Crossing Borders with Nathan Lustig

For this week on the Crossing Borders podcast, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Pedro Pablo del Campo, Partner of Magma PartnersPedro Pablo del Campo is a Chilean entrepreneur and the newest addition to our Magma Partners team. Born in Punta Arenas, one of the most Southerly cities in the world, Pedro Pablo traveled the world in his youth since his father was in the Air Force and then a commercial pilot. From a young age, Pedro Pablo was eager to be involved in early-stage enterprises and has gone on to founding or join early teams of several startups and nonprofits bridging the US and Latin America. In 2016, he joined the Techstars team in Austin as the Business Development Director for Latin America, a position they created just for him.Pedro Pablo has now brought his passion for supporting Latin American entrepreneurship to Magma, where he will be helping manage our portfolio and evaluating future investments for the fund. In this episode, we discuss Pedro's non-traditional career path, his start in the nonprofit world, how a cold email got him connected to the Techstars network, and what he thinks of the maturing Latin American entrepreneurial ecosystem.Never be afraid of relying on your network Pedro Pablo used to think he knew everything about starting a business until he founded his first company after university. Soon, he realized he knew nothing and that he would have to surround himself with mentors and other successful entrepreneurs in order to succeed. That lesson carried him on to his time in the US when he realized that New York is a lonely place for an entrepreneur without a network.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to find out how Pedro Pablo built a network from scratch in each of the cities he has lived in, from Santiago to New York, and finally in Austin. It's all about adding value, says Pedro Pablo. When you have given someone a bit of value, they are often happy to help you when you need it.The key to bootstrapping a business from Chile? Find the right partnersAfter coming back from New York, Pedro Pablo knew he wanted to find something for himself. He co-founded Visualogica, a design firm, with three co-founders; however, he quickly side-stepped to become CEO of a vending machine company, leaving his partners in charge. This opportunity allowed both businesses to be successful in the end, and the vending machine company was even acquired.Learn more about Pedro Pablo's experience building a company from the ground up and how he leads a team in this episode of Crossing Borders.The art of the cold emailPedro Pablo reached out to the Chief Investment Officer at Techstars in a cold email while caring for his son at home while his wife studied her PhD. He wanted to tell them about the value of connecting the Latin American and US ecosystems and hoped the global accelerator would pay attention. Using his contacts in Chile, Pedro Pablo provided a network for Techstars in Latin America and helped the accelerator expand, before they had even offered him a position. His advice to new founders: never be afraid of cold emailing people, no matter how high up they are.Find out how Techstars invented a new position for Pedro Pablo so he could help them bring Latin America into one of the largest and strongest entrepreneurial networks in the world.Pedro Pablo is passionate about the potential global impacts of the growing Latin American entrepreneurial ecosystem. He has lots of ideas about how to build the ecosystem, including partnerships with corporate partners in the US and LatAm that will allow for bigger acquisitions that could shape the industry. Listen to this episode to hear Pedro Pablo's predictions for how entrepreneurs from Latin America could disrupt established markets in LatAm, the US, and beyond.Outline of this episode[1:59] – Where are you working in Austin?[2:27] – Pedro Pablo's childhood in Punta Arenas and Santiago[4:04] – Did traveling at a young age impact your perspective on the world?[6:32] – Studying business in Chile[7:07] – What was your first experience with an earlier-stage company?[9:35] – What were some of the biggest takeaways from your time at Late?[10:28] – What did you do after Late?[12:40] – Doing business in New York vs. Chile[15:11] – Why did you go back to Chile after New York and what did you end up doing there?[17:44] – Why “boring” businesses are a good investment[21:02] – How did you end up in Austin?[26:24] – How did you create your own role at Techstars?[31:42] – Biggest lessons from working at Techstars[35:50] – How to motivate corporations to pay attention to entrepreneurship without using fear[40:36] – On Falabella's acquisition of Linio[43:54] – What are some of your favorite books, blogs, podcasts, or documentaries you would like to recommend?[46:30] – Pedro Pablo's advice to his younger self[47:18] – What are you most excited about working on to help entrepreneurs in LatAm with Magma over the next 6-12 months?Resources & People MentionedTechstars acceleratorStart-Up ChilePuro Chile – Chilean shop in New YorkLateVisualogicaNever Split the Difference (BOOK) – Chris VossVenture Deals (BOOK) – Brad FeldStartup Communities (BOOK) – Brad FeldAlex Iskold's BlogThis episode is brought to you by ProColombia, the agency behind the many products and services of Colombian origin that share flavor, design, creativity, quality, and well-being with the world. Learn more about Colombia's diverse offers by visiting https://b2bmarketplace.procolombia.co/

