Geoff Michener, dataPlor: Closing the Latin American Data Gap with Human Verified SME Data, Ep 105

<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 24pt;">Geoff Michener, dataPlor: Closing the Latin American Data Gap with Human Verified SME Data, Ep 105</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Growing up in Denver, Colorado, Geoff Michener was interested in international trade and economics. During his undergrad, he got the opportunity to study abroad in Nicaragua and learn about foreign investment. There, he quickly fell in love with Latin America and promised himself that he would come back and do business in the future.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Geoff kept his promise and is now CEO and founder of dataPlor, a Magma portfolio company that provides quality data on small businesses in Latin America. He noticed that there was a huge information gap in the region where up to 75% of SMEs have no online presence. DataPlor’s team of “explorers’ capture and validate data to build a database which provides enterprises with accurate information on small businesses.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this episode, I sit down with Geoff to talk about the value dataPlor brings to large enterprises as well as the challenges of collecting data in Latin America compared to the US. We also discuss some of the lessons he’s learned from shutting down his first startup, and also some of his reflections on the future of data.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Escaping academia and becoming an entrepreneur</span></h2> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Following his passion, Geoff studied international trade and economics. During his years at university, he landed top-notch internships at the White House, the Pentagon, and a think tank. However, he eventually became frustrated with the sea of red tape he experienced in the field and questioned whether it was the right path for him. At that moment, a friend offered him the chance to work at a startup, and his curiosity got the better of him.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Listen to t