Dear friends of Interesante, welcome to the interviews with founders and investors from Latin America. The brightest minds, the people who are changing the region through technology, are here with me. My name is Osvaldo Torres and today I have a great guest, my dear Adrián Trucios. Adrian, how are you, friend? What's up Osvaldo? Very very good. Thank you very much. Thanks for the invitation. Nice to be here.
Enchanted. You are the CEO of Social Airbag, but let me talk a little about you first, then about the company. You have experience in startups and disruptive technology projects in Mexico, China and Korea. You are passionate about the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Mexico, enthusiastic about solving problems that improve the quality of life worldwide. Your personal mission is good. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. We have a good idea there.
Come and like Social Airbag, your company, says "We help reduce traffic accidents caused by cell phone use, fatigue and bad driving habits." Is that what they do, mate? Tell me about it. Well yes, precisely us in... Well, now we changed our name Airbag Technologies five days ago, literally, which is nothing. It's a pretty interesting branding process, but the mission remains the same.
We are just focusing on saving these lives. We realized that the seventh cause of death in the world was traffic accidents, which made me crazy when you have it compared to causes such as diabetes, cancer, lung diseases, etc., that trillions of dollars are invested worldwide to resolve these causes. And then the cause of death, the seventh is traffic accidents, something that is also 95% avoidable. According to INEGI figures, 95% of accidents can be avoided. So, I did some more research and we came to the conclusion that 40 to 60 percent is because of texting and driving, up to 20 percent because people fall asleep, and up to 12 percent is sometimes due to bad driving habits, this is speeding, of course, speeding or braking, etc.
So we created the entire company focused on reducing this big, big problem. Hey Adrián, chale, the numbers, right? That is, as we are not clear. We definitely see any other type of situation that can take your life, but these numbers that are true... And if you think about it, think about it coldly, if you look through a newspaper, or read it digitally, whatever, you will always find a traffic incident. Always, always literal. In Mexico the figure is brutal. In other words, we are 45 people who die a day for this cause. What happens in Mexico is something incredible and it is also something that not only causes loss of life, it really also causes the country something very, very large that can reach up to 3.5% of GDP in accident expenses.
In other words, there is an industry created solely from accidents, which of course can be reduced to a great, great, great extent, whereas we are doing the opposite. In other words, the worldwide trend is going to the opposite, because traffic accidents are increasing every year, which makes me extremely logical. Why? Because there are cell phones of much better quality, at a much lower price.
5G is coming, unlimited social media plans, we become more and more addicted to tick tock. You will know. All this makes us addicted and the number continues to rise. No? It's crazy. Hey, Adrián, but how do you take the cell phone out of people's hands? Don't... The truth is, it's a big problem. That is, if you see it very coldly... Even, I put it like this, I suddenly go in my car, I'm going to take the boy to school, and it's really preferable, personally, to give him the cell phone so that he leaves entertained and quiet, and apart so that I leave focus. Because it is dangerous.
Of course, of course. The truth is that this is the biggest problem. Let's say that the biggest resistance is that, of course, we are all very addicted to our cell phone. Of course, we're all always saying "No, I'd like to bring this", or it's "What's up with my Spotify" or "my podcasts", or I don't know what. "I have to use it and Waze", and everything. Yes, it is the biggest challenge that people, as much as we should do it, protecting ourselves from ourselves would be the ideal. We don't do it often. So that's one of our challenges. We're doing pretty well with that, but it's a heavy challenge. Sure, I imagine. Hey, it's no coincidence, I say just to get into the mere curiosity, the age range that wears the most... I
mean, the one that most risks walking... I imagine it must be people of 30 and something down, right? Something like that. I do not know. Literally 25 to 35 years old are the people who die the most from traffic accidents. And in fact something very very curious, because before it was the same age range, but about 7 or 8 years ago it was for alcohol reasons, right? Which was the most serious. Drunk and drive was very heavy. Obviously in cities like the one I live in, which is Mexico City, it is that the breathalyzers of these campaigns started in a very powerful way and this number dropped very significantly, right? Or the arrival of Uber, or more taxis, or whatever you want, but it went down a lot.
And now, well, what was alcohol at the time has become the use of cell phones or bad habits on a large, large scale. Look, I remember when I just began to have interaction with the United States, saying "No. Here the road culture is very good and the road culture...". And I remember once listening to the interview of this guy who put order in New York, a very famous one. I don't remember, from 10 years ago or twenty years ago, total. So, it's this guy, right? Culture enters through an incentive and the incentive is sometimes negative or positive. In this case it was negative because if you were driving and you weren't wearing a seatbelt, the "incentive" was two thousand dollars, right? Or if you are drinking and the DUI hits you, the famous DUI, I think it was about ten thousand dollars the last time I was there.
