Life in Action

Key Themes of Life in Action

Fernando Espuelas wrote Life in Action (published by Tarcher/Penguin USA) in 2004, as auto-biographical book telling his story from childhood in Uruguay, through his early years in the United States, to the founding of Starmedia and VOY, telling his personal philosophy of self-actualization. The basic message of the book is that success cannot be measured in wealth, power, or fame. Success and happiness come from looking inside ourselves to discover who we genuinely are and what we truly need to find happiness. And then striving to live the best life we can: for our loved ones, our community, and ourselves.

Life in Actiondescribes this philosophy of introspection as the catalyst for action- with the Spanish word voy: "I go." He shows how to visualize success and then to create a plan to work toward it every day. Espuelas's twelve principles and their accompanying exercises are developed from his own life and the lives of historical figures, such diverse figures as Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi, who have used their powers of optimism, persistence, honesty, and courage to overcome obstacles like fear, doubt, and prejudice.

A historian who is one of the original Internet's innovators, Espuelas in known throughout the Latin world as a visionary for predicting that the Internet would revolutionize and help "unify" Latin America.

Fernando Espuelas' Biography

Fernando Espuelas (b. August 6, 1966 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is an Americanentrepreneur, author and philanthropist.

Espuelas, considered one of the pioneers of the consumer Internet, is the founder of Starmedia, the first pan-Latin Internet portal, launched in 1996. Starmedia was the first venture-capital backed Latin Internet company and also the first IPO in the Latin Internet industry. By the time Espuelas left Starmedia in 2001, the portal served over 25 million Spanish and Portuguese speakers per month across the Latin world.

According to the Harvard Business School case 'StarMedia: Launching a Latin American Revolution , "by the fall of 1999,StarMedia had sprinted to a sizable lead in the race to acquire Latin American Internet users. Its pan-regional, horizontal portal was the first to target Spanish- and Portuguese-language speakers on the Internet, registering 1.2 billion page views in the third quarter of 1999. Thirty-three-year-old StarMedia co-founder Fernando Espuelas was the toast of "Silicon Alley" and a recognized hero throughout Latin America. A picture of him on the cover of Internet World magazine--ripping his shirt open to show the StarMedia logo, like Superman, summed up the spirit of the company."

In 2003, Espuelas created VOY, a digital media company focused on "Latinos and those discovering Latin culture". VOY's portal was launched in 2005. Forrester Research's study "Hispanic Social Computing Takes Off ", published in June of 2007, ranked VOY's portals as the leading Latin pure-play social network in the United States.

Time and CNN named Espuelas as one of the “Leaders of the Millennium”, and he was recognized as a “2000 All-Star” business leader by Crain's New York Business magazine. The World Economic Forum includes him among its "Global Leaders of Tomorrow," and he was also a recipient of Latin Trade Magazine's Bravo Award, being named "CEO of the Year" by the magazine. Hispanic Business Magazine gave Espuelas its Hispanic Entrepreneur Award in 2000. He received a New York Award in 1999. Espuelas has been named to the "power-list" of such diverse media as The Hollywood Reporter, The Industry Standard, Latino Leaders Magazine, Red Herring Magazine, Silicon Alley Reporter, Hispanic Business Magazine, CNN, Upside Magazine and Hispanic Magazine. In 2007, Espuelas was named a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Espuelas was the co-founder and Chairman of the StarMedia Foundation which, in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank and Microsoft, built technology training schools in poor neighborhoods in Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay. Espuelas served on the Board of Directors of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, operators of PBS' New York flagship television station [[THIRTEEN] (WNET) and Channel 21, as well as on the Board of Trustees of Connecticut College.

