What happens when minds from 3 different countries, Israel, America and Chile, meet in Spain and form a Startup? The product is amazing and called Myze. It is a smart shopping companion that ensures that consumers maximize the value they obtain from their credit cards and loyalty programs. Myze guarantees that consumers don’t miss out on the best cash rewards, rebates, mileage points or discounts. A personalized, location-based service guarantees a hassle-free shopping experience, automatically informing the user of the best credit card to use at the point of purchase. We definitly want to know more about Myze and how it came to life. We have interviewd all of them so you can get a taste of this brilliant team mix!
Tomas Durandeau (CMO), Gilad Liran (COO), Yuval Yifrach (CEO), Michael Angelo Libio (CTO)
How did you come up with the idea of Myze? (Yuval CEO)
About a year ago I went to the movies with my wife. As we were taking our seats, “a message appeared on the screen saying: “some people here did not pay for their tickets”.
We were both puzzled. And while looking at each other trying to figure out what’s going on a second message appeared saying “American Express customers can enjoy a buy-one-get-one-free promotion in this theater”.
Now the fact that I had an AMEX card in my pocket, but I didn’t use it, made me really upset. I mean, not only that I just missed out on a $12 discount, I also realized that I must be missing out on so many other rewards simply because it is insane to keep track with all of these promotions.
At that point I decided to do something about it, and came up with Myze – a smart shopping companion that maximizes the value consumers get from their credit and loyalty cards.
You’ve recently changed your name, from wallie to Myze. How did you chose your new name and have you already become accustomed to the new identity? (Michael CTO)
We spent a good amount of figuring out a name because we wanted to get it right. We wanted something easy to say, something that flows out of people’s tongue (regardless of where they’re from), and more importantly, something that was meaningful. To us, Myze is not just about saving money, but it’s about doing so smartly – efficiently, precisely, and effortless. It took little bit getting used to, but we have no more identity crises – we’re definitely Myze!
Tell us what is it like to be an international team? (Gilad COO)
Our international background is a gift and a challenge for our team. We learn to adopt and use our diverse experience to be more creative. Lets face it, if you gather a group of engineers coming from the same school and same country, it is unlikely that they can generate innovative ideas. In Myze we encourage diversity.It is our secret ingredient.
How did you go from being MBA students to Sillicon Valley Entrepreneurs? (Michael CTO)
The school we attended, IE Business School, prides itself for its Entrepreneurship program. Going in to the program, we have had our minds on doing something special. As we realized that Wallie (our previous name) was becoming more than a project, we knew that our work was going to make an impact on peoples day-to-day lives. And to top it off, we wanted to continue the friendship we’ve already had grown and have gotten used to. It’s rare to find such a bond that works so well as a team. Naturally, Silicone Valley is just the mecca of all great startups, it was a no-brainer to come to Silicone Valley.
Where do you see Myze in the future? (Gilad COO)
No questions here, Myze will become the world largest rewards data base. catering to millions of people and providing on-the-spot notification for discounts right before you are making a purchase.
Geographically, our product is easily scalable and can be launched in any part of the world within a couple of months…however we do believe that we can bring the highest value to American consumers, mainly because they simply have one of the highest number of credit cards and smart phones in the world.
How did you benefit and grow from these last 3 months spent in SF? (Yuval CEO)
San Francisco has been nothing but amazing for Myze. The city is so start-up oriented and it seems that everyone here is somehow connected to the scene.
Since we have arrived we have met amazing people and made some valuable connections. These have helped us to enhance our value proposition and to better tailor our product to the American consumers’ needs.
The exposure we got to angel investors and VCs is helping with the fund raising process, and put us in a position where we can put more focus on starting to help the American consumer earn his money back.
Moving to SF is probably the best thing that any startup can do, at any stage.
Yes we totally agree! Therefore whatever part of the world you and your startup are from, Sillicon Valley is the place to be!