David Suárez, CEO at Zapiens: “We want to be the biggest technology company operating from Asturias”
David Suárez, in an Asturian entreprenuer and CEO at Zapiens, one of the startups finalists at South Summit 2017, and talk to us about the begin of an entrepreneur and the business idea. Know more about this amazing project.
Why did you decide to start your business and how did you come up with the idea?
While working in other projects as a consultant for businesses with some colleagues, today my business partners, I took notice of the poor internal communication of these companies. In every organisation you find a big gap between managers and their employees, lack of knowledge on their products, huge employee turnover and disengaged workers. By asking them lots of questions, I was able to learn about their problems and so the managers did. It suddenly clicked to me! You gain knowledge when you ask questions. As simple as that. That was the light-bulb moment that would turn our idea into the knowledge management platform we are today.
What does being an entrepreneur mean for you?
It means to be hungry and constantly strive to get out of your comfort zone. To question everything. To try and be the best person you can be, whatever goal you pursue.
Why your company is useful for the user?
Our platform help organisations to create and transfer knowledge among their members, with our gamified app and a user-friendly data system. So employees can learn more about the company they work for and its products or services through gamified learning: questions and answers together with a reward scheme. On the other hand managers are provided with a dashboard where they can tailor new campaigns according to their needs, collect lots of beautiful data, learn more about their employees, and increase engagement and knowledge within your organisation. We are essentially upgrading mobile training to intelligent knowledge management.
Why did you decide to participate at South Summit?
It’s a great opportunity to spread our message a little further, meet other minds alike, and luckily some potential investors! We are already working with lots of companies worldwide, and this is a key moment in the evolution of our business in order to develop our platform further, the future for us is to build a corporate brain, your own organisation’s search engine! Watch this space…
What advantages have you found since then?
Taking part in the South Summit is already opening lots of new doors for us and attracting new clients. You also get to meet very interesting people, and grow your network massively. We always want to know what’s new in the realm of technology and knowledge management, where there might arise opportunities for a collaboration… And you get all that in one same place! It will be fun.
What do you expect from this event?
We always want to know what’s new in the realm of technology and knowledge management, where there might arise opportunities for a collaboration… And you get all that in one same place! It will be fun.
How did you feel when you knew that you were a startup finalist?
We were so humbled to be received in our own country as a finalist in the South Summit! It’s really important that this kind of events are starting to take place in Spain. The world of ideas needs more recognition and support here, we don’t get much support and companies suffer because they are stuck with dinosaur-like management systems. We are living an unstoppable digital and cultural transformation which we must embrace and use in our favour.
What´s your dream in life?
We want to be the biggest technology company operating from Asturias, managing and sharing knowledge with the whole the world!
Why would you encourage other entrepreneurs to participate at the South Summit?
If you believe you have a great idea that would solve a problem, you need to communicate it and find your following. You must get out there, expand your network, and make this idea work for you, attracting clients and investors. South Summit does not only provide this network, but also offers conferences and workshops that will inspire you and add on knowledge. The right knowledge and a community to share it with is everything you need to put your ideas into action and monetize from them!
We already took part in last year’s South Summit, so it’s really amazing to be selected as finalist for second year in a row! Last year we were practically babies, and now Zapiens is growing fast. We have just come back from the Pirate Summit in Cologne, Germany, where we were voted winners as best pitch. We also won at the DB Accelerator in Germany and RTVE Impulsa in Spain — becoming the new training tool for their HR Department. Our next stop is the States, California; we already have some meetings lining up, it’s all very exciting. We are so grateful. The evolution continues…
