of April and we decided to go to Pucón and the lakes region, but I got lazy in my blogging and didn’t write up this post until just now. We started off in sunny Santiago in our tiny little Chevy Spark and took the highway south. The weather was beautiful and we could still see the Andes to the east as we were driving out of the city. The route south is beautiful, starting with vineyards and wine country, later turning into rolling hills and lush greenery. A few hours south of Santiago, the sun started to set, projecting brilliant reds and pinks on the Andes.

We stopped our first night in Chillan, a medium sized town about four hours south of Santiago. We didn’t see much since we were just staying over, but the town center looked really interesting. The next morning, we got up early and started to drive south again. After a few hours, we got off the main highway and drove toward a huge volcano, shrouded in clouds. I hadn’t seen clouds many times since I’d been in Chile, so it was an interesting sight.

As we got closer, the weather started to get worse. We drove through Villarica and it started to drizzle. The clouds obscured the volcano. We knew it was off season and that it might be rainy in Pucón, but we had hoped it would stay dry. After a beautiful drive along the lake we got to Pucón, a small touristy town of about 25,000 people. Since it was off season, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

People had told me that the food in the south was way better than in Santiago and I was not disappointed. The food was amazing! We started out by sharing grilled lamb and halfway through our meal, it started to pore. It was cold out and none of us had any rain gear in the restaurant, so I ran back to the car to drive it around.

One problem. The car didn’t start. I had left the lights on. We tried a push start, but couldn’t get it to work. I asked a police officer if he could give me a jump, he said he didn’t have cables, but taxis did. I asked a collectivo, he said he didn’t have any cables. I talked to four different taxis, all of whom said they couldn’t help me. I even offered to pay. Finally, one taxi told me that if I bought cables he would help me. Five minutes later, I had the cables, but he had driven away. I walked back to the car, cables in hand and luckily a nice guy stopped and agreed to help out. After about an hour, we were on our way. Since the battery was dead, we had to drive around for awhile, which was alright because it was raining. This would become a recurring theme.

We stayed the night in Pucón and walked around as the clouds started to clear. We decided to take a walk on the beach. Just before sunset, it started to drizzle. Luckily, that meant we got to see a rainbow. And not just any rainbow. A double rainbow.

Later that night, we had another amazing meal. This time we split venison stew and a wild boar dish with veggies. It was hearty, warm and filling. Perfect for a cool and rainy night. The next morning, it was raining again and we planned to take a drive toward Argentina, but when I tried to start the car, it was dead. The guy at the hotel jumped us and we decided to drive around to other towns to charge it up again. The weather started to clear in the afternoon and we drove through a bunch of small towns and ended up in Villarica, a less touristy town 20 miles from Pucón. We stayed above an italian restaurant, walked around the city and ate some great fish at a small restaurant.

The next morning, the car started up like a charm and we took a drive toward the Argentina border. We drove through a bunch of smalls towns and were pretty much the only tourists. Each town was a a little different and the weather was perfect. Curarrehue was a hidden gem. We walked around, checked out the Mapuche museum and then walked into a bakery called Pasteleria La Cocina de Elisa on the main plaza for a small snack. We smelled something amazing and I asked what it was. The baker, Elisa Cea Epuin, brought out fresh baked meat empanadas and we decided we had to have some. They were amazing, the best I’ve had in Chile. After we finished, she came out with the fried version. Amazing again. Next, we tried some bakery and check out some local canned fruits and jams. Everything was wild picked, nothing was farmed. After a few minutes, she emerged from the kitchen with some amazing berry spread. The baker had been invited to London and Dublin a few years back to make all of her food at the embassy and I can see why they picked her.

After we finished, we got back to the car and what do you know? Another dead battery. I asked a guy at the only gas station in town and he said he couldn’t help me, but there was a mechanic just down the street. As I walked up, all the workers and truckers stopped and just sort of stared. I don’t think they were expecting a family of tourists. The mechanic was out to lunch, so I went back up to the gas station and sat there until someone agreed to give me a jump again. Thankfully, this was the last time we’d need our jumper cables.

