When you analyse this our guys are always producing. What if we could replicate some of this in a corporate environment? We allow these to people come up with ideas. We have created processes which invite people from very different backgrounds to come up with ideas for our customers. They bring richness to the dialogue. I believe that innovation is just 10 per cent ideas, 90 per cent execution. Many times companies do not innovate, not only because they don’t have the culture, but also because they are unable to execute rapidly. So we also help our customers execute rapidly. We are very good at rapid prototyping. We focus on bringing ideas forward, on rapid execution and helping our customers to continue to innovate. Many companies try and create the ambience and the physical architecture that to allow innovation to flow more freely, Google being a famous example. Do you subscribe to this school of thought? Definitely. Let me describe my operating environment. Nobody
GI | MAR 2014
has a private office; we have shared spaces where people can communicate. I can see surfboards that were designed to be grabbed and used as spaces to visualise projects. We have different kinds of rooms - music rooms, brain storming rooms - that enhance creativity. I don’t believe in having to specifically move to be innovative though, we have created an environment where you can do that all the time. How do you work with your customers? Customers come to us with a problem, and we will try to discover, to brainstorm, and to find the solution. The truth is that sometimes technology is enabling. We explore new ideas around technology and currently have around 100 new projects in the lab looking at robotics, face recognition, artificial intelligence, games that you control with your mind. Why? Well because we wish to discover opportunities for our customers. Google Glass, for example, is creating unlimited opportunities.
Yes. I find the relationships very rewarding. Actually I have just returned from holiday with one of them and his family. We continue to nurture this friendship. On the one hand, we have friendship, but we also recognise the time when it’s important to focus on what we are doing, and nothing must get in the way of this. We’re like brothers, and it works wonderfully for us. We are our own people but we complement each other. We instantly recognise which person is the correct one to focus on a task. That’s important. It brings balance into a relationship. I always say if I didn’t have a reality check I would always be dreaming up new stuff and ideas, so it’s very important. When was the point that you realised that the dream behind the business was turning into a reality? Customers from ten years ago are still our customers today, we are growing together. In the case of lastminute.com, we went
When you founded the company, were the cofounders a group of friends?
GLOBANT |027