So, yes, it will be culture, but the day the incentives are very strict, right? Of course, of course. In fact, that is, we within Airbag have a... Like a saying, right? We already know what it has to do with the whip or the carrot. We know that people do not change by choice. We call it whip or carrot. And we do have this idea, and this is one of our main values, which is always looking for a way to change the whip for the carrot, right? In other words, we always believe, and there are many studies that prove it in gamification theory, etc., where it tells you "when the incentive is positive, it usually causes more impact or better impact than when it is a scolding", right? I mean, this theory of better being feared than loved does work, but when you can really handle it very well... Or you know it, right? In this Startup ecosystem, Venture Capital, they will always tell you "The more you love your team, give them freedom, trust them, normally the result will be better and with a better attitude", that usually changes everything. No?
So, yes, it is stingy how it can work on both sides, but you always have to look for the positive for my taste. Hey Adrián, before we get into the investment rounds, your team, the technologies, tell me one thing. I see you... Well, I see you, you know? Revolutionary, open, intelligent, knowledgeable and I read that you were in China, that you were in Korea.
Tell me, where does this personal transformation come to you, this professional transformation? Because look, some of us go, as I told you, to the United States or to a very top school in our country. How did it come to you? What happened with you? It is an excellent question. The truth is that before I went to China, I just thought very similar to what average university students think. I was studying international business, when I studied international business. So, the first thing that comes to mind is that you have to go to China to look for a product that you are going to import, because you know how to import, and then you import it and sell it more expensive, right? Basic. You go to the world factory. You know how to matter because you study business, you get a business out of anything. Fidget spinners, if you want, right? So, that was kind of the main idea that I went on exchange for.
I went with two very good friends who were studying at ITAM, which is one of the best universities in the country, here in Mexico City. And when we got to China, yes it was... That's where it did... I mean, it really blew up. In other words, I never really imagined how advanced they are there and how 50 years behind we are here. Yes, it was really surprising and not in terms of technology, which was what we liked the most.
In fact, the two friends and I who left loved the theme. But not only that, it was due to cultural, organizational issues, how the economy had grown. In other words, I had an introductory class to China and you said "It just can't be. So really, even though it is a government on the more communist side, it has achieved so much in such a short time." And the head started to fly, didn't it? So, we started going to a lot of conventions, expos, we downloaded the Meetup app, then we went to the cafe where foreigners talk about crypto, and so on.
So, we began to move in that world and I went crazy there. I mean, yes, he really was a very, very cool game changer. And two years later I had the opportunity to return to China, which for me is like my energy booth. I mean, I went to Shanghai. So, it's like if you're down, stressed, whatever, then I'm looking for all the human possibilities to go to Shanghai. And then I had the opportunity to live in Korea for a month and a half.
So, I was working there as well, and also "Mind Blown". I mean, I Korea hadn't met him and also... Well, South Korea is impressive. It is another world. It's really about getting into the Jetsons cartoon and seeing how we're going 50 years back here and 50 years ahead. I mean, it's impressive. Thank you. Great this openness, this honesty, but let's get down to business, dear. Hey, sometimes you start the business with the three F's: Friends, Family and Fools and all this stuff. And how are you doing, well, there you go out and bootstrap and take from here, take from there.
But tell me, what's up with the investment? How are things going? Have you had rounds? Haven't you had rounds? Are you going for one soon? Tell me a little about that. Look, the truth is that I started more or less three years ago and that was Friends, Family and Fools. And very little money. Actually it was all botstrapping. I was still in college, so it was very little by little. The way in which it really cost us almost nothing to start the business is that I have three co-founding partners.
Let's say these three partners worked just like me, without any salary, so that we could use the resources for other things, right? So, that's how we started and relatively recently, in fact in March of this year, it was where we decided to formally raise our first round of investment. We managed to get it up. It wasn't so much with Friends, Family and Fools. It was more with angel investors that I consider a little more institutional. But the truth is that very strange. I think we do not follow the rule, let's say. We always look for angels and divide into tickets that were more or less small. We were lucky that few angels bought many tickets. So let's just say that was lucky.
And we said "Well, here we go... Let's raise half of our round." Our round at the time was $300k and we raised half that, $150k to start. And we said "Now we are going to pause the round. So, we are going to stop raising money, because this money has to be used, people have to be hired, we have to grow, we have to develop, we have to start selling, we have to do all this and it gives us a year and a half or a year more or less to run". And then ending and right now, in October, this month towards the end, we began to advance the rest of the round, which the truth is that it was an excellent decision, because of course the round and the terms change from March to here, right? ? In other words, from having nothing and being a team of four people, a fairly small valuation, to seeing it grown and developed. And now, then, to be able to sell the same thing that we wanted to build, but for much less than the company.