For this week on the Crossing Borders podcast, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Rebecca Fischer, cofounder and CEO of Divibank.Before Divibank, small and medium enterprises in Brazil only had two financing options: getting debt from a bank or raising venture capital. But most startups don't meet bank financing requirements, and not every company can raise VC or wants to raise VC. Divibank provides a third alternative for startups and SMEs: revenue-based financing. Divibank launched in 2020 by financing digital marketing campaigns via a revenue share model. Since then, Divibank has launched other products including inventory financing and recurring revenue financing.In this episode, I sat down with Rebecca Fischer, Divibank's CPO and cofounder to talk about what she learned from working on digital marketing campaigns for huge brands, how she got Divibank off the ground, and how Divibank provides a better financing alternative for entrepreneurs in Brazil.The overlooked potential of ad spendBefore starting Divibank, Rebecca worked for an advertising agency where she helped companies grow via paid digital ads. Clients invested huge amounts of money in their digital marketing campaigns, and the returns were great. During her time running ad campaigns, Rebecca discovered two things that kickstarted the idea for Divibank: ad spend was a real asset class that could be an alternative to VC funding, and many people weren't taking their ad spend as seriously as she thought it should be. Listen to this episode to discover how Rebecca found an opportunity to provide financing for entrepreneurs to scale through digital marketing campaigns.Non-dilutive capital to extend entrepreneurs' runwaysDivibank provides financing for founders who don't want to dilute themselves through venture capital and want access to capital to scale their businesses.The startup's clients are usually digitally native companies that know what their revenue will look like in the short term. They are looking for financing, but they are not ready yet to split the pie with many other shareholders. Divibank gives them the freedom to choose whether to raise VC money or keep growing with non-dilutive capital.Check out this episode to find out how Divibank is helping founders in Brazil extend their runways and raise when they're at a higher valuation. Outline of this episode:[01:10] - About Divibank[01:42] - What financing looks like for SMEs in Brazil[03:40] - Divibank's average client[05:10] - Rebecca's background[06:00] - Lessons learned from working in advertising agencies[08:08] - ABC of non-dilutive financing[11:30] - Divibank's zero to one[12:58] - Divibank's first steps[14:43] - Divibank's experience with fundraising[16:30] - Where is Divibank today[17:49] - Rebecca's book recommendations[19:21] - Rebecca's advice to a younger self[20:10] - What's next for DivibankResources and people mentioned:Rebecca FischerDivibankKenshooNubankJaime TaboadaBook Piranesi by Susanna ClarkePodcast Fintech Leaders

For this week on the Crossing Borders podcast, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Luis Rubén Chávez, founder and CEO of Parco.As an intern at a law firm, Juan hated parking in cash-only parking lots. After having to go to the ATM or getting countless parking tickets, he thought there had to be a better way. In 2016, Parco was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and has since expanded into 28 cities across the country. Parco allows parking lot operators to install a software system to their existing parking systems for consumers to pay using a credit card via the Parco app. Users can also pay for parking tickets and get information about their driving history. In this episode, we discuss how Parco is changing how the parking business operates and improving people's lives across Latin America. We talk about his journey from working at a law firm to becoming a full-time tech entrepreneur and how the pandemic accelerated the company's growth. From law firm employee to full-time entrepreneurJuan knew nothing about the tech business world when he started Parco, but he did know a problem when he saw one. Juan drove a car to run errands for his job at a law firm in Guadalajara, and parking was a nightmare because parking lots only accepted cash. After a few costly parking tickets, Juan pitched the Parco idea to his boss, who thought it was a great idea and said he was willing to invest. In this episode of Crossing Borders, Juan talks us through his experience creating a company with zero experience to building a startup that plans to scale to multiple Latin American countries.Creating an easy and transparent way for people to pay for parking in Latin America Before Parco, parking meant long lines, carrying cash, or walking to an ATM to take out cash if you didn't have any with you. Today, Parco allows people to pay for their parking via an app, which is 10x better than waiting in line or running back into a mall to search for an ATM.Parco also generates user demographics and data for operators to understand how users behave and how often they park while providing transparency and safety.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about how Parco provides more revenue to parking operators and why they chose to be a software vendor instead of hardware.Scaling Parco in Mexico during the pandemicThe pandemic was a before and after for Parco. Before the pandemic, Parco had only launched in 8 cities. Since then, the Parco team launched 20 more cities remotely.The pandemic not only accelerated the parking industry's digitization but also changed the way Parco interacts with customers. The app quickly transitioned from an added value to a necessity. In this episode, Juan shares with us how the pandemic became a milestone for Parco because of how they learned to scale and expand. Outline of this episode:[01:20] - What problem does Parco solve?[05:08] - Juan's background[07:15] - Creating a company with zero experience[09:45] - Parco's geographic expansion[12:07] - Covid-19's effect on Parco[15:26] - Choosing to be a software vendor[16:48] - Planning for a LatAm expansion[18:23] - Parco as an operating system[20:30] - Data analytics for operators[23:48] - Advice for a younger Juan[24:55] - Book recommendations[26:25] - Parco's plans for the futureResources & People mentioned:Juan José LeanoNathan LustigParcoBooksThe Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric JorgensonHow to make friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie

For this week on the Crossing Borders podcast, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Luis Rubén Chávez, founder and CEO of Zenfi.Luis Rubén Chávez, co-founder and CEO of Zenfi, is changing the way people in Mexico think about financial health. Zenfi is a complete digital finance platform focused on lending that strives for the financial health of its customers. With more than 2.5 million users, the platform provides customers with tools to build a consistent long-term financial plan. Zenfi offers an app that reviews clients' credit bureaus for free. They provide personalized diagnostics, tips to improve the customer's profile, and identity theft alerts. Also, Zenfi helps those who need a personal loan, debt consolidation, or car insurance by reviewing their information and recommending products according to their needs.Before starting Zenfi, Luis Rubén worked in finance for eight years. He witnessed first-hand its inefficiencies, high concentration, and sometimes abusive practices that don't help the user in the longer term. Banks offer 60+ products and services but execute poorly a large percentage of them, and fintechs are filling this gap in the market. With the new fintechs that are emerging, Luis Rubén thinks Mexico will have in 5 years a completely different financial system.Listen to this episode to hear how Luis Rubén is raising awareness about the inefficient lending system in Mexico, what Zenfi is doing to provide a healthier alternative for people, and how the company is expanding its services by offering a marketplace of financial products. Diversifying the financial system in MexicoBanks own the credit bureau in Mexico, which reports only negative credit ratings of individuals. The five largest banks in Mexico hold 80-85% of the country's consumer portfolio, and this high concentration means there is little to no competition. Many financial institutions have conflicts of interest and few incentives to build better data and technological products and services. Mexicans perceive credit scores as a black box, filled with misconceptions that lead them to make adverse choices. Luis Rubén was part of the problem working within the financial system, but in this episode of Crossing Borders, he explains how he is now part of the solution.Demystifying credit scores for Mexico's populationZenfi's most attractive product is its free credit score check. The company analyzes the customer's information and provides them with a complete and user-friendly diagnosis. Also, it gives useful and detailed information such as the impact that each variable has on the score, and parameters to understand your strengths and weaknesses to see what you have to improve. The company has nailed a feature that millions of Mexicans need in an inefficient system that has few incentives to help them maintain a good credit score.Listen to this Crossing Borders episode to learn how Zenfi will continue to attract millions of users to its platform.A marketplace for financial productsUsers needed a bigger picture for making a long-term personal finance plan, so Zenfi started offering a marketplace where fintechs sell, for example, their mortgage, insurance, and credit card products. Zenfi's marketplace shows the best financial products that its users can have access to. Zenfi's lending criteria sometimes cannot give users a loan, so the company refers them to another fintech where they might have a product that serves them. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to understand how Zenfi is taking a hybrid approach by offering its products and a marketplace with the best fintechs in Mexico. Outline of this episode:[01:09] - About Zenfi[02:10] - Zenfi's credit scores[03:22] - Misconceptions and inefficiencies of the credit scoring system[05:20] - Zenfi in numbers[08:47] - Luis Rubén's background[11:10] - Why is the traditional financial system stalled?[15:30] - Zenfi's fintech marketplace[19:31] - The fintech ecosystem in Mexico in the last 5 years[25:10] - Reading recommendations[28:01] - Advice for a younger Luis Rubén[31:45] - The future of ZenfiResources & People mentioned:Luis Rubén ChávezNathan LustigZenfiBook The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of AmazonBlog by Paul GrahamThis episode is brought to you by ProColombia, the agency behind the many products and services of Colombian origin that share flavor, design, creativity, quality, and well-being with the world.Learn more about Colombia's diverse offers by visiting https://b2bmarketplace.procolombia.co/

Online payments in Latin America are rapidly growing, creating significant opportunities for businesses and consumers. In 2022, cash only represented 37% of all formal retail payments in LatAm's top six markets, marking a decline from pre-pandemic when cash represented around 70%.Aron Schwarzkopf is cofounder and CEO of Kushki, a Latin American digital payments company. Magma invested in Kushki in 2018 to support its mission of providing the infrastructure to develop better payment products.I sat down with Aron to discuss his journey as an entrepreneur and his experience in the payments industry. We also discuss the challenges of managing a multicultural company and Kushki's recent acquisition of Billpocket, a Mexican mobile payments company.Getting Ph.D. in payments and startupsAron started his entrepreneurial journey in college confounding Leaf, a payments company, alongside Sebastian Castro. After Leaf's acquisition, Sebastian and Aron shifted their focus to investing in Latin America. Despite receiving an offer to become an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) for a major company in New York, Aron declined the offer to focus on launching Kushki with Sebastian. Today, Kushki has a strong presence in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and the US and has recently acquired Billpocket, a leading Mexican payments company.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Aron's journey as an entrepreneur.Building a multicultural teamAfter six years of operating in multiple countries, Kushki has built a multicultural team that encourages connections and transparency. The Kushki Nation has become a significant asset in driving the company's success, enabling them to foster a strong commitment towards their goals, despite the challenges of remote work.Learn more about how Kushki leads a multicultural remote team in this episode of Crossing Borders.Outline of this episode:[01:33] - About Kushki[02:04] - Payments in Latin America[07:11] - Ph.D. in payments[10:20] - Starting a company in Latin America instead of the US[12:41] - Building a multicultural company[16:11] - The aha! moment behind Kushki[19:57] - Investment in Latin America[22:17] - Kushki's use cases and stories[24:35] - Billpocket's acquisition[26:41] - Advice to Aron's younger self[27:53] - Aron's favorite podcasts and books[29:04] - What's next for Kushki?Resources & people mentioned:Aron SchwarzkopfSebastián Castro GalnaresKushkiLeaf

