Posted 2010-07-23 at 6:05 pm
WiredLatinos (WL): How did the idea of your company come about? What inspired you to open your company? Ramon Toledo (RT): During my work as a stockbroker and a foreign diplomat I discovered that there was a niche market when it came to Internet companies for Latin America. We have plans to go public on the OTCBB Stock Market, as the first Mexican Internet company to go public in the U.S.
WL: Of all your websites, which one is your favorite and why? RT: Hard to say since they all have a story, but if I had to choose it would be LevelUp.com. In 2008 it won Best Website in Mexico. We beat all the big media companies and it has grown to be #1. We also signed with the major players in this space–MSN Mexico, MSN Latino, and Televisa. If you are a Video Gamer in Latin America you probably user our site.
WL: We’ve read in many business publications that the video gaming industry is big business, when did you realize this? RT: I went to the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in 2008 and heard the VP of Xbox talking about how video games would sell $48 Billion that year, and that it was bigger than film box office, music and DVD sales. At that moment, I saw a niche and a necessity and started our goal to be #1.
WL: What is your biggest challenge now in your business? How do you deal with it? RT: The biggest challenge is to educate the advertisers. Since Latin America is five years behind when it comes to the internet, advertisers still believe they need to spend only five percent of their advertising budget on internet campaigns. Moreover, online sales are just starting to take off, but for the last two years they were non-existent. We are strongly positioned and believe this makes for a great opportunity.
WL: What is the exact deal with MSN? RT: LevelUp.com is the official video game site of MSN. In fact, our first deal was with MSN Prodigy for Mexico and now Microsoft MSN is our largest partner. We just closed our second deal with them–MSN Latino for the U.S. Hispanic Markets. We also have plans to go after the rest of Latin America, including Colombia, Argentina, and Peru.
WL: Where do you see the Internet industry going in the future? RT: Mobile. Everything is going mobile: iPads, Droids, iPhones. We are now upgrading all of our sites to HTML5 so you can view them on any mobile device.
XBOX will revolutionize the industry with the Launch KINECT, since users will no longer need controls or keyboards to play video games or use your computer. It will all be driven by motion sensors, which can enable TV channel changing just by moving your hand. The future is mobile and gaming.
WL: On a more personal note: What motivates you every morning to keep going? RT: First my family, second my dream, and third my team. My family because they believe in me and have supported me all this time. Secondly, my dream: I always dreamed of being CEO of a publicly trade company and starting something new and innovative. Lastly, my team: I have a great team that works non-stop 24/7 with a real start-up mentality. Each time one of the big internet companies in the U.S. hires one of our employees and pays them ten times–instead of getting mad–I get happy, because we helped pave the way.
WL: If you were to start all over again, would you do anything different? RT: A lot of things. First of all, I would not hire a high salary CEO. Since a start-up is a whole different work environment and what works for big companies does not work for start ups. Secondly, I would never again pay the high fees for big legal and accounting firms. You can get the same work with good, small firms at a fraction of the cost.
WL: What do you do when you’re not working? Do you play video games? If so, which one is your favorite? RT: Not to brag, but I work almost everyday. Since a start-up is like working in dog years, you feel it’s 7 to 1. But when I do relax, I have a PS3 and love Gears of War, and . . . well, FIFA. But I can’t wait till the KINECT from XBOX comes out. I play Nintendo with my daughter, so basically I like all consoles.
WL: What’s in the works for BuscaCorp in the next 5 years? RT: We are launching a movie review site in two months and a how-to technology website as well. We already started developing mobile applications in Spanish since we plan to put Baja, California on the map as the center for mobile apps. We are doing this with several universities so that we can teach students this new world. We still have plans to go public next year and we plan to commercialize our platform in the U.S. through our office in Silicon Valley.
WL: What advice to you give others who are just breaking into the Internet business? RT: Start-up internet companies are a 24/7 job, so if you are going to do this my advice is do it well or don’t do it at all. Ninety five percent of internet start-ups fail because people don’t commit one hundred percent. Also, surround yourself with mentors, advisors and try to learn from other people’s mistakes. Buy the Book “My Startup Life.”
This interview was published July 10th, 2010