So, I think it was a great decision. We're pretty good at it. We have already started the due diligence process with some Angel investment funds in Mexico. The truth is that I really like it and recently I spoke with another co-founder of one of the most successful startups in Latin America called Lipstick. Well, it's called Lipstick. And I talked to him and he said, "Don't go down the funding route so much. Look for a lot of angels because if you have 10 or 15 angel investors, they all become ambassadors of your brand. So if it's 10 high-quality angel investors or C-levels,
those angel investors are going to go to lunch with high-level people and they are going to tell them 'hey, I invested in a very interesting startup' and you are going to make yourself known in the high-level world". He told me something... I had never thought of it that way, I was a founder more focused on funds, funds, Silicon Valley, etc., and I find it very interesting. The truth is that we are exploring that part and we are doing well there. No, and yes it is interesting and intelligent, above all it is putting that brake. Because, you know what? When you're already grabbing varus, then come and do what you can. And besides, right now you are seeing how the funds are coming in? Super-millionaire funds come to Latin America and Mexico, and those that don't, are opening up to places, for example, like Miami, which Miami is just a jump away, so it makes perfect sense to me. Once I talked, for example, with a founder in this space and he told me "I took my seed round and they gave me so much wool, and after a few months as I accelerated a lot, I quickly wanted round A".
Look at my innocence, Adrián, I thought you had to finish the varus, the money from one round to start another. And no. No one says it has to be this way, do you understand me? It's like there are beginning to be many hybrids and many paths that each founder and each team decide on, right? Of course, of course, the truth is that I think there is not, as you say, there is not this healthy and guiding truth. The only thing that yes, for my taste has been a fact is never stop raising capital.
In other words, always if you want a fund and you want to grow, grow, grow, grow, as part of what you are going to dedicate yourself to is, perhaps raising wool or looking for strategic people for your next raising of wool, who will do it again you're never going to stop pitching. I think that's the most important thing, you're never, ever going to stop pitching. So that's where these hybrids start to turn. Hey, I was going for a fund, but what do you think? For the fund I am very small, but the partner told me that he and his cousin put a quarter of the ticket. Well, he is the partner of a good fund that could be a follow-on later, so we are going to give him half a ticket and then we will see if with these 3 months... I mean, many things can happen that I think... Now yes, I have listened to all the podcasts, books, whatever you want and nobody really teaches you because there is no way. Everything comes out different. In Latam we are still relatively new, so there are no rules, there is no guide.
I do not go into such depth with the guests in relation to how the interaction with angel investors is, but with you I do want to ask you. What's up? How often do you talk to them? What are you talking about? Or do they not let you do much? Tell me a little about how this interaction with them is. Well look, we have everything. The truth is that we try to look for them normally often.
I believe that one benefit, the very great truth, of having angel investors, and this is my case and of several well-known entrepreneurs who have done it, is that if very early-stage funds really start to pressure you, or suggest a lot, when there are still times that as an entrepreneur you don't even know what to do, so you want to sit down one day alone to know what to do or to find a way. So, I think the angels are very good for that, because the angels trust you or the project first, but trust you as an entrepreneur, and they advise you but they don't get involved or don't try to get involved as much. In my experience it has been like that, hasn't it? We look for them to give them updates, we send them reports, and a lot for feedback.
"Hey, what do you think? We want to get more or less out of this new innovation. We're already spending a bit of money on it. How do you see it?" "No, she's amazing, but I would do this to her." "Ah, perfect. Thank you very much." We continue, right? One hour a month, whatever. But the truth is that I think that something very good about having these angels, the so-called term of Smart Money, is to really take advantage of this. Right now we are still raising and I'm looking for angels who are also very strategic, well, it's...
Hey, if it's once a week... I mean, when people start to be maybe very focused on the industry, or the Venture Capital, or... I mean, what you really want, there if you have to exploit it, not so much in giving it reports, because I think that's good, but it doesn't make a difference. But as in really having a mentoring issue with your own investors. Sure brutal. Thank you. And well, for this to grow investment, for this to grow technology and for this to grow teams.
They are like those three, you know, variables that cannot be missing. Let's go to... Let's go to the team. What's up with the team? How many? Where are they? Tell me a little about your co-founders. Well, look, the truth is that I am extremely grateful for having put together our team as it was put together. I think it was one of the great benefits, because as they say, right? In other words, your partners are going to be your wives, you are going to spend more time with them than at home, you are going to fight more and worse than with your own family. I mean, you have to choose it very well, right? And I tell you, I started in the company, well, the idea of the company only about three years ago. And when I began to realize the areas that I was going to lack to really create a company, and not having money, I went looking for these strategic people that I also knew, right? So, the first one I pulled was our CTO, whose name is Raúl Dávila.
