Ateneo Digital was one of three Montreal startups that was accepted to the Start-Up Chile incubator. So I thought it would be interesting to interview one of the founders, Miguel Angel Molina, about the company and why they?re making the move.
To-date we?ve had a few perspectives on Start-Up Chile including Naysawn Naderi?s take on why he?s going to Chile with his startup Art Sumo, and Ken Seville?s thoughts on the challenges he?s had as a participating startup (his company is CiviSide) in the program already.
So on to Ateneo Digital and Miguel Angel Molina?
NextMontreal: What is Ateneo Digital and when was it started?
Miguel: We?re working to become an online publisher and distributor that uses digital publishing technology to facilitate access to specialized academic and professional content. We?re going to be providing content via an online web browsing system and offline via the sale of mainly ePUB, Mobi, and PDF files, and enhanced file formats too (more rich media oriented). The idea is to get specialized content originating throughout the Americas and make it available worldwide in a creative, simple, user-friendly and engaging way. Ateneo started taking shape in my head somewhere around January, but Olivers and I teamed up in late February and started working together on it officially in March of this year (2011).
NextMontreal: Who are the founders and what are your backgrounds?
Miguel: Just Olivers and myself. We?ve known each other for years, since 1996, when I lived in Venezuela.
Olivers has the technical skills, covering telecommunications systems, web and app development, e-commerce development, and programming. His background?s quite interesting: among the first Web designers in Venezuela in 1996, he?s designed and implemented telecommunications infrastructure across the country for big-name mobile operators, and since 2010 is running his own technology venture offering web and app development, technology services, and consulting support for corporate clients in Venezuela. Olivers also has serious hardware and software expertise, making him a pretty balanced technology professional. He happens to be an electronics engineer from Venezuela?s Universidad Sim?n Bol?var, the country?s main technology school. One more thing about him (yes, it?s sounding like an Ode, but believe me, this one is very important) is that he?s creative and resilient, always finding solutions to problems in challenging landscapes. Venezuela is a VERY difficult country to operate out of. Resilience is KING.
On my end, the background is mainly on international management, strategic planning, and commercial development skills covering Lean practices, marketing, supplier/partner negotiations, and transportation and logistics engineering. These days, until we head to Chile I guess, I?m doing management consulting in these areas. I graduated Summa cum Laude from Delaware State University, earned my Master of Science in Transportation degree at MIT, and later worked in international business and management with some big names like Lufthansa and IATA (hence my connection to Montreal; IATA?s base). My work right now, along with Ateneo, is consulting, helping transportation, media and entertainment companies. I speak several languages too.
NextMontreal: Why did you start Ateneo Digital? What market opportunity did you see?
Miguel: We started Ateneo Digital out of need. In Venezuela, as across all Latin America, there?s a huge need for quality academic and professional knowledge. People there struggle all the time seeking the books/magazines/articles they want and need. It?s easier with the Internet and global supply chains these days, but you can?t compare it with life in North America and Western Europe. We see an opportunity here, and a huge one! Digital publishing is new in the industrialized world, and non-existent in Latin America, but it?s here to stay! All kinds of benefits emerge from digital publishing and online content distribution/consumption. The opportunities are just amazing. You see, Ateneo is at the crossroads of three significant economic activities: information technologies, publishing, and education. Each has it?s unique potential. Combined, the possibilities are endless. This digital publishing and content distribution of quality content market is just getting started ? not just in Latin America, but globally.
NextMontreal: Who are the competitors?
Miguel: Even though we?re touching three major sectors (IT, Digital Publishing and Education), and competitors are coming out from all three, I?ll limit things to the Digital Publishing realm. It?s very fragmented! We?ve got some big well-known names like Google, Amazon, and Project Gutenberg. There?s also more creative operations out there like Inkling and Flat World Knowledge. You also have tons of academic publishers (MIT Press, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, etc.), the big 6 publishers, and operations like Thomson Reuters, Lexis Nexis, etc. In all these cases though, they?re mostly limited to English speaking audiences. For Latin America, or a fully-multilingual player like ourselves, there?s a different mix. It?s only a handful of dedicated Spanish-speaking operations, the bigger publishing houses, and that?s about it. You?re talking about no more than 12 to 15 strong names and all they?re doing is digitizing and selling content. Nothing else too innovative.