This episode was recorded on March 20, 2023In the 90s, technology stock valuations soared rapidly in the US. Investors were pouring money into Internet-based companies, and the value of equity markets grew exponentially. In 2000, things started to change. Between 2001 and 2002, the dotcom bubble burst, causing many tech companies to go bankrupt.Monty Schmidt is a serial entrepreneur and CTO who co-founded Sonic Foundry, a music tools startup that grew to $50M+ in revenue. After taking it public at the peak of the tech bubble, Monty was worth $200M on paper, but when the bubble burst, his net worth plummeted to ~$0.From hyper-growth to a market crashMonty helped create some of the first audio software for Windows in the early-mid 90s, which eventually became Sonic Foundry.Between 1995 and 1998, Sonic Foundry experienced hyper-growth and went public, raising ~$25M. By 2000, Sonic Foundry was valued at $1.2B, had an annual revenue of $30M, and about 400 employees.After the market crash, they only had six months of runway. Monty and his team took a few weeks to strategize and then laid off half the company to extend runway. They then took on some high-interest debt and cut more employees, and were able to sell the media part of their business to Sony in early 2003.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to hear the story behind Sonic Foundry.Surviving unexpected market downturnsMonty found himself in a tough spot where he had to make the difficult decision to lay off half of his employees. Despite his optimism, the market failed to improve, and Monty made further cuts. After the deal with Sony, they had just 30 employees and $12M in the bank. However, thanks to their decisions, the company was able to continue operating to this day and employed hundreds of people over time.Monty learned during this time the importance of having 18 months of runway to weather any unexpected market downturns. He also believes that a more conservative approach during tough times is vital to ensure a company's survival. These decisions are not easy, but they can ultimately make the difference between success and failure in the long run.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Monty's lessons learned during market downturns. Outline of this episode:[01:02] - About Monty[08:04] - Growth after going public[13:50] - The market crash[15:37] - Market behavior during downturns[20:33] - Closing a deal with Sony [22:23] - Lessons learned[24:30] - Going from 3 to 400 people[28:06] - Advisors during the downturns[31:08] - Recognizing bubbles[37:12] - The drip of bad news[42:13] - Surviving a market downturn[37:12] - Lay-offs[52:24] - Founders' most precious assetsResources & people mentioned:Monty SchmidtSonic Foundry

Mexico's metabolic health is alarming, with only one out of ten individuals falling in the “healthy” range and nearly 20% of Mexicans have diabetes. Lifestyles have drastically changed over the years, poor eating habits, little physical activity and rest have had a negative impact on people's health, causing an increase in chronic, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases.After successfully starting multiple businesses, including one of Mexico's largest fintechs, Cristina had a health scare and after getting better, decided to dedicate her life to helping other people improve their own health. Cristina Randall is the cofounder of Somos, a company that empowers Mexicans to take control of their health. Somos allows people to track how their habits affect their bodies to find the most efficient path to achieve their health goals. Their first product is a continuous glucose monitor that helps people see how what they eat and the exercise they do directly affects their health.I sat down with Cristina to discuss her entrepreneurial background, the future of wearables in the health industry, and how having access to these devices allows people to make informed decisions about their health.Transitioning from engineering to entrepreneurship Cristina studied engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada and then joined a student program where she got to work in IT consulting in India, investment banking in Japan, and international development in Southern Africa.While working in Africa supporting local businesses for a program called Engineers Without Borders, Cristina saw the value of building businesses and decided to delve into the startup world once she returned to Canada.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Cristina's entrepreneurial journey. Building a tool to understand the bodyCristina's entrepreneurial journey in Mexico began a decade ago when she co-founded Conekta, a platform for online payments. Years later, after being diagnosed with Lyme disease, she experienced first-hand the limitations of the healthcare system, spurring her to start Somos to give people the power to control and prevent chronic diseases.Somos became the assistant that Cristina wished she had when she got sick. Somos empowers people to understand the collective influence of their health markers, habits, and environment on their overall health.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to hear the story behind Somos.Outline of this episode:[01:26] - About Somos[02:03] - Healthcare in Mexico[05:25] - From engineering to building a fintech company[08:31] - Funding a fintech company in Mexico[09:14] - Biggest lessons learned building Conekta[11:42] - Cristina's jump into healthtech[14:50] - Somos: A tool to understand your body[18:07] - What's next for Somos?[21:44] - Advice to Cristina's younger self[24:32] - Cristina's books and podcasts recommendationsResources & people mentioned:Cristina RandallSomosConektaGlucose RevolutionHacking Lyme Disease: A Practical Guide for Reclaiming Your HealthComo Somos

