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The first news I had of Popego , said that Santiago Siri had reached Argentina locate a site in the top 50 in the world in the prestigious contest TechCrunch . I was surprised, I was overjoyed to hear about how good it was positioning a fellow website globally.

What is it? How did he do? How much does it cover? Is it business? Were the first questions I did.

For starters, the site has a name that describes it from head to toe: Ego Pop.
In this new (old?) Social network era, the fluid communication between people, contacts, references, the navigator is full of sites and services to feed his ego. His "I". Your photos, videos, stories, comments, opinions and votes. The brainchild of the nuclear site is the various services that are subscribed to the egocentric navigator and concentrate them in one Autoblog.

But that is safe? and my privacy?

Yes yes yes ... it is certain, stay quiet lady. Two things about privacy and that there is , especially in teenagers and new internet-social tribes seeking emerging popularity is in the exhibition and second, the site's brother Liniers public only accesses user profiles, without asking for username and password for other services.
If you have a Flickr or Picasa album (or both!) I know you can set the scope of privacy desired that the album is public or restricted to persons you designate. If the photos are public, then you can you say to Popego "Hey Popego!, Learn more about my profile on my Public Album Mar del Plata".
Similarly, we can tell that you review our services Popego videos from YouTube, Blog, Reader, Delicious, Twitter and many other services (Facebook coming soon).

And that's not all.

With all the ball Data tags of keywords, image and multimedia material the site of the orange smiley face is not satisfied. He wants more. And it goes for more.
Personally I found the idea to buenisima there to the autoblog with my items for various services concentrated in one place.
But it seems that the boy of the lens was given to advance and improve the idea. Maybe that's the break to get to be one of the 50 best websites of 2008 .

Popego takes our "likes" (taste), processed our profile and provides us with new data. Of course, when we subscribe our services in turn was saying "Hey Popego, I like reading science fiction, my language is Spanish, my tags are Computer Science and Art, I read news about movies." Then he is responsible for reviewing and stir in the network to find feeds, news, images and videos that are similar to our tastes.

Popego becomes a personal assistant, who tries to understand, how we are, what we like, what does not and makes juggling for King, sorry, I meant for the surfer.

We continue with the interview with Santiago Siri ( part one )

The Tecnoloco (ET): As you look at the future? (If any fucking question!) Santiago Siri (SS): hahaha .. itself is not an easy question. When I booted with Popego, imposed goal was to generate a company that could innovate and really get into a globally competitive edge. And that demand a huge effort and is very ambitious it to boot from a country like Argentina where there is little tradition of that. I wish I could take a long flight Popego and my future is marked by the course that will take the company over the next years or even decades to come. I like to think long term and obviously work every day to grow steadily. But, given as things are given .. surely in the future I am working on projects that seek to innovate and be original. Nothing is more important than that.

ET: How do you Definis Artist or Technician?

SS: Although long ago that I do, I love programming and long ago I do not. On the other hand, many programmers think like elbowing is an art in itself. But it's also true that I look much the aesthetic side and particularly Popego I put my own hand in the design and usability. I suppose I should define myself as an "entrepreneur" now that I am carrying out a company .. but I do not like at all that definition, that always sounded a bit empty to be an "entrepreneur" to dry. In the end .. I complicate this question

ET: What general approach should be an entrepreneur?, Used to be "submissive"?

SS: I can tell you I took that attitude that helped me .. and that is to be constantly in learning mode, to be alert to what is happening and being the recipient of all sorts of tips, news, opinions, etc.. In my case I learned a lot from my partner, Emiliano Kargieman , who in addition to investing capital in the company clearly spent too transmit their knowledge and experiences. I learned a lot of team working in Popego: they all know a lot more than I do in a specific area of ​​the project. And finally learn a lot of feedback from users, which are quite sincere when they have a chance to speak their minds openly. If one is always alert to hear the voices of others, the criteria for making decisions have a much more solid then.

ET: Are you still active in ADVA ?

SS: ADVA is one of those projects that I love but I can not spend my time. LOT I am heartened to see that today well established gaming companies, selling projects around the world and even reaching what seemed like a utopia as 7 years ago was to develop console games in Argentina. Check that the EVA is made by 6th year is also something that makes me very happy. If I look at it in perspective, many things have been achieved through the efforts of the community game and being able to participate in the genesis of it was incredible. Today my only link to ADVA, and this does not tell anyone is that I am the one who pays the hosting of the site

ET: Did your parents to get involved?