NextMontreal: Can you provide some examples of the type of content you will provide on Ateneo Digital?
Miguel: We?ve been working with some authors already, creating text books, research papers, and a few white papers too. We?re also contemplating things that have more rich media (audio and video, though not really our key focus right now). Keep in mind that the content doesn?t have to be presented as a single book or title. There are many ways to package content, especially in the digital domain.
NextMontreal: Do you have partnerships with universities / professors ? is that where most of the content will come from?
Miguel: We?re working on it! And, yep, there?s a lot of content from these sources ? especially independent authors affiliated to education. Latin America (and the developing world in general) is filled with self-publishing academics.
NextMontreal: You recently joined Start-Up Chile ? why? What advantages do you see of the program?
Miguel: We?re from the Americas and for the Americas, so our goal is to be in every country across the continent. We can envision a regional presence being managed from Chile. Chile doesn?t produce that many academic books (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru all create more content ? in that order). However, you could argue that this is because the country is so small when compared to the five major players Still, the country is advancing in other areas, and that?s just as important for us! Chile?s trade relations and economic output are among the best in the region. It?s institutions and IT infrastructure are sound. It?s a business friendly place. And it?s landscapes? Olivers and I both like the outdoors, a lot. As we said in our application: along with everything else about Chile, we like Penguins. More importantly, though, no other country in the region has such an interesting entrepreneurship initiative. The $40K has lots of appeal. But the resources they?re bringing together really caught our attention, especially since they understand the unique dynamics of Latin America.
NextMontreal: Had you tried to raise capital in Canada or no? If so, what was it like?
Miguel: Gee, that?s a really good question. Unfortunately, I?m not allowed to talk much about. Sorry. Let?s talk again about this in a few months if you don?t mind.
NextMontreal: What are your expectations for Start-Up Chile?
Miguel: We have lots of things we?d like to accomplish while taking part in Start-Up Chile, though the main goal is to have full time attention for our project. It?s tough right now for us, with Olivers and I working full time and the other team members chipping in on the sides. Six months of non-stop, fully focused, resource rich, and morally supported effort would do us GREAT! We?re particularly thrilled about the moral support from the people we?ll be working with. Latin America doesn?t have many entrepreneur-friendly environments. It?s so not like Montreal. Half the time you?re having to explain to people why you are taking this ?crazy? path of starting something from scratch and with little or no resources. Having lived in Montreal, and having team members from Montreal, I know first hand how different it can be! We?re seriously contemplating a full relocation to Montreal at some point, because the atmosphere is just great. But having found (and been accepted to) an environment that?s just as promising, and especially designed by people that understand our primary market/audience is amazing. Just remember, more than expectations about the program, it?s our motivation to take full advantage of what it offers.
NextMontreal: When the program is finished, will you be coming back to Montreal?
Miguel: Half the team is in Canada already (though somewhat in-between Toronto and Montreal right now ? but that?s temporary). If I can convince Olivers to put up with the -30C, we?ll definitely establish ourselves with a stronger presence there. Montreal is among the best places in North America, and the French speaking community is also very important to us. Multi-cultural dialogue across the Americas, without the French-speaking community would be incomplete! So, in short, we intend on having Ateneo in Montreal again at some point ? and I hope that it?s soon.
NextMontreal: When are you launching?
Miguel: We?re looking at sometime around the first quarter of 2012, no later than early March. We?ve progressed a lot in these first 6 months of existence, and we don?t anticipate any pivots to our efforts really, just a few adjustments here and there. But you never know. You plan life at your desk, and then go outside and just live it!
Related posts:
- Three Montreal Startups Joining Start-Up Chile
- Turn-Page Brings Print Publications to Web and Mobile
- Start-Up Chile is a Great Experience But Be Careful Too
- Alliance num?rique launches Montreal Digital (MTL DGTL), a new festival dedicated to interactive digital content
- Stingray Digital Launches Streaming Music Service for Your Phone
Source: http://nextmontreal.com/ateneo-digital-brings-multilingual-digital-publishing-to-latin-america/
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