So if I only could
I’d make a deal with god,
And I’d get him to swap our places,
I’d be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
With no problems.
The inspiration for the title of this interview with Marta Deus comes from a 1985 song by Kate Bush called, “Running Up That Hill.” The song recently returned to the top of the charts in the UK and the U.S. because of its inclusion in the Netflix series, “Stranger Things.” Those words seem to describe the present-day challenges of Cuba’s relatively new emerging sector, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
This is an excerpt from the full interview with Ms. Deus. The interview will be published in an upcoming book, The Cuba Interviews: Conversations on Foreign Investment and Economic Development.
Marta Deus is both a visionary and pathfinder of Cuba’s new entrepreneurial sector. If she is not seen as an influencer today, she will be in the very near future. She is young, bright, and upcoming—if not already ‘arrived.’ Her background is evidence of this. Foreseeing new opportunities before they materialize, anticipating needs, she is a finder of solutions blended with imagination and wisdom.
Ms. Deus founded Negolution magazine with a team of Spanish and English associates. Negolution magazine is an intelligent, glossy publication, directed at the self-employed sector.
We met at her office, a splendid white building on the Calle 2 in Vedado. She was noticeably tired that day, not surprising for someone who manages three successful business ventures and another one in the incubation stage.
Ms. Deus is the founder of Deus Expertos Contables, and co-founder of two other enterprises, Negolution Magazine and Mandao.
Ms. Deus was born in Havana. She took a summer course for entrepreneurs at the International University of Florida in 2018 and graduated with a Master’s in Business Management and Administration from the Institución Universitaria, Mississippi of Madrid in 2010.
In her earlier professional life, she worked in Europe at Más Móvil in Spain and France Telecom.
In 2013, she founded Deus Expertos Contables which provides consulting and financial services to Cuba’s emerging entrepreneurial sector.
Founded in September 2019 just months before the outbreak of the pandemic, her company Mandao, a food delivery service, is an app used by over 100,000 people, and works with 300 companies. Mandao delivery staff are easily recognizable on their bikes and motorcycles zipping through the streets of Havana, with bright yellow boxes on the back bearing the brand name. Mandao began in the capital city and has now expanded to the cities of Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Trinidad, Santa Clara, and Holguin.
On her future plans, she told me, there’s a café in the works, a “work in process.”
Besides her hectic schedule, Ms. Deus still finds time to organize private events for women entrepreneurs such as the Ellos Hablan, the Hour of Code, and the Week of Innovation.
For relaxation, she enjoys a daily morning swim in the sea and sometimes finds the time to read on weekends.
Since our meeting for this interview in May 2022, over 4,000 businesses on the Island have come into legal existence. Some will ‘make it,’ and others will not, but that’s the reality in the world of business, big and small.
Hernández: I understand entrepreneurs can now form joint ventures, international economic associations, open bank accounts outside of Cuba, and receive investment from investors. How will this be achieved and has any of this taken place yet in Cuba as far as you know?
Marta Deus: It’s not possible yet for entrepreneurs to open bank accounts outside of Cuba.
Like almost everything, sometimes you don’t have a specific answer for a specific question. This is something that is happening. There is no law for foreign investment for the MSMEs yet. We have the same law for state-owned companies that is used by foreign investors. It’s a long and complicated process for a small company.
There are some companies that are trying to do international contract associations. The country is focusing on what they want to start with MSMEs that are producing, exporting, and providing services. What I believe is that this law must develop, and the Ministry should think of a specific law for the MSMEs in relation to foreign investment because there are specific situations for these kinds of companies that state-owned companies don’t have. State-owned companies and the MSMEs share the same law for foreign investment. Right now, I know that three or five companies are in the process of international economic association contracts, but we don’t have any created yet.
Read the complete interview to be published in an upcoming book, The Cuba Interviews: Conversations on Foreign Investment and Economic Development.
