Alejandro Kratc, Rocketfy | Turning Your Consulting Business Into an E-Commerce Platform

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

In recent years there has been an explosion of platforms that enable e-commerce, such as payments, logistics, and even financing.

Despite such a competitive landscape, today’s guest, Alejandro Kratc, found a niche of small merchants and entrepreneurs whose needs were not covered by the existing solutions.

And so he set out to found Rocketfy, a platform that lets e-commerce entrepreneurs sell online, process payments, manage shipping, and serve their customers. All from one place.

To date, Rocketfy processes more than 30 million dollars a year in sales for more than 30,000 online stores, and it has raised more than 2 million dollars in investment.

We talk about the competition in the e-commerce sector, its business model, and how it has differentiated itself from large platforms such as Mercado Libre and Tiendanube. We also talk about how he went from being a services agency to turning that service into software. Finally, he gave us his advice for building in e-commerce, based on the data from the more than 30,000 stores on Rocketfy.

Youtube Timestamps*

[2:06] - Intro to E-Commerce

How did Alejandro get into the fascinating world of startups?
Alejandro tells us about the competitive landscape, the existing models, and where Rocketfy fits in this market.
What advantages does Rocketfy have over other solutions? Why would an SME or an entrepreneur choose a horizontal solution instead of several specialist ones?

[11:42] - From Agency to Product

Before Rocketfy, Alejandro had an e-commerce development and consulting agency. What is the step by step for turning your service and experience into a product from there?
What did the first version of the software look like? How much co-creation was there with SMEs and entrepreneurs?
What is Alejandro’s process for creating his product? What kinds of questions did you ask your potential customers? How often did he show them an iteration of the product before shipping it?
What is the business logic behind offering his solution for free, instead of charging for it as a Software as a Service?
How would Alejandro describe the level of adoption and development of e-commerce ecosystems in the main countries of Latin America? And how does this influence his expansion strategy?

[37:31] - Tips for Building in E-Commerce

Rocketfy has more than 30,000 customers, and they have a good amount of data about the keys to success of an e-commerce business. What are the most effective strategies you have seen for validating a business idea in e-commerce?
What lessons has Alejandro learned about what the online stores with the best ability to attract customers and convert them actually do?
What are the sources of differentiation that an e-commerce store should focus on?
What are the main e-commerce trends Alejandro is seeing in Latin America?

[48:34] - Rapid-Fire Questions

If he had to start from scratch, what is the main piece of advice Alejandro would give himself?
What has been the most influential book in Alejandro’s career?
Changes Alejandro would like to see in the Latin American startup ecosystem