We drove through the beautiful mountain valleys, past crystal clear lakes and shaded passes under the bright sunlight. We came to little town called Huife and decided to turn around. As we were driving back, I saw a sign for a restaurant that was advertising fresh trout, turkey and venison, so we had to stop. We were the only people around, besides the waitress/cook and the food was amazing. Rich, savory and fresh. It was a great decision to stop.

We stayed another night in Pucón and the next day, the weather was really nice and went up the volcano. It is a huge volcano that has a history of erupting, sometimes destroying the surrounding towns. It was cloudy in Pucón, but we emerged from the clouds into bright sunlight about halfway up the volcano. The clouds looked like icing on a cake, covering the valley. We took a hike up the volcano and started when it was bright and sunny. It was amazing to see the evidence of past lava flows and the destruction it wreaked on the vegetation. About an hour later, the pea soup had descended and we couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of our faces. Luckily, the trail was very well marked. The fog was eerie and outlined the trees perfectly.

The next morning, we drove back to Santiago, capping a great trip to the south. Although the weather and car trouble were less than optimal, it was an outstanding trip. I’m really glad my parents got a chance to visit and got to spend some time sharing where I’d been living for the past six months. I really loved the area around Pucón. The combination of lakes, mountains, lush green scenery and amazing food is pretty hard to beat.

Lo Que Dije Al Presidente

Category : Startup Chile
Posted on May 8, 2011 by Nathan Lustig

El jueves pasado, tuve la oportunidad de contar mis experiencias en mis seis meses en Chile como parte del programa Start-Up Chile en un reunión con Geeks on a Plane, Startup Chile y el Presidente de Chile, Sebastián Piñera.

Cuando llegué a Chile, solo hablaba un poco de español, y nunca en mis sueños pensé que tendría la oportunidad de dar un discurso en un desayuno con el Presidente y un publico de mas de cien personas y cámaras de la prensa. Eso es lo que dije al Presidente Piñera y el resto del publico.

Hola, me llamo Nathan Lustig y soy el cofundador de Entrustet, la séptima compañía que llego a Santiago para Start-up Chile. Quiero decir gracias al Presidente Piñera para invitarnos a este desayuno y por la oportunidad de hablar un poco de Startup Chile.

En septiembre, vi un articulo en Techcrunch sobre la oportunidad de mudar mi compañía a Chile para seis meses. Llené la pagina web y cuatro semanas después, nos eligieron para el programa. Cuando llegué, no sabía mucho del programa, solo sabía que podría trabajar en mi compañía en otro lugar y con una beca. La oportunidad de evitar invierno en Wisconisn sólo fue un incentivo.

Ahora, seis meses después, mi tiempo en Chile está terminando. Puedo decir que estos meses fueron unos de los mejores meses de mi vida. Progresamos mucho en Entrustet pero más que eso, nos hicimos Buenos amigos con los emprendedores del programa. Nos hemos conectados al red de emprendimiento en Chile y hicimos amigos Chilenos dentro y fuera del programa.

Ahora, quiero hablar sobre el programa. Como dijo Jean [Boudegur], Start-up Chile, es un emprendimiento en si mismo y ahora esta creciendo muy rápido. Cien equipos van a llegar en los próximos dos meses. Quiero decir gracias a todos los personas en el gobierno porque sin su permiso, este programa innovadora no tendría éxito. Quiero decir gracias a todos los personas que trabaja en startup chile.

Este programa es muy especial, Creo que mucha gente no entiende eso, especialmente Chilenos. Cuando hablo a mis amigos sobre el programa, me dicen “si Chile puede hacerlo, otro países pueden. Pero en realidad, no. Este tipo de programa nunca ha ocurrido en estados unidos o Europa. El programa es el programa de gobierno mas innovador que he visto en mi vida y todos los Chilenos deberían estar orgullosos.

