Discover Uruguay nearshoring edge, Political Stability & the Story of Survival | Margarita Mangino

Host: Welcome to the Nearshore Cafe podcast, home to the most interesting stories and people doing business in Latin America. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, very, very leading the way in Latin America. And it’s…

Margarita: Yeah, so, it made me so proud to see that we are becoming that advanced country again. Because the governments, it doesn’t matter if they change, they continue with the politics that the other one was implementing. It’s not like, “I will kill everything that they did before,” right? It doesn’t work that way here. So, it is very important for all the country. We are in this together. It doesn’t matter what political party you are; we need to work together to advance the country, right? So, it’s really refreshing to know that.

Host: As an American, that hits home because every four years we swing one extreme, and the next four years we swing the other extreme. It’s great to see forward progress all the time, and you can see it with the country.

Margarita: Yeah, you have parties that are investing more in social initiatives, and other ones that are more into business and doing business abroad. For us, we are such a small country that our inside market is not enough. So, we’re always thinking about exporting and how we can still do a partnership country or another community or that kind of thing. Because we can’t live from just what is the market inside, only the market of Uruguay. So, yeah.

Host: I wanted to also ask, as we’re on this topic, how has that impacted maybe the talent market in Uruguay? And maybe if there are certain pockets listeners should be aware of, whether it’s design or software development or banking, are there certain sectors or talent pockets we should talk about?

Margarita: Tech talent, it’s amazing. We are among one of the countries with better tech talent here. We started investing in promoting that IT industry and tech industry for a long time. And we have, I believe if I’m not wrong, more than 500 development companies, software companies.

Host: Oh, wow.

Margarita: Yeah, and one of the things is that they usually have very good English and really, really good talent. So, it’s kind of hard to happen. It’s limited, right? We are so few that a lot of companies here, what happens is that if they want to scale and they want to grow, we tend to hire in other countries in Latin America too, because it’s not enough for the population we have here. But we have really good universities that are always renewing the new generations that are coming, and we are very well known for the technology industry, especially.

Host: I’d like to hear a little more about your career, your journey, especially what you’re working on today, and then maybe what you were doing prior.

Margarita: Okay. Well, I started to work very young. I was 18 when I had my first job, and I was studying at the same time. The best thing that happened to me was that I started to work with someone from my family. He gave me the opportunity, and we launched operations of a non-profit organization, from an American non-profit organization, that supported entrepreneurs. It was early 2000s. The word “entrepreneur” here in Uruguay didn’t exist. We didn’t know what an entrepreneur was. So, it was really motivating to me to learn a lot about that world, and it made a huge mark on me. It made such a huge mark that I met my husband over there. I’ve been 20 years together so far. But it opened a world for me of these tech companies that were thinking globally, scalable businesses that were growing outside, and very dynamic in a very dynamic industry that I fell in love with.

Margarita: And I was studying Communications, actually. At some point, I graduated, but I felt like I needed more, and I wanted to have a better understanding of the business world. And that’s why my husband and I went to live in Madrid to study. I studied an MBA in Madrid, actually. And when I got back, I actually got an offer again from Endeavor, the non-profit organization. And I started to work over there again, but not on marketing, but more on business. And it was like expanding the MBA because I was learning so much about all these startups and these companies that after four years, I decided that I wanted to invest myself more and grow in the tech industry.

Margarita: After I left Endeavor, the last 10 years I’ve been working in the IT world, mostly in marketing and sales, mostly in the B2B market, but working in product companies or in development. And in the last month, I actually ended my last job in a software development agency where I was Chief Growth Officer and Co-CEO, and launched my own company. So, I became the entrepreneur, right? A full-time entrepreneur. I had already founded another company with my husband and another partner about two years ago in the renewable energy sector that is very well known here in Uruguay. And we wanted to help companies to become more professional with their data analysis and everything. But I mostly had a part-time job over there. I wanted my own entrepreneurship, so I started Market Minds that is actually a fractional CMO agency. And with another kind of services, I’m trying to empower founders that need help with their marketing strategy so they can take their brands to the next level. Something that I identified in these years working with the startups is that usually marketing is under the founder’s umbrella, and sales and operations are always a higher priority for them. Marketing is more like the addition of different random initiatives without a strategic action, a strategic plan behind, and that’s where I focus.

Host: And if anyone wanted to find that, can you give the website or any other places they should look?

Margarita: It’s Market-Minds.co.