He was with me throughout high school and then became a college drop out. He went to study in Silicon Valley. They gave me the whistle, "Hey, Raúl went to study in Silicon Valley." And I said, no, well, let's have a coffee tomorrow. So it was. We literally knew each other very well all our lives, so he was like the first co-founder. With him I said "Hey, I have this idea. I already realized that I'm not going to be able to program today or ever. Get on the boat."
Come on, he got on the boat, right? We started doing a lot of things together and together we said, "Hey, we're dealing with a lot of data." Raúl realized that he couldn't handle all the data we had. You have to look for someone from data, right? José Manuel Vorgar joined, who is our CDO, Big Data Officer, and he is also our lifelong acquaintance. He studied with us all through high school. He had just graduated from Tech and had just... Literally he was an excellent timing because he had just quit PayPal, the data area, because he was fed up with the corporate world.
He already wanted something that could be more free. So, I mean, perfect timing. And the last one, who is Alonso Guzmán, who is the last co-founder, was the last to enter. And the truth is that it is a very curious story. He is our COO. He, the truth, was too passionate about the project at a time that I saw it. We were really talking at a party and he fell in love with the project and started working for free for eight months. He sent me things, he moved things, he sent clients, he arranged presentations for me. In other words, it helped me for eight months until at one point, say that at month six, I told Raúl and Pepe like "Hey, it's helping me a lot, we do want it to be part of it. No one has broken the mother so much like him. He has to join the attack, he has to join."
And he says it. Today, right? You talk about it with him and he tells you "I, I mean, when Adrián told me about this project, I said I'm going to be part of that project, no matter what it costs me". I work eight months and then he joined. That tells you? "You owe me eight months," he tells you. Almost, almost literally. And he tells me look, this was taking a risk, because the truth is that Alonso and I were very good friends, but he lived in Aguascalientes. So, well, I didn't know. The truth is that I didn't know if he would have been the partner I would have chosen, if he hadn't done that. And he says it. If I hadn't stayed there, I probably wouldn't be here.
So, well, it is also like a demonstration that if you are passionate about a project, an idea and you say hijole, I can add it, well now as a good entrepreneur, at the beginning there is no money, at the beginning there is nothing more than your desire. If you enter it, it will pull. And so we have the four co-founders, precisely. Let's go to the topic of culture. Hey, creating culture within a company is a pain, huh?
You've done something? Right now you were talking about values. Tell me a little about this part. Well, look, so you can see. In that it is something that I consider myself that I think I have done very well. Not only because the co-founders literally walked in blind, they trusted me because of what I was able to share with them, but today, because even the employees that we have have been a... I
mean, one of the great milestones that I recognize is that they stay with us no matter what. No? I mean, they've graduated from school, they've had financial problems, whatever, and they're with us because they like the company, right? So I think the first thing I create to build culture, and really a passion for the company, is that you really share a passion for solving the problem. I think that's the first thing. In other words, values are very important, what they tell you at school "mission, vision, values", yes, very cool in the text.
But really the fact that the company, the founders, the employees, everyone is really passionate because we are generating a change. I think it is already something that, although it seems very millennial, is very true. Knowing that your work is worth something and that you are going to achieve something that is going to change the world, yes, it really is something that you are passionate about and generates a bit of culture in you. And I think that afterwards, something very good, yes, it is precisely to create perhaps, not these values, but these as guides to tell where the company in question is moving, to find yourself in a Y, that you do not know if it is A or B, ¿ what do I have to remember? No? And us, much of what we always remember is always looking out for people, which is our main focus, right? Saving lives meant not looking after the wool, but looking after the people , and this involved looking after the employees, for us, for your family, for whatever you want, for the people. There is a value that I copied from a great founder, a friend of ours, the one from Swap, which is always in beta, which means we will always be innovating, always, always.
So, we have, well now it's very much like a movie, but an open door policy. Anyone comes in and "Hey, the other day I was using the app myself and it seems like the button can go to the right." "Perfect, we wrote it down, we are going to take it into account", right? And we always have to innovate, whenever we bring out products and whatever, it is always taken into account. So, I also like that a lot and I think the other part of not so much culture, but I think it has helped us a lot, it has been, and I talked about it the same way with some friends who have a great startup, I told them "everything must be celebrated" .
I mean, it's... I think we're in a world where it's very strong, as startups there are many strong downturns. And really if you don't celebrate, so "Enjoy the Little Things" literally, if you don't celebrate them, you can really start to lose that punch that you constantly have for being full in your company, or full in the project, or full wherever you want. , no? So we do a lot of that. Not only to celebrate birthdays or little things, if we are not going to celebrate that our intern graduated, "Yes". Come post on Instagram, post on Facebook. Celebrate him, send him some chelas to his house. Come on! Perfect.
