Chaos - complexity in order
It is often said that we are seen for who we really are by our deeds. No words can better describe what we are than our day-to-day choices and actions from the morning alarm till the dusk. For Natalia Rincon, the never-ending action has become a daily ritual and working 24/7 an indispensable ingredient of success. Her days are occupied with endless stream of meetings, events and tasks. Among those, her startup takes a special niche. As a CEO and Co-founder of Chaos Architects, Natalia shares her insights into entrepreneurships, company’s visions and personal dreams.
Chaos Architects is a young 6-member startup built by visionaries in spring 2015 - a cloud-based platform that engages citizens into the planning of the city. Company has already been winning competitions and on the first round of seed funding.
- We want to take smart city concept to a different level and hook it with technologies, IoT, augmented reality, open data, social media, etc. We want to give citizens a voice to express their visions and wishes for the city through modern technologies.
What is the quintessence of a startup for you?
- Team and time. Having your product at a right time with the passionate team is the recipe any startup should follow. Our team consists of developers, UX designers, artists, architects, science nerds. Diversity in the abilities and cultural backgrounds is what helps our team to look at things from different prospective and stay alighted with the common goal. In moments of crisis, we gather to openly communicate about issues and ask ourselves “Are we doing this in the right way?” Just like in our concept where every citizen has a voice, in our team every member can speak out freely as well.
Why Chaos?
- It originates from butterfly effect where small thing creates big change. Everything starts with a little impact that will eventually create change on the other side of the world. Cities are complex and diverse systems. It is chaos - complexity in order. Million things and emotions are connected and integrating simultaneously, but together everything is like symphony. We should not avoid chaos; it is an organic part of the city. Imagine designing a perfect park? Some of those design projects end up in failure because we forget to put a social phenomenon on the picture like the kid running across the park, mom yelling at the dog, balloons sold in the local kiosk. We need to see that we belong to the community, to the life of that community. We should not be afraid of complexity because that is what we are at the end of the day.
Where do you see Chaos Architects in 10 years?
- I envision the company operating globally and being a tool for citizens to say what they need in transparent way. It is all about disrupting the way we build our cities. It is about building happier cities for everyone where small and big ideas matter.
What is your ultimate mission? Where the success lies?
- I wanted to create something to which I could not put a nametag. My father is an entrepreneur; I guess it is the genes! Although, I am interested in so many aspects like urban planning, IT, architecture, politics, startups – I do not want to be categorized. I feel like I am working all the time. But whether it is my research at university, politics or startup, everything is interconnected and supplements one another. All my activities are linked to helping people and inspiring others to be the better versions of themselves. If I can do that, then I would consider myself successful.
Does Finland support your lifestyle, or how does it feel to be an entrepreneur in Finland?
- Finland is offering programs that support entrepreneurs, which gives me an opportunity to meet like-minded smart city thinkers. Yet, there is still lots of improvements to be done. Imagine the world where government would invest in cities and startups being a bit more aggressive in advocating towards entrepreneurship, generating accelerators, empowering students, encouraging companies to make investments. That would ultimately generate new jobs, and create a safety net for entrepreneurs. This so much needed safety net is to unburden most common worry of entrepreneurs: “Will I make it until the end of the month?”
May Chaos be with you!
