7 Partners: It is Possible.
Lee la versión en español aquí.
In 2011, a group of good college classmates started Wolox with the idea of developing a software startup. Many voices said that establishing a company with seven partners was going to be a problem. We were confident, it was going to work.
One of our earliest challenges was to identify what was going to be Wolox’s core business. It wasn’t easy. Our first idea was becoming a traditional software factory. However, shortly after, we applied to the BAITEC program (a program to support technology startups) through Emprear (an organization to support entrepreneurs), and everything changed. During the program we were asked to differentiate ourselves, to be innovative.
Related post: A Flock of Entrepreneurs
With this in mind, we decided to develop technology for a niche we all actually belong to and thus it is well known to us: The entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our purpose was to solve a problem that many entrepreneurs face when starting a business: The lack of a technology partner.
Same as it happened to many, the fact that we were seven partners came across as strange for The Government of the City of Buenos Aires, the organizer of BAITEC. Despite any preconceptions, we faced the situation, and eventually our startup was selected to be incubated.
After a year of being incubated at BAITEC, we decided to rent our first offices. We professionalized the company, improved, and got organized. With both quantitative and qualitative growth, we were able to meet a desired goal: We billed our first million. And we did it always keeping the same original essence, the one that still characterizes Wolox today.
In the process, it took a great deal of decision-making for us. Good and bad, all decisions built our experience and led us to where we are today. Our personal dedication and effort — which required working from Monday through Sunday, without much rest — along with the conviction of wanting to be part of something unique, were key factors in every one of our accomplishments.
The founding team had a clear idea in mind that is maintained to this day: To change the way startups are created in Latin America.
We started thinking on a local level, but when we realized what we were capable of, our targets broadened. Initially we knew little about the entrepreneurial world, but we grew more and more involved and we learned the environment’s exclusive concepts.
On the other hand, as we grew, it became more and more necessary to establish clear rules and to talk without beating about the bushes. When we understood we had to speak face-to-face without feeling offended, we grew exceptionally. That was the improvement in quality we needed. The unambiguous decision-making, along with a sincere yet kind style, were crucial concepts for Wolox to reach the positioning it has achieved now.
It’s already been almost 4 years since that day we were sitting down on the college’s ground floor deciding what to do. Since that moment, we went from being a company of 7 partners to having more than 50 employees, and our startup became a company with an identity and presence of its own.
Wolox not only exceeded the expectations of a startup led by seven people, but also exceeded the expectations of those seven partners that once dreamed about the reality they are living today.
Posted by Matías Williams (williams.matias@wolox.com.ar)