Generative AI is becoming a game changer for creative industries by boosting content creation with more efficient and cost-effective processes.Alejandro Matamala is the cofounder and CDO of Runway, a pioneering company that develops AI-powered tools designed to improve creative workflows.I sat down with Alejandro to talk about AI's progress and how Runway is building the future of AI tools for creative industries. Runway isn't Alejandro's first company. He's been an entrepreneur since his university days, starting a creative agency, a dental marketplace, and an Etsy-like platform for Chile.From digital agency to building AI tools for creativesAlejandro's entrepreneurial journey began when he was young. Pursuing his creative interests, Alejandro studied communication at university and opened a design studio in Chile. His passion for business and creativity continued and led him to cofound Vitrin, Deenty, and Runway. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Alejandro's entrepreneurial background.Jumping from a master's thesis to building a successful AI companyDuring his master's program at NYU, Alejandro met fellow Chilean Cristóbal Valenzuela, Runway's cofounder, who built the first version of Runway as his thesis project.Upon graduating, NYU offered them a research residency where they met Anastasis Germanidis, who joined Runway as a cofounder. One prototype and a tweet generated interest from users and set the tone for building the successful company that Runway is today.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to hear the full story behind Runway's cofounders' journey.Generative AI's breakthroughIn the last few years, we have witnessed the power of generative AI, but this tech is not new. In the last year, Runway has increased its offering of AI tools from three to more than thirty, a growth that comes from 5 years of work and research.Today Runway's tools produce high-quality media outputs and have been used in films such as the award-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once.Listen to Alejandro's perspective on the future of generative AI in this episode of Crossing Borders.Outline of this episode:[01:44] - About Runway[03:57] - Runway's tools[05:49] - From founding a design studio to creating AI-Powered tools[07:31] - Having a business while studying at college[09:14] - About Deenty[12:30] - Lessons learned from building three different companies[13:54] - Jumping to the US[18:07] - The breakthrough of generative AI[20:30] - The fundraising process through the years[22:50] - The future of generative AI tools[26:28] - Alejandro's documentary recommendation[27:24] - Advice to Alejandro's younger self[35:23] - What's next for Runway?Resources & people mentioned:Alejandro MatamalaCristóbal ValenzuelaAnastasis GermanidisRunwayRunway: Gen-1Deenty

For this week on the Crossing Borders podcast, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Dan Green, Partner at Gunderson Dettmer.An avid traveler from a young age, Dan Green's relationship with Latin America stretches all the way back to his childhood trips to Mexico and Ecuador and visits from an aunt who dazzled him with stories about doing business in Chile. Driven by his passion for the region, Dan was set on becoming a link between the US and Latin American markets. In 2004, Dan started practicing law in Silicon Valley, immersing himself in the venture capital and startup world. Today, Dan is a corporate partner at Gunderson Dettmer, a law firm that focuses on global venture capital and emerging technology and has been practicing in and around Latin America for over 15 years.I sat down with Dan to talk about how his trip to Latin America during his 20s inspired him to focus on building a bridge between Silicon Valley and the region, supporting top-level entrepreneurs like the current founders of Cornershop. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different corporate structures for entrepreneurs starting their own business.The mirror image of California through an atlasGrowing up in California, Dan's aunt had told him stories about Chile from her ventures selling sonar fishing equipment to fishermen around the world. His aunt's stories had intrigued him enough to choose Chile in his third year of undergrad at Stanford to complete a study abroad program. There, he fell in love with his future wife as well as with the country, the culture, and the people of Latin America. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about how this chapter in his life inspired him to follow a career that would allow him to continue connecting with Latin America.‘The Valley' awakening to Latin AmericaOver the years, Dan has witnessed how the Latin American tech landscape has transformed. From broadband connection to access to mobile phones and a rising trust in eCommerce. The first investments, which are always the hardest when breaking into a market, took place in Brazil. According to Dan, these investments in Brazil unlocked the rest of the region for foreign investment.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn about the first investments that paved the way for other investors in the Valley.An emerging standard in legal structures for business in LatamOne of the most important steps in starting a business is deciding on a legal structure. According to Dan, if done correctly this decision can save millions of dollars in terms of taxes and costs down the road. However, the answer is not always clear. This is especially true in the initial stages of a business when there is still so much uncertainty revolving around questions like how much you are going to raise or what your operating or exit path is. Dan explains that the more clarity you have about these questions, the more guidance you will be able to receive.Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of different legal structures in this episode of Crossing Borders.Dan Green is helping high impact businesses grow in Latin America and the US, leveraging his legal expertise and connections in Silicon Valley to become a bridge builder for the best entrepreneurs and investors in both regions.Outline of this episode:[1:32] - About Gunderson Dettmer[2:16] - From Silicon Valley to Latam[6:59] - Changes in the ecosystem[11:08] - What corporate structure should you have?[19:19] - What you need to know about Delaware Corporations[22:16] - Setting up in CaymanResources & people mentioned:Dan GreenGunderson DettmerNeedishClanDescuentoPeixe UrbanoSanti SubotovskyRodolfo GonzalezKaszek VenturesMonashees

