All posts tagged kiwi

  • July 11, 2018

    Startup CEOs that think big!

    tropicalgringo-portfolio-2018It’s been more than a year since I’ve written an update on the TropicalGringo Portfolio, the five startups where I am an advisor and shareholder.  There is really big news from all of these companies from multimillion dollar rounds raised to Silicon Valley and other US investment activity.  Though there is a lot of work to be done to advance the Colombian startup ecosystem as a whole, these companies and their founders join  a growing list of Colombian startups that are incredible role models for the future startups in this country.

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  • May 30, 2016

    My favorite Colombian startups!

    1DOC3 Facebook F8

    I’ve titled this post “my favorite Colombian startups” though, I must say, this is not an objective moniker since I am also an advisor to these companies and their CEO’s.  That said, they are my favorite Colombian startups and it’s an honor to be a small part of their future success.  As  you’ll read below, I’m incredibly excited about their current successes (see photo of Mark Zuckerberg talking about 1Doc3 during F8 2016) and those to come.

    There is something that I find so impressive about founders in general and, particularly, those that I advise.  It’s the fact that they’ve been able to build growing businesses (something I haven’t been able to do myself), but are also open to listening to advice.  This opens them up to new points of view and, in my opinion, increases their chances of building an even bigger company.  My advisory sessions can be racked up to an occasional evening phone call, which takes very little time each month, this activity is incredibly rewarding for me.

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    3 Comments / Case Studies, English /

  • January 29, 2016

    Kiwi sells it’s Lulo product to focus on the future

    Kiwi and Tropicalgringo

    As has been reported this week, one of the companies from my portfolio, Kiwi, sold one of their digital products called Lulo to Merqueo, whose founders are also the founders of Domicilios, acquired over a year ago by Delivery Hero. The funds generated from the sale will allow the company to focus on one product, a chat application for ordering all types of products and services.

    I first met the original co-founders, Felipe Chavez and Javier Santiago Lozano, more than two years ago and was impressed from the start. Santiago has always been passionate about building great products. He is amazingly talented in a number of areas including, but not limited to, developing and designing great software products. Felipe complements Santiago through his determination and drive to build an organization. They believe in hiring the most talented people that are equally inspired by what the company is trying to accomplish.

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  • December 3, 2015

    TropicalGringo Portfolio Update 2015

    TropicalGringo Portfolio 2015

    Well it’s the end of the year and it probably makes sense to talk about the last year.  So as not to be so broad, I decided to focus on the companies that I advise.  I am an advisor to and shareholder in five startups.  I, presumptuously, call this group of companies, my “portfolio.”  Obviously, I’m bullish on each and every one of them.  Fortunately, all five have plenty of runway (funds) left for the foreseeable future and I expect them to continue increasing in value.

    One of the startups (Magnolia) is based out of Peru (although it is regional) and the others are headquartered in Colombia.  Some of these companies are much more well-known and several have already gone on to close a seed round.  When I began working with them, they either only consisted of the founders (Tappsi and Kiwi) or only had a few people working for them (1Doc3, Acsendo and Magnolia).  Identifying talent (especially in startup founders) early on is a very difficult thing to do and, in Latin America, it’s even tougher.

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