Han hecho algo magnifico que es el comienzo de algo increíble. Quiero ver como crecen el programa y el emprendimiento Chileno en el próximo año. Quiero terminar con otro agradacimiento a mis amigos emprendedores, startup chile y cada persona que apoya el programa. Gracias.

nate pinera — Juan Pablo Salas, Sebastián Piñera, George Cadena, Nathan Lustig

Gracias a Juan Pablo y Javiera para leer y corregir unos versiones de mi discurso y a Jean y Brenna para la oportunidad!

In English:

What I said to the President

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to share my experiences of the last six months in Chile as part of the Startup Chile program at a breakfast with Geeks on a Plane, Startup Chile y the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera.

When I arrived to Chile, I only spoke a little Spanish and I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’d have the opportunity to give a talk at a breakfast with the president, an audience of over 100 and the press. This is what I said the President Piñera and the rest of the audience.

Hi, my name is Nathan Lustig and I am the cofounder of Entrustet, the seventh company that arrived in Santiago for Startup Chile. I want to thank President Piñera for inviting us to this breakfast and for the opportunity to talk a little about Startup Chile.

In September, I saw an article in Techcrunch about the oporuntity to move my company to chile for six months. I filled out the website and four weeks later, they picked us for the program. When I arrived, I didn’t know much about the program, only that I would be able to work on my company in another location and have a grant. The opportunity to avoid a Wisconsin winter was only an added bonus.

Now, six months later, my time in Chile is coming to an end. I can say that these six months were some of the best months of my life. We made a lot of progress on Entrustet, but more than that, we made good friends with all of the entrepreneurs in the proigram. We were connected into the Chilean entrepreneurship network and we made friends with Chileans inside and outside of the program.

Now, I want to talk a little about the program. Like Jean said, Startup Chile is a startup in it’s own right and it’s growing really fast. 100 team are going to arrive in the next two months. I want to thank all of the people in the government because without your permission, this innovative program never would have been successful. I want to say thanks to all of the people who work in startup chile.

This program is very special. I believe that many people, especially Chileans, don’t understand this. When I talk to my friends about the program, they say to me “If Chile can do it, other countries can.” But in reality, it’s not the case. This type of program would never had happened in the US or Europe. The program is the most innovative government program I’ve seen in my life and every Chilean should be proud.

You’ve done something amazing and it’s the start of something incredible. I want to see how the program and Chilean entrepreneurship growns in the next year. I want to end by thanking my startup friends, Startup Chile and every person who supported the program. Thank you.

Advice to New Startup Chile Teams

Category : Startup Chile
Posted on May 2, 2011 by Nathan Lustig

Since the next group of 110 Startup Chile companies got accepted, I’ve gotten a ton of emails asking for advice. Where should I live? What should I make sure I avoid doing? Where should I travel? What do you wish you had done? Any tips and tricks? I’ve responded to most of them, so I took a compilation of all of the questions and made a list of my advice to the new Startup Chile Teams. If you’ve got more questions, I’m happy to answer either via email or in the comments.

1. Spanish

Enroll in a Spanish class in your home town. Take another one when you arrive. While Spanish is not required, take a crash course before you leave. Take a 2 week course, at least when you get here. I regret not doing it. I had a ton more fun once i started learning in earnest in early January as I made friend with more Chileans and drank beers with the aweome Juan Pablo Tapia twice a week to learn Spanish. There’s just so many more opportunities when you can at least understand what’s going on and participate a little

If you don’t speak any Spanish, you’ll survive and do fine, but being able to speak just a little bit will make your stay that much more fun.

2. Where to live

If you’re young, live in Providencia between Salvador and Tobalaba metro stops or in Bellas Artes. Providencia is a little nicer, but Bellas Artes is an up and coming, sorta hip area. Both are close to the metro, walking distance from bars, restaurants, grocery stores. I lived right by the Pedro de Valdivia metro stop. I wished i had lived about 2-3 blocks off of Av. Providencia as it is much quieter.

