Hola! Saludos desde Chile!

Yesterday, our plane descended through the clouds…

… over the Andes…

… and we landed in Chile!

One of my stated purposes in Chile is to learn about cleantech here. This is the first evidence of cleantech I found, in the ladies’ room in the airport.

Not quite what I was expecting in terms of cleantech discussions. More on that later….

Rafael, our company’s Chilean partner, picked us up at the airport and delivered us to the home of Roberto Edwards, who is generously hosting us. Roberto Edwards is a famous art photographer and publisher, who recently has presented this Painted Bodies exhibit.

After a nap, Brent and I set out for a late lunch (Chile’s famous sandwiches) then joined a Start-Up Chile meetup at a bar called…

As if we already missed California!  The Portuguese entrepreneurs behind schooooooooooools.com presented their platform to connect schools around the world, and we met some Chilean entrepreneurs.

Then, this morning, we strolled past the Universidad de Chile, where students are on strike…

… to Startup Chile orientation, where we joined entrepreneurs from all these countries…

… for an enthusiastic, clear, and energetic introduction to the program. This incredibly committed group of professionals is working so hard to empower entrepreneurs to change the world, and in the process build the entrepreneurial hub of Latin America, and an example for the rest of the world.

Compared with the last time I was in Chile (as a student for all of 2005) I’m absolutely amazed that almost everyone we’ve met has spoken English. I know this is not a representative sample of the Chilean population, but it’s definitely striking.

Words I’ve heard more times today than ever before in my life:

– “bootstrap”

– “platform”

– “… so we called the Minister of ____ and, basically, changed the law…”

So far, so good. We’ve truly been treated like royalty. Gracias por todo, Chile!