SS: My father is a lawyer, a very traditional work for several decades in the brewer Quilmes. And my mom is a rare combo writer (is putting together a book of stories now) + entrepreneur .. I was very young when she had a slipper factory and now works in the tourism industry. And luckily the two stalwarts have been with me .. supported me from day one, when I told them I wanted to leave the power to make a football game .. but hey, in case of my brother and were cured of fright .. I paved the way for the

ET: How do you get along with your brother Liniers (by the way, this great interface of your site )?

SS: He has 10 years more than me .. and throughout my life was my idol. I can say? If today I have some musical taste or literary cinephile's all because of him. I remember as a kid forced me to memorize the names of rock bands that appeared on TV channels .. He opened the world of culture since I was born .. and today with his cartoon in the newspaper is doing just that with many readers around the country! He was also an example of persistence, he stepped up big time to get to occupy the place is within the world of comics here .. which leaves me little doubt to me about how valuable it is to strive and persist in what one likes.

ET: Are you studying a university degree?

SS: No.. and perhaps there are things I would like some more solid formation. But I always felt uncomfortable in academia .. I really enjoy reading and paradoxically finish reading on various topics of science or philosophical and political essays. But hey, I often say that having made ​​the FD was my college

ET: Do you see directing a movie, you want this kind of project?

SS: hahaha .. obvious! I love .. but I have full awareness that directing a film requires much technical knowledge and aesthetic .. language cinema has a very complex and deep. The most important thing would certainly have a good story to tell .. but hey, we thoroughly enjoyed making software, which I think in many ways as one of the most important forms of expression and interesting this time.

And these are the questions tecnolocas: (all we interviewed do the same questions)

• PC or Mac?: Mac
• MAC OS, Linux or Windows?: Mac OS X.. this operation is something poetic.
• Favorite Gadget: iPhone, hard to believe it's real. It's a bug in 2015, not 2008.
• Favorite Software: Hard to choose one. Gmail seems to me impeccable.
• Video favorite game: Katamari Damacy .. pure beauty.
• Last video game played (and opinion): Spore .. Contrary to other games Will Wright, is very goal oriented and lacks the fantasy of playing as an unrestricted free experience. In a Darwinian game, that was very important and it failed. I hate to say.
• Book / Comic favorite: Maus I and II. It's a painful portrait of the Holocaust and gave the comic a unique expressive richness.
• Blog / favorite place: Wikipedia. We should give him the Nobel Peace Prize to Jimmy Wales
• Favorite Movie: Thank .. put it in technical tie "Space Odyssey: 2001" Kubrick for his influence on me and "Modern Times" by Chaplin for his influence in the world.
• Last film seen (and opinion), " Blindness "in the film based on the novel by Saramago. Impeccable direction of Meirelles (" City of God ") and one of my favorite actors, Gael Garcia Bernal .
• Sports: haha .. a year ago I would say without shame Tennis .. Today I tell you with shame.
• What do you do on Saturday night?: Hmm .. I can not find a regular pattern to my activity Saturday night, but if I can be at a barbecue with friends swapping stories, I'm happy.
• Person / s you admire (any kind): I do not admire, but I woke up a lot of fascination at the time the historical figure of Che Guevara. An idealist who died with his boots on and became a symbol of rebellion .. but I can not separate that fundamentalist and dogmatic man who murdered people and establishes a disastrous regime in Cuba. This dualism of Che .. is fascinating.

THANK SANTI!

These days, from the one of the interview today, followed two important facts:
1) Creative Award Argentino: Schamun Candelaria, Santiago Siri, Sebastian Ortega, Diego and Pedro Saborido Capusotto

2) Popego in hyper (TELEFE, Canal 11, Argentina)

We begin a new section within the tecnoloco: "Interviews". Who?, People that I personally admire people who show us "the way" to those who already made ​​the effort, which changed its stars! (One of the memorable phrases of " Knight's Heart "), those who did something that changed his life and why not, the lives of others.

