Alumni Spotlight: Juan Esteban Duque - Platform for Local Services in Colombia

Meet Juan Esteban Duque, a CU Boulder Alumnus and founder of Tupró, a platform that provides a business portal to services and professionals in Colombia. Juan grew up in Colombia and lived in China before coming to the University of Colorado at Boulder to pursue a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Strategy and Entrepreneurship. 

With a growing interest for international business and new technologies, Juan was driven to explore ventures on a global scale. After coming to the U.S., he experienced difficulties finding internships and job opportunities. Juan then decided it was the right time to create his own opportunities. In the summer of 2018, he began learning about government contracts and eventually thought about Colombia, where the bargaining culture is prominent. He believed that bringing a bidding system into the culture in Colombia would greatly improve people’s lives. Juan then came up with the idea for an app where people could post a project and receive multiple quotes from local professionals.

Juan utilized many entrepreneurial resources around campus to help further his idea. One of his favorite events to meet entrepreneurs in Boulder was the Deming Center’s “Startups & Sandwiches” series (Register for our next one here)! He also participated in the Get Seed Funding program and New Venture Challenge. Juan wanted to learn as much as he could throughout these experiences. 

Tupró - “Your Professional”

After graduating in May of 2020, Juan’s original plans changed amidst the pandemic and he went home to Colombia to start working full-time on his project. Faced with some trademark setbacks, Juan rebranded his app idea, iListo into Tupró. Juan was able to partner with a local newspaper in Colombia and after a slow year, they are excited to release the new freelancing platform next month! 

Juan loves helping provide a marketplace where individuals can offer different services and job postings in Colombia. Since starting this project, he has operated remotely, which has helped him throughout the pandemic. He is excited to work with his team and see his project through after years of working on it. Check out their website here!

Advice for Current Students

Juan shared this piece of advice:

“When I first started, I tried moving way too fast and did too many things at once. I wasn’t able to capitalize on small gains, so I think that if you want to start something, start small. Once you validate that that can actually work, you can scale up and invest more! If I could do everything again, I would have let things play out.”