Jorge Guzman

Barr 2010 - 2011

Alumni

Legatum Fellow

From:

Mexico

Sector:

Tourism & Entertainment

Location:

Mexico

Degree:

MBA, Sloan School of Management

I want to start a new company that mixes software and management science to make Mexico’s small and mid-size businesses better and more efficient, through smart revenue management, pricing and marketing optimization, sales force optimization, and other tools. Starting with tourism, smart systems can boost the economy by helping Mexico retain more dollars from economic investments.

I believe good software solving the right problems can unlock hidden potential in people and allow them to create better businesses, reach wider markets, and increase their economic contribution to their countries.

In my country, Mexico, there is a high level of hardware adoption, but software still has a lot of opportunity. Ever since I started software development at fifteen, I have always wanted to create software that makes communities better and more effective.

While studying computer engineering at Monterrey, Mexico, I started two companies and worked on a few social projects. I found that I needed more preparation to become a world-class software entrepreneur, so I took a job at Microsoft and then came to earn an MBA at MIT.

As I developed, I looked for important problems to solve. I found one when I traveled to some of the best-known tourism places in Latin America and saw that very few hotels had revenue management systems that optimize pricing for rooms in a smart way. I saw that businesses in Latin America are leaving a lot of money on the table by not running optimally with the right systems.

Now at MIT, with the Legatum Center’s mentorship and support, I will develop a company that I believe can push forward my country’s economy. Throughout the next year, and after graduation, I am going to use analytics concepts learned at MIT to create software that makes Mexico’s small and mid-size businesses in every industry be more competitive and optimally efficient globally.

In school we learn that long-term economic growth has only two levers, increased productivity and capital growth. I don’t have significant capital, but data-driven optimization software can increase business productivity meaningfully and, with it, the economy as a whole.