
Letter to Potential Investors - fbuilesv
http://micarga.com/investors
======
acadavid
I don't know how successful this public effort can be, but I think it's the
first time I see a company using a long-form sales letter to find investors.
I'd love to read an update from the people behind the company once they're
done with their fund-raising and see what the results of doing this were vs.
traditional fundraising.

~~~
mmvvaa
MiCarga cofounder here. We wanted to tell our story, in a format that suited
our position right now. It is an experiment, and we are fully aware that it
may not be the right format for every investor. Regardless, we wanted a space
to tell our story in more detail, and start better conversations with the
right investors.

PS: We will update everyone in our progress.

------
Sujan
Feedback:

\- tooltips on hover over words are confusing

\- [...] with projections of 1.2M (ongoing [...] - unit?

\- "improve our to integration" \- get rid of the 'to'

\- letter itself is better written than the summary. maybe rework that.

\- don't make something a link if you can't click it to go somewhere

\- "Torrenegra Labs" should be linked to their site, I will google them anyway

\- "Our business model [...] most generic option." Looks like a quote. Is not
a quote.

\- "We started this company in November 2011 [...] Today we have [...] We made
significant progress during our three month acceleration period: [...]"
Jumping around in timeline.

\- Then I kinda stopped reading and started skimming because it was so
unstructured :/

Conclusion: Nice try, but content and presentation lack polish. The text
contains lots of interesting information, but seems very unstructured and
follow no clear outline. Add some clear headers and restructure the text,
rewrite the summary.

But: Nice product and market!

~~~
mmvvaa
Thanks for the feedback. We just fixed some of the more obvious corrections,
and look forward to discuss the ones that require a bit more time with the
people that we speak with (timeline, etc...).

------
jaredstenquist
I had the pleasure of being a judge on a panel when this team was pitching 4-6
months ago as part of the MassChallenge incubator program. They are a great
team putting together some solid solutions in the South American logistics
industry.

I'm happy to see them making more progress. I hope the fundraising is
successful.

------
fbuilesv
Hey guys, Federico from MiCarga here. We're happy to answer any questions.

If some of the stuff in the letter sounds familiar it's probably because
you've read it before in PG's recent fund-raising articles (recommended reads
for everyone raising capital):

* How to raise money: [http://paulgraham.com/fr.html](http://paulgraham.com/fr.html)

* How to convince investors: [http://paulgraham.com/convince.html](http://paulgraham.com/convince.html)

* Investor Herd Dynamics: [http://paulgraham.com/herd.html](http://paulgraham.com/herd.html)

------
cinquemb
Isn't there a YC company[0] doing the same thing who raised a tonne of
capital?

[0] [https://keychainlogistics.com/](https://keychainlogistics.com/)

~~~
fbuilesv
We are in the same space and to be honest we were amazed by Keychain's launch.
According to VentureBeat [0], they had 1 in every 500 trucks in the US on
launch day (Aug '12). We launched in May of the same year and we know how hard
it is to find good, qualified drivers.

Sadly, there's not a lot of public information about how Keychain works so I
can't say for sure if we're doing the exact same thing. I do think we're
seeing the same problem though: the last big change in cargo logistics was the
introduction of containers for transportation (and that was decades ago). We
can do better.

[0] [http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/21/keychain-logistics-
truckin...](http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/21/keychain-logistics-truckin/)

~~~
yesimahuman
So, there's a competitor? Who cares? That means the market has validated your
product, and now you have an enemy to motivate you.

~~~
mmvvaa
There are plenty of companies in the space. A quick browse on AngelList can
give you a good idea of what's out there.

We certainly believe keychain is doing several things right. Even though they
are focused in the US at the moment.

Our focus right now is LATAM, and would most likely head towards other
developing markets before trying anything in the US.

~~~
cinquemb
_Our focus right now is LATAM, and would most likely head towards other
developing markets before trying anything in the US._

That's probably the most pragmatic and best approach: to understand the needs
of your specific market area and all of the participants, and nail them.
Having met with Bryan a couple months ago, he understood the pain points in
the US market (having basically grown up in the industry…) and nailed them.
I'm sure he's learned more since we've last spoke with the help he has gotten
to carry out his vision.

It's really great to see companies like these. Good Luck!

~~~
mmvvaa
Thanks :)

------
jpemberthy
I'm trying to understand the relationship between "Uber for trucks" and
software platform, is this just some name dropping to get people's attention?

