Archivo de junio/2014

OFERTA PARA CO-EMPRENDEDOR: “DESARROLLADOR”

Buscamos un desarrollador con pasión por la tecnología, con ganas de acometer nuevos retos y de emprender.

De que se trata?

Del desarrollo de una innovadora herramienta (aplicación) dirigida precisamente a los emprendedores y su ecosistema. La estrategia y benchmark del proyecto se ha realizado con un alcance internacional. A partir del inicio y testado del 1er módulo ya se pondría en marcha la startup, y en modo bootstrapping…

Que harías?

Co-trabajar en equipo sobre el diseño, desarrollo e implementación del proyecto, arrancando a partir de un 1er módulo “ágil y rápido”; después ya vendrían el resto de módulos más complejos e incluso mediante colaboración europea (ej. H2020).

Que buscamos?

PRIMERO: Lo que más nos importa es la PERSONA, gente con actitud y pasión por la tecnología, por investigar, por los retos, por salir de lo convencional!

DESPUÉS, danos una pincelada sobre tu CV y experiencia. En principio buscamos un desarrollador con background en, p.ej.:

– Carreras y formación técnica en informática y/o teleco;

– Experiencia y conocimiento actualizado en front y backend, lenguajes como Ruby On Rails, Python, CSS, JavaScript, HTML5, entre otros; y aún mejor si tienes solera en inteligencia artificial y algoritmia (ej. MAS, etc);

– Valoramos tu posible manejo en UI/UX design, visualización (ej. Processing), mobile (IoS, Android SDKs), redes (ej. SNA),.. y conocimiento sobre metodologías “agile”, scrum, lean startup, etc;

– Por supuesto, nos interesa mucho mucho tu creatividad, que salgas “fuera de la caja”, que estés al día, inquieto, activo, entusiasta y “empático”;

– Ah, y un poquito de inglés please..

Que ofrecemos?

Estamos iniciando el viaje emprendedor, por tanto te invitamos a que nos acompañes y co-participes en TU PROPIA AVENTURA!. Este es el espíritu de Silicon Valley!

En función de tu interés y disponibilidad podríamos estudiar diferentes opciones de colaboración en los huecos que encontremos. Y por cierto, si tienes un proyecto o incluso un colega complementario que merece la pena, no dudes en comentarlo.. Estamos a tiempo!

Si eres un crack nos interesa descubrirte, que te guste el proyecto y todos en equipo lo pongamos en órbita..

Siguientes pasos…

Cuéntanos sobre ti, lo que has hecho (proyectos, github, redes,..) y lo MÁS importante: Qué opinas, que te interesa y que te apasiona.

Estamos en Madrid, sin fronteras… Si has leído todo esto y has sentido un gusanillo, mándanos un correo asap… b.upscontact@gmail.com

Where did you get the idea?
At the end of 2011, Chema and Joan wanted to rent their flat in London while returning for Christmas to Spain. After looking for the options they had, they were not convinced about the safety level offered. They began therefore to think about ways to offer a safe solution to hosts willing to rent their accommodation to travellers and finally suggested Patricia to join the project. Alterkeys was born.

How does the business work?
Alterkeys is a platform that connects travellers looking for a short-term accommodation with property owners. We allow travellers to feel at home wherever they go, while property owners can get extra money by renting their acommodation when available. Considered as “the Alternative to hotels” with stays that are in average 70% cheaper, the listed properties on Alterkeys range from studios to villas and from cities to small villages. With a special focus on Europe, we aim at making people’s trip unique and unforgettable, either for individuals as well as for company members.

What is the business model?
We charge a small commission to the host for each reservation. With Alterkeys, the traveller doesn’t pay any commission. There is no risk as hosts will not pay until they have earned money via us.

What is the stage of project now?
We recently reached the 100,000 properties listed in more than 5000 cities in Europe! We are continuously growing at a rhythm of over +1,000 properties a week. Luckily we have been awarded with several prizes, the last one as one of the 100 best company ideas by the spanish economic magazine “Actualidad Economica”

What have you learned from your experience as entrepreneurs?
Hard-working always gets results. Never doubt it!

What are the most excited about the project at the moment?
Growing, it is really exciting to see how some idea you came up with in your couch can turn into a reality, and not only that but also realizing that other people trust your product and other companies want to use it. We are expanding to new areas in other continents and although it is not a piece of cake, it certainly is fun!