I don't know what... Someone was late three times. What is the punishment? "Pick chelas". Hey, fucking chelas, then we all had a good time. So, those whips for carrots or whatever, well, they are like positives and I think that the truth is that it has created a very positive work culture for us, with a very positive and very innovative mentality. I think that in technology it is the first thing you have to do. No? Totally, totally. We are all kind of angry after what we learned, saw and experienced some of us who work in large companies.
I was also in one of the largest in Mexico and there were things that I don't miss at all and never, right? But hey, let's get off topic. Let's go to technology. What are you riding, friend? What are they wearing or what do they want to wear? Tell me a bit about technology. Well, look, something that I think we have achieved very well and they tell us many times, is that we have, I think, 90% developed by ourselves.
That is very important. Since Raúl, our CTO partner, came in, he has made 100% of the platform. Pepe did 100% of the data models and our Lead Android Developer has done 100% of the application. So, really those 10 that I tell you that we don't have complete, is that we also learned to connect very well with very good APIs.
So, there is no way to do everything. We who have many geolocation issues, for example, because it was impossible to create a Google Maps. I mean, they've been making Google Maps for 30, 20 years. So, oh, well, the Google Maps API, the API of I don't know what, the API of accidents, the API of risky areas, the API of weather to see what the area is... So, in what we we came back very, very good, is that we are all always looking for competition, whatever it is, and really many, even the competition has many APIs that can be used for different things. So, I think there is something that makes us very different, it is that we became very good at integrating external solutions, because if not, you don't advance.
If not, then, either you need a lot of wool, or it is actually very difficult to start or move forward, right? So, we got really good at that. When I was a consultant for a while, working with an American company and doing digital transformation consulting for Mexican companies, you found that their technology areas were in-house development and they had 3,000 programmers. Let's say 3000, a brutality. I would like 5%. And it was just that. You came to them with proposals of "look at integrating with here, integrating with there", and they said "No, no, no. I mean, I can't, I don't understand it, it doesn't fit, everything of the 50 years I've been doing ". So, it's amazing that because of the agility that you have, obviously also the size, you can do all these integrations. Of course, of course. And it's something that we said from the beginning, right? Let's see, we have to recognize our areas of opportunity.
We don't have 50 million dollars, nor 3,000 programmers, so we are going to do all the infrastructure in-house, but with the opening to connect to whatever, right? Obviously, of course, in terms of servers, cloud services, all this, it's not our thing. I mean, everything is Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services. Well, like any company. Today you have to do it. If not, it's silly to have a winery with servers. Does not exist. And of course, creating the infrastructure, which is what we have a lot of in...
For example, the developers have a lot of it from the beginning, they have the infrastructure with these very open connections. In other words, everything they program or any sub-product, or whatever, has to have a small opening there to "Here I can put other people's things." In other words, "Here are the APIs or here I connect to whatever", because if it does it 100% in-house, then you have to put it back a bit, a week, to reprogram. So, always be open to the fact that, literally I tell you, even the competition has something incredible, well, we are going to ask them, nothing happens, right? That is not said much. Very good. Customer acquisition, dear Adrian. How do you acquire customers? And how are you going to grow? Tell me a little about that. Very good. Well, look, our growth plan the truth is that... Since we are a B2B company, this mobile telemetry service that we offer, all this is...
It has a lot to do with the decision makers of the fleets. I really believe that there is still an issue where, from bureaucracy to lack of technological knowledge, we always have to reach the top. In other words, it is very difficult to get down. So part of our growth strategies is just that, right? Begin to locate these decision makers that in Mexico, in the transportation industry, are highly marked.
In other words, in Mexico we have a market distribution in transportation, where 15% of the companies manage 85% of the vehicle fleet. So, there are very few companies that really make the decisions, right? So, for example, events, conventions, talks, magazines, magazine events, all of this, and I've talked about it and taken advice from our mentors out there, it's the best thing you can do to reach these people, right? ? That's where they meet. It's still a bit of an "old school" industry, so let's go have a drink, eat, such and such, and the truth is that it has worked very well for us. In other words, the week before last we were at the largest logistics expo in Latin America, which was here in Mexico, and meeting people, chatting, being in talks, all this, that's where 30 meetings are held in two days. Phew! So, I think that in this industry it is the best thing we are going to do. Sí le estamos metiendo al marketing, al marketing digital
también porque es algo muy bueno. Y la verdad es que otra cosa, que es lo que más estamos impulsando, es que le estamos metiendo mucho a que los mismos conductores de las flotillas sean los que nos pidan para sus empresas. Es algo muy curioso, pero... Es algo muy difícil, de hecho. Pero nos dimos cuenta de que la gran mayoría de los conductores de trailers, camionetas, autobuses, etcétera, se manejan en su 90%, se comunican por Facebook, en grupos de Facebook en los que yo llevo ya 6 meses de espía. Y realmente es algo muy bueno, porque nosotros como si damos estos beneficios, estos rewards, por el buen manejo, estamos planeando una campaña para que los operadores puedan literalmente exigirlo de que "Oigan, a mí pónganme este sistema porque yo quiero ganar premios, quiero poderlo cambiar por despensas, quiero poder ganarme la tele...".