For this week on the Crossing Borders podcast, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Doménica Obando, CEO, and co-founder of Talently Doménica Obando, CEO and co-founder of Talently, is helping build Latin America into the next tech talent hub while offering better jobs to skilled developers and data scientists. Originally from Peru, Domenica worked in an NGO and the public sector before becoming a full-time entrepreneur. First, she founded Andi, a learning platform, which afterward she decided to pivot into Talently.Talently is a talent accelerator for tech professionals in Latin America. Software developers and data scientists who feel stuck in their careers apply to Talently to upgrade their skills and land better jobs in return. Talently diagnoses the skills tech professionals need to improve their careers and also provides courses to develop soft skills such as employability, interview prep, and more. The company has a heavy focus on improving their English fluency, which is a limiting factor that prevents their career growth.So far, Talently has helped 800 engineers land better jobs at companies such as Paypal, Nubank, and Mercado Libre. And this year, the startup is set to help 4,000-5,000 professionals. According to Doménica, Talently is looking forward to becoming Latin America's largest talent marketplace.In this episode, I sat down with Doménica to talk about the experiences that helped her become the entrepreneur she is today. She shares how families in Latin America can improve their economy with education, and her experience pivoting her startup.Doménica's path across private, nonprofit, and public sectorsDoménica fell in love with startups while in university but took a different path. She worked at the Ministry of Education and then joined a friend to start an educational-focused NGO. She spent three years leading a team of 50 volunteers, as they taught digital skills to school teachers. Doménica decided to move on after realizing that working in the public sector and in an NGO didn't fit her fast-paced personality and hunger for impact.Learn more about why Doménica chose to become an entrepreneur in the Edtech industry in this Crossing Borders episode.A startup as a vehicle to deliver outsized impactAndi, an English learning platform, was Doménica's first startup. However, when she found that most of Andi's customers were trying to improve their English in order to get international positions and that half of them were software developers, she decided Andi would pivot into Talently, a platform that could take advantage of the tech boom in Latin America. In just 8 hours after launch, Talently received 100 applications. Listen to this Crossing Borders episode to understand how Doménica's primary goal was to build a product that created the most impact.Developing skills in tech professionals to upgrade their realityTalently's participants finish the program earning 2X more on average than before. In many cases, they end up multiplying their earnings up to 10x. This increase in their income causes a huge impact on families and communities of Talently's graduates. Sometimes, they earn more money than all of their family combined. Before, Doménica felt that her lack of English proficiency prevented her from achieving professional success. Once she mastered the English language, she found the drive to advance her career as she had always wanted. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders and learn why Doménica thinks it is essential to build tools for tech professionals to become confident about their careers, so they can change their lives.. Outline of this episode:[01:30] - About Talently .[01:54] - Talently's value proposition.[03:27] - Improving the income of tech professionals.[05:40] - Latin America as a tech talent hub.[06:41] - Doménica's background.[09:53] - The importance of English proficiency.[11:37] - Pros and cons of working in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.[15:00] - Lessons learned from past working experiences.[16:40] - The path to product-market fit.[19:14] - Pivoting, from Andi to Talently.[21:27] - A multi-country startup.[24:32] - Talently's impact in Latam.[26:25] - Advice for her younger self.[27:10] - Doménica's book recommendations.[27:45] - What's next for Talently?Resources & people mentioned:Doménica ObandoTalentlyAndiDaniel UndurragaCornershopStartSchool PerúEdtech program: Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation at MFANathan LustigWayra AcceleratorBook The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary

For this week on the Crossing Borders podcast, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Pedro Moura, Co-Founder, and CEO of Flourish Fi. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we didPedro Moura moved from Natal, Brazil to the US at a young age, overcoming many challenges while always trying to build a better future for himself, his family and his region. His perseverance and grit guided him to create a company that he is truly passionate about. In this episode of Crossing Borders, Pedro tells the story of his career path and how taking a risk on what he really believed in led him to found Flourish, a B2B SaaS company that empowers people to establish positive money habits. In this episode, I sat down with Pedro to discuss how he landed on the idea for Flourish, what companies can do to attract foreign talent, and how to think of a business from a global perspective.Finding a fit in financial inclusionPedro's story is truly inspirational. He moved to Northern California from Brazil when he was young, and his mother worked tirelessly for the family. Pedro attended UC Davis, studying Economics and International Relations, then venturing into Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley. However, he soon realized the position was not the best fit for him. After joining Opportun, a startup dedicated to making financial services more accessible, Pedro realized his passion for financial inclusion and decided to start Flourish. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Pedro's career path and what led him to Flourish. Attracting talent overseasA key part of Pedro's story was his decision to ‘cross a border' to build something great. With talent today more mobile than ever before, some countries are still more hesitant than others to recruit from out-of-country. Despite political immigration boundaries, the culture of international collaboration is healthy and thriving. Find out more about the opportunities that lie in hiring across borders in this episode of Crossing Borders.Chasing your passionWhile Pedro was still working at the bank, he saw a TV program that inspired him to learn more about companies that were driven by social issues: specifically, the disparity between the Latin American community and the world of financial services spoke to him. This experience sparked Pedro's curiosity and led him to Opportun and then to founding Flourish. Learn more about how Pedro discovered his passion in this episode of Crossing Borders.Pedro Moura's story is inspiring in more ways than one. Adapting to a new environment at a young age and thriving required perseverance and hard work. By following his passion, he took several career risks to serve the Latin American community. Join us to learn his story and what he is building at Flourish. Outline of this episode:[1:90] – About Flourish[3:35] – Pedro's move to the US[7:00] – Adapting to a new culture at a young age[8:30] – Advice on attracting talent[12:30] – From wealth management to Oportun[16:30] – Why starting a company was the natural next step[18:30] – How geography plays a part in the business[22:10] – What is Flourish's next step[23:20] – What advice would you offer your younger self?[25:30] – Where do you see Flourish 2 years from now?Resources & people mentioned:Pedro MouraFlourishBook: The Brain That Changes Itself

