Blog
Notes from the workshop
What we learn building software for companies across Costa Rica, Chile and Latin America.
The school’s paperwork is nobody’s fault: it is because nothing is connected
Enrollment on one sheet, grades on another, attendance in a notebook and the year-end census assembled by hand. The problem is not the work: it is the same data written four times.
What a mobile app costs and how long it takes (and why nobody gives you a number)
Asking the price of an app is like asking the price of a house. The useful part is not the number: it is knowing what moves it, and which of those things depend on you.
Free or paid point of sale: the five questions that decide
Every register system looks the same in the demo. The differences show up on Saturday at eight, with a full house and the internet down.
Data protection in Costa Rica: Law 8968 is from 2011, your business is not
The law is over a decade old and shows obvious gaps. That does not make it optional: PRODHAB enforces, and the reform under discussion points up, not down.
Face-based identity verification: the safest way to store a face is not to store it
Biometric data is sensitive data in both Chile and Costa Rica. Before rolling out face verification, ask what gets stored — and whether it needs to be.
DS 44 and ILO Convention 155: why occupational health enforcement got tougher
DS 44 replaced 1969-era regulations, and since June 2026 ILO Convention 155 reinforces it. What gets audited now is whether you can prove it, not whether you did it.
Paying a monthly fee to not issue invoices: the math that does not add up
If you issue three invoices in March and none in April, why do you pay the same both months? A look at how this market charges and what changes when you pay per use.
AI regulation in Chile and Costa Rica: what it means if you want a chatbot
Chile has an AI bill in the Senate with fines up to 20,000 UTM. Costa Rica has a strategy and no law. Neither stops you, but both change how you should go about it.
Custom software or off-the-shelf: how to decide without regretting it
Almost nobody needs a fully custom system, and almost nobody gets an off-the-shelf one to fit entirely. The decision is not between the two: it is knowing which part goes where.
What to check in the Registry before paying for a used car
A licence plate tells you more than it seems: who really owns it, whether the vehicle is pledged and what annotations it carries. And if you check many a day, there is a way not to do it by hand.
Digital signature in Costa Rica: the problem is not signing, it is signing thirty times
A digital signature carries the same validity as a handwritten one. What almost nobody tells you is what it costs to use when there is more than one document.
E-invoicing 4.4 and TRIBU-CR: what actually changed for your business
Version 4.4 stopped being a format change the day your invoices started pre-filling your VAT return. What used to be a typo is now a tax error.