My FON story, Part 1
My FON story is coming to an end but it has been amazing fun. When FON first announced the investments from Google, Skype/EBay and the major VC’s I’d been with the company for three months already. At the time I promised to blog more about the process of FON raising capital but we never slowed down enough for me to actually write anything. Now that I’m leaving it’s a good time to reflect a little.
How did you get involved with FON? This is the single most common question I received from everyone. I was asked this question by every investor, partner, and individual who wanted to be involved with the company. Not surprisingly I was the only one ever asked. It’s because I’m a young minority entrepreneur and though I’d had some success behind me. I didn’t fit the image of the typical American tech entrepreneur. I wasn’t disturbed but I found it very amusing to see their reactions when I explained my business background.
I first met Martin Varsavsky at the Safe Democracy Forum, a conference organized by Martin and the Club of Madrid where we and a panel of internet visionaries discussed democracy and the internet. Later when Martin blogged the idea of FON I felt it was something I’d wanted to be involved in. The social implications were very compelling, during the year I’d been trying to start a low cost cellular carrier with Ken Zita but the business stalled. FON seemed like a potential platform for an alternative cellular network for low income communities.
The next week I flew to Sweden (on my own dime) to see Martin talk publicly for the first time about FON. I flew to Sweden out of curiosity, but after seeing Martin speak and hearing the concept I was hooked. A few weeks later I became the FON USA, CEO. During the trip to Sweden I also had the pleasure of meeting Ola Ahlvarsson the CEO of FON Sweden and Yann Mauchamp the original CEO of FON France.
I was in a fortunate situation for a few reasons. Even though I’m a entrepreneur, I am also highly technical, I specialized in security and I live in the USA. These three areas became crucial during FON’s initial meetings with VC’s and partners.
I think my trip to Sweden was critical to my involvement in FON. It allowed me to hear the idea in person, spend time with Martin and brainstorm with the other potential FON leaders. Spending time with Martin in Sweden also gave him a chance to size me up and decide if I had what it would take to launch FON in the USA. The trip probably cost me $1600, but I think it was a good return on investment, don’t you? More to come…
June 19th, 2006 at 5:15 am
I am really plotted with your exit of the project, please continuous… I believe that, in this case, you are right powerful and it is not a whim
June 19th, 2006 at 10:43 am
So in the end it did not go your way?
Fon seems to be a bit stuck to me, taking a long time to bring the “Bill” model and the maps. They nearly lost my interest.
June 19th, 2006 at 11:24 am
I am waiting eagarly for the sequel.
It sounds like it might be political reasons for leaving, but thats my assumption after reading the above
June 19th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
I have no way. I’m very zen.
June 19th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
Well I guess you just want to stay in the Big Apple or did you move to the West Coast already? Anyway whatever made you make your decision I wish you all the best and hope to meet some day!
June 20th, 2006 at 5:20 am
me too
June 20th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
ejovi… its quite sad to see you go :s
So… as the Argentina Fonero Leader ill be waiting for the rest of the story
hope to stay in touch
August 16th, 2006 at 11:21 am
FON is very smart, but also Smart on the marketing/hype path.
FON is not a new idea.
The grassroots marketing of FON was very inovative, but at the end, i think most of it is mostly marketing. I applaud the “social” aspect to it, and that free access to the internet can bring opportunities across society classes, but I am sure this is the first aspect which goes when the VC jump in.
I learned about FON from Chappaz’s blog, but it is clear that even his Blog postings are not just grassroot emotions. Just like his current liberation article, which alway refer to companies he has invested in.. Wikio is a company of Digg, Photoways are copies of multiple photo site, when’s the YouTube copycat coming ?
That NY Times picture of a ODM (device) with a bunch of stickers on it was the best. It’s Hype at its upmost.
I think you leaving means that the business side is overtaking the grassroot side, and that coincides with VC jumping in.
January 31st, 2007 at 5:54 pm
[...] Martin Varsavsky is probably the most aggressive of entrepreneurs in how he uses his weblog as a tool to promote his company. But I am sure he is also beginning to understand the backlash of bad publicity that can come from shady web behavior. When Varsavsky claimed the support of the internet service provider Speakeasy, the truth of the matter got much more attention than his original post. And, though Ejovi Nuwere’s posts about his departure from FON offered more questions than answers, it is pretty clear that Varsavsky’s promises and charm ran short in the end. [...]