~~~
bjfish
The relationship is that they are taking an underutilized resource (trucks)
and increasing utilization through their network much like Uber is filling
cars.

The current "our business model" section in the letter is confusing and I
think the letter should be more up front about what their value proposition
is. I had to read their "nosotros" page to figure it out:

    
    
      Más del 25% de los camiones en Brasil, México, Colombia y
      Argentina viajan vacíos cada semana, dejando de lado
      ganancias potenciales de US$4.5 billones cada mes. Nuestra
      tecnología pone en contacto a quien tiene la carga con
      quien la puede transportar, así el transportador nunca
      viajan vacío,...
    

More than 25% of trucks in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina travel empty
every week leaving behind potential profits of $4.5B dollars. Our technology
puts people with cargo in contact with transporters, so the transporter never
travels empty,...

It appears they are filling empty trucks which I find similar to "empty leg
flights" which are sold by private jet operators.

~~~
mmvvaa
MiCarga cofounder here.

Thanks for the feedback, and from a first read of what we do, yes. You are
spot on.

We believe we can make use of a severely underutilized pool of resources
(empty trucks) in developing countries, some of it as a result of a huge
industry that has transformed very quickly to adjust to the organic growth, as
well as to other factors like free trade agreements that have escalated the
need for transportation companies to be much more competitive in a global
landscape.

The same challenges apply to the cargo generators, which have relayed on excel
sheets or custom tools to manage their logistics, but that are constantly
struggling to find the right solution to manage their specific needs.

I won't bore you with details, but logistics is much more than just putting
cargo on a truck (think of security, insurance, satellite tracking, etc...),
and we are integrating several services to simplify this for our customers.

------
drakaal
I don't know for certain, but US Companies can't do pitches this way. It isn't
legal. I don't know what the rules are for US Companies investing in Non-US
Companies in this regard. But I would do some serious checking. It would suck
to raise money only to have the FTC decide you did so in an illegal way and
have it disappear.

~~~
mmvvaa
MiCarga co-founder here.

First of, our operations are mainly in Colombia and Argentina for now, but we
are incorporated in Delaware as a C-corp.

Second, as of monday this week, it is legal. You could find more info here:
[https://angel.co/public](https://angel.co/public)

~~~
drakaal
Not a lawyer, but I don't think you did all the filings necessary to solicit
there is quite a bit in your copy I know they wouldn't let fly.

~~~
mmvvaa
Are you speaking from personal experience, then? Care to share details? I
appreciate that you are giving feedback, but it is very vague. What parts of
the copy do you feel are not ok?

~~~
EGreg
A US company would need to file Reg D before making these solicitations.

~~~
mmvvaa
MiCarga founder here. This is not a solicitation, and we explicitly put it
here before the beginning of the letter:

"(Note: The information in this document does not constitute an offer or
solicitation to purchase securities of the Company)."

We wanted to use a format to tell our story to potential investors, and we
felt that this format was fitting. Once again, the format is an experiment,
but in no way it is a solicitation. We see it more as a first step to start a
longer conversation with potential investors (accredited ones, to be precise).

~~~
7Figures2Commas
"(Note: The information in this document does not constitute an offer or
solicitation to purchase securities of the Company)."

"We are sharing this letter with you because we believe you might be
interested in investing in our company. We'll tell you a bit about our story,
where we are today, why we're raising funds and why we are the best bet you
can make today."

"If you're interested in being part of our round, please email us two possible
time slots to talk:"

Absolutely classic.

~~~
drakaal
You identified the part that makes it a solicitation, and therefore illegal.

Basically making it impossible to invest in them. Nothing like death by
failure to understand the law.

I don't really like lawyers but you have to keep them around to keep you from
killing your company.

------
nthnclrk
I may be missing something here.

• Launched in May 2012 (but started in Nov 2011)

• Run rate of $88 000

• Gross revenue of $500 000

One of these can't be true.

~~~
mmvvaa
MiCarga cofounder here.

\- We started development in nov '11 and only officially launched operations
in May 16th, 2012, to be precise.

\- Our current run rate is US$88,000 (as of our latest numbers). Run rate is
an extrapolation of the most current numbers, if they are extended for a year.

\- So far, we have grossed more than US$500K. I am not going to dig into our
margin details here, but yes. We have grossed more than that since we started
operations (may '12).

I hope this clarifies it.

