A presentation that I gave at the Founder Institute in Bogota. These are my thoughts about vision and values as I build my startup called Zwapp, a mobile B2B SaaS platform in Latam for worker rewards platform.

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Vision and Values
Alan Colmenares
CEO, Zwapp
October 2, 2019
Founder Institute Bogota

2. Quick Backgrounder
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87%
of employees are not engaged at work.*
* 87% of employees not engaged (Gallup), 80% wish to work for digital leader (McKinsey)

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7. Today’s context
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8. “Mi propia teoría es
que estamos en
medio de una
transformación
tecnológica y
económica en
donde empresas de
software están por
tomar posesión de
grandes porciones
de la economía.”
Marc Andreessen - 2011
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9. “Mi propia teoría es
que estamos en
medio de una
transformación
tecnológica y
económica en
donde empresas de
software están por
tomar posesión de
grandes porciones
de la economía.”
Marc Andreessen - 2011
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10. The first successful companies out of the gate
are reaping the benefits.
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12. May 2018
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13. Let’s ask someone knowledgeable in scaling
startups what is a key driver?
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18. Source: Laura Bosco, Krit
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19. To be honest, when my overriding concern as an
early stage startup is survival I do question
whether I should give any thought to culture.
Nonetheless…
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20. “The early days
of a company is
a golden
opportunity to
set ground
rules.”
Peter Thiel, Blake Masters’ notes.
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21. How inspiring are the mission statements of
market leaders?
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22. Apple Mission:
“To make a contribution to
the world by making tools
for the mind that advance
humankind.”
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23. Mission:
“to give people the
power to build
community and bring the
world closer together.”
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26. These companies understand something
important about motivation…
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27. “If you want to build a
ship, don't drum up
people to collect wood
and don't assign them
tasks and work, but
rather teach them to long
for the endless immensity
of the sea.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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zwapp mission statement
We believe that we’re at the beginning of a massive
digital tsunami that enables us to deliver greater
economic rewards to Latin Americans from the
companies and merchants with whom they interact.

30. Take
initiative
Celebrate
the human
experience
Get
Results
Walk
the talk
Work
smart
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31. Unicorns have learned (and improved) the
tactical lessons of hyper-scaling.
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32. “The popular phrase out in the Valley is that Uber was the fastest
growing startup in Silicon Valley history.”
-Mike Isaac, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber
Travis
Kalanick
$4B
net worth
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33. Unicorns in Latin America
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35. July 2019
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36. Can you come up with an inspiring mission
statement for the following non-profit?
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38. We are committed to
elevating the
collective
consciousness of the
world by expanding
happiness and
unleashing every
human’s superpowers.
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39. We are committed to
elevating the
collective
consciousness of the
world by expanding
happiness and
unleashing every
human’s superpowers.
-The We Company mission
Adam Neuman

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44. The disconnect between inspiring missions and
actually deeds shouldn’t be surprising.
The hardest thing for us humans is to…
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46. Big companies such as Google, Amazon,
Facebook and Apple wield increasing power over
our daily activities.
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48. Though these companies have created strong
internal cultures, given past and present deeds, it’s
valid to question their sense of responsibility
towards society at large.
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50. “Indeed for most Americans the once-promising
new economy has meant a descent, as one MIT
economist recently put it, toward a precarious
position usually associated with Third World
countries.”
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52. “…workplace
dictatorship and
Amazon in particular
penetrates very deep
into the white-collar
workforce. They're also
seriously abused and
constrained by the
system.”
Professor Elizabeth Anderson.
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54. Chamath
Palihapitya

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61. “It appears the beauty of Apple’s brilliant design ultimately rests upon the
suffering of workers in electronic sweatshops, where human rights, labour
standards, environmental safety and business integrity are routinely ignored.”
-SmartCompany, Aug 2018 zwapp

62. “The major
theme that I
would argue
that’s been one
of the true
absolutes in
history is that
power corrupts.
I believe these
firms [Google,
Amazon,
Facebook and
Apple] have too
much power.”
-Scott Galloway

63. This is an opportunity for your startup.
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66. of millennials want to use their skills
to benefit a cause.
94%
https://www.shrm.org zwapp

67. I’v seen a measure of success among
entrepreneurs that don’t communicate precise
shared cultural values. One suggestion though:
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