Pricing Innovation

One of the most difficult overcomings in marketing and commercializing innovation is pricing. Most visionary entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs spend months defining prices for their products.

Why is innovation pricing so hard?

1. Competition-based pricing strategies, such as Value Mapping, don't work anymore as there is absence of reference points (what marketers call Blue Ocean).

2. For technology in general, added-value pricing strategies based on measuring value chain stages are no longer coherent with target market demand. As an example consider web-based apps, such as Twitter. The largest social networks MVP's, having produced profitable results, were rather technically limited and coarse, relatively poor in value chain.  Also, mobile apps displayed in the app store can be developed by two people in few days and yet profit millions of dollars.

As in every other aspect of a business model, true innovation withstands the pressure of uncertainty at the highest levels. Some authors have suggested innovation pricing strategies, based on customer decision choices, such as presenting three different options with different prices and reach,   advising the customer to buy the one in the middle (not the cheapest, not the most expensive) and playing with the contrast principle.

Shedding some light

Once again, the lean startup approach is the best way of gathering the right information and make the best decisions (even better than market studies, as I will demonstrate in other blogs). Unfortunately, for mobile apps the pricing range has narrowed so much that it's sometimes worthless to even embark on the lean pricing methodology, as any price hypothesis test would be more a value test by itself.

Some more light can be shed on other innovation channels, including web apps, as the Plan-Build-Learn acknowledgement cycle may work pretty well on a wide pricing range. You should always keep in mind that pricing is also subject to the innovation industry: No matter how revolutionary your brand new project manager is (even so revolutionary you may not call it "Project Manager"), be sure it will be very hard to exceed the currently positioned project managers.

Innovation pricing in third-world countries isn't different, except in that revenue per capita, other financial indicators and severe personal budget restrictions may also serve as a pricing guide in B2C, C2C and some B2B models.

To conclude...

One would think that, almost by definition, the existence of an innovation pricing methodology is impossible, as innovation is usually thought as something not done before. In a free trade market you're free to sell whatever you want to whoever you wish at the price you're able/willing to (keeping legal). The old fashioned pricing strategies might not work for innovation and once again ancient sages need to understand innovation pricing is a science, not an established dogma.

If you would like to know more about me, please visit andresacostaescobar.blogspot.com. Comment below, should you have any contributions.

Why would an entrepreneur want to be employed?

Many times I've heard from my fellow entrepreneurs that entering the job market after entrepreneurship makes no sense and no fun for them at all. This could be right at times. Entrepreneurship is very entertaining and adrenaline generating, it's about conquering the market every day, being able to (at times unexpectedly) reach agreements with your market, your family, your friends, your partner in business, your partner in life and most of all, with yourself.  Every day is different and you can never know what will happen next, extraordinarily rewarding or surprisingly negative.

This doesn't imply working as an employee is a step back. Here are some reasons why an entrepreneur could be seeking for an opportunity in the job market.

Specific skill reinforcement

As an entrepreneur one would like to consistently learn by training particular skills such as selling, marketing, managing HR or promoting the value chain (coding, accounting, designing, planning, etc...); as any athlete would do. For example, soccer players practice free kicks for whole hours, in order to be accurate for the next match. For a soccer player this is as exciting as playing a match and it demands the same commitment to get results and stay motivated.

In my personal opinion, trying employment is not necessarily a sign of weakness in independence or lack of self-drivenness. Employment for an entrepreneur is also a chance to keep learning in many ways and a chance to recall forgotten techniques that might be helpful in the future. 

Industry Specialization

The best way to specialize your knowledge in a given industry is to be employed by an experienced company in that industry. You'll get to know lots of details that you may not be able to notice while entrepreneuring.

Exhaustion

Exciting as it may sound, entrepreneuring can be distressing, can bring mental or physical disease, if you don't watch carefully. An entrepreneur is an "all in one" machine. We're ready to do the toughest job in the industrial value chain, to commercialize, do lots of PR, manage finances, deal with employees and collaborators, among many other time-consuming endeavors. The roller coaster is not only financial, but also emotional, psychological and, in the end, physical.

Leave a comment to let me know what you think about this topic.

If you would like to know about me, please visit andresacostaescobar.blogspot.com.

An introduction to B2B hardships. Ten ways B2B customers reject offers.

In a business-to-business one single close can be the starting point for a profitable startup. However, the first close is far less likely to happen, when comparing to a business-to-customer. I'll now present the main issues for a B2B technological startup in Colombia.

