Explaining Blockchain to a Hundred Colombian Bankers. In Terrible Spanish | Part 1
The first time I visited Colombia (which is BY FAR one of the most incredible and fascinating countries in the world) on July 2013, I was what we call here in Israel a “Muchillero” — just a random guy trekking the South-American continent after 5 years of service in the Israeli Army. Colombia was my 5th destination.
I remember arriving in Bogota, and exploring its ancient city called Candelaria, talking to the locals and figuring out my next destination in their beloved country. Later on I travelled to Medellin, Santa Marta, Cartagena and Taganga, and each place was surprising and full of experiences.
The memories from Colombia kept me thinking that I will definitely return in years to come — and so I did, but in the most unexpected way.
On October 2016, after 2.5 years of managing Promie Ltd. — I had the chance to participate in the Banco Davivienda Hackathon held in the Sheraton Hotel in Tel-Aviv. Our CTO and my colleague, Matan Cohen, had been showing interest in Blockchain technologies for already two years before this event, and constantly tried to convince me it’s the next thing (Matan — if you’re reading it, and you are, here I am admitting you were the first one to point on the potential of Blockchain).
Our team loves hackathons — as it’s always a great opportunity for us to take a step-back and get some creative stuff happen, test new ideas and present them to interesting audiences. The Davivienda Hackathon, held by one of the leading banks of South-America, was about remmitance solutions for Colombians abroad. We presented a Blockchain-based solution for this purpose, and presented it as a Facebook Messenger Chat-Bot — it was these two buzz-words, along with a great presentation, pitch and Blockchain demo — that scored us the 1st place. And the prize? A 2 weeks trip to Colombia, working with the bank on-site, and getting back to the country I trekked 4 years ago.
What happend in Colombia? Don’t worry, it won’t “stay in Colombia”. In the next part I will present you all with all details — the funny moments, the attempts to explain Blockchain to the bank’s president and pitching our product to 100 people in poor Spanish. More than all — it’s a good story for all of you “Muchilleros” out there, with long-hair and a huge smile on your faces — one day you’ll be back in the places you trekked, and you will be wearing a suit, and talk about things like Blockchain. Cool, isn’t it? ;)
