Today I had the opportunity of interviewing Nacho Caldentey, CoFounder at Making Sense. I found myself with a very rich set of topics, as Nacho finds interest in a lot of different areas of life. Attentive to the latest technological launches, trends and innovations of the industry, he feels an almost constant need to establish a balance between the current and future world and to connect with his primitive side by doing outdoor activities. Here’s what I learned.

What’s your background?

My background is technical, much like several of the founders of the company. First I studied to become a Systems Analyst and then I did a Bachelor’s degree in Systems, here in Mar del Plata. My background is more oriented to the role of developer.
I started working at the Mar del Plata Computer Center, at CAECE University where I had the chance to met the people with whom we started Making Sense.

How did Making Sense get started?

Well, Damián DOnofrio, (President & Co-Founder) was studying at the same University where Sergio Marchetti (COO) and I were working. His brother Cesar, (CEO), was by then, living in the US, and he was looking for somebody who could help him with a project he had for a client. So Damián was looking for someone who might be interesting in helping Cesar. I thought it was a great opportunity of doing something different, so Sergio and I asked for permission for us to fill those vacancies and thus we began our collaboration.

We all had stable jobs and we did this as a hobby. The idea of working from a distance was something new, so it was quite a challenge. There was no simple means of communication at that time, so work was difficult but that was simply a routine pre-condition for us. Having been required to figure out ways to overcome obstacles to communication and collaboration actually gave us an edge over our competitors.

We started out with just a group of a few people. Then we decided to continue our work and that was when we started to grow, little by little. Juan Fazzini, CTO at Making Sense, was also one of the members who joined us from the beginning. Next, we added a graphic designer, and as the team was growing, so did the place where we were working. So we moved from different offices until we did our own, where we are around 150 employees.

Did you participate in the election of the name? Why Making Sense?

We went through several stages in naming our organization, since we wanted a name with which we feel identified. We started looking for our own identity, going through different approaches. First, there was “common sense”, which was the previous version of Making Sense. The issue of “common sense” always caught our attention, so in looking for an analogy to common sense, we came up with that name. After some time, we realized that the name was already registered, so without losing the essence of what we had, we decided to keep looking. Eventually there was Making Sense.

What are the most valuable lessons you’ve learned working here?

What we learned is that the success of the projects we do for our partners, is very much rooted in relationships.The client must never regret placing their trust in us.

For that, we must come to understand every client’s business, provide them with an expected solution, and uphold a commitment to their expectations. We learned that over time.

Although culturally we are very close to USA and that helps us, we have learned to meet the expectations of the most demanding market in the world. With the level of commitment, deliver and feel what one does as one’s own, and where we find space, add value. That is our goal when someone comes to Making Sense: not just assign someone to solve a technical need, but also help him to create value in what he is creating, to propose ideas, and that makes the result richer. We try to get very involved.

“Our goal is to help our Partners adding value in what they are creating, to propose ideas, making the result richer. We try to get very involved.”.

Nacho Caldentey, Co Founder

We realized that if we do things right, we generate good relationships and with the people with whom we have worked almost in full, we have an excellent relationship, after having finished working. That has laid solid foundations on how we want to do our job and that is what we want to convey to every new member that joins the company. Try to maintain the essence.

What do you like most about the company?

We are very proud of what we have achieved. We started young, with dreams and of doing the impossible. We aim to stay in this city and generate a space in which one can grow professionally without having to leave the city. And having started out as just a collaboration among a few friends, to the structure that we are today, around 150 employees and their families, is a huge source of pride for us, as well as a big responsibility.

We also value being part of the technology ecosystem in this city. We have many goals here at Making Sense, but among the most important are:

• Maintaining our role as an important part of the tech community here
• Collaborating with Partners who provide us the challenges on which we thrive
• Aiming for innovation

To be a good service company, it’s vital to focus in all three of those areas. It is challenging to want to grow and, at the same time, to establish the solid bases which are necessary for growth. That’s not a random process, but something we work very hard at, and it’s something that allows us to continue growing over time.

What are you really into outside of work? Do you have any specific hobbie?

I have always been a very active person. Since I have a sedentary job that’s linked to technology, I like to complement it with outdoor activities. Luckily we live in a city that has sea, so I surf. Our city also has low mountain ranges and lagoons, so I go running and enjoy of a good riding over the city.

I enjoy reading, go to the movies and have a local crafted beer, but I am a lover of nature and I always go in search of that balance between working with the highest technology possible or the latest advancement and innovation, and disconnect. I achieve that by going to the mountains, learning how to use a compass and a map, old-school style. I feel as though I’m connecting with the essence of what human beings had when they had to survive without many tools. Learning that and making a balance between the ultra-technological work where I work keeps me sane and happy.

Favourite place you’ve ever traveled?

I would say that although I have not traveled all over the world, my favourite place on the planet is right here in Argentina: Patagonia. Lanin National Park, specifically. The experiences shared here with my family are those I enjoy the most and those that have marked me. It is a place that I love to visit, but I dearly love where I live now, Mar del Plata :)