O sea, si me dan esto y si lo pide el operador, para nosotros va a ser muy fácil entrar, ¿no? Entonces, es una estrategia que va a estar difícil. La queremos probar, pero suena interesante. Eso es literalmente darle la vuelta a este asunto. Le vas a dar la vuelta, ¿eh? Porque si la banda esta te pide, ahí está el volumen. Ahí están los que... Ahí está el volumen.
Oyeme, o sea, los decision makers, pues que maravilla que llegues a ellos. Te vas a tomar el trago y te los vas a llevar a un buen restaurante, pero si te piden al revés, no, ¡olvídate! Sería fabuloso. Sería lo ideal. La verdad sería lo ideal. Sabemos que es lo más complicado y por eso es como nuestro second step en 2022, para planearlo realmente bien, pero también creo que se puede lograr muy bien. Me quedaron unas tres preguntas, Adrián, pero vamos con esta que es interesante.
¿Por qué vas a ganar tú esta carrera? Hay varios compitiendo, hay varios corriendo, pero ¿por qué la van a ganar ustedes? ¿Cuál es esta ventaja injusta, este activo, esto que te hace diferente a los demás? Mira, te soy sincero, creo que lo que más nos hace diferentes ahorita es que nos enfocamos en algo y en la persona, o en el eslabón de la cadena, en la que nadie se había enfocado en los últimos 100 años, que es el conductor. O sea, parece increíble, pero... Y lo vimos en la Expo de logística, ¿no? El 99.9% de las empresas que hacen telemetría y análisis de datos, todo lo que me digas es a través del vehículo.
O sea, Mercedes ha sacado camiones nuevos, trailers nuevos que tienen la mejor tecnología para ver cuántos litros te gastas de gasolina. Buenísimo, ¿no? Está padre. Que bueno que la industria siga para allá. Pero lo que nos diferencia es que somos la única empresa ahorita en toda la industria de transporte, en toda Latinoamérica, que realmente nos enfocamos al conductor no solo a medirlo, sino a que el conductor nos quiera, nos use. O sea, nos estamos convirtiendo en la app del conductor. Estamos, por ejemplo, te doy premisas de dos, tres innovaciones. Pero estamos sacando ahorita el sistema de los juegos, ¿no? Y luego estamos sacando el sistema de también retos personalizados donde nosotros sabemos cómo manejan, entonces, hay que mandar el reto personalizado para que gane cosas personalizadas el mismo conductor. Crear este engagement.
Pero también estamos sacando a la par un sistema de navegación que a los conductores les dice por dónde ir dependiendo de las dimensiones del camión, cosa que no existe. Why? Porque los manda por el lugar más rápido o más cercano. Pero entonces a veces es la vía más rápida que es ilegal, los para el policía, los manda al corralón, se vuelve más problema. Entonces, queremos volverlo la herramienta, como te digo, para que los operadores, los choferes nos usen. Y de esa manera darle la vuelta no solo, digamos que a las ventas, sino a la industria, porque la industria sí se mantiene mucho en ver cuánto tiene de...
No sé, cosas que son excelentes datos, ¿no? Pero... No sé, cuánto se infla la llanta por micro metro cuadrado por segundo. Es todo muy local, cuando en realidad el conductor es el que va detrás del volante. Y deshumaniza demasiado. O sea, demasiado deshumanizada. Está padrísimo meter tecnología en todo. Pero tenemos que hacer estos mix, pues donde haya gente pensante de carne y hueso, emocionalmente, lo que sea, con tecnología.
No puedes... Pura tecnología, no. Pura gente, no, tampoco. Exactly. Fíjate, ahorita que dices esto, yo soy de Culiacán, ¿no? En Culiacán tenemos ríos y presas por todos lados, entonces la pura capital tiene tres ríos, ¿no? Que ahí la cruzan por todos lados. Tenemos muchos puentes. Bueno, seguido veía trailers con todo el techo como acordeón porque no pasaban por los puentes, entonces acabas de darle al clavo.