When talking about B2B, we must be aware that value propositions are evaluated by a customer who's really a single director or a group of executives, whose success relies on bringing on more revenue to the company. What software can generally do to increase ROI is allow for more productivity (or some at all).  Please comment if you have further suggestions on how can software help companies. One may argue that competitivity is different and it may also increase ROI. Let's keep simple, plain and easy appropriate content for any CEO.

We all know competition is fierce. With the recent free trade agreements, colombian companies are more enticed than ever to act anew and try to keep the pace with foreign "first world" companies, establishing a customer base in Colombia. Some of these companies are asian, american or german, where productivity software and best practices are the rule and not the exception.

Before colombian companies get eaten by more productive counterparts and we start seeing protests as their sign of management paralysis, in this blog series I'll be discussing a set of techniques used by colombian companies to avoid acting and keep sit in an evolving economy. 

Let me be clear. I'm not stating that entrepreneurs should not be aware of the market needs, or that any faulty product or service should be considered by companies. Entrepreneurs need to offer high value material, with the best possible quality standards, while exhibiting the best attitude towards agreement, without blaming others for their own misconceptions or mistakes. I'll write on this later on. For now, I'll start with the powerful side, the one with some financial stability,  the buyer, the mid sized or large company, able to sky-rocket tech innovation by acquiring what they need and want. In the end, this is teamwork  and risk should be shared, or we'll be all doomed.

The techniques are

1. The "No one is entitled here" technique.

2. The "You do it to fit my chances" technique.

3. The "I can do it by myself" technique.

4. The "We're buying a Cisco solution" technique.

5. The "There would be too much work" technique.

6. The "We're in the middle of a project" technique.

7. The "Let's wait for the next year's budget planning" technique.

8. The "We'll discuss it in our next meeting" technique.

9. The "I know another like this one" technique.

10. Other common to any buying process.


I'm open to comments! If you want to know more about me, please visit andresacostaescobar.blogspot.com.

Productivity through technological startups (in Colombia): Innovation Vs Organizational beliefs Part I

If any flag could be shown by a startup incubator or a government innovation campaign, is that of productivity and profitability increase through technological innovation. Productivity through innovation is the unreachable dream, is like that dream cute singer or Hollywood actress (or actor) when you're only 12 years old. It's what peers talk about, what you confess your software provider to be your big dream, a managerial affair.

As with the Hollywood actress, time goes by and you realize it is far more unreachable than you thought before, unless you make a strong, committed and long-lasting effort. Productivity and profitability through technological innovation has two requirements:

1. Commitment, effort and time to understand and dominate the new pieces software or hardware.

2. Open minded approach to productivity and profitability through technological innovation.

Counterintuitively, for part I of this series, I will first discuss the requirement 2. In analysing why and how can a company have such open mindedness, it is important to have common grounds on how to fail to be open minded. Let's have a quick glance at some organizational tradition.

Most organizations financially and logistically able to do breakthroughs with technology and innovation are companies that have established themselves for a prolonged period of time and whose executives and directors are sure they're doing well, solely judging by their demonstrated ability to survive, despite struggling through tough financial times and in the face of powerful competition. These are undoubtedly true merits and achievements, but history and knowledge about past circumstances and surroundings aren't the only conditions needing fulfillment. As a matter of fact, the more you believe you know, the less you're able to shift to new paradigms and so the less able you become to effectively handle the actual context.

This is precisely the faulty side of beliefs, they won't allow you to actualize your knowledge, based on present proved facts and evidence. Even today there are hundreds of thousands of organizations with directors and department heads doing exactly the same that has been done for the last 30 or 40 years and, in some cases, imposing their old fashioned criteria to to their subordinates and their ideas. As an example, many corporate meetings planned to be about problem solving or problem identification, result in a monologue from who is believed to be the best documented and prepared person, generally the meeting caller, the oldest employee, the boss.

Organizational beliefs are hard to remove because they are misunderstood as the true value gathered over the years, which can by no means be denied or even put into doubt in any of its precepts, under the new circumstances and today's context. By nature, innovation is an attempt to cope with present demands and adapt accordingly. Any organization willing to adapt to today's market dynamics, needs to allow for debate about what was before to hold true religiously.

The introduction of new technologies in a company is necessarily disruptive, as it may strongly challenge organizational paradigms and demand extra financial and logistical efforts. 

