Twist: A "Twist" on the American Burger

Tucked within Barranco, a colorful community and former fishtown in Lima, Twist has managed to create good, old fashioned American burgers with a twist of Peruvian influence. On the menu, you will find a delicious alpaca burger (one of Andrew’s personal favorites) and the Barranco Burger with spicy aji based sauced on top. For a couple wayward Americans, we were in burger heaven.  

“We’ve been in business for two years now,” says Jimmy McManners, an British ex-pat and founder of Twist. “When we opened, burger joints weren’t really a thing in Lima and we were able to truly differentiate ourselves from local restaurants. We also opened Twist in the midst of an artisanal beer boom in Lima. And there’s nothing that goes better with a good burger than a good beer” (we second that statement).

Jimmy McManners in front of his delicious menu at Twist. 

Opening a business in Peru was anything but a breeze for Jimmy. “It took us a good two years to obtain a license. Most people will bribe their way through the government bureaucracy but I refused. We wound up asking the mayor for special permission to open the business without a license, so we could start operations.”

Aside from the bureaucratic red tape, Jimmy says, “maintaining amazing service has been a difficulty.” When we prodded him on the subject, he admits that he does all he can to motivate employees. “You get way more from people if you provide a fair wage and treat them well. If you don’t, they will lose their drive or quit. If you lose a good staff member in this business, you are stupid. They are hard to find! Your employees are your best asset.”

Today, competition has increased in Barranco. “four years ago, there were few restaurants here. Now they are opening and closing all the time.” The tourism industry has played a role as more and more tourists flock to Barranco and away from Miraflores. “About 50% of my customers are either tourists or ex-pats,” says Jimmy. “The reason why they are coming to Twist is Trip Advisor.” At the time of our visit, Twist was the third most recommended restaurant in Lima. 

Inetsat: The importance of saying NO

“When it comes to creating a TV network, there are three core costs: the cost to license the content, internal operational costs and distribution costs,” says Pablo Salomon, CEO and Co-Founder of Inetsat in Montevideo, Uruguay. “The traditional method of distributing content via satellite is a huge cost for a TV network (typically $20,000 USD per channel per month). That’s where Inetsat can make a huge impact.” Instead of using satellites, Inetsat allows TV networks to deliver channels to cable operators over a low bandwidth internet connections, ultimately saving TV networks 5-10 times the cost. “That’s our initial value proposition.” Inetsat can also help smaller channels launch who can’t coudn’t afford to utilize satellite technology, while also providing primary or disaster recovery channel playout and distribution for other networks.

Despite cable operators being what is considered a dyeing industry, Fortune Magazine named Inetsat as one of the top 10 most innovative Latin American firms in 2013. “Yes we are serving a dying industry, but that’s playing to our favor for now,” states Pablo. TV networks are being pressured to cut costs to compete with Netflix and other OTT offerings and Inetsat can be the tool for traditional TV Cable distribution to compete. “You also have to keep in mind that cable subscribers are still increasing, especially in the developing world. It’s going to take a generational change for the clock to turn in the industry and for cable to start disappearing. By then, we’ll be doing something even more fun.”

Pablo isn’t new to building companies. By age ten, he started developing his first software programs and by 13, started selling it. At age 23 in 1999, he started his first official tech company – a social media business that eventually pivoted and became an instant messaging producer for third party portals. In 2009, the company was acquired by a publicly traded company from India.

“The way I approached my second tech startup was completely different than the first,” explains Pablo. “I learned a lot of things from that first startup. Especially, that forming a business is a long-term commitment. I spent a year researching and tweaking the business concept behind Inetsat before jumping into it.” Pablo cautions would-be-entrepreneurs to be aware of the needed research period before launching a startup. “Entrepreneurs need to recognize that there is a needed period of time where they are validating the idea – a period where your idea matures. They should speak with potential customers and investors about the concept and take into account their advice.”

A second piece of advice Pablo offers is, “the importance of being able to say no. Many entrepreneurs say yes to sales they shouldn’t take on. When you deviate from your business, you lose focus and that can be dangerous to the startup.”