External References

• Fernando Espuelas' Official Site
• VOY
• StarMedia
• The Tavis Smiley Show, PBS “Fernando Espuelas Interview”, December 10 2004
• Latino Leaders Magazine Fernando Espuelas: The List - Latino Leaders, May, 2004
• The Tavis Smiley Show, NPR, “VOY CEO Fernando Espuelas on Hispanic Market”, May 12 2004
• Latino Leaders 'The Fernando Espuelas Story', June-July, 2004 by Susan Hornik
• Hispanic Magazine 'Fernando Espuelas Makes His Comeback', Cover story, May, 2004
• Hispanic Business Magazine. “The Kings of Comeback.”, Cover story, May 2004
• The Financial Express Bill Gates? He’s The Anglo Fernando Espuelas, May 2004
• Veja No olho do furacão, December, 2003
• The Tavis Smiley Show, NPR 'The Hispanic Bill Gates', September 17 2003
• Class Action notice of settlement in re Starmedia Network, Inc. securities litigation, July 29 2002
• Starmedia Network Inc form 10-Q/A, filed 7/11/02
• atnewyork.com 'StarMedia Launches Earnings Probe; CFO Departs', November 19 2001
• El Pais El retiro del 'Gates latino', August, 2001
• The Industry Standard Fernando Espuelas July, 2001
• Internet Business Models: Text and Cases Internet Business Models: Text and Cases with Teledesic Case CD-ROM, June 2001
• Baquia El esquivo internauta hispano de EE UU, May, 2001
• PC News Nuevo canal de salud en Starmedia Network, May 2001
• Associated Press Latin American Deals with Internet, Obstacles, April, 2001
• Info Exame StarMedia arremata o Obsidiana, April, 2001
• GestioPolis La Historia de un gran emprendedor: FERNANDO ESPUELAS, March, 2001
• Inter-American Development Bank Youth and IDB in Latin America, December, 2000
• MarketWatch StarMedia sees itself as Latin leader, December 2000
• CNN Twenty Latin American Leaders of the Internet Named by CNN, November 2000
• United Nations UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION FORUM 2000 OPENS AT HEADQUARTERS, November, 2000
• El Colombiano Fernando Espuelas, creador de un imperio para la comunidad virtual, February, 2000
• BBC News Annan wants 'information for all', November, 2000
• The New York Times INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS: When Funds Abroad Fill a Void at Home; Financing Latin America's Start-Ups, August, 2000
• CityJournal The Triumph of Silicon Alley, August, 2000
• AllBusiness Crowd, August, 2000
• Hispanic Business Magazine Wrestling for Web Dominance, August 2000
• Computerworld Magazine StarMedia to Wire Public Schools in LatAm to Net, May 2000
• IDG Los dos gigantes latinos cruzan el charco, May, 2000
• Latin CEO E-Commerce progress - Internet, May 2000
• La Nacion Presente y futuro en la ruta de StarMedia, May 2000
• The San Francisco Chronicle Santana reaching out on Net via Hispanic StarMedia, Webcasts of upcoming concerts, online chats planned, May 2000
• Forbes Ramp Champs, May 2000
• Computerworld Magazine Espuelas: StarMedia Leads LatAm Portal Market April, 2000
• Entrepreneur Magazine So Close, Yet...It may seem like the Internet is everyone's formula for success, but are minorities being left out of the equation?, April, 2000
• MarketWatch StarMedia reports 531% jump in revenue, April 2000
• New York Magazine Profile: 35 Under 35, April 2000
• atnewyork.com 'Questions for ... Fernando Espuelas', March 15 2000
• Info Online Reis da audiência, March, 2000
• The New York Times StarMedia Faces New Challenges in Latin America, May, 2000
• Hispanic Business Magazine Hispanic E-commerce Market Expands, May 2000
• Time Magazine The Big And Little Fish Of The Web, April 2000
• Fortune Magazine Going Global With StarMedia Chief Fernando Espuelas, April 2000
• Inter-American Development Bank Uruguayan Entrepreneur Urges that all Schools and Towns in Latin America be Connected to Internet in Two Years, March, 2000
• New York Magazine Silicon Alley 10003:Long before the suits logged on, a small group of prep-school slackers had faith in the Web. Now they're the alley's establishment, February 2000