Do you want to be on the technological productivity cutting edge of your industry? Be really prepared to change your old paradigms!

Please comment and visit andresacostaescobar.blogspot.com, should you have any interest in the author of this post.

5 Reasons why a new unrealized idea is worth nothing

I bet you know a friend with a startup idea in mind. Startup ideas live with us, they intrude in our minds and if we let them grow, they can become obsessions, our next big hit. We may assume it is the product of our creativity or intelligence and that as such, there are no reasons to devalue it. A startup idea is a hope to hang on to, and since we're not living with it being realized, we end up buying it at a high price. Idea "owners" buy it when its so expensive, that refuse to communicate it to others, who may buy it at a better price, seeing as more tangible and doable.

We get sold on our idea. This is a necessary, yet insufficient condition in order for it to become valuable. Here's why a non prototyped idea is worth nothing.

1. There's just so much to do!

This is especially the case if your friend(s) have never tried entrepreneuring. Every junior entrepreneur knows an idea is 1% of the whole startup. There's so much work in the backstage of a startup (value chain, alliances, workforce talent acquisition, etc...) and in the forefront (marketing, selling, CRM, etc... ), as well as in the business model definition, that an idea is little more than what's needed to start.

2. Startup ideas are frequently chameleons by requirement

Even if today you're completely sure your present business model will remain the same, even if you're having success with your current idea and you're, indeed, growing the numbers, even in that case, startup ideas should change over time, adapting themselves to a more profitable version. Every company has done this, ask Instagram, ask Groupon, Facebook or Twitter, to mention a few.

How can we give value to an idea if it's surely not being exactly the same at the end, if it ever contributes to any success?

3. We all have ideas

This is a offer/demand argument. If ideas could be sold and bought with money, we would all be quite rich.

4. There is nothing really known about its value

Ideas that are not tested in the market have no recognized value. Very few ideas have any recognized value before achieving product-market fit, a quite advanced stage, compared to that in which an idea is born.

5. Unrealized doesn't mean unthought, there are really no new ideas

This reason is for those who argue their idea is so fantastic and original, that everybody should be charged for knowing such a magnificent an genuine creation. 

Any unrealized idea is mistakenly thought to be "new". Any "new" fantastic idea might have been in the brain of at least hundreds of thousands of human beings. The reason why FourSquare is so valuable is not because it's an original idea no one thought before, you've got to move!

Click here to know more about me.

Any comments? Please write yours below.

Why are official and private funding initiatives failing? Part 3

Grant is a 8 year old kid. He's seen money is nice because it allows him to buy gums, hot dogs and videogames. He's also fond in being the coolest guy in elementary school and he's up to the task of conquering attention.  He realizes he needs some money. He seeks a job relentlessly, going back and forth all close shops, but Grant discovers he needs to learn writing and reading proficiently,  adding fractions, calculating percentages, dealing with counters and much more.

What would you say to Grant? I bet you would advise him in being patient, educate himself and enjoy whatever he's up to right now. You would also try to let him understand there's plenty of time, dedication and money to be invested, in order for him to learn what he has to learn to be a prosper lawyer, engineer, marketer, scientist or even a retailer. Furthermore, you would insist that even if his parents are rich, he needs to manage budgets wisely.

Why not encourage Grant to keep seeking employment? Because he doesn't know many facts of life he needs to know to earn some cash. He'd be better off being encouraged to learn and educate himself about his surroundings and objectives.

3. Because we can't understand we'll always be kids in Entrepreneuring with Real Innovation 

We are the Grant version of the tech startup success world. We think we can be successful without finding out what the market looks like and if we're interested in national demand for tech startups we need to find out how the colombian market behaves. We need to educate ourselves about our objectives, our surroundings, the right marketing strategy, etc... We need to be patient, we need to understand it takes time, dedication and money to educate ourselves in order to profit in the future.

It is precisely the kind of attitude we colombians are not up to. In general, the world is not up to this, but Colombia has a particular history of easy-living through commodities commercialization. For some reason, we have some of the richest and laziest people in the world. Wake up! The globe is up and running and you need to educate persistently.

Official and private funding initiatives aim to finance something that doesn't exit. There are 100 awards (something typical), say. If there's any chance of finding 3 candidates who know what they're doing and are having a nice product-market fit (and traction), we're in great luck! If we had more than 3 successful startups, we would all notice at least one of them (assuming Steve Blank's statement that 8 out of 9 startup fail), but we don't! What happens with the other 96? Money lost!

