Meet Kido Dynamics co-founder and CEO Ignacio Barrios Baños and learn more about his bleeped-out leadership lesson

03.07.2020 10:35, Isabelle Mitchell

Venture Leader Technology Ignacio Barrios Baños co-founded Kido Dynamics, a company that applies science, machine learning, and social physics to study people’s mobility behaviors. Learn more about Ignacio’s life as a founder, how he ensures productive days, and why Silicon Valley (the show and the place) plays an important part in his life.

In October, the Venture Leaders Technology 2020 will embark on their week-long roadshow to accelerate their expansion into the US market and build a business network through meetings with top-notch investors and industry leaders in Silicon Valley. To shorten the waiting time, we will introduce you to the members of the Swiss National Startup Team. We asked each entrepreneur to complete a short profile and choose five questions from a questionnaire about their personal and professional life: 

Name: Ignacio Barrios Baños
Job title: CEO of Kido Dynamics
Location: Lausanne
Nationality: Spanish
Graduated from: IMD Business School (MBA)
Number of employees: 13 (as of 06/2020)
First touchpoint with Venturelab: The SPS Acceleration Workshop for Mobility Startups in 2018

“At Kido Dynamics, we democratize big data, simplify mobility solutions, and boost a data-driven economy.”

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
I met my co-founder Alberto a couple of years ago. He had been researching human mobility, based on mobile phone data, for more than 10 years. Since I came from the transportation industry, there was a nice match in terms of technical and business expertise, so we decided to found Kido. 

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders Technology roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
Silicon Valley is the most innovative ecosystem worldwide, but they are struggling to find proper alternatives to transportation. Uber, Lyft, Grab, Bird, and Lime are all partial solutions to a larger problem. Our technology can act as a booster in understanding underlying mobility patterns and finding better alternatives.

What is your favorite productivity tool and why?
I am relatively old-fashion regarding productivity tools. I try to keep my inbox updated and not overcrowd my agenda with multiple meetings. Three virtual meetings a day is the maximum I generally accept before blocking my agenda.

What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
S**t happens—and more often than expected. 

What is the best advice you have ever received and from whom?
A colleague from my MBA once said, "The world is not against you; actually, the world does not care at all about you."

What is your greatest professional failure, and what did you learn from it?
Trusting the wrong person. I have become more careful before fully trusting business peers.

What is your favorite movie or show and why? 
I really like the TV show Silicon Valley. I think it reflects, to a great extent, what an entrepreneur's life is like—with all its ups and downs.

Last but not least, can you show us your workspace? 


For more information and updates on Kido Dynamics and the Venture Leaders Technology, follow the Venture Leaders Technology 2020 team with #VleadersTech on social media or subscribe to our newsletter. 

This year’s Venture Leaders Technology roadshow to Silicon Valley is supported by DPD, Kellerhals Carrard, Rothschild & Co Bank, Canton de Vaud, EPF Lausanne, and ETH Zurich.