Today I’m very pleased to introduce you to Juan-Luis Santana, a cofounder of an offline app called “Ke Hay Pa’ hoy” (translated: what’s on today). More than a very positive attitude, this 23 year-old Cuban impresses me with his motivation, his entrepreneurial spirit and his passion for his work.
Juan-Luis, cofounder of “Ke hay Pa’ hoy”
What is “Ke Hay Pa’ Hoy” about? How does it work? How can Juan-Luis manage to develop this kind of app in Cuba? Let him explain_ us!
“Ke Hay Pa’ Hoy is a project that offers services of cultural promotion to keep people informed about what is happening in Havana today and it will soon be in other provinces. If you want to know what’s happening today, tonight or tomorrow, you just have to open this app to find information. You can search by events, by kind of arts: music, cinema, theatre, dance, etc. or choosing your favorite artists, your favorite places, etc.
The App: Ke Hay Pa’ Hoy
“The project was born at the end of 2014. I was studying telecommunication and electronic in the University and I became friend with Sergio, a young teacher (25 years old) of electromagnetic field theory. We wanted to create something together. We started our entrepreneurship adventure with another idea that had no link with Ke Hay Pa’ Hoy but with transport solution in Cuba. At the beginning of 2015 Sergio had this cultural idea and we totally switched our business plan to restart with that!
We started our investigation doing a market analysis and building our business plan. We approached the Ministry of Culture and they loved the idea. They supported us in the further elaboration of the project, so did many places in Havana. Day after day the idea have become more concrete and the team bigger. Actually, all the founders have been playing an important role in this project. We are all very complementary. Each of us has his own qualities and defaults. We’ve been learning a lot working together for one year. Let me introduce you to everyone please!
So Sergio Fernández is the author of the original idea of Ke Hay Pa’ Hoy? His eloquence conquered many people and this is the reason why we have big supports in the project. Unfortunatly he isn’t here today.
The 3rd cofounder is Sergio León. He’s an encyclopedia! Everyone would be surprised by his expertise in various subjects whereas he is very young (25 years old too). He manages very well security issues and he is a source of proposals for the project.”
Juan-Luis and Sergio in their office in Havana
“The 4th cofounder is Juan Alejandro Hernández, the hardest worker of the team. Tireless and always positive. More than being a specialist in development for Android, he has excellent skills as designer. He is the creator of our Facebook page.”
Juan-Luis and Juan in front of their office
“Last summer, we launched our Android app! Today you can download it on internet and update the content via an offline or online process, it’s up to you! The idea is to give a very easy and useful tool to our users. So it’s quite easy to use but quite hard to explain how we succeeded in developing it!” he laughed.
“Well, actually Ke Hay Pa’ Hoy enables us to bring a new modern way to promote culture in Cuba. It’s more about passion than about business. It’s possible to monetize the App but our goal for the moment is to grow in term of number of users and of information, adding sport, workshop, etc.”
The logo of the App: Ke Hay Pa’ Hoy
The great team of Ke Hay Pa’ Hoy has plenty of ideas. They are developing the App in English that should be available in two months. Then, Juan-Luis confessed me that they are thinking again about the initial idea linked to the transport issue in Cuba. Will they launch this project? Will they have another idea? One thing is sure, it’s the beginning of a great entrepreneurial story. There is no doubt, they have the passion to create.
Thanks a lot to everyone, Juan-Luis, Juan and Sergio for this interview. It’s a real pleasure to meet dynamic and nice young people! I wish you all the success you deserve and “suerte” (good luck) for the future!
i love how there’s the genre of fix-it fic where the author goes into great granular detail of how our heroes manage to avoid or undo whatever character death or other unpopular choice occurred, in a way that abides by the laws of the fictional universe and definitely required a substantial plot outline, and then there are fix-it fics where the author just went “that’s bullshit and didn’t happen,” and we as readers all go “agreed. carry on.”
I hadn’t realized I had never posted these, so it’s been quite a long time since I’ve posted anything that wasn’t specifically Snotgirl related. I’ll catch up soon, I hope!
Also, I will be in Leeds next week for Thought Bubble. Here’s my schedule for that week. I will also be in London at Gosh! Comics the Monday after for a signing. My table number at Thought Bubble is #18, and I’ll be there all weekend, barring the scheduled panels and live drawing session.
THU 9/20- Travelling Man Manchester from 4:30-6:30PM FRI 9/21- Travelling Man York from 4:30-6:30PM
SAT 9/22- Live draw 2:30-4:00PM SUN 9/23- Panel 11:30AM Salt & Honey Live from 2-2:50PM
Snottie sketches from the past couple of months! I’m going to be at CALA tomorrow at table 24B, check out the official website for more info! Admission is free, and CALA is one of the coolest comic shows, ever.
Snotgirl sketches! I’m going to be at AX this year in the artist alley, table A09. This will be my tenth and last year tabling, so come by and say hi! I also made glittery Snotgirl keychains.
AlsoSnotgirl is coming back next week! If you have an Amazon account, you can get it digitally through comiXology, or support your local comic shop and buy a copy on Wednesday. The volume is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other retailers.
I drew JJ!!! on Ice! I sort of promised this at a TCAF panel this year, so I just decided to go for it. I’ll be at Anime Expo in the artist alley at table A09. I don’t plan on tabling at AX anymore after this year, so come by and say hello if you are around!
I’m going to be in New York City this weekend! Bryan and I are signing Snotgirlat Barnes & Noble (Tribeca) on Friday, starting from 6PM. I’ll also be at table I6 at Five Points Fest on Saturday and Sunday! I’m looking forward to meeting you all!
My friends at Telegraph Gallery invited me to be part of their set of limited edition prints based around the theme of Greek gods. I chose Artemis, whose origin story and general philosophy was always one that has been near and dear to my heart.
Bryan and I are going to be signing Snotgirl vol. 1 at Indigo Books (Eaton Centre) this Friday, May 12, at 7PM! I’ll also be at TCAF over the weekend at the Masonic Temple (table MT12) with many other Image creators. Hope to see you there!
I’m going to be at CALA this weekend! It’s free admission and there will be tons of awesome artists there. I’ll have some prints (including this one) and books available, and of course, Snotgirl issues and merchandise. I hope to see you there! I’m also going to be on a pane with some of my friends on Sunday (1-1:45PM) about our TEEN ART. I hope to see you all there!
