Diego Saez-Gil Bluesmart Podcast

Published in

Magma Partners

2 min readJun 29, 2017

Diego Saez Gil is an Argentine entrepreneur who is the cofounder of Bluesmart, the world’s first smart luggage. After doing a $2.2m presale on Indiegogo, Diego and his team have raised multiple rounds of venture capital from investors in Latin America, China and the US.

Ep 9 Diego Saez-Gil: Smart Luggage To Make Travel Easy and Enjoyable

Have you heard of smart luggage? It may not sound like something you need but wait until you hear what it can do to…

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Outline of This Episode

[2:25] The life of a founder whose offices are all over the world and how he took his path.
[8:00] The culture shock of leaving his home and traveling to business centers around the world.
[11:54] Diego’s 2011 start of a new business — WeHostels.
[16:43] The advice Diego gives to startup founders about building a team.
[20:25] Growing a startup app company in a very competitive market — and the process of selling the company.
[23:34] Two years later: Crowdfunding a new product successfully — $2.2M raised.
[26:28] How the team made the crowdfunding attempt successful.
[30:44] Diego’s response to those who say there’s not much talent in Latin America.
[35:24] How to keep an international team of 39 working together smoothly.
[38:07] Why Diego went to Ycombinator even after a successful crowdfunding launch.
[47:04] The features and details of Bluesmart luggage.
[49:14] Tips for those interested in building a hardware company, including tips for doing business in China.
[51:29] Surprising things about Latin America and China.
[55:53] What Diego says to U.S. Investors about doing business with Latin American companies.
[1:00:32] Changes in the Argentinian government in relation to entrepreneurship.
[1:01:50] Diego’s advice to himself at the beginning of his startup journey.
[1:05:00] Learning to take expert advice but staying focused on innovation.