Oakland | São Paulo | México, DF | Maputo
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What the heck is Industrias Don Gambas S.A.?
Our name might suggest that we are a beefy South American heavy industry monopolist *BUT*...that ain't us! While we have strong ties to South America and are inspired by their corporate naming conventions we definitely don't work with heavy industries and certainly don't want to be monopolists.
So, what do we do? We're currently living in a period marked by unprecedented problems and unprecedented opportunity. The global economy is on one, some populations are aging too fast others are growing too fast, economic inequality is growing both inter and intra-nationally, some people are getting fat others don't have anything to eat...It's kind of a general clusterf*#@. Fun, right? Maybe not in the traditional sense, but we think it might be fun to humbly take a small stab at solving some of these crazy problems. How do we plan on doing that? By effectively using web and mobile technologies to strengthen communities, create more inclusive economies, put underutilized resources to work and help people get their dreams out. BEASTMODE!
So that's a high-level (and maybe a bit high-minded) summary of what we're working on. To see more details about our current projects check out the "Laboratorios" section below.
Bio
Cameron is the boss of the Don Gambians. Before going full-time as a boss he served as an orderly at companies with big names (Google + Kiva), rowed in the galleys of some start-ups and sold tickets behind bullet-proof glass at Children's Fairyland in Oakland, CA. He was educated at St. Paul's Episcopal School (k-8) and apparently graduated from college. He enjoys weddings and has never committed a crime.
Height: 6'3" Weight: 200lbs Born: May 1, 1983
Hometown: Oakland,CA
Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, English
Skills: Programming, Data, Hustling, cow slaughter
Bio
Camarao enjoys sitting in front of computers. Before computers he was a b-list soccer star, making it all the way to Brazilian mega-club Gremio where, according to lore, he was slapped in the face by Ronaldinho. After a crippling back injury Camarao traded sports for computers and started devouring programming books. Before joining Don Gambas he was primarily a freelancer and considers his skill set amateur-chic
Height: 6'0" Weight: 180lbs Born: Sept 15, 1984
Hometown: Porto Alegre, RS
Languages: Portuguese, Gauchense, English
Skills: Computers 100%, Futebol(both feet), watercolor
Bio
Son of a painter and a Telmex technician it was almost predestined that Don Gambas would grow up to design web and mobile products. Don Gambas met Camarao while working for a design studio in Sao Paulo, the two have been making hits ever since. Don Gambas derives a lot of his design inspiration from the rich Mexican art tradition. He does not sell drugs or launder money and refuses work from the cartel.
Height: 5'8" Weight: 180lbs Born: Nov 21, 1981
Hometown: La Narvarte, Mexico DF
Languages: Spanish, Chicano, English
Skills: Photoshop, Photoshop, Dominoes
Bio
Born to Portuguese parents in Mozambique Samorazinha's life has been a wild ride. Samorazinha has spent most of his working years in the Mozambican microfinance industry. His trade has led him to nefarious places and sticky situations. Being the winner that he is, no matter how lugubrious the problem, Samorazinha has always found an answer...and that my friends is why Samorazinha is the chief of strategy at Don Gambas
Height: 5'9" Weight: 170lbs Born: Unknown
Hometown: Maputo, MZ
Languages: Portuguese, Changana, English
Skills: Financial Accounting, M+A, Demining
CommonKnowledge
Lots of people want to learn new things, but It's not always that easy to make that happen. If you're a working professional you might look for classes at a JC or extension school or at studios and workshops in your neighborhood and not find what you're looking for. At the same time the guy that you always see in your local cafe, the neighbor down the street that plays his music too loud or the co-worker who sits near the door whose name you don't know might possess and be willing to teach you the skills and knowledge you are looking to learn.
We believe that the knowledge that lives in our brains is an underutilized community resource. CommonKnowledge is aiming to build a platform that puts people that have something they can teach in touch with people that want to learn. In doing so we want to create thriving communities of *offline* educators and learners. While a lot is being done with online education we believe that old fashion offline education can be more valuable than online education and can get people off the F&#$ing couch.
CrowdFUNding
Crowdfunding both allows people to access capital through non-traditional means and ensures that investments are democratized and transparent. We're radically bearish on both of these principals and believe that what is currently being done with crowdfunding is just the tip of the iceberg. The potential for crowdfunding is enormous.
Rather than going real real big we want to start with something we've had success and fun with in the past...crowdfunding experiences and activities. We believe that people shouldn't be held back from pursuing their dreams due to financial issues. We also believe that there is a lot of stagnant wealth sitting around out there. We're working on creating a platform that will get stagnant wealth to people that can use it productively. We think we have a way of doing this that is beneficial to all parties and that can add value to surrounding communities and economies
OUDG
The Oakland Urban Dining Guide (OUDG) is a project that is near and dear to our hearts. Given our strong ties to The City of Oakland we are ardent supporters of the community and want to do what we can to support the local economy. You'd be hard pressed to find a city as diverse as Oakland and its dining options reflect that. The OUDG is a fun web series that explores Oakland's unique dining opportunities. From Laotian to Ethiopian back to Salvadorean Oakland's got it all and it's pretty damn good. The OUDG aims to promote Oakland as a dining destination and provide out of town diners with a window into the Oaklandish gastronomy scene.
Check out our episodes: OaklandUrbanDining.com
Follow the OUDG @OaklandDining
Like the OUDG facebook.com/OUDG