What a paradox! this is exactly what the initiatives are keen on preventing, by requiring solid traction and market research reports before funding.

Hey! Hello! This doesn't help our public funds management and investment perception. I'm glad I'm given the chance to recall that tax payment is one time-consuming, unproductive, ultra defensive endeavour, it's the reason why bureaucracy is obvious and one of the reasons why distrust is the dish of the day. Still, we're burning money! Why? Because we can't understand we need to learn first. Before shooting a rocket high in the sky, we need to try many toy experiments. Fancy a scientist for public funds ROI? Do contact me!

You can't fly if you don´t understand what jumping is, you can't dive if you don't understand swimming, pretty basic, I must say. If you've read something about Lean Startup methodology, you have just immediately been aware of the waste of money we're suffering from not learning.

Who told you we don't know? C'mon! we are ancient marketing sages! 

Look, if innovation wasn't innovation, old marketing would be enough. Yeah, if this wasn't innovation, it would be rather easy: Here's our established product, for an established segment, through this well-known channels, with these resources and these well respected ancient sages.

But innovation is quite the opposite! Nothing established, almost nothing known, no history whatsoever, no old clients, nothing! We need to learn, and we need the best and the fastest way to do it! And trust me, this has nothing to do with old beliefs that may apply anywhere, but here. Just think about the pricing of truly innovative products...

Some evidence

I've been personally meeting several of the tutors who teach tech entrepreneurs get their way in the market. They're great people, with postgraduates and PMP's, with a fun job, but they lack motivation. They have consistently revealed to me they lack motivation. As soon as I ask why, I get the same sad answer: "Well, I know all the theory, but I have no entrepreneuring experience at all. I don't know how it works! This makes me feel compelled to quit".

I'm, of course, not naming these people, but they are some of the tutors of the most respected official and private institutions in question. Maybe we can find 2 or 3 experienced tutors, but we need 100, so that tech startups can really build the traction they need to apply for funding. In any case, none of these 2 or 3 tutors know the colombian market (recall these initiatives strive for local consumption).

Don't misinterpret me, I'm not looking for a mentoring job in a Tech Hub. I'm just saying project managers and product managers are not enough! They might be some of the least important people in a startup. 

Now what?

Well, learning is open! For the first time value learning as a money-making strategy, do not underestimate it for not bringing short term results. You don't stop feeding a youngster for not being profitable today, you let him learn and grow. You learn about yourself with him, you change perceptions and eliminate beliefs for him. You change your approach to him, you understand you can't completely control him. In the end you become a better person.

Do I have solutions? Yes. This blog is about reasons for failure. I will write to propose some possible solutions.

Why are official and private funding initiatives failing? Part 2

Hundreds of IT companies in Colombia keep trying, once and once again. They want to be the next Whatsapp, the next Fruit Ninja or the next Evernote. IT companies with different levels of experience in the Colombian market strive to make it a first success and as much as wanted, this hasn't been the case.

2. In Colombia, there is not enough people that takes joy in consuming technological products or services

You may argue the whole world is the best startup market. This isn't always true, not all value propositions are adaptable to the whole world (as in the case of Tappsi) and it's very hard for a colombian startup to compete in a global market: huge international tech enterprises would sweep it all with much more funds and power. For many colombian startup companies the hope and first realistic target is Colombia.

However, it doesn't matter what your experience as a developer is, how much you invest and how hard you try over and over again, if there's no local consumption, we're doomed. Unfortunately, in Colombia, there is not enough people that takes joy in consuming technological products or services.

Why?

I'll briefly outline some of the reasons.

a) Because our history

Colombia is rich in raw materials and natural resources. This has made us pretty good at trading commodities and has also made us think we're allowed to make our brains a bit more lazy and rely forever in natural resources to survive. I'll leave details of this rather interesting topic for another post. For the moment, let's realize we colombians are far more familiar with buying (and move our economy and hopes around) commodities. 

Technology is different! The kind of work needed to boost an information based economy relies on the brain, not in weather trends or in our arms and legs. For the most part, for you to understand how to take full advantage of a technological tool in general, you need to learn it and optimize your usage of it. This requires a continuous and analytic thought process in the consumer, who has never faced thinking for consuming.