For this week on the Crossing Borders podcast, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Maricel Saenz, Founder, and CEO of Compound Foods.People continue to experience how global warming can have devastating effects on the world. Crop yields have already started to decline from rising temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns and extreme weather events. Climate change is threatening the future of many foods, and that includes coffee. This threat and her love for coffee inspired Maricel Saenz to launch Compound Foods, a food science company to reinvent coffee.Originally from Costa Rica, where coffee is ingrained in the national identity, Maricel wanted to dedicate her time and energy to creating solutions fighting climate change. Maricel left her first startup to create a product that could recreate coffee in a sustainable way. Coffee is one of the most consumed products in the world and it comes with a large water footprint. Maricel's idea for Compound Foods is to replicate the coffee experience with less environmental impact.In this episode, I sat down with Maricel to talk about Compound Food's mission in tackling climate change, her career in science without being a scientist, her journey of building a company at the start of the pandemic and the future of the coffee industry.I hope you enjoy this conversation with Maricel Saenz.From fighting bacterias to fighting climate changeMaricel shares why she left her first startup to start Compound Foods to fight climate change. Maricel's experience in biotechnology and her longing to impact the world positively were the catalyst to launch Compound Foods and ultimately, what happens on a coffee farm in the lab. Find out why Maricel decided to follow her passion to tackle climate change in this episode of Crossing Borders. If you want to learn more about Maricel's backstory, I talked to her in Episode 76 about the battle against drug resistant bacteria and the challenges of raising capital in Silicon Valley as a Latina entrepreneur. Drawing inspiration from natureResearch shows that 50% of the land we grow coffee on today may not be suitable for growing coffee in the future. A big chunk of coffee production could go away over the next few years due to environmental changes, for which Marciel believes we must take action and start producing coffee in an environmentally friendly way. Compound Food's draws inspiration from nature and relies heavily on the fermentation process to create a product that has the same chemical composition of coffee beans. The microbes play a key role in creating flavors and aromas, and are grown efficiently and in a scalable way.Check out this episode to learn more about why Maricel wants to make coffee without coffee beans!Changing the mindset around climate changeMaricel conveys an empowering message to go from climate anxiety to taking action. We can still do something significant about climate change and the environment. Technologies and companies are being built around climate change and people have the power to make big changes through simple choices, like buying a product that has less of an environmental impact. Listen to the rest of this episode to hear Maricel on changing the mindset and the advice she would give to her younger self. Coffee is one of the most consumed products on the planet and the way we produce it today has a high environmental impact. Solving this global problem is not easy and needs all hands on the (coffee) table. If this resonates with you, Compound Foods is on the lookout for more passionate team members to join the team. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to hear Maricel tell her story in her own words and her enthusiasm about creating a climate-resilient future, starting with your morning coffee. Outline of this episode:[01:06] - The backstory of creating coffee without coffee beans[02:30] - Why is coffee the perfect target?[03:28] - Why does coffee contribute to climate change?[04:10] - Why do we need to brew coffee without coffee beans?[05:10] - Two minute background on Maricel[06:05] - First startup experience[06:40] - Singularity University and meeting her first co-founder [07:10] - From fighting bacteria to fighting climate change[08:03] - Can we do something for climate change now?[08:40] - From climate anxiety to taking action[09:27] - How to take action fighting climate change[12:00] - Opening jobs at Compound Foods[13:05] - What does it take to build a company like Compound?[14:05] - From Costa Rica to the Bay Area[15:33] - Fundraising for a live product[16:25] - Thoughts on fundraising [17:35] - Why is Compound not a synthetic food company?[19:50] - What does the future look like?[21:05] - Next steps for Compound[22:09] - What advice would you give to yourself when you were first getting into tech?Resources & people mentioned:Sci-Fi Book: Seveneves by Neal StephensonNewsletter: SnaxshotPodcast: Crossing Borders

For this week on the Crossing Borders podcast, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Javier García, Director of FEMSA Ventures.Javier García knew that there were at least 50 ways of doing corporate venture capital the wrong way, which is why he took a couple of years to figure out how to do it right with FEMSA. Today, Javier is the Director of Corporate Venturing and Growth Capital at FEMSA's corporate venture capital fund. FEMSA is a publicly-traded conglomerate company that started out as a brewery and has produced popular brands like Dos Equis and Tecate. Founded in 1890, FEMSA has since branched out into other business verticals such as drugstores, gas stations, and restaurants, including OXXO, the largest chain of small-format stores in Mexico.I sat down with Javier to talk about his transition from consulting to working at FEMSA and getting involved with Latin America's venture capital ecosystem. We discuss innovation in corporations and Javier shares tips on how to collaborate with startups and large corporations.Getting a slice of the innovation pieAccording to Javier, FEMSA's venture capital arm started as a mission to collaborate with the most disruptive external sources of innovation. He started to learn about the different ways to approach this collaboration by investigating and conducting over 30 interviews with people involved in the corporate venture capital world. Choosing the right way was another challenge.Learn more about how Javier built an operational design for FEMSA to collaborate with the best startups on their business platform in this episode of Crossing Borders.Engaging with the ecosystem from a perspective of learningAfter studying mechanical engineering at university, Javier considered working in the aerospace industry as one of his potential paths. However, his first experience working for a consulting firm made him realize he liked problem-solving and that he wanted to be in a space where he would be closer to the execution of solutions and be continuously faced with learning opportunities. He explains that he found the ideal formula working with FEMSA and learning about Latam's venture capital ecosystem.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about how Javier got involved in Latam's venture capital ecosystem. A misalignment of incentivesCollaborating with a corporate venture capital fund can be very different from working with a traditional VC. Javier explains that there tends to be a misalignment of expectations between big corporations and entrepreneurs with regard to what actually happens at the startup. He sees this confusion during startup pitches where the entrepreneur prioritizes an investment over the actual collaboration.Find out more about Javier's recommendations for working with big corporations in this episode of the Crossing Borders podcast.Javier García is making amazing collaborations happen between startups and corporations through FEMSA's venture capital arm. His thirst for knowledge and his passion for problem-solving and execution are key to positioning corporate venture capital funds as attractive business partners.Outline of this episode:[1:41] - About FEMSA[7:30] - Mechanical engineering in Monterrey[11:55] - FEMSA's investment strategy[23:52] - Recommendations for working with big companies[29:38] - Lessons learned from collaborating with startups[36:24] - Advice to Javier's younger self[38:16] - Books, blogs, & podcast recommendations[42:11] - What's next for Javier and FEMSA ventures?Resources & people mentioned:FEMSAJavier GarcíaOXXODos EquisTecateBain & CompanyBooks: Masters of Corporate Venture Capital, Corporate Venturing, The Three-Body Problem, Atomic HabitsEp 26 Mak Gutierrez, Supporting Makers and Startups In Guadalajara