I also love the Pedro de Valdivia neighborhood across the river, close to Cerro San Cristobal. If you find a good apartment, get it quickly, they fill up fast. You can live farther “up” in Las Condes, but it gets more expensive and there are fewer things to do at night. El Golf to Alcantara metro stops is expensive and is the finance center “Sanhattan.” Farhter up is more high rise condos, around Escuela Militar and Manquehue not much to do. These are good places for families. Vitacura is good if you plan to work from home or have a family, but its not close to the metro and is one of the most expensive places in the city.

It’s a good idea to start looking for apartments before you get here. You can save time, effort and money by doing research ahead of time. Also, consider living with Chileans. A few of my friends did it and they paid less, had friends right away and could ask questions of people when they were lost.

3. Internet

We had VTR highspeed internet in our apartment and also an Entel Banda Ancha Movil (high speed broadband card). They are fairly cheap, soget the fastest one you can. You can travel and work from anywhere and it works in some of the most remote parts of Chile.

4. Make friends with your fellow entrepreneurs

My friends from Startup Chile are one of the main reasons I had such an amazing time.

5. Accept all invites you can from chilean entrepreneurs and friends

It’s the best way to know the country and were some of the most fun times I had. I wished I had accepted more.

6. Grocery Store Advice

At the grocery store, they will likely ask you two questions when you’re checking out. First, they’ll either say “club lider?” o “acumula puntos?” ,which is their rewards points club. You can either say no or give them your RUT number. You can use the points for discoutns later. If you pay with cash, they’ll ask you if you want to donate the last few pesos to a charity. Say yes, even the homeless won’t accept 7 pesos. Seriously, a guy gave my friend back the 1 and 2 peso coins today and kept the 10-100s that he gave him. If you pay with a creidt card, they will ask “cuotas?” which means payments. Say no o “sin”. That just means you want to pay it all at once.

Look for a local produce stand. The one we go to is el changuito on Manuel Montt. Its 50% the price of Lider and way higher quality.

7. Arrival

When you first get here, walk all over the city to get to know the place. Try to make sure that you arrive when Startup Chile can help you get your bank account, RUT and id card. Your life renting an apartment will be 100x easier if you have these all set up. Stay in a hostel in Providencia to get acclimated.

8. Taxis

They will likely try to rip you off. They probably got all of us when we first got here, but just always insist on the meter. And if the meter looks like it’s going up too fast, just say no, get out and get the next taxi. There are tons. Rates should be: $13-15k from the airport to providencia. Bellavista-Central Providencia $1000-2000. providencia to vitacura, between $2-6k, depending on how far you are going up. You don’t tip in taxis.

Another sure fire way to make sure you don’t get ripped of is to just get in, say your address with authority, then shut up. Then they don’t know if you’re a foreigner who lives in Santiago or a tourist. Or if you start to get comfortable, talk to the taxi drivers. They are usually super interesting and are the best people to practice Spanish with. If you screw up, you’ll never see them again and if you don’t understand you can just stop talking. They also won’t rip you off if you’re trying to talk with them and say that you live here.

9. Metro

The metro is your friend. its easy, cheap and safe. Buy a BIP card (metro card) your first day here. Put $5000 on it and recharge as necessary.

1o. Restaurants

They are fairly expensive for what you get. There are good restaurants here, but you have to find them. It’s not like in NYC, San Fran or even Madison where you know that if you walk into a restaurant it’s gonna be good. Check my list of my favorites here.

11. Take advantage of the ability to travel.

Go to Mendoza, Viña, San Pedro de Atacama, whatever you can. Buses are cheap, safe and excellent. Check last minute deals on LAN or on Sky for cheap flights. Specials come out every tuesday. Look in Spanish, the prices are cheaper. Also, use your RUT to book, you sometimes get better deals. Be sure to not miss your LAN flights or want to change them. They are really hard to deal with. Or just pay more to have the option to change. Their inflight service is awesome.