Host: Okay, Market-Minds.co. We’ll make sure we get this right for our audience. Market-Minds.co. Thank you. And fractional CMO. I can validate, you know, I’ve had many great conversations with Margarita about marketing. She’s a great go-to person if you’re thinking about marketing strategy. I think another thing that you bring to the table, Margarita, is grit and perseverance, which maybe I’ll speak that possibly you learned that from your father, who had a very interesting experience. Could you just take a few minutes and tell us more about that? I’m sure there’s a lot to dig in there.

Margarita: Of course. Well, my dad was in a plane crash accident back in 1972 in the Los Andes mountains. It’s one of the most famous stories of Uruguay, of this group of rugby players that were going to Chile to play a friendly match, going, having fun for a weekend, because Chile was really cheap at that time. And they were really happy going to spend the weekend over there. But the thing that happened is that when they were going and flying over the Los Andes mountains, the plane crashed, and they actually survived the crash, which is amazing. I went to the place, and if you see where it hit the mountain and how the main part of the plane just slides through the mountains, through the snow, it’s kind of impossible to imagine. You know, it’s so impossible. But they not only survived the crash, but they also survived 70 to 73 days in the middle of March winter with lots of snow. The only thing that was around was snow, so they had to learn to survive over there. And they lost so many friends in the middle that it’s devastating. The story is amazing and it’s devastating at the same time. And yeah, the thing here also is that Uruguay is a very small community. So, in the same group of friends, of parents that were of the same community, there were kids that came back and kids that didn’t. I have, for example, in my family, my dad, he came back, but some cousins of my mom didn’t. And actually, her brother-in-law didn’t come back. So, it was really hard for a lot of families and for all of them here. My dad took 30 years to talk about it so openly.

Host: I mean, this was in the ’70s, before a lot of technology. So, when the plane didn’t arrive in Chile, everyone probably assumed the worst, and then 72 days later, these survivors appeared.

Margarita: Yeah. I heard one time, this story is so amazing that the clubs that were part of this initiative of having friendly matches every year, they actually continued it. Like, this year I go to Chile, this year they came to Uruguay. It was something to have fun and engage between two different rugby clubs. But after the crash, they kept doing it until now. And I went twice to the place, and one of the times, one of the guys that was at the airport waiting for them shared his story about how they heard about it and how they were like, “Why are they not here?” And how they went to the embassy in Uruguay to be connected and learning how the search was and everything. But 72 days is two months and a half. So, life goes on.

Margarita: My mom was already my dad’s girlfriend at that point. They were together since they were 14. And my dad, he wasn’t among the youngest. And one of the things that my mom couldn’t accept was that he was dead. She was convinced that my dad was alive, together with his mom. And there are a lot of stories about moms and girlfriends that thought about it. And my grandpa was like, “You two are crazy.” He couldn’t even imagine that. He was actually a pilot, so he knew what it was about plane crashes. So, there are so many facts around the story that it is amazing. It’s an amazing story.

Margarita: My dad’s story doesn’t end there. When he got back, he actually, with the money that they got for the first book, he bought a piece of land because he wanted to be a farmer. But then he lost the farm because of a business of his dad. With three little kids—I was the third, and I was only three years old—he put everything we had on a car, and we went to live in Rio de Janeiro, 36 hours on car from Uruguay, with nothing. So, we started over again in Brazil. We stayed there six years, and he did really well. We got back because my mom wanted to come back to Uruguay before it was too late for us kids. He came back, and he started a new business here. Two years later, he lost everything again.

Host: Oh my God.

Margarita: Started from scratch. Not everything, but the business wasn’t that good. So, he needed to reinvent himself again. It was a story of his life, actually. He reinvented himself so many times that I think a lot of the learnings that they had over there, and a lot of the learnings that I have ingrained, is like, “Things can always get worse.” When it’s money and job, it’s just a job, and it’s just money. It will come and go. There are a lot of other things that can be so much worse that it doesn’t matter. You get laid off, come on, you have a lot of resources. And you can complain, right? It’s like, I grew up without the possibility of complaining. I was actually talking with a guy today, and I was like, “Hey, I can’t complain!” I was like, “Oh my God, I have stuff that’s so good.” It’s an amazing story, and it made him so strong and so resilient. I learned a lot from him.

Host: Yeah, I mean, so much to take away there. But always get back up. Always get back up.

Margarita: I mean, my dad in the accident is very peculiar because he broke his leg in two parts of his leg. So, in the 72 days, he never walked.

Host: Wow.