The days in which consuming needed at most some physical effort, are gone!! And you, my dear reader, know this.

b) Because learning software has almost always been seen as a mere requisite for a job

Most educated colombians hate to use office software (uneducated colombians need no mention here). It is there to make their lives easier, but it has more often seen as an obstacle to be happily unproductive chatting around and drinking coffee. 

Learning software requires an extra effort, a thinking endeavour. This has lead many people to associate software with pain and despite we know not all technology enterprises are for productivity, there is a long road ahead in persuading for acceptance of technology as an ally.

c) Because investing in technology is the least important 

As long as you are in a developing country, chances are you're always barely paying your bills, your taxes and your food with your salary (this also applies to 99% of the companies). In Colombia this is the case of most (each time less) people. The problem is that even if economics change for the better, the illusion of scarcity has been with us and will be with us for a period of time, preventing technology consumption.

There's a big difference in attitude when we talk about american citizens and colombian citizens. It's not just the economics. More than everything else, it's about attitude.

d) Because most colombians don't trust technology, even less colombian technology

Last time I went to a small city in Colombia, I saw people avoid withdrawing money from the ATM because it was not trustworthy. Of course this isn't the case for most of us, but it's a sign we are still much behind in relying on technology. The yearly number of credit card payments through the web has steadily increased in Colombia, but using an app to see a tangible benefit is still encountering a huge obstacle in distrust. The first thought crossing a colombian mind before using a made-in-colombia app is "There are colombians behind this. This is not of quality, this is not trustworthy". Any international competition from a developed country is far likely to win over the colombian startup, mostly due to credibility.

Distrust obstructs communication and none or very little feedback will any business receive, in order to improve its customer experience.

Lack of trust is, please listen, the worst enemy for our development as individuals, as a country and as a global civilization.

A little gift for you. Listen, listen...

To be continued...

(If you want to know a bit more about me, please visit andresacostaescobar.blogspot.com)

Why are official and private funding initiatives failing? Part 1

The sole purpose of this post is to bring a clear view to people who does not understand what it looks like to be a tech entrepreneur in Colombia. These are all rough numbers, which may vary a bit on a case by case basis. 

As a technological entrepreneur in Colombia, one is often advised to apply to a set of programs designed by national government institutions such as Sena, Colciencias and Innpulsa (among others) in order to get funding and grow the company. Who advises you? Presidents of multinationals, presidents of foundations, owners of small and large companies, your aunt, your friends and the government itself.

After some months of reportedly being told the same and a short glance to the investment opportunities offered, our answer to this advice wouldn't be as positive as expected. I know this attitude is not special among technological entrepreneurs in Colombia.


Why?

1. Early Stage programs are not considerate with the entrepreneurs and are not adapted to this century

Please recall Early Stage capitals are given to business ideas with an early market traction. As an example I'll consider one of the Early Stage programs by one of the recognized institutions listed above. The early stage program has the following advantages for the applying company

a. Give feedback and evaluate in the technical, legal and marketing of the business.

b. Adjudicate a maximum of 300 Million Pesos (around 160 000 USD), with the condition that I fund myself at least 30% of this amount.

Ok, doesn't seem bad. What are the conditions?

C1. Having sold more than 400 Million Pesos (around 220 000 USD) in 3 years, if the business isn't older than that.

C2. Having done promising market studies and market plans, with clear business models.

C3. Have at most twice as much debt as patrimony. Otherwise, would have to agree with one large certified software company to partner.

C4. Other conditions that take not less than 4 months to certify.

Let's assume my company fulfils C1. Otherwise, this program is of no use to me.

Ok, please help me out here. If I'm less than 3 years old and I'm very lucky, I'll get 210 Million Pesos. Then there are two cases:

Case 1:  I happen to have at least 90 million Pesos debt (something expected for a very small startup with some traction), I must have at least 45 Million Pesos in startup patrimony.  In this case, I will have more than 450 Million Pesos (Around 240 000 USD) to invest in my startup, before any funding program.

Exactly why should I commit and invest 4 to 6 months of my valuable time, when I have quite a traction, much more than 210 Million Pesos and will probably have more than 500 Million by the time I get the 210 Million funding?  Moreover, at this stage I will surely have more than one private investor after me.


Case 2: I happen to have at least 90 million Pesos debt (something expected for a very small startup with some traction), but I don't have at least 45 Million Pesos in startup patrimony.

Then I should partner with a certified, large software company. The case is even worse.

