SXSWORLD

4 2 S X S W O R L D / M A R C H F I L M - I A 2 0 1 4 o say that Ahmed Bautista is a busy man is an understatement. e 32-year-old entrepreneur runs a successful band mer- chandise company, owns a successful music venue that books international acts and has recently become partner in one of Mexico's hottest startups. He firmly believes that every day is at least 36 hours long. e Mexico City native graduated with a marketing degree from Universidad Anahuac in 2003. A lifelong music fan, in 2009 he started his first company, Mercadorama, an online portal selling official band merchandise. "Up until then, all band merchandise available in Mexico was pirated," says Bautista. "We were the first official merchandiser for bands." Mercadorama sells everything from gig posters to t-shirts, with many designed by young Mexican graphic and graffiti artists whom Bautista also promotes and sponsors. Mercadorama holds licensing for many well-known international artists, including Ely Guerra, Instituto Mexicano del Sonido, Carla Morrison, Hello Seahorse!, Phoenix, MGMT, Foster the People, Calle 13, IKV, Los Tres, Aterciopelados, Adanowsky, Quiero Club and more. It also sells official licensed merchandise for Mórbido Film Fest, as well as music and culture blogs Sopitas.com and Andamos Armados. Mercadorama was the first Mexican entity to participate in Flatstock, and toured Europe as one of the vendors. anks to the immediate success of this venture, Bautista figured the next step to promote these up-and- coming Mexican artists was to showcase them. So the following year, he became a founding partner of Caradura, a concert venue in Mexico City's hip Colonia Condesa. Within a short three years, the 350-person-capacity club has earned a spot among the most important independent music venues in the city. In fact, thanks to Bautista's foray into booking, Caradura is the independent venue of choice for inter- national bands such as Phantogram, Eagles of Death Metal, Astro, Los Punsetes, Miami Horror, Los Tres, Francisca Valenzuela and Banda de Turistas, among many others. Caradura is the only Mexican venue (as opposed to record labels or promoters) that has presented SXSW show- cases (in 2012 and 2013), and Bautista has also participated in the panel "Art and Soul: e Global Renaissance of the Gig Poster" and moder- ated "Breaking Barriers: e Climate of Music in Latin America." To sell his products, Bautista relied on one of Mexico's most inno- vative startups: Kichink! Founded by Claudio del Conde, Claudia Heredia and Jennifer Marquard, Kichink! (an onomatopoeic word that implies the sound of a cash register, much like the American expression "cha- ching") is an online platform that allows any person or com- pany in Mexico to sell products or services online internationally in a matter of hours, without having to invest a single peso. e site, which works as a virtual shopping mall, handles everything from inventory to logistics and delivery for its clients, all for a mere 7.5% commission for physical goods and 3.8% for digital prod- ucts. Bautista started uploading his artists' stores through Kichink! and immediately saw results. e better the results, the more stores he uploaded. Finally, his relationship with Kichink! reached the next level, when he was asked to join as a partner. "In Mexico, there's a bit of a phobia about buying online," says Bautista. "ere's also the fact that many of our customers are young people who do not have credit cards. So the Kichink! system fills this void by allowing customers to submit an order online, pay at any Oxxo or 7-Eleven convenience store in the country, and have the goods delivered to their doorstep." When he came on board in January 2013, the company had 80 virtual stores. "Today, we have 8,500 stores, 180 of which belong to music bands (independent and established) that are some of the top selling stores," he says proudly. Currently, he heads Kichink ON!, the music vertical of the company, comprising all of the site's music-related products, from band merch and releases to musical instruments, vintage records, concert tickets and more. "Ultimately, we aim to promote Mexican and Latin American artists and help them sell their products without taking away their author's rights, ownership or royalties," Bautista explains. "e cre- ator of the content is always the loser in today's system. We want to change that. "I see us as a company that changes lives - from one person to a whole economy," he continues. "We've had artists go from ready to give up, to selling $6,000 a month through our site. Our 47 employees enjoy a fantastic work environment, with perks like an onsite kitchen where they can buy a chef cooked meal for 25 pesos. We have fun at what we do, and the company benefits from that." is is a great example of how the current business model in Mexico can be changed through innovation and forward thinking ideas. n For more SXAméricas programming, visit sxsw.com/sxamericas. Kichink ON! will present its first SXSW showcase at The North Door (502 Brushy St) on Wednesday, March 12, featuring an eclectic mix of Latin American bands, including División Minúscula, Dënver, Rebel Cats and LosPetitFellas. Innovator Helps Put Money in Mexican Musicians' Pockets by Claudia Alarcon T Rebel Cats Dënver LosPetitFellas

• Cover