Diego Giol Internet and many other things

I just discovered an excellent game developed in flash thanks to an Anywr post from my friend Fabio. This game takes best of the Nintendo Wii world to the web / webcam / PC environment.

The interesting part of this story is that the game was created by Miguel Angel Acevedo for Disney in Mendoza, Argentina . Mendoza is better known for its excellent wines than for its technology but for me this is an example of how the Internet is making us more and more aware of the talent that is spread all around the world. Distances do not matter anymore.

Congratulations to both of you for the achievement.

Here is the link: http://meettherobinsonsgames.contestshowroom.com/

Even though that the product was announced last week, it was not available for download until today. After a few days waiting for it, I installed the beta version of this very good application on my Nokia E70, luckily everything went as expected.

I can see Nokia’s value proposition here. Not only you can use a compatible GPS coupled with the phone but you can also download the maps through your computer into your mobile. If you don’t have a flat data connection plan, like many users in the UK, you would have to pay up to £ 5 per Mb transferred from/to the mobile phone. Even if it is not ideal, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea to put all the maps that you use in your mobile, at least until data rates are more reasonable.

Related links:

• www.smart2go.com

Many people have business ideas but probably only a few go further than “having the idea”.

I just found an article on The Guardian Unlimited with seven “Golden rules of entrepreneurship” by the frech entrepreneur Loïc Le Meur. I found them quite simple but yet useful for potential entrepreneurs:

• You wait for the idea of your life. I know so many people who, before starting a business, wait for the idea that will revolutionise the world. They never do it. We all have business ideas and the difference between an entrepreneur and a “normal” person is that the entrepreneurs execute it.
• You do not look for the empty space surrounding you. Opportunities are everywhere. Did you ever think “this service can be really improved”, or “this product is really bad”? This is empty space and an opportunity to create a business. Of course, it is even better if you find not just an improvement to a product or a service but a real innovation that addresses a clearly identified need.
• You do not share your idea with anybody. So, you’ve got your simple idea? Probably not. Every time I created companies, I had about five different ideas. Most people protect their business ideas as if they were protecting the most valuable thing they have. I do exactly the opposite, as sharing your ideas can help you better define and test them. Many people will criticise them and enrich them. If everyone tells you the plan is stupid, then what they say may well be true!
• You give up on your idea because someone has already done it. Look at low-cost airlines. Ten years ago, who would have thought that out-of-the-box airlines would appear and take the market share that Ryanair, easyJet or Virgin have? Just measure how innovative you can be, how much faster than your competitors can you go and how much better your product can be.
• You do not execute your idea. Your idea is worth nothing if you do not execute it immediately, faster and better than competition. You should be more scared by not executing fast enough than having the idea right. This is just because from the idea in your mind to the company you will have created, and from the very first products and services you deliver to the mature ones, your idea will have changed tens of times with the feedback you got from your clients.
• You listen to people who tell you that you will fail. Congratulations. You have finally chosen an opportunity and started gathering a team to make it happen. Even though the team is only you, this is just awesome, as you have started doing it rather than thinking about it. Now you will find tens of people, some of them you consider friends, who tell you that you will fail for hundreds of different reasons. Do not listen to them. Listen to your clients, and be obsessed by quality. Your friends just envy you.

Related links

• Mind your Own business - Guardian Unlimited
• Loïc Le Meur’s blog

I was listening to a very interesting lecture by Tina Seeling at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program in Stanford University. In one part of it, Tina talked about how failure makes the Silicon Valley a unique place in the world.

You might say, no, you are wrong, success is what makes the Silicon Valley and many companies there different. Well, not really, I totally agree with her when she says that in most parts of the world, if you fail, you might have to hide yourself or move somewhere else while in the Valley, to fail is part of the game and it can even be considered good.

Why? It is simple, because you can always learn something from it. This is one of the reasons why we hire experienced people and not young graduates.

She even goes further and as a teacher, she asks students in her class to write failure resumes.

More concepts that were mentioned in the pod cast:

• Innovation is about taking the risks to do things that have not been done before.
• We have to try lots of things and don’t be afraid of failing.
• We have to take our experiences and learn from them so they will become an asset.

I think that all this is not only truth in the business world but it also applies to almost any aspect of our lives.

How many times do we see people not doing what they love just because they are too afraid of “taking risks” or taking a wrong decision? How many times people fail in the long term because they don’t want to consider the slightest possibility of failing?

Of course, too much risk is not good either but it is important to find a balance. I think that for people in general, avoiding risk is always more important than taking risks. Even if those risks are small and they could lead to greater satisfaction in the long term.

Well, obviously not everyone can get those returns, but let me tell you, I am seeing that happening over and over.

Let me show you some facts and numbers:

Argentina’s debt rating was upgraded by Standard & Poor’s again last week. For some of you, probably the last time you heard something about Argentina it was either because the national football team was playing an important match or it was three and a half years ago when the economy collapsed.

Well, since those days many things have changed. The economy has been growing almost at a 9% rate for the last three years. The stock market, the real estate market and some other sectors like wine exports and tourism have boomed at incredible rates. Last year, the fiscal surplus was around 3 % of the GDP.

These are some of the reasons why foreign investments in the country rose by 30 % last year. According to S&P the country is expected to grow in 2006 and 2007 as well.

If you are planning to invest there, the opportunities are immense but it is important that you find good advisers. In my case, I have found excellent international advisers that analyze every detail. I also have very good friends in those sectors and thay keep me up to date with the different opportunities.
Some sectors that I consider interesting are:

• The wine industry (it has been growing steadily for many years at high rates). Mendoza produces 70 % of the Argentinean wine.
• Real estate (inexpensive compared to international markets but with incredible returns).
• Partnerships and acquisitions (specially in growing sectors).
• Tourism (since the boom started only three years ago there are still many niches ).

There are still very good deals in to be made there.

Diego Giol