Leonardo Silveira and Martín Giura, founders of the company woOw!, said in March 2013 that their time at the School of Business and Social Sciences at Universidad ORT Uruguay instrumental in the creation of this startup.
Leonardo Silveira, a graduate of the Bachelor’s program in Management and Administration, met Martín Giura—who has two courses left to complete his degree in the same program—and marketing analyst Martín Larre while they were studying together at the university; that’s where woOw! was born, which is, among other things, a crowdsourced marketing platform.
“I remember that they were quite different from one another. Martín (Giura) had shown entrepreneurial traits from very early on in his career; Leo worked at a bank. I spoke with both of them—separately, because, as far as I knew, their professional lives were on very different paths. On several occasions, I encouraged Leo to leave the bank and start a venture where he could realize his full potential. On the other hand, one of them was very active and vocal, while the other was more reflective and calm. And yet, both turned out to be extremely entrepreneurial. This demonstrates once again that there is no archetype and that it is very difficult to predict entrepreneurial performance,” said Enrique Kramer, Academic Coordinator of the Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Administration.
“I entered ORT without an entrepreneurial spirit, and today I consider myself someone who loves to start businesses. In between, there was a learning process that ORT undoubtedly provided me with,” notes Leonardo Silveira, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the company.
Martín Giura, on the other hand, says he has always been interested in entrepreneurship and highlights the value of his college experience. “It gave us a broad overview, with each of us focusing on our own area. We were able to benefit from the professors, the lectures, and the company visits. It provided us with a very important foundation,” says Giura, who is in charge of institutional relations and human resources.
“Another thing the ORT taught us is the importance of professionalism in the workplace. It’s very, very beneficial to have discipline. The school teaches in a very relaxed environment, but it’s very advanced when it comes to work and study methodologies,” adds Silveira.
The founders point out that woOw! began as a marketing tool for service-based retailers. By selling coupons that are emailed daily to registered users, businesses can reach thousands of people. “When a restaurant sends a mailing to the entire woOw! database, it reaches over 300,000 people. A high-impact 24-hour marketing campaign. Not only do they reach those people, but everyone who buys their product will visit the location, make a purchase, and interact with the staff. It’s a very, very efficient way to attract customers,” says Silveira. Between 360,000 and 400,000 people receive the offers every day.
Although the company started with just three people—Silveira, Giura, and Larre—and later added a fourth partner, Nicolás Bistolfi, the current CTO (Chief Technology Officer), it now employs about 70 people. Among them are several MBA graduates, communication and economics majors, and students. They emphasize that all of these individuals must be highly proactive.
“I found it a fascinating venture, primarily because group buying was an innovation made possible only in a computerized world, and because the business model was being applied to a culture as resistant to innovation as Uruguay’s,” Kramer said, adding: “I believe woOw! ’s two strengths are, on the one hand, that they have established a highly reputable brand in Uruguayan society and, on the other, that they have developed a very unique culture within their organization—the kind we see in Silicon Valley companies, but not here in Uruguay!”
Growth
Martín Giura explains that the company’s rapid growth has led to its mission and vision being redefined about three times since its inception. “We want to be leaders in marketing and sales tools within the technology sector, with a clear commitment to service (…) Furthermore, we want to be seen as the team with the greatest ability to execute in Uruguay, and this means having an outstanding team,” he adds.
With this in mind, the company has diversified its services. It no longer focuses solely on selling online service coupons for other clients. Now it also sells products at prices well below market value and offers international travel packages. “We have a very large operation in Brazil, and in Argentina we offer several destinations. We have plans for more this year,” says Silveira.
In addition, these entrepreneurs are also working on three other projects, one of which has already been launched: Sooprise.com, a gift website that focuses on giving the gift of experiences. Users, whether individuals or companies, can be creative when giving gifts. “The idea is for people to start experiencing their gifts,” says Silveira, adding that, for example, the recipient might receive a very special box at home with a coupon inviting them to dinner.
Another one is Uguana.com, a business directory where you can find all the information on retail products, along with customer reviews and experiences.
Finally, there’s One2one, a business-to-business market research service. “We’re quite restless because that’s what keeps us alive as a company,” says Silveira, who adds that when it comes to defining his competition, he finds it very difficult due to the innovative nature of the project. In the beginning, Silveira says, the competitors were Groupon and No te la Pierdas; however, having closed the year with 86% of the market, 50,000 coupons sold per month, and being so different from the early days, he believes that’s no longer the case. “Today we believe they’re more like colleagues than competitors. And we have a good relationship despite the healthy competition,” he says. WoOw! was named “Entrepreneur of 2012” by the newspaper El Observador and received the New Entrepreneurs in the E-commerce Industry Award.
Given this situation, Giura and Silveira agree that starting a business in Uruguay is possible and has its advantages.
Challenge
“Uruguay has made significant progress over the past six years, and even more so in the last three or four. The entire entrepreneurial ecosystem has come a long way. But I think there’s still a long way to go, and we need to become more culturally convinced of the opportunities available from Uruguay. “The advantage of working from Uruguay is that you already know the market; from the start, you know it’s a good idea to look outward,” says Giura.
“There are opportunities; often the obstacles are more mental than real. In other countries, there’s a different sense of hope when it comes to initial investment. Starting a business in Uruguay is infinitely cheaper than in Brazil,” Silveira explains.
And these two young people are a clear example of how you can build a successful business, regardless of age. Neither of them is over 30, and they are already well-known in the Uruguayan business world; they even earned the trust of Life Cinemas, which is now their partner. Although both had prior experience—Silveira in the Marketing Department at Lloyds Bank and Giura as a freelancer—they both took a chance on their idea, and it paid off.
“We place a lot of emphasis on being happy. Our motto is to strike a balance between dedication, fun, and responsibility,” Giura concludes.
The university
Academic coordinator Enrique Kramer noted that entrepreneurship has been a key focus since the program’s inception. “Ever since the program began in 1988, Business Planning has been a core course. More recently, we have introduced a very modern concept of entrepreneurship, based on theCustomer Development model created by Steve Blank of Stanford University and Alexander Osterwalder’sBusiness Model Canvas. The concept behind these models is that when innovating, there aren’t many certainties—rather, only hypotheses—and you have to go out into the market to ask questions, learn, and adjust the business model. “It’s a concept that requires a great deal of curiosity, learning, and humility to recognize that one might be wrong. We use these tools starting in the first semester—in the Entrepreneurship and Society course—as well as in New Ventures in the seventh semester and, of course, in the Business Plan,” said the professor.
Kramer also highlighted the entrepreneurial spirit of the students entering the college. “It’s surprising how much the percentage of students who view independent entrepreneurship as their preferred path for professional development has increased—much more so than 10 or 15 years ago. And that percentage remains high in the final semesters of their degree program. I would say that a growing proportion of students and graduates are starting their own businesses. But the percentage of students who start businesses within an existing organization is also growing,” he said.
University students receive guidance from faculty members throughout their studies and even after graduation. “We have the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), which supports them in developing their entrepreneurial ventures and helps them apply to various organizations—such as the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII)—to secure support and funding,” said Kramer.
The university has been the birthplace of companies that have already made a name for themselves both in the country and around the world. Some of these include: Femway (feminine hygiene products), Jackie O. (women’s fashion and accessories), Orange Attitude (digital agency), and D2 Consultores (consulting for small and medium-sized businesses).
Interview published in February 2013