Good morning!  ️
"Wear your company's colors!" is commonly heard at workplaces where the employer wants its employees to have a sense of corporate pride.
But to what extent would you sincerely do it as an employee? I've discussed this with a few of my fellow (millennial) friends, and they all agree they'd be willing to only if they truly identified with the company they're working for, or felt their work there is appreciated.
What surprises me is when employees leave a company and are still willing to "wear its colors" almost like a badge of honor. This is happening among former Rappi employees. A considerable number of them have chosen to make their own path as founders, but are still very appreciative of their time at the Colombian unicorn.
This phenomenon, happening in one of Latin America's most valuable companies (US$5.25 billion), has its own term: the "Rappi mafia". And while players like Linio and Nubank also have their own "mafias", ALLVP says that Rappi stands out since its ecosystem of former employees or investors has built at least 60 new startups.
Begoña Ortiz, a partner at the VC fund Cometa, told me last December that we would see more talent emerging from the region's unicorns that would be founding increasingly varied and better companies.
All founded by former Rappi employees, startups like Frubana, Houm, Laika, Tributi, and Ontop are proving Ortiz's point by offering new products and attracting international investors.
One way Rappi might still keep spawning future founders is its equity compensation program. Thus, when it launches its IPO (it could happen this year!), employees will be handsomely rewarded, which could encourage them to launch new ventures and keep coloring the ecosystem with the company's distinctive bright orange badge of a Rappi alumni.
Sandra Perez
@estsannd
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