Without further ado, I began the first part of the interview we did to Santiago Siri , starting with questions about his past:

ElTecnoloco (ET): How long it took to make Soccer Deluxe ?, why do you say "octopus"? Santiago Siri (SS): Soccer Deluxe was a project that took about 3 years. Since its inception as an idea to the international publication was a long process and much learning. The nickname came about when doing demos colleagues from ADVA and explained that both the art, as the code or the music I had made ​​and baptized my man under conductors such as "Octopus"

ET: No Soccer Deluxe, do you think Popego exist?

SS: I really never thought about it. Certainly I think that having a previous experience was something considered launching something positive for my current partners who invested in Popego. There is much value in having tried to start something, but to be successful or not (as was the case of FD where although the investment is recovered, far from being a success). In our culture we should stop being so successful and value the learning that arise when things go wrong.

ET: How much do believe that to speak English influence in your endeavors?

SS: This is something that I owe my father fully instilled in me from very young to speak English. I sincerely believe that today is an essential tool can speak more than one language. Of course English has the virtue of being the common language to talk to anyone in the world .. and if you want to grow both professionally and personally and culturally able to speak a language like English opens the doors of the world. I think that learning a second language should be compulsory in all schools in the country, today only speak a language is a serious symptom that cancels many possibilities as it was several decades ago illiteracy.

ET: How was the experience of TC50 ? ( what the hell is TechCrunch? ), many feelings together I guess.

SS: It's been the best professional experiences of my career. The mere fact that the selection process was very demanding and we face more than 1000 companies was a little impressive. M So take great pride in seeing all the effort we put in Popego to achieve that milestone. When making the presentation, although there were some nerves before going on stage Emiliano my partner told me I had a festive feel .. and could not have been better defined.

ET: What can you tell us about the experience of having lived a month in Silicon Valley?, Are you going to start a business there?

SS: Popego was conceived as a company poised to grow in a global context .. and that demand has a strong presence in the U.S. which is where the market. Our goal is to build a business development team here there and maintain the excellent development team we have.

Being in Silicon Valley certainly very helpful to understand how the gears of the world of technology. In Argentina is far from having a clear idea about how things happen there and I learned a lot in my stays. Undoubtedly there is an abysmal difference of capital to do things .. but I think it is worth noting that here, contrary to what you see there is everything to be done and that any entrepreneur in Argentina should be seen as a great opportunity.

ET: The Popego development time, to this day is over 2 years, almost as much as "Soccer Deluxe", persistence is a quality that every entrepreneur should have, then how did all this time to motivate (both you and the team) to continue development?

SS: I personally like large projects, and the fascination of the web in particular (which is not so great games) is that large projects are also projects "live" that can renew and readjust to new realities. A simple analogy is that I like writing novels more stories .. and so I feel comfortable knowing that doing these jobs require a lot of patience. With Popego is very comforting to know that you work with an excellent team that constantly brings new ideas, making us never tire of the project .. keep that fire alive is fundamental.

ET: How Popego infrastructure?

SS: The development is done in python in the backend and the frontend has the classic components of javascript and html. So in that sense it is no big deal! The main challenge in terms of architecture, is able to scale which requires a lot of algorithms that optimize use and simplify as much as possible the different pieces of the "machinery". Actually as we move forward we realize how ambitious the project .. which requires us to be constantly reading papers and learning how to solve new problems. It's a fun job

ET: What do you think the future of Argentina with doing?

SS: In Argentina we have an excellent track record undertaking software! There was a very good first generation within the Internet company and there is now a new wave of entrepreneurs eager to continue to demonstrate that there is room for new ideas in the country. Now, in international terms, we still have much to learn and go .. make good investment practices that exist in the U.S., have a culture more akin to the undertaking where it is supported by both the success and the failure .. and eradicate some negative notions that arise when one speaks of "entrepreneurs" in Argentina. We are a country badly beaten by our politicians and corruption .. and it shows very clearly when one is out: it is very unfair that we lose all the time Argentines among us discussing basic issues that the state still does not resolve. And that affects a lot of entrepreneurs .. but I think with good examples, leading to mark a path to follow and show that you can do great things here, things are going to be getting better. I learned a lot from my partner in this regard.

ET: How do you see in the future? (If any fucking question!)

To be continued ...
UPDATE: Continuous: http://eltecnoloco.com/entrevista-santiago-siri-parte2

For hanging not knowing what is Popego, here is a review .:)