Daniel Undurraga, Cornershop | Solving Problems With Software, Competing on Less Capital, and Taking Risks [Ep. 83]

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

In a market as competitive as supermarket delivery, Cornershop was acquired by Uber for US $3,000 million after raising only US $250 million, a figure several times smaller than that of its competitors.

The key behind it was the mindset of solving problems by writing code, instead of putting money into marketing or hiring operators.

Today we spoke with the person responsible for those lines of code: Daniel Undurraga, CTO and cofounder of Cornershop.

Daniel explained to us his philosophy of solving problems with code and how the scarcity of capital forced them to be efficient in order to compete. We also talked about when it is better to follow your intuition than the data, and how to create an environment where your team has the confidence to take risks.

Youtube Timestamps*

[1:40] - How to Solve Problems with Software

How did Daniel arrive at the fascinating world of startups?
What were the keys that allowed Cornershop to compete successfully after having raised less capital?
How does Daniel believe the scarcity or the excess of capital affects startup founders’ ability to execute?
Greg Gretsch, an investor in Cornershop, told us that Daniel knows how to turn human processes into software. How does this skill come about, or where does Daniel acquire it, and how could other founders practice it?
What advice does Daniel have for founders regarding the implementation of technology for automating human processes with software?

[20:28] - Data, Intuition, and Taking Risks

For Daniel, in the world of Startups, there is a “religion of data.” But nothing replaces the entrepreneur’s intuition. How does Daniel identify when one should follow the data and when one should not?
What is Daniel’s advice for creating a culture where people make ambitious decisions that are not necessarily based on data?
How does Daniel define when it is time to persevere and when it is time to leave a project?
Daniel has an impressive conviction that he and his team are capable of beating anyone in the world. At the time, he had to compete with mega-funded players. How did Daniel stay focused and communicate to his team the conviction that they could win?

[35:31] - Lessons in Entrepreneurship and the Future

What was the hardest lesson Daniel learned on the path of Cornershop?
What keeps Daniel’s desire to keep building and making an impact alive?
How does Daniel Undurraga see himself in 5 to 10 years?

[46:12] - Tweet Round

Book recommended by Daniel
Changes Daniel would like to see in the startup ecosystem of Latin America
Founder that Daniel recommends interviewing

Episode Mentions

You can find Daniel on LinkedIn, and Twitter

Recommended books: High Output Management by Andrew S. Grove, The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz and Zero to One by Peter Thiel