O sea, cómo yo, que soy un driver de Chihuahua, que no conozco Culiacán, es mi primer viaje, no le pongo en su... O sea, no me arruino el techo del tráiler. Exactly. Y fíjate que creo que otra cosa que nos diferencia mucho es que realmente nos hemos dado a la tarea de conocer a estos operadores de trailer de las mail delivery, de camionetas, vendedores, etcétera. Porque al final, por ejemplo, esto que te decía de las dimensiones, normalmente... Y no es tanto por los accidentes, aunque creas, pero cuando no conocían una ciudad nueva subían a los guías, les llaman, a unos chavitos que se saben la ciudad, y los suben para que los lleven y les digan dónde van.
Ah, bueno, pues México ha hecho que estos guías sean muchas veces los que asaltan al transportista, entonces se sienten inseguros, entonces no suben a los guías y entonces sí chocan. Entonces, se destapan muchas cosas que creo que la industria sabe, pero se sordea. Se sordea cañón y nosotros, ¿qué es lo que queremos y qué es la diferencia? La verdad es que lo que nos ha dado el éxito hasta ahorita es, sabemos perfectamente que tu recurso humano es lo más importante, es el 85% de las causas de un accidente y tú estás midiendo el camión. El camión no se va a manejar solo en los próximos 50 años. Tienes que quedarte con el que lo va a manejar, que es el operador.
Creo que esa es la ventaja injusta que hoy por hoy estamos aprovechando. Oye, vámonos con los KPIs que te rondan la cabeza y que seguro no te dejan dormir. ¿Cuáles siempre estás como muy, muy pendiente ? Tell me.
Híjole, pues mira, te voy a ser sincero. La verdad, uno que nos mata... Bueno, a mí me mata mucho solamente crecer las ventas. En cuestión de ventas creo que nunca vas a poder dormir como CEO, como COO, o como tu quieras. O sea, facturar es importantísimo. Uno que hoy por hoy, bueno, a mi me cuesta mucho trabajo es como el CAC en tiempo, ¿no? O sea, no tanto en dinero, sino el tiempo. Que la industria es a veces muy burocrática, a veces no le gusta la tecnología, entonces normalmente tarda mucho en convertir el cliente. Es algo que nosotros estamos metiéndole muchísimo, hemos bajado mucho el tiempo de conversión, que es algo que nos ha funcionado, pero vamos, tenemos que dar la prueba piloto y "Oye, si no me das una prueba gratis no voy a saber que onda". Entonces, normalmente lo empezamos a organizar de la mejor manera y, por ejemplo, ahorita las pruebas piloto ya lo organizamos de tres formas diferentes para que en un mes nos dé la data de tres meses.
Pero, por ejemplo, es uno de los KPIs que a mí no me deja dormir, ¿no? El tiempo de conversión. Y te digo, es muy burocrático, ¿no? Es "Híjole, déjame ver, lo meto presupuesto y entonces tal", y se vuelve muy burocrático en cuestión de todos los niveles de una empresa chica, mediana o grande de esta industria. Entonces, eso es difícil de involucrarse en una industria tan antigua y que realmente le ha costado trabajo digitalizarse. Entonces, todo eso sin duda es un problema.
Y otro KPI que, no es que no me deje dormir, pero es algo que nosotros buscamos mucho, si es la cuestión de inversión, como dices. A nosotros... Creo que no es un KPI, no es digamos que realmente un performance real, o sea de la empresa, pero creo que es un validador realmente, ¿no? Entonces, no sólo en tanto en que caiga la lana o no, pero en pitchear, tener un deck muy bueno, tener muy buena relación con inversionistas, con fondos en Estados Unidos, en Miami, en Austin, en Silicon Valley, en Nueva York, en donde quieras. Creo que ese reconocimiento como startup no solo te ayuda a que más o menos estás haciendo las cosas bien, sino también te ayuda mucho a impulsar a tu equipo.
Y sobre todo es que toda la gente que sabe me está impulsando a lo que... O sea, me está chuleando, por así decirlo. Creo que ese es un KPI inmedible, pero en cuestión de validación es algo que realmente ayuda mucho. O sea, no es el número como tal, pero tú sabes que eso está cambiando algo en tu empresa. Entonces, eso la verdad es que me gusta mucho también.
Buenísimo, buenísimo. Para los que somos founders y CEO nos viene bien entender esto que acabas de plantear. Así con esa claridad. Súper bueno. Me voy con las últimas dos cosas. Vamos a hablar del futuro de la compañía, pero antes una de las pocas preguntas personales. ¿Qué haces para no explotar a veces por ansiedad, por estrés? ¿Cómo sacas un poco a veces todo esto? ¿Cómo te reinventas? Y cerramos con el futuro de la compañía.
Super. Pues mira, la verdad es que yo creo que la única forma en la que a mí me ayuda, a literal desentenderme, realmente es ver a mis cuates. O sea, soy una persona muy social. He intentado infinidades de ejercicios, meditaciones, lo que tú me digas, que se escuchen todos los podcasts de grandes founders. Pero yo siendote muy honesto y siendo honesto conmigo mismo, a mí lo que me sirve es irme a chelear con mis cuates. O sea, voy, veo a mis amigos, veo a mis amigas.
