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".
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