Despegar.com : A start-up in Latin America
The Fuqua School of Business
Despegar.com : A start-up in Latin America
"I truly believe that the Internet will change the way we work, live, play and learn in ways we are just beginning to explore.”
John Chambers, CEO, Cisco Systems, Inc.
“…The Internet is a tidal wave. It chang es the rules. It is an incredible opportunity as well an incredible challenge…”
Bill Gates, CEO, Microsoft Corp.
Although it was one of the warmest and sunniest weeks of the year in Miami, Roberto Souviron, Ernesto
Cadeiras, Martin Ratellino, Federico Fuchs and Christian Vilate spent it inside their downtown office, working as hard as ever. Even though during the last months of 1999 venture capitalists (VC’s) were enthusiastically pouring capital into internet start-ups, the Despegar team knew that next week’s business plan presentation to US institutional investors was going to be tough. On the other hand, raising at least
US$ 8M on time was critical for their e-travel project to succeed.
Despegar.com w anted to become the most important web -based travel agency in Latin America. Less than three years ago, Expedia had effectively kicked off the e-travel model throughout the US and was soon followed by Travelocity and a number of similar companies. But none of them seemed to be interested in replicating their business in the region. However, it wouldn’t take long before somebody would try it. Roberto and his team were convinced that this was the right time for Latin America. They believed that Despegar.com was ready to fill that vacuum but they needed to claim the e-travel throne with speed…Internet speed.
For this purpose, the team was working hard to put together a solid business plan that could address every possible doubt on the investors’ minds. From previous meetings, they were aware that the VCs’ main concerns focused on three key areas: (1) the risks of the Latin America Region, (2) the reliability of the penetration and revenue projections, and finally
Despegar.com : A start-up in Latin America
"I truly believe that the Internet will change the way we work, live, play and learn in ways we are just beginning to explore.”
John Chambers, CEO, Cisco Systems, Inc.
“…The Internet is a tidal wave. It chang es the rules. It is an incredible opportunity as well an incredible challenge…”
Bill Gates, CEO, Microsoft Corp.
Although it was one of the warmest and sunniest weeks of the year in Miami, Roberto Souviron, Ernesto
Cadeiras, Martin Ratellino, Federico Fuchs and Christian Vilate spent it inside their downtown office, working as hard as ever. Even though during the last months of 1999 venture capitalists (VC’s) were enthusiastically pouring capital into internet start-ups, the Despegar team knew that next week’s business plan presentation to US institutional investors was going to be tough. On the other hand, raising at least
US$ 8M on time was critical for their e-travel project to succeed.
Despegar.com w anted to become the most important web -based travel agency in Latin America. Less than three years ago, Expedia had effectively kicked off the e-travel model throughout the US and was soon followed by Travelocity and a number of similar companies. But none of them seemed to be interested in replicating their business in the region. However, it wouldn’t take long before somebody would try it. Roberto and his team were convinced that this was the right time for Latin America. They believed that Despegar.com was ready to fill that vacuum but they needed to claim the e-travel throne with speed…Internet speed.
For this purpose, the team was working hard to put together a solid business plan that could address every possible doubt on the investors’ minds. From previous meetings, they were aware that the VCs’ main concerns focused on three key areas: (1) the risks of the Latin America Region, (2) the reliability of the penetration and revenue projections, and finally