Gonzalo Aguilar, Prendea | How to build a marketplace [Ep. 28]

The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

Pivoting is one of the hardest decisions a startup faces. Not only because of the mental and emotional stress entrepreneurs go through, but because it is usually a last resort. Now, imagine if you have to pivot and also learn how to create a marketplace from scratch.

That is exactly what today’s guest did: Gonzalo Aguilar, CEO and cofounder of Prendea, the largest live-class platform for children in Latin America. Gonzalo told us about the origin of Prendea, and how they solved the chicken and egg dilemma in their marketplace.

Prendea went through the Y Combinator accelerator and has raised capital from some of the best venture capital funds focused on education, such as Rethink Education, Learn Capital, and Reach Capital.

If you like the podcast, the easiest way to help us is by leaving a review with ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on Apple Podcasts. It takes less than 1 minute and helps us convince the hardest guests to land, such as David Vélez, CEO and founder of Nubank, whom we would love to interview.

Pivot and Origin of Prendea

*Youtube timestamps

[1:10] - How did Gonzalo get into the world of startups?
- Private lessons for children
- First startup: Check
[3:34] - What is Prendea?
- Live class subscription for children
- +350 courses on different topics
[6:05] - Why did Gonzalo decide to pivot Check?
- A product with a lot of impact but a bad business
- A complex decision process in schools
- Tough competition with publishers
- A working capital model that was not very agile
- Impact of the pandemic on Check’s revenue
- Low retention rate
[17:26] - Gonzalo’s criteria for shutting Check down and dedicating himself to learning how to create a marketplace
- User growth
- User retention and class repurchase
- A technology product that supports more than a hundred users
[22:55] - What things were done well for the pivot to turn out well?
- Being sure of the decision
- Prioritizing that the company does not run out of money
- A sense of urgency
- Being very clear about the roles

How to Create a Marketplace: The Chicken and Egg Problem

[27:06] - How did the Prendea team solve the chicken and egg problem?
- Starting focused on a specific profile and expanding from there
- Generating a lot of value for a small group of users
[32:40] - How to create a marketplace and how to prioritize between supply and demand
- The parent is the one who has the need
- An offering that is attractive to the parents but also to the children
[36:45] - Why has Prendea not invested in paid marketing?
- Ensuring organic growth through referrals
- Once you step on the accelerator to grow, it is harder to correct it
[41:30] - How does Gonzalo evaluate starting to invest in marketing?
- Retention after the first month and over the long term
- User activation

The Future of School Education

[46:13] - Unique benefits of online experiences versus in person
- Grouping many students for classes on more niche topics
- It allows a subscription model
[48:04] - Bringing online experiences into the education of the future
- More spaces for self-directed learning
[50:55] - The future of Prendea
- Interest-based learning
- A tool so that children use their free time productively

Tweet Round

[53:50] -
- Recommended book: Mindset by Carol Dweck
- Changes in the startup ecosystem: university graduates working at startups
- Entrepreneurs to interview: Tiago Sada of Flinto

Episode Mentions

You can find Gonzalo on Linkedin and Twit t er

Recommended book: Mindset by Carol Dweck

Entrepreneurs to interview: Tiago Sada of Flinto

Article by John Danner: Ask The Tough Questions

Adaptation of the article by John Danner: Ask Yourself the Hard Questions (startupeable)

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Follow Enzo Cavalie on X: @enzocavalie.