Today we’d like to introduce you to Ramon Eduardo Rodriguez.
Hi Ramon, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I have a degree in Liberal Studies, graduated from the Metropolitan University, in Caracas. I continued my training in the United States, where I completed a master’s degree in business administration, focused on finance, at the Miami Herbert Business School. While still a student, I took on the role of deputy director of a commercial bank. This challenge prepared me to venture into the family business. Being the manager of the UNIAUTO dealership, we were recognized by Mitsubishi Motors for 7 consecutive years as the best in services nationwide.
A world as competitive as the automotive industry taught me to take into account the needs of customers as a way to add value. This awakened in me a vocation for service and a passion for generating results that mark the lives of others. I also learned how essential it is to support the team to maintain its balance and focus. There is a Chinese proverb that says: “If you walk alone, you will go faster. If you walk accompanied, you will go further”.
Technology as a way of doing business
In 2016, together with Adriano Lorio, I founded SOCIALNEED, a digital technology company leveraging new trends in the world of work. The application is a meeting point between companies or people who have a specific need or problem and other people who offer their professional services on a flexible and temporary basis. In this category are freelance workers, an increasingly popular modality.
Already in 2014, it had carried out an international expansion strategy, leading 5 dealers of well-known brands worldwide. But doing it with your own venture was even more exciting. In 2019, we were selected as semifinalists among the most promising and innovative startups of the year in the Seedstars World Competition, an event held by Capital Bank Panama. We also obtained a special mention for the first time in the organization and a scholarship in its training program during the e-Commerce Day Panama 2019.
Ridery or “the Venezuelan Uber”
The opportunity to form another startup came when my friend and current partner, Gersón Gómez, contacted me to present his idea for a platform that could connect users and certified drivers for transportation services in Venezuela. The challenge of “tropicalizing” this business, which is very successful in several countries, seemed to me to be quite an attractive challenge. So, I responded with two questions: why not? and how?
Although the mobility problem has never affected me directly, I could be empathic with those people who live with it every day in my country. He knew that the traffic was chaotic, that the passage was fixed irregularly, and that insecurity made everything worse. Through our friendship, I also knew Gersón’s resilience and proactivity, values that connect us, so I did not hesitate to participate.
Ridery is different from other platforms because of the security it provides. Our drivers must pass a 3-level certification, which consists of a 30-point service inspection, a documentation check, and an induction for the use of the application and customer service. We also offer benefits to our work team and fleet to contribute to their professional and personal development.
We know that the company must leave a mark on society. For this reason, we offer inclusive work opportunities without discrimination. In addition, we support social causes that provide help and well-being to communities.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Undertake between doubts
Many times, I have been called a dreamer, naive, and even crazy. The truth is that it does not offend me and perhaps I understand it. To believe in new ideas is to bet on the uncertain. If we talk about doing it in Venezuela, the challenge is even greater. Personally, knowing that from my professional skills I am helping to solve a problem as acute as transportation in my country is an engine to move forward.
Although I was educated in a very traditional field, my ideas are not at all conservative. I bet on avant-garde concepts such as the circular or collaborative economy. I admit that I am a dreamer at heart but a doer in the execution of my projects. I’d rather work smart than waste time and energy. I am moved by generating results, but I do not focus only on producing wealth. I prefer to be in controlled environments, but I undertake in challenging ecosystems. That mix, always so present in my life, has enriched my vision of business.
I want our enterprise to become a legacy with great social impact, showing that the country can be fertile ground for innovative ideas, no matter how crazy they may seem. With Ridery, Venezuelans can experience first-world service and, at the same time, feel that their needs are taken into account. I believe in the human quality of people and their desire to excel in order to transform our society. The key to any successful business is people.
Future plans
As I mentioned before, my current commitment to Ridery is to work to keep it growing. Although I am proud of the results we have obtained, I take nothing for granted and concentrate my efforts on adding investors. In a country with relatively normal conditions, the search for funds would be carried out locally. However, Venezuelan businessmen have to go out and look for these opportunities in other latitudes. I do not see this as an obstacle but as an opportunity to expand our reach and show that in Venezuela we are building the country we want.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
In essence Ridery is the first mobility app in Venezuela, developed on the collaborative economy model, where it seeks to connect people who want to move around the city or even the country, with people willing to provide the service. It was INCREDIBLE, in just 20 months we managed to take the company from zero trips to 450,000 monthly, offering services in different categories, ranging from the most luxurious service in armored vans to a motorcycle service that has turned out to be a great solution for people of low income, where you can save up to 70% on your rate. The transparency in the rate, and a super intense driver certification process, is precisely what has generated that already more than 1,000,000 registered users and more than 15,000 drivers trust Ridery and see us more and more as the first option. to mobilize.
Listening to their stories, like that of the young man who went back to college because he can now pay for it by working at Ridery, or the Mr. who managed to bring gifts home again this December, make us realize that we are managing to create a revolutionary movement in our country.
Ridery is no longer an idea, but a company that has obtained great market validation, despite starting in the midst of the pandemic, we have been able to expand the model to the whole country with great success and this year we will seek to continue covering this large market of more than 30 million people and more than 1 billion dollars a year.
We are ready to continue growing our business, innovating and developing new verticals this year and reaching more than 1 million trips per month by December 2022. And above all, make Ridery the best mobility solution, adapted to the realities of Latin American countries. like Venezuela.
This is just the beginning.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
A very common advice in business is to obsess over the problem. I believe that it is much more productive to become obsessed with execution and come up with a product that does not solve a problem but adds value to people’s lives since the problem may change or new needs may arise. Adding something else. The effectiveness of great business solutions is based 3% on the idea and 97% on the execution. We all have good ideas but only a few are able to implement them.
I also believe that it is essential to have a mindset focused on growth. We cannot create something thinking of only benefiting certain people, niches, or communities. Rather, we should see it as an expansive wave that can reach our collaborators, our work team, and all the people around us, to improve their lives.
These tips are based on my personal experience and go beyond what the culture usually says about entrepreneurship.
An extra piece of advice is not to get discouraged. Although many “nos'” come up along the way, adversity can be overcome if you have the right mindset.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ridery.app
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ramoneduardorr/
