Today's Entrepreneur: Ricardo Cuervo

Mitos Suson · April 27, 2016 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/44c1

No.1 Mistake: Giving up on an idea too quickly

Today's Entrepreneur is Ricardo Cuervo, Founder of Genostyle. Genostyle provides solutions that break style down into quantifiable data and use that data to build a “style genome” of a person or brand. That genome then powers the relationship between retailer and consumer, creating a common, quantifiable language of style that guides the consumer towards products they love and retailers towards selling those products. 

Cuervo also founded Best Fashion Friend, a fashion social networking platform and owner of MD Manacor Group, a boutique management consulting specialized in tech and ops. He is a Consultant at McKinsey & Mitchell Madison Gr. He got his MBA in New York University - Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

Genostyle self-categorizes in these areas: Data analyticsDigital marketingFashionInformation technology, and Retail.

Here's a little about Cuervo:

I am a(n): Entrepreneur

Companies I've founded or co-founded: 
BFF Best Fashion Friend, Genostyle, Manacor Group, Raiz Mantenimiento

Companies I work or worked for: 
McKinsey & Company, Mitchell Madison Group

If you are an entrepreneur, why? 
Because I like to take great ideas all the way thru to maturation ..

My favorite startups: 
Airbnb, 23andme,

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

Rewarding: positive impacting people around you - partners, employees, customers, society. 
Frustrating: when the status-quo is 'too entrenched' and people are not open to new paradigms.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?

Giving up on an idea too quickly... and as a corollary: getting excited about an idea too quickly.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

perseverance matters.. the risk is clouding objectivity.

Full bio

I am the founder of CEO of Genostyle, a B2B startup that we pivoted from a previous B2C startup: Best Fashion Friend ... and the pivoting came with a full bag of lessons learned. At Best Fashion Friend we developed a (back then) innovative fashion and styling social networking platform where users created mix-n-match looks, shared privately, asked friends for advise and searched for fashion items they wanted or needed.Think pinterest meets polyvore meets facebook, for fashion. It was designing the smartphone apps that we realized that we needed to find a way to prioritize thousands of recommendations from affiliate networks, to display the most relevant ones to each user, based on their own style preferences. Need was clear, Genostyle was born.

I have 15-years of experience in Management Consulting, specifially in IT & Operations transformation and cost restructuring, both independent (I founded my own boutique consultancy: Manacor Group, specialized in technology and telecom); and working for McKinsey and Mitchell Madison Group.

As a consultant, I have worked with global corporations across a variety of industries including financial services, insurance, media and entertainment, travel and hospitality, health care, oil and manufacturing, delivering cost reduction opportunities of over $800MM. 

I earned my MBA degree with distinction from NYU - Stern School of Business, graduating among the top ten percent of my class.  I also hold an M.Sc. in Engineering, a Graduate degree in Finance and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.

I authored a white paper on outsourcing of managed voice & data network and carrier services (when outsourcing was high in the priority of every CIO / CEO). I have served as assistant professor at the University of Los Andes (Colombia), teaching Fundamentals of Production and Supply Chain, Financial Accounting, Corporate Finance, Analysis of Investment Decisions and other engineering courses.

Gartner research has previously described the business leadership role of the “versatilist”: someone whose skills span deep subject matter expertise as well as cross-discipline business leadership. I believe my skills and experience demonstrate these characteristics.

 

Genostyle was a finalist in the Splash Spring. The top eight of the competition will compete live on stage at Splash Spring on May 12 at Scottish Rite Center, Oakland. Register here.

*Want to be included in our Today's Entrepreneur series? Email me: mitos@vator.tv

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Mitos Suson

I produce Vator Events and enjoy the challenge. I am learning and growing a lot, being involved with Vator and loving every moment of it!

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Genostyle

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

Innovative fashion algorithms that sequence style genotypes (fashion genome) to know your customers style and make it your competitive advantage. 

We provide solutions that break style down into quantifiable data, and utilize that data to build a “style genome” of a person or a brand. That genome then powers the relationship between the retailer and the consumer, creating a common, quantifiable language of style that guides the consumer towards the products they love, and the designers and retailers towards selling those products.

 

 

 

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Ricardo Cuervo

Joined Vator on

Founder Genostyle Founder Best Fashion Friend - fashion social networking platform (2011-2014) Owner, MD Manacor Group - Boutique management consulting specialized in tech and ops Consultant at McKinsey & Mitchell Madison Gr. MBA, M.Sc. Engineering