Monday, December 10, 2012

Business Observations: People in Mexico don't like pear juice...

Pear juice is bad business for HEB, but a good deal for me...Is one of the possible reasons why I was able to buy 7 liters of organic pear juice at a nearby grocery store (HEB) for just 104.3 MXP ($1 to 12.96 Mexican Pesos, Total = $8.05).  Out of curiosity I'm going to explore alternate explanations for my good fortune and figure out whether it makes good business sense to sell pear juice in Mexico.  Before I start, I'm going to provide some background information

While bottles of this type of juice

Friday, November 30, 2012

Crowdfunding Part 3.2: The Process

Continued from: Crowdfunding Part 3.1: The Process

Now with everything set up, Elly presses the start button and goes to tell her friends and family about the widget campaign. Everyone is a little anxious to fund the project at first.  On one hand, they are excited for the opportunity to help bring something new into the world (and help Elly), while on the other hand they know that if Elly raises the $10,000 and is unable to send the widget, the funders get nothing.  Luckily Elly has a strong network, and there are people out there who have a lot of faith in her and know what she is capable of, so they rush in to support the campaign.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Crowdfunding Part 3.1: The Process

Let us return to Elly's tale of entrepreneurship.  Elly knows she wants to crowdfund her widget, the question now is how?  After numerous hours of researching online, comparing crowdfunding websites, and creating content for her campaign, Elly has everything prepared.

On the front page of her campaign there is a compelling video describing what the widget is, how a person will benefit from funding the project, and how Elly is going to use the $10,000 (to finish designing the widget, build it, and ship it).  Underneath that is a short paragraph  again describing what the widget is, as well as other details of the project.  To the right of this there are a few numbers shown: the total amount raised, the total amount needed, and the number of backers.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Living in Monterrey, no not in California

[caption id="attachment_49" align="alignright" width="240"] In Fundidora be prepared to see people taking wedding pictures. You can clearly see one here, and in the back there is another. Not pictured was the third group to the left...[/caption]

Monterrey is an industrial city with headquarters scattered across its domain.  But, when you get out of your can and walk around, you may find it quite romantic.  Why romantic?

In a stroll through Centro (or any other part of the city for that matter) you'll quickly find the streets swarming with couples in such tight embraces you could use a crowbar to get them apart.  And they are everywhere, it is a useless endeavor to try and keep track of the number. 

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Crowdfunding part 2: The past, the present, and the future

Crowdfunding's story is just starting to pick up; and like every story it has a beginning, a middle, and an end (that end hopefully being a successful IPO).

The Past:

An article by Daniela Castrataro at Social Media Week attributes the beginning of crowdfunding to the actions of a rock band called Marillion.  Marillion, in

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Crowdfunding part 1: What is it?

Some of you may already be on a first name basis with this while others may wonder if it is referring to the exporting of jobs overseas.  For those of you aren't yet familiar with crowdfunding, it's the perfect time to learn!

Crowdfunding is a relatively new phenomenon in raising money and the best way to understand it is through an example.

Thursday, October 25, 2012