

My Favorite Start-up Chile Companies - volandovengo
http://naysawn.com/my-favorite-start-up-chile-companies/

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andrewcooke
why does art sumo work with a single piece of art a month? [from the site
<http://www.artsumo.com/> it seems that they send you a picture of one piece
of art per month, which you can buy]

that seems like it's modeled on companies that sell socks, or nappies
(diapers), or the like. but you (i? everyone?) don't buy art like that. it's
not a regular purchase, and you need to look through a lot of examples to find
something you really like.

am i completely mis-understanding how people buy art in the states? (i'm not
bullshitting here - about half the art we own was bought over the internet,
most recently from <http://puntoarte.cl/>, so i would have thought i am -
apart from location - the target demographic).

maybe it's more like small impulse buys? what prices?

(incidentally, i don't claim puntoarte is a great place for art - i think you
could improve it significantly with curation - but that doesn't alter the
basic argument, i hope)

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volandovengo
Hey Andrew - Art Sumo works by sending out weekly emails of original art from
around the world. You can purchase the painting contained in the email if you
get to it first.

About the question of why this format, we decided to go with this to 1 - let
people passively stay connected with art from different cultures and 2 - to
create a sense of excitement to see each painting 3 - it replicates a gallery
experience more closely where you examine paintings in this manner and 4 -
when the paintings are directly marketed like this, the paintings sell.

Sure others are selling socks and diapers in this manner (via regular updates
groupon style) as well. You can also buy those products using different
channels as well (like art).

~~~
andrewcooke
ah, thanks. with "get it first", things makes more sense (i was assuming
people had different offers and you somehow rotated though a set, but with
your approach i guess you can focus on more attractive pieces and set higher
values).

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alook
Any thoughts on how startup Chile compares to traditional Silicon Valley
incubators? Obviously, they don't take equity and have a focus on contributing
to the entrepreneurial community.

A good friend of mine just flew down to Santiago for Startup Chile. He's
definitely enjoying it, but before he left he was concerned that getting out
of the US entrepreneurship scene might make it harder to reach US consumers
and get relationships with investors. On the flipside, S.C. seems focused on
creating an international community of entrepreneurs - I'm told there's teams
from 33 countries.

It'll be interesting to see how many of these teams will end up in YC.

~~~
volandovengo
I think Startup Chile is very different from traditional Silicon Valley
incubators.

From what I understand, traditional incubators are focused on getting you
mentored and funded. In start up chile, you're pretty much left to your own to
decide what is best for you. If you are seeking to build a billion dollar
company, it probably isn't the best fit. If on the other hand, you are seeking
to build a life-style business and you wouldn't mind a bit of an adventure,
it's a great option. There certainly is less social pressure in Santiago as
tech is still very new there and expectations on your success are much lower.
This can be good or bad depending on what you are seeking.

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mmx
The ZBoard idea blows my mind, such a simple idea I can't believe wasn't
created before now. Nicely done.

~~~
thaumaturgy
YC S12 company Boosted Boards (<http://www.boostedboards.com/>) is a similar
concept. Boosted Boards appear to be more powerful, but they are also
significantly more expensive and they are remote-controlled instead of weight-
sensing.

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chefsurfing
Thanks for the write-up Naysawn! It was great to meet you in Santiago.

