# Cómo innovar desde la pasión | Rogelio Arosemena | TEDxUEES

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3qsSqf8lgM
Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/i3qsSqf8lgM
Generated: 2025-11-11T07:32:03.434+00:00

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## Quick Overview

Rogelio Arosemena, a former athlete who transitioned into sports journalism, shares his professional journey illustrating the necessity of continuous reinvention, achieved by balancing dreaming, taking risks, innovating, and self-reinvention, which led him to create Ecuador's most visited digital sports media outlet, Ecuagol.com, despite early failures and industry skepticism.

**Key Points:**
- Rogelio Arosemena initially dreamed of being a professional soccer player but pursued law, eventually finding passion in sports journalism.
- His early career in sports journalism (starting in 1998) was challenging due to the limited media landscape (few digital outlets, no OTT streaming).
- He attributes his success in creating Ecuagol.com, the most visited sports media in Latin America, to consistently applying four key principles: Dream, Risk, Innovate, and Reinvent.
- A major early failure involved creating a scouting website for soccer players that did not sell any players, leading him to realize the need to pivot.
- When launching Ecuagol, they chose to treat digital media as a primary source rather than a secondary print extension, which was contrary to industry norms at the time (2001-2002).
- The speaker emphasizes that reinvention is about opening up to what is possible tomorrow, not clinging to what worked yesterday, as illustrated by the butterfly graphic.
- Despite early struggles, including financial debt from the media venture, they persisted, eventually gaining traction and credibility by focusing on comprehensive coverage, even minute-by-minute updates for major events like the 2014 World Cup.

![Screenshot at 00:44: Rogelio Arosemena presents the concept of 'Arriesgar' \(Risk\) using a graphic of a figure jumping across a glowing grid, illustrating that the lack of risk guarantees stagnation.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/i3qsSqf8lgM/00-00-44.png)

**Context:** The video features a TEDx talk by Rogelio Arosemena, who recounts his evolution from a failed attempt at being a soccer agent/sports media founder to building one of Latin America's leading digital sports platforms, Ecuagol.com. The talk centers on the theme of 'Creatio: El origen de toda posibilidad' (Creation: The origin of all possibility), emphasizing the mindset required—dreaming, risking, innovating, and reinventing—to achieve success in a changing landscape.

## Detailed Analysis

Rogelio Arosemena begins by greeting the audience and establishing his background, noting that he was studying law but always dreamed of being involved in sports, even as a soccer player. He recounts that in 1998, the sports media landscape was limited, lacking digital presence and OTT services. Despite his formal training in law, he persisted in his passion for sports journalism. He shares a personal story involving an early venture: creating a scouting website for soccer players that failed because no players were sold, which he calls his first major failure (1:43-2:06). This failure forced him to reinvent. He and his partners decided to focus on innovation: creating a digital-first news portal rather than simply digitizing print content, a novel approach at the time (2:01-2:23). This led to the creation of Ecuagol.com, which he proudly states became the most visited sports media site in Latin America. He stresses that success requires continuous application of four principles: Dream, Risk, Innovate, and Reinvent. He details how they aggressively pursued coverage, even securing media accreditation for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which was unprecedented for an independent Ecuadorian digital outlet. He concludes by urging the audience to embrace reinvention and continue seeking new ways to operate, rather than relying on past successes.

### Introduction and Early Dreams

- Greeting the audience and introducing himself as a law graduate pursuing sports journalism
- He dreamed of being a soccer player, then a lawyer, but kept his passion for sports alive.

### The Four Pillars of Creation

- Outlining the core concepts for success: Soñar (Dream), Arriesgar (Risk), Innovar (Innovate), and Reiventar (Reinvent)
- The side screens display graphics and quotes for 'Soñar' and 'Arriesgar' early on.

### The First Failure and Pivot (1998-2002)

- Created a soccer scouting website that failed; realized he needed to focus on a digital-first media platform (Ecuagol)
- Industry norms at the time involved print media, not digital innovation.

### Achieving Digital Dominance

- Ecuagol became the most visited digital sports medium in Latin America, covering events like the 2014 World Cup in Brazil
- They achieved success by aggressively pursuing comprehensive coverage, including minute-by-minute updates.

### The Lesson of Reinvention

- Reinvention is about opening to the future, not adhering to past successes
- The speaker notes that even when things were difficult (like debt), they never stopped innovating or trying to move forward.

![Screenshot at 00:05: Speaker Rogelio Arosemena walking onto the stage at TEDxUEES with the event theme "CREATIO" displayed prominently on the main screen.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/i3qsSqf8lgM/00-00-05.png)
![Screenshot at 00:44: Visual slide illustrating the concept of 'Arriesgar' \(Risk\) with a figure leaping across a glowing digital gap, emphasizing calculated risk-taking.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/i3qsSqf8lgM/00-00-44.png)
![Screenshot at 00:46: Visual slide illustrating the concept of 'Innovar' \(Innovate\) showing digital figures interacting with technology, defined as creating trends that become the norm.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/i3qsSqf8lgM/00-00-46.png)
![Screenshot at 00:48: Visual slide illustrating the concept of 'Reinventar' \(Reinvent\) showing a butterfly emerging from a book onto a laptop screen, symbolizing transformation.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/i3qsSqf8lgM/00-00-48.png)
![Screenshot at 01:08: Speaker Rogelio Arosemena speaking passionately, using hand gestures to emphasize his points about his career trajectory.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/i3qsSqf8lgM/00-01-08.png)
![Screenshot at 02:21: Speaker Arosemena reflecting on his past, mentioning his marriage at age 22 while pursuing his dream career.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/i3qsSqf8lgM/00-02-21.png)
![Screenshot at 03:38: Speaker gesturing upwards while discussing the need for his company to innovate and look beyond current limitations.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/i3qsSqf8lgM/00-03-38.png)
![Screenshot at 09:23: Speaker detailing the massive database they compiled, which included statistics from various sources, even before major digital advances like OTT were common.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/i3qsSqf8lgM/00-09-23.png)