Estoy realmente pasándola bien en un ambiente donde me de confianza, platicando de otras cosas que ya no sean la empresa, las ventas, quién estuvo, quién cerró reinversión, quién no, la competencia. Salgo de eso y empiezo a platicar de cosas con mis cuates, del fut, de la Champions, que si la Fórmula 1 va a estar buena el próximo fin, y eso es mi desestrés. Esa es la vida literalmente para mí. Que belleza. Y creo que para eso trabajo. En realidad los jueves es jueves de dominó con mis cuates, los sábados un asado. Ya. Yo con eso estoy feliz y eso me mantiene.
Entonces, sí. Realmente el lunes llego feliz, ya sé que va a tocar trabajar como nunca y cada semana se pone más dura, pero siempre está ahí el viernes o el sábado para estar con mis cuates, para pasarla bien. Que belleza. Que belleza, en el sentido de que yo también no encuentro ni el momento, ni el punto, ni el libro, ni el coach para meditar. Y me hace feliz encontrar a otro que también se eche una chelas y le baje la ansiedad y el estrés. Maravilloso. Querido Adrián, se acaba el año, se viene el otro. COVID, no sé. There is. Cuéntame, el futuro de tu compañía. Mira, la verdad es que creo que el 2022 va a ser realmente nuestro año. 2021 fue un gran año y va a estar difícil superarlo.
Nos fue muy bien en muchas cosas, pero ahora si nos estamos metiendo full a comercializar como locos, y ya tenemos mucho respaldo tecnológico. Entonces, me emociona mucho porque creo que vamos a crecer exponencialmente en cuestión de ventas, en cuestión de usuarios. Y a mí lo que más me emociona es en cuestión de producto. Yo soy un CEO muy enfocado en producto. O sea, no me gusta tanto operar. Yo soy de innovar producto y todo, entonces tenemos varios productos o subproductos en el pipeline y ya tenemos un poco más de fuerza de trabajo, estructura, dinero, etcétera. Entonces, me emociona muchísimo eso y justo también tenemos un 2022 donde estamos empezando a colaborar con el área de seguros.
Entonces, es de las cosas que más me gusta a mí. Todavía... Lo llevamos planeando todo este año, para serte sincero. Y lo acabamos de validar muy bien con tres empresas de bróker y una aseguradora donde nosotros al bajarle la siniestralidad a las empresas, reduciendoles el porcentaje de un accidente, pues las aseguradoras nos aman. Ahora van a ganar muchísimo dinero. Entonces, estamos buscando esta parte de partnership, para la parte de insurtech, con aseguradoras lo más grandes que podamos, chicas, o brokers, o lo que sea, donde ellos puedan inclusive obtener nuestros servicios y regalarlo a sus clientes, o ellos puedan distribuir nuestros servicios ofreciendo una reducción en la póliza por el buen manejo y por la... Del celular y por... Etcétera. Entonces, creo que dentro de todas nuestras soluciones donde reducimos hasta un 40% del siniestro, las aseguradoras nos aman. Nos pedían mucha data, que esto fue todo el 2021. Y ya logramos esto a finales de 2021, empezar a cerrar partnerships,
empezar a cerrar con brókers de seguros, con aseguradoras, etcétera. Creo que va a ser un año muy interesante, explorando un mercado también de lo más burocrático del país, de lo menos tecnológico del país. Va a estar interesante, pero es la forma de hacerlo genuinamente masivo, ¿no? Si yo le podía llegar a mil empresas de transporte en un año, una alianza con aseguradora te llega a todas, todas. Brutal, brutal. Exacto, entonces va a estar interesante, va a ser un buen tiro y creo que es uno de los futuros que nos depara el próximo año.
Oye, pues justo este atraso de 50 años que decías, pues es el atraso que nos da a los que estamos emprendiendo unas oportunidades brutales, porque las cosas siguen haciéndose como... ¿No? Entonces, la cosa se está acelerando. Querido Adrián, he disfrutado mucho la conversación. Te agradezco mucho este rato. Felicita a tu equipo, lo están haciendo bien de verdad y busquemos el año que entra, ¿no? Para echar otra platica. Otro catch up, no hombre, no hombre, claro que sí. Muchísimas gracias. Yo también lo disfruté mucho, Osvaldo. Gracias por tu espacio. Espero que les haya gustado a todos y la verdad es que yo feliz de seguir platicando.
Abrazo, querido Adrián, y todo el éxito. Queridos amigos de Interesante, muchas gracias por habernos acompañado y hasta la próxima.
2022-04-09