These guys will hopefully let me keep 50% of my stake, but will definitely take over with all the strategy and concept, completely killing my passion for the startup. Also, I'll have a minor voice in decision making and all the decision making processes will be at their bureaucratic pace. I won't have the people of preference in my company, but even more, I'll marry a company that has not been successful in escalating any tech business with innovation. No colombian company has ever escalated an innovative tech business and in addition to their old fashioned business concepts, they have no bigger chance than what I stand by my own.

Don't forget that Case 2 has for granted I have around 500 Million Pesos to invest in my company. Little motivation, huh?

On the other hand, business plans and market studies are almost completely useless in the tech startup world. I'm not expanding in the topic. In case you haven't, please read our bible, Adam Riesz's Lean Startup. If you haven't read about the lean concepts, how are you up to the task of qualifying startups? Exactly based on what?

Finally, there are other opportunity costs and risks. What if my business is not selected? What if as the great developer I am (what they seek) I'm being offered the same money for a similar period of time to work on a different project?

This is about viability, only viability. We've gotta start with viability for the resources, the entrepreneurial teams.


To be continued...

Tappsi: One developing success story

Alright, let's get closer to the matter. Being one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world, colombians don't lack imagination to propose new business models, innovating mainly in value propositions and channels. However, as economy in developed countries evolves towards information-based businesses, leaving a long tail of profitability and scalability, markets in the developing countries have been clear in sending the message: "We're still in commodities and other tangibles".

This is not to say tech startups will never have its way in developing countries. Tappsi, the first colombian startup gathering much more than the critical customer mass for an MVP evaluation, is the only tech startup company deploying its wings in Colombia. With a business model similar to that of Uber, Tappsi allows its customers to ask for a taxi via a mobile app. Tappsi's success, contrary to what one may think, is not due to a coolness and pragmatism resounding in taxi takers (this is not the United States).

Who's behind Tappsi?

From the Tic's national minister, to the founder's grandparents, passing through the (still useless) official and private national initiatives to promote innovation through technology. All these people is quite interested in having one success story to tell the world. The topic of uselessness in trying to promote tech startups via official and private national incubators is such a controversial and fascinating one, that I just decided to discuss it in another post.

So what's behind their success?

Tappsi's success relies on the fact that people feels more secure ordering a taxi via the app, than taking it directly on the streets, or calling one by phone. Does this sound like bad news to you? It sounds to me. Taxis in Bogota have been for years a no-no for many afraid citizens. In general, the chaos in Bogota's traffic is mainly due to insecurity issues, as I may address in another blog.

Some insights

These are, of course, bad news. The message across Tappsi's success is crystal clear: Colombia is not yet ready for the innovative technological consumption culture, despite being quite ready for adopting whatever leads to more security, in general. What I mean by "innovative technological consumption culture" includes the following:

1. Joy for using mobile or web apps, only because they are doing by technological means, what was before done in a more rudimentary fashion.

2. Enjoying the understanding about how to manipulate mobile apps.

3. Trend towards demanding and enjoying a better Uex (user experience). Let's agree on something from now, if a market is not used to mobile apps and can't sometimes manage to understand a simple desktop app, there are few chances a great Uex design will help.

4. Spending a peso on information technologies, simple as that.

5. A critical mass for the viral model to make sense.

Will Colombians start to enjoy and value colombian-made mobile apps more from now on? Yes, would never hesitate. Will Colombians start to value better Uex design? I don't doubt it. A brief history of downloading mobile apps made in the USA, along with strong and expensive Government campaigns have been slowly fighting point 1 and 2 above. You may say point 4 is a rather global matter, what you don't know is that in developing countries spending in information technologies is still not seen as an investment for the future. I'll expand on this later on.

In order the solve point 4, Tappsi bills per ride exactly the same as would be charged to the customer if the taxi was called by phone. In other countries, you might be able to try other revenue streams. Right now in Colombia, this is the only one possible. Quite a good hit, a great alternative considering latin america is still trying to put itself in the online purchasing mood.

A quick calculation will show that Colombia as a whole has about the minimum critical mass for a viral business model to be sensitive. This strongly correlates with the fact that, despite its small success, Tappsi is still not viral and may need other countries to be so.

Of course, competition has quickly gathered and now Tappsi also faces other issues than those cited here.

Finally, solution for point 3 is a slow turtle that doesn't move by itself but is being moved randomly forward by the ground-shaking steps of a big elephant called insecurity. I know Tappsi's owner personally and I've jokingly insisted him to take my advice: Change your slogan to "It's all about security".