A Magnificent Monday

March 18, 2013

Contributed by Jeff Dunn

Jeff Dunn and Jonathan Aytes

The ProMBAteers arrived at Alfonzo Ibanez University at 9:30 this morning. The facilities are modern and sleek, and the campus is located on the Panalonean Hills with a beautiful view of downtown Santiago.

Our first sessions were with Victoria Hurtado, a current economics professor and Chief Innovation Officer of Microsystem. The lecture was on the vision for the Chilean politics and economy, and we learned about the history of Chile through its periods of democracy and socialism. She related this to the current-day question of "legitimacy" with respect to government and politics. Opinions in the room showed a possible wave of change that could affect the country both in economic and equality values.

Our second session with Guillermo Paraje, Ph.D. in economics was based on Latin America's past, present, and future. Latin America has been doing well through tough economic times but has had trouble keeping up with productivity when compared to Asia and other markets. We also learned that more than 80% of Chile's primary products are commodities.

We then had  a nice, catered lunch at the University and began getting ready for Start-Up Chile.

Contributed by Cecily Wester

The ProMBA Group visited Start-Up Chile on 3-18-13. Start-Up Chile is a government program that gives young companies and entrepreneurs the opportunity to start up a business by giving them $40,000 and a one-year Visa to work on and develop their business ideas in Chile. Their objective is to attract 1000 new start-ups for 2014 and to position Chile as one of the top places to start a business. They offer entrepreneurs hospitality, Latin American networking and a great cultural experience.

Start-Up Chile is all about the creation of an ecosystem, connecting poles of innovation and attraction and concentration of talent. Some results have been: 5600 applications from 70+ countries, 1132 entrepreneurs from 50+ countries and most learned about the program by word of mouth and online communications. The social impact of Start-Up Chile has resulted in 75,000 total impacted people. The economic impact of Start-Up Chile: 80% use Latin America as their base and 59% of operations are in Chile.

The next application date for Start-Up Chile is March 11-April 19.

 I had the opportunity to speak in-depth with one of Start-Up Chile-s young entrepreneurs, Mauricio Zuniga at CMI (Center for Movistar Innovation), which is a workshop for brainstorming and putting the pieces together. Mauricio is starting a business called Location Apparel, an e-commerce business that specializes in clothing specific to Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston. He has been developing his ideas for the last year and a half and says he is making great strides with the help of Start-Up Chile. His web address is locationapparel.com.

Contributed by Kate Wildman
This afternoon our group heard from Nicholas Walker, founder of the Southbridge Group. He gave us a summary of the Group and specifically Puente Sur Outsourcing, S.A (PSO), one of six companies in the Group. PSO specializes in running the back office for foreign companies wishing to do business in Chile. He told us some of the common mistakes companies make, such as not researching the market size (Chile has a smaller market than the state of Louisiana!) and not considering the Chilean tax system when setting up their company structure. He also discussed some of the intricacies of banking in Chile. The banks are very conservative and are unwilling to give credit or even checking accounts without extensive qualifications. The presentation was very informative and we all gleaned quite a bit for our assignment!


Contributed by Cecily Wester

San Cristobal Hill--We took a scenic bus ride up to San Cristobal Hill, which has breathtaking and very beautiful views of Santiago City. It's very easy to see the construction of new buildings, including sky-scrapers that are currently being built to withstand earthquakes.

Contributed by Kate Wildman

Dinner at Como Agua Para Chocolate was amazing! "?Como se dice...photobomb?" The restaurant is themed after the movie with the same name, so there was plenty to take pictures of. The group had a great time and wonderful food, including chocolate mousse in three shades! The experience was fabulous from start to finish!