Margarita: Some of the guys, they were the doctors. They were 19 years old, medicine students. One of them, Roberto Canessa, rubbed his leg, accommodated the leg, made some tourniquet or something, and he said, “Okay.” And my dad has the leg just as he had it in the mountain until today. Because when he came back, he went to the doctor, his dad took him to the doctor, and the solution was, “Break it again.” And my dad said, “No way! I want to play back again. Leave it like it is. It’s working, so I can walk. All good.” But he never had… so his vision from all the other people was from behind. He was always looking to the others.

Host: Incredible. Yeah. So, there’s the Hollywood movie *Alive* that some people know about the story. And I think you mentioned there’s another film coming out. Can you talk about that?

Margarita: Yes, it is. The director of the movie *The Tsunami* actually, he just started producing it, and this is the last movie that is going to be launched on the Venice Film Festival on September 9th, actually introduced by Netflix too. And my dad, and all the group of the survivors, already saw the movie twice. And now all the families have the opportunity to go tomorrow to an event premiere before it’s launched publicly in the future in September. Incredible. I have to tell you, I know I will have to face a lot of emotions tomorrow. It makes me a little bit scared about it. And I know that I have to watch it with my kids after that at some point. I was just remembering the other day that I had the same thing when I was their age, when the Hollywood movie *Alive* was launched. It was 1993. I was the same age as my kids now. But the big difference between then and now, I believe, is that at that point, we had the book, we knew the story, but my dad couldn’t talk openly about it. So, we always had our mom to ask. But it was something that we would walk around. It’s not easy to talk about. My kids, it’s very different. My daughter, my eldest daughter, she already went to the site of the accident with me and my dad a few years ago. And they saw a lot of documentaries, they read books. My dad told the story to them in first person. So, I believe they will have a lot more resources than I did. But it will be a shock always, because one thing is what you imagine in your head, another thing is seeing it. So, I’m very expectant for tomorrow, but also a little bit nervous.

Host: Well, good luck with the viewing, and thanks for sharing that. I can’t wait to see it when I’m able to. So, thank you.

Margarita: Thank you.

Host: Well, as we start to wind down a little bit, we have some more lighter questions for you. Obviously, you’re an advanced English speaker, but English is your second language. And I’m curious if you have any favorite English words or English phrases that come to mind.

Margarita: Okay. Yes, of course. I love English. And I love that you can say a lot with fewer words.

Host: True, true.

Margarita: So, I love that about English. For example, I love the word “excited.” It’s so hard to translate it sometimes. It means a lot; it’s just one word, right? I would’ve needed some advance of this question.

Host: Well, that’s a great place to start. We were very excited to have you today, so thank you. How about for those that we talked all about the food in Uruguay, but how about if you’re visiting Uruguay, and someone has fifty dollars to spend on something besides food, is there anything that you may recommend that is notable or an interesting thing to purchase there?

Margarita: [Laughter] That’s a good answer! It’s food, but we’ll let it count. That’s okay. I don’t know actually something for fifty dollars in leather because everything here is so expensive.

Host: Yeah, that’s true.

Host: And I also wanted to ask you, because we talk a lot about doing business here, doing business in Latin America. Now more than ever, people are curious about it, and they’re interested in hiring talent, setting up businesses wherever. If someone in the States had their eye on Uruguay or Uruguayan talent, what would be your best recommendations so that they’re successful in that venture?

Margarita: We have free zones here that are called free tax zones. So, we have a lot of companies that are establishing their companies here, taking advantage of the good talent that we have and selling to other places in North America or the world because they are special zones for people that want to do business in other countries, right? If you want to do business in Uruguay, I would say the market is too small. You have to look into other countries in Latin America too. But I would say that if you want to start, we have very good software development agencies here in Uruguay doing great work, working with U.S. companies. So, I for sure would say that that’s a great place to start if you want to start working with Uruguay, contact some company in the software development agency, not only staff augmentation, but actually building the end-to-end. We have companies that are doing really good jobs in the U.S. with great companies over there.

Host: Yeah, we may even in the show notes, we may drop a few names there. But I just wanted to thank you again, Margarita. Such a pleasure to have you on the show today. I learned a ton, and you also made me very hungry for Uruguayan food.

Margarita: Of course! Let me know when you are back here, and I would love to make you a tour. I love this podcast that you’re doing.

Host: Oh, thank you. Well, final thank you to our sponsor as well. That’s Nearshore Direct. Go on NearshoreDirect.com. Great way to find talent all over Latin America for U.S. companies. Until next time, thanks for listening to the Nearshore Cafe podcast. Take care.

Margarita: Thank you.