Note: If you’re a US citizen and are traveling to Argentina, fly into the non international airport in Buenos Aires, you can likely avoid the reciprocity fee. If you’re going into Bolivia, you can likely bribe your way in and pay way less.

12. Eat Peruvian food, drink Chilean Wine.

They are both awesome.

13. Take advantage of the networks

Startup Chile gives you a direct line into Chilean entrepreneurship and business culture. Use it as much as you can. Make connections.

14. Blog about your experiences

My Startup Chile posts are some of the highest trafficked on my blog. Plus, the memories are worth it.

15. Going out

Learn to like Pisco. It’s cheap and it gets you drunk. Plus, it’s good. Try pisco sours, piscola (pisco and coke) or piscola blanca (pisco and sprite). People eat late and go out late. If you go to a club before about 130, it’ll be empty. Thursday and Saturdays are the best nights to go out. Fridays are ok, but not as good.

16. Nothing is open on Sunday

Only the big chain restaurants, big malls and a few of the grocery stores are open on Sunday. Most restaurants are closed.

17. Enjoy every minute, it goes by way too fast

It seems like just yesterday, I was getting off the flight with Jesse, not knowing what to expect, meeting Shahar and Brenna. Next, Tiago, George, Raj, Felipe and the rest of the crew in the hostel. Then Paige, Diego(s), Jean and everyone else in the office. It’s gone by so fast. I wish I had the energy to do more and would have taken advantage of more of my opportunities. That said, it’s been the best six months of my life. It goes by so quick, so take your changes with alacrity!

UPDATE May 7: I got lots of questions emailed to me, so I added a few here:

1. If you had to do it over again and got the chance to choose any incubator in any tech hub in the world, would you choose Chile again?

From a strict business perspective, there’s no doubt that Y Combinator or Techstars are better programs than Startup Chile. Business wise, this is a perfect program for founders who don’t have a product fully launched and can build one and start to get results quickly, or a team that has a product launched, but has yet to get lots of traction.

2. How was your experience overall? Is it worth it? I am in India, in what terms was it better than being in your homecountry?

It was a great experience and well worth it for me and the business. $40k in cash, connections with other SUP entrepreneurs and Chilean entrepreneurs, plus connections into the Chilean business networks.

3. What happens to your startup after the program? Do you take it with you? Or are you supposed to leave everything behind? My co-founder has been wondering about that.

It’s your startup. You take it wherever you want.

4. Where did you choose to live during this period? I saw that organizers recommended Ameristar Apart hotel. Did you live there?

I lived in Providencia near the Pedro de Valdivia metro stop. The Ameristar is in Bellas Artes and a bunch of the teams lived there. They have good lease terms, but for me, I would rather be in Providencia.

5. About 40K$ subsidy that organizer promise, did you get the full sum?
Yes.

6. How exactly do you get it, is it only comes exactly for covering your business and living expenses during 6 months or is it your money that you can spend as you wish?

I’m not sure how it works for the new teams, but for us, it was all reimbursements. We could spend it on business expenses, rent, food etc. No alcohol, vacations, gambling etc. $40k was $40k no matter how we spent it. We lived cheaply and spent the rest on the business. Not sure what the rules are for the new teams.

7. How productive was your work at Chile? Are you satisfied from it?

We were less productive while in Chile, no question, but I think the loss of productivity was probably 10% or so. I think the lowered productivity was a result of becoming friends with new entrepreneurs and taking advantage of the opportunity to be in a new city.

8. Did you succeed to create any new business possibilities in Chile and South America or your worked mainly for your original home market?

We mostly attacked the US market, but Chileans are now our second most registered users.
Travel posts:

Travelogue: Torres del Paine, Patagonia

Travelogue: Mendoza, Argentina

Travelogue: San Pedro de Atacama

Travelogue: Uyuni, Bolivia

Travelogue: La Serena and Valle del Elqui

My Favorite Places in Santiago

Travelogue: Pichilemu

A Quick Trip to Viña del Mar

Chile posts:

Startup Chile FAQ