• Istoe Magazine Mudança de hábito: O empresário Fernando Espuelas radicaliza e deixa de cobrar acesso de todos os clientes da StarMedia February, 2000
• El Mundo El contenido es sólo una mercancía, February, 2000
• CNet News CMGI, StarMedia join on free Latin American ISP, February, 2000
• Newsweek Latin America's Internet Star: Fernando Espuelas, January 2000
• DynamicData Entrevista a Fernando Espuelas, January, 2000
• The New York Times VISIONS: CITIES - Manifestoes To Give City A New Edge; Cooper Union for Technology, January 2000
• Fortune Magazine Chase's Venture Capital Elite They're not rock stars; they're more like a hot studio band. Chase Capital Partners keeps the hits coming, January 2000
• Hispanic Business Magazine 2000 Influentials List
• Latin CEO Magazine Architect of the Internet: The Internet in Latin America is now flush with capital-and promise. But who will carve out the winning niches and define the look and feel of the new medium?, January 2000
• Latin Trade Magazine Rocket Man - Internet Entrepreneur Fernando Espuelas, StarMedia, December 1999
• NationMaster Silicon Alley, 2000
• The New York Times C.E.O ROUND TABLE; Online Pioneers: The Buzz Never Stops, November 1999
• BrandWeek Launching StarMedia in Latin America posed many challenges, including fighting a lot of misperceptions, November 1999
• allbusiness.com StarMedia Network and Visa International Announce Strategic E-Commerce Alliance, November 1999
• BusinessWeek La Vida Loca of a Latin Web Star (international edition cover story), October 1999
• Newsweek A Regional Race Into Cyberspace -- So What If Many Latins Still Await Their First Phone? Big Money Is Mobilizing To Bring The Continent Online In A Hurry, November, 1999
• Clarin Fernando Espuelas: a los golpes, y desde abajo, November 1999
• BusinessWeek Battle for the Net: The rush is on to cash in on Latin America's fast-growing market, October 1999
• InfoWorld StarMedia: Latin American provider to offer wireless services to Spanish-speaking users, October 1999
• InternetNews.com StarMedia Network Launches Latin America Internet Service, September 1999
• Analitica La Primera Iniciativa Inalámbrica que Permitirá a los Usuarios de la Web de Habla Hispana y Portuguesa Llevar el Poder de Internet a Todas Partes, September, 1999
• E-ServicesWorld STARMEDIA AND HP TO FORM STRATEGIC E-COMMERCE ALLIANCE FOR LATIN AMERICA, September 1999
• The New York Times On-Line Network Expands, August, 1999
• La Nacion Comercio electrónico: En el 2003 habrá 19 millones de clientes en América latina, August 1999
• The New York Times Treasury Chief Urges Inner-City Investment, July 1999
• Clarin El capital de riesgo entra en el juego, July 1999
• Clarin La fiebre del oro llegó al negocio de Internet, July 1999
• New York Magazine The 1999 New York Awards: Fernando Espuelas, 1999
• Hispanic Business Magazine 1999 Influentials List
• El Mundo Nueva York se moviliza para impulsar Silicon Alley (II) March, 1999
• El Espectador “StarMedia abre en Montevideo su sede para América Latina”, January, 1999.
• Computerworld Latin America booming with IT skills, infrastructure problems, December 1998
• Wired Magazine StarMedia Wants US Hispanics, November, 1998
• Wired Magazine Yo Quiero StarMedia, September, 1998
• San Francisco Chronicle Viva Internet StarMedia Inc. lands $80 million to fund Latin American Web community, October 1998
• Crain's New York Business Star Attraction in Latin America: On-Line Firm's Edge in Exploding Market Draws Megafunding; Rivals Entering Ring, August, 1998
• The New York Times The Web Reflects a Wider World, June 1998
• BusinessWeek Welcoming Spanish Speakers to the Web: Fast-growing StarMedia is racing to fill the niche first, December 1997
• The New York Times Media Company Arrives, November 1997