What is the most difficult part of entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship sometimes means being alone and not knowing what to do when facing issues. The lack of support can also be difficult to live.

In your opinion, what are the most important personality traits to be a successful entrepreneur?
Success comes from hard-working, perseverance and a lot of passion for what you do. Getting hit and coming back, as simple as that.

Is there anything you would go back and do differently if you had the chance?
Many little things, for sure! But I would not change any of our major decisions as they get us where we are today. We have made mistakes no doubt but they have guided us to a brighter path, I have zero doubt on this.

What new understanding since you started has had the most impact on your original plan?
When we started Alterkeys, we thought people wanted to rent a spare room at someone’s house. After a while, we noticed that people do want to experience the city differently than before, from a more local point of view and feel at home wherever they go, but also that they would rather stay in an entire accommodation than sharing one with someone else.

What advice would you like to give to potential entrepreneurs?
If you have an idea in which you strongly believe, take a step back, consider it again, and if you didn’t change your mind, go ahead. There will be obstacles, but determination is the key!

Authors: Ricardo de Tomás y Álvaro Alonso Anabitarte.

While students are finishing their respective courses and the hot of summer seems to be completely upon us, work in Area 31 does not stop. The incubator of ideas keeps growing and creating a bigger entrepreneurial platform; business plans are improving in order to gain depth in the market, where differentiation is considered to be one of the key aims of entrepreneurs.

Last Tuesday; June 10^th, teams from the incubator had the chance to get to know know some of the new projects from the Area 31 Incubator, Qinti and TripMenu at the latest edition of Area 31 Demo Day. As Ricardo Espinoza, CEO of Qinti told to us, «the opportunity to be in Area 31 is just a turning point in our career. We have been establishing the project since January and it has been thrown to the market two months ago; but really the change has come once we have been here. These two weeks for the company have been unique in their path to get here, the access to the facilities in addition to the new partners and the feedback that we can get from them have been core of that new improvement.» Qinti is a business established in order to help foreigners when they want to access Internet outside home; providing useful apps and mobile Internet connection without roaming expenses, an idea which will definitely change the market.

Jordi Díaz, CEO and Co-founder of TripMenu; amazed everyone in the room with a high-technology presentation, easy and direct to the crowd. Which concluded the evening with the crowd giving their opinion of what was seen. His words also help to us to understand the importance of being in this special and exclusive atmosphere, «the chance of getting close with teachers, investors and entrepreneurs at the same time is just perfect, we get to show our product in a direct way and the feedback is received in the same way. We get to appreciate different points of view and that is worth its weight in gold.» This former Master student of IE knew once he left the Business School that his place was Area 31 and now he is very happy to have the chance his product is in the incubator; «I honestly believe in the value and importance of the networking and I am sure I am in the best place to develop and improve my product.»

Jordi´s company has created a platform that allows travellers to choose a place to eat as if they were at home, from deciding where and when you want to eat in a country, to connecting consumers with restaurants, which have been selected out of an intensive and strong competition. No need to risk or travel without knowing where you are going to enjoy lunch or dinner when using TripMenu. Danger is forgotten and surprises are not allowed.

Author: Manu Espinosa

What is WENERU?
Weneru is an energy manager to little customers. Big companies use to hire energy consultants to reduce their energy bills, we try to use the technology to offer this service to smaller customers (both business and householders).

How does the business work?
It is simple:
1- We analyze the energy consumption of the customer.
2- We suggest new contract conditions (hourly and power capacity)
3- We compare and suggest the best offer to the new contract conditions.
4- We assume all the bureaucracy, paperwork and inform the customer.
5- The customers save money in their energy bills
In Spain this is a very difficult market, the law changes every month, the utility companies change the offers too and we the costumers change the way we consume.
We think WENERU will turn easy to participate in electric market.

What is the business model?
It is very easy, in the B2B model; we earn a part (33%) of the savings that the customer gets in the energy bill. On the domestic customer model, we are thinking in a freemium model, but at this moment we have not this service yet.

What kinds of investors does the company have?
At this moment we have two very important investors, we the partners and our customers.

What is the stage of project now?
We have now a B2B business model, being the Energy consultants to almost 50 customers.We have commercial relationship with several energy suppliers. At the same time we develop our technology and review every day the regulations affaires trying to take our service to domestic users as soon as possible.

