startupi

Remember PS10, the competition for the best Latin American startup hosted by Pulso Social? Three Brazilians were among the finalists (Drimio, HelpSaúde and Navegg, which got second place). The winner was a Colombian startup called LetMeGo, which has announced a challenge to find a Brazilian partner.

LetMeGo has a global vision and offers a novel approach to the hotel industry online: the opportunity for travelers to present their itinerary and receive offers from hotels. It’s up and running in English and has investment from Torrenegra Labs. Now the startup is looking for a Brazilian partner to develop a Portuguese version of the system (as well as a  partner to do a Spanish version). Read more…

A few days ago I met with two enthusiastic young entrepreneurs. After having studied and worked in the field, both in Brazil and abroad, they decided to build a tool to help make life easier for new entrepreneurs. Now they are promoting their first product - a social network that includes a  directory with virtual business cards, CRM, a B2B guide and client-satisfaction ratings. Meet Empreendemia.

Empreendemia is a network for professional contacts in which your business can organize client and supplier contacts in a simple, quick way; get to know new businesses; make new business connections; and promote the reputation of your business via evaluations by your customers. Read more…

Dreaming, struggling, chasing after hope. Inspiration, planning, management… getting results and realizing your goals is bound up in putting your strategies into practice - real life stories are full of examples that show how necessary all these things are.

Tim Ferriss teaches that one can build a “muse” business and have a four-hour work week; in reality it takes all these factors together to create a huge opportunity for success. That’s what happened to Ben Huh. Read more…

The morning of November 18th marked an event co-sponsored by Startupi, The Hub São Paulo and Microsoft SOL (Startups OnLine). The program included speakers on the subject of management support and access to credit for startups, and was part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (organized by the Endeavor Institute). The slogan for Global Entrepreneurship Week: Make It Happen! (Bota pra fazer!)

At this event Microsoft announced BizSpark One, a new addition to their program supporting software entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs and investors talked about information technology, entrepreneurship, innovation,  management support and access to credit. Read more…

Marcelo Tas is a professional with diverse expertise, including leading a team of outspoken reporters for the comedy program CQC. He’s also a journalist, presenter, writer and actor, and will be speaking today at the 5th Congress for Young Entrepreneurs (CJE) at Fiesp.

Tas is participating in the event to talk about innovation and creativity in the digital era to an audience of young people, university students and entrepreneurs. “In this noisy digital age there is an exceptional opportunity for citizens. Never have their been so many tools with which all of us - businesses, schools, parents, even boyfriends - can listen and dialogue with the other side, which for so long has been passive and silent,” says Tas. Read more…

There are a lot of questions about how investments in startups function; startups generally need financial help in order to grow and position themselves in the market. One form of help can come through a partnership with an angel investor and later with a venture capital fund.

Looking to clarify some of the questions on this subject, we discovered this presentation called Understanding Venture Capital, created by Simon Olson at DFJ FIR Capital. FIR Capital is one of the best known venture firms in Brazil, and has been a pioneer in the market. Read more…