Azul Casares, a co-founder of the firm Patagon, which is a pioneer in Latin American Internet-based financial services, will speak at the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥-Boulder College of Business on Tuesday, April 17.
Patagon was valued at $705 million when Spanish bank Banco Santander Central Hispano acquired a 75 percent stake in the company in March 2000.
Casares, a former customer relations executive of Patagon, will speak at 5 p.m. in room 216 in the business building. She will discuss her experiences as an entrepreneur and provide insight about international e-commerce.
Casares grew up in an isolated region of Argentina but she developed computer skills and an ability to make money at an early age. Her first business venture was selling a telephone directory for the region where she lived. In 1998 Casares founded Patagon with her two siblings and served as the executive in charge of international customer relations until she retired in 2000.
Patagon entered the market as a pioneer in financial services. It catered its business toward the cultural and social needs of Latin American consumers, for example, accommodating for the presence of strong local affinities and biases.
By June 1999 Patagon's Web site was receiving more than 200,000 visitors per month, which placed it among the top 10 financial brokerages in Argentina. Patagon is positioned to be a global presence with offices in major world cities such as Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Miami, New York and Santiago.
Casares' talk is part of the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ College of Business's Accenture Graduate Seminar in e-Business. The advanced interdisciplinary course in e-business strategy features state-of-the-art classroom instruction in e-business realities and real-life e-business projects with key local companies.
For more information, call the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at (303) 735-5415.