What role do the members play in the company?
Manu Espinosa is the CEO. Miguel Carabús is the head of Commercial actions.. Adela Conchado is the Product Manager., Nacho García-Valdecasas is the COO.

What have you learned from your experience as entrepreneurs?
The most important… deal with uncertainty. I think it is almost a psychological issue, but it is very difficult to do it well. The second is maybe, to learn to appreciate every little job that somebody can do. Entrepreneurs have to perform a lot of roles; we are the boss, the commercial, the controller, the programmer… the same day, even the same couple of hours. And the last but not least, enjoy every “little victory” like if it was the last one.

What are you most excited about the project at the moment?
Maybe the day we saw our bank account and we received our first payment. That was the main proof that many people really could need our service.

What are the most difficult parts of entrepreneurship?
Being able to avoid the temptation of “usual” well paid jobs, ensuring the commitment with the project.

In your opinion, what are the most important personality traits to be a successful entrepreneur?

Confidence, commitment and open mind.

Is there anything you would go back and do differently if you had the chance?

Each new step is based on previous mistakes or wise moves; we have a vision but not a path. If I knew the right way to succeed maybe I would skip some steps, but it is not the case at all.

What new understanding since you started has had the most impact on your original plan?
Maybe the importance of the offline commercial roles this is a strongly regulated market, oligopolistic, and the commercial role is very important to gain confidence and commitment of both, suppliers and customers.

What advice would you like to give to potential entrepreneurs?
I read a few weeks ago that there are two ways of doing something… the good one and again.

About Vidnex

Stacia and Inigo met on the Internet. But in this case, they started a different type of relationship… a business one.

Stacia moved from San Francisco to Madrid bringing her state of the art development processes, a fresh and exciting view on video over the Internet, and a proven track record building and running technology teams.

In the meantime, Inigo, with his own track record in the Internet as CEO of Groupon Spain, was running through the usual obstacle course that starting a business in Spain typically means.

Together, we will launch a browser based live video solution to exchange services over the Internet.

Where did you get the idea?

Originally, we thought of the hassle and inefficiency of working out: going to the gym, parking, little time available in people’s schedule’s, etc. And we envisioned the Internet being able to solve this problem through live, interactive video classes, taught by professionals over multi-party video conferences.

Around this basic service, we considered building a marketplace where students could pick their classes and teacher post their available schedule to bring personal health and fitness into a new era: more convenient and at a lower price to students and more efficient and scalable to teachers. We would take a transaction of every purchase.

Where are you with the idea today?

We are working to launch the first version of the product. While we are changing the business model from a marketplace to a B2B video tool, the basic classroom setting and interaction among participants is at the heart of the original vision for the business.

We fundamentally believe live video technologies will continue to play a key role in the Internet for years to come, and we think it will be an interesting space to be in. In what form or shape, we will pay close attention to have the market guide us!

How long have you been working on the idea?

We have been working on the idea about half a year, since the last quarter of 2013. We incorporated a company in Spain in early 2014, and have been running tests since then.

How does it work?

Teachers create classes or events, and students, through just a simple URL, can access the classroom environment through their web browser. There is no additional software involved and all students and teachers need is a laptop with a webcam and a high-speed broadband connection.

What investors does the company have?

Right now, we as founders have been bootstrapping the company, which has allowed us to stay nimble and be very flexible.

Do you have a prototype? How many iterations took it from the initial idea to the current product?

Yes, we have an MVP we used to test with users in Spain, the UK, and the US. We know we have a viable product that works, and meets our initial user experience goals. Now the challenge is to build a sustainable a profitable business model around it, which will be the focus of the upcoming months.

Teachers create classes or events, and students, through just a simple URL, can access the classroom environment through their web browser. There is no additional software involved and all students and teachers need is a laptop with a webcam and a high-speed broadband connection.

What new understanding since you started has had the most impact on your original plan?

We have learned a lot along the way. Hypotheses that we took almost for granted the first day have been reversed, some problems magically evaporated, while others came out of nowhere. Fundamentally, we are learning about people’s behavior, and the difference between words, intentions, and actions. This dichotomy is the one that is pushing us to reevaluate the original business model.

What advice would you like to give to potential entrepreneurs?

Fail fast and fail cheap! Never run out of money to keep iterating until you find a path that provides the traction and returns to guide you to a sustainable business model.