For this week on the Crossing Borders podcast, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Mariana Costa, CEO, and Co-founder of Laboratoria.Mariana Costa, founder of Laboratoria, a programming bootcamp for Latin American women, found a way to mix two worlds she was passionate about: technology and helping women. Originally from Peru, Mariana combines technology with social impact by running programming bootcamps for women from underserved backgrounds. The program seeks to prepare these women for a career in tech by placing them in jobs with a success rate of over 85%. Laboratoria started operating in Lima, but has since expanded to Santiago, Chile, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Sao Paulo. Laboratoria tackles both sides of the equation by propelling a digital and cultural transformation within the tech companies so that they will continue growing their teams, but with a lens of diversity and inclusion. In this episode, I sit down with Mariana and a third special guest, her two week old baby, to talk about how she got into tech with her background in social impact, and what it was like to be on a panel in Silicon Valley with Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg. We also cover her advice on building a non profit in Latin America, how companies can hire more women in tech, and Laboratoria's plans for expansion across Latin America. Becoming an Entrepreneur While getting her Master's degree in Public Administration and Development at Columbia University, Mariana and her husband, who is a programmer, decided to move back to Peru. Rodolfo, a friend from her Master's program, had also moved back to Peru at the time, and together they started brainstorming on what could be done in their home country. It was clear from the team composition that it would be something on the social impact route combined with technology.Before Laboratoria, Mariana and her team went through many ideas that didn't get off the ground, and in that process stumbled upon a problem in the tech industry: the lack of female software developers. Learn more about how Laboratoria challenged the status quo on this episode of Crossing Borders.“We were really lean” Mariana recalls Laboratoria's beginnings: running a pilot with 15 students, and being amazed by the interest that several companies expressed in hiring female developers. Although it was a very low cost pilot due to their limited budget, it was the validation they needed to realize that their program had growth potential. A better understanding of the market also taught them when to be aggressive, and when to be more cautious in Laboratoria's growth. Learn more about Laboratoria's impact on the tech industry on this episode of Crossing Borders. Advice for hiring women in tech Part of what Laboratoria does is work with companies to diversify their pipeline, a process which requires open minds and policies. Mariana explains that companies need to change their prerequisites and make an additional effort to recruit outside of the traditional universities in places like Laboratoria to include more women in their pool of candidates. Find out what companies can do to have more diversity and inclusion in their hiring processes on this episode. Mariana Costa is creating digital and cultural transformation in Latin America's tech industry through her work with Laboratoria. She is helping women from low-income backgrounds unleash their full potential and overcome structural and societal barriers. Teams that are built with a lens of diversity and inclusion can make Latin America's digital economy grow more quickly.Outline of this episode:[1:35] - About Laboratoria[3:45] - Becoming entrepreneurs in Latin America[7:01] - A picture Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg[9:28] - Laboratoria's success rate[11:59] - Choosing the tech path[13:54] - What did you do before you saw that weird screen of code?[15:31] - Biggest lessons you learned from working in social impact[17:48] - Finding a market for Laboratoria[19:35] - Thoughts on international expansion[22:51] - Raising money for Colombia[25:54] - Strategies for hiring more women in tech[29:18] - Advice to Mariana's younger self[30:50] - Books, blogs, and podcasts Mariana recommends[32:30] - What's next for Mariana and Laboratoria?Resources Mentioned: LaboratoriaThe Lean Startup - Eric RiesMasters of Scale - Ried HoffmanHow I Built This - Guy Raz

For this week's episode of Crossing Borders, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Santiago Aparicio, CEO, and Co-founder of Ontop.The future of work is going to be remote and decentralized, according to Santiago Aparicio, Co-Founder and CEO of Ontop, a payroll software startup that allows companies to legally hire and pay anyone in the world. Santiago is a serial entrepreneur and sales passionate who believes in the influence of developing markets in defining the future of work. After long nights working on Excel sheets back in his banking days, Santiago decided he wanted a change. He reached out to Felipe Villamarin, co-founder at Rappi, and joined the team as its seventh employee, which really helped him to become an entrepreneur.I sat down with Santiago to talk about his experience as an entrepreneur, while Santiago shared the story of Ontop and their meteoric growth in their first fifteen months (actively operating in over 190 countries, transacting over $2M per month).Fundraising and starting his first two companiesFor Santiago, the next frontier as a salesperson was fundraising, which pushed him to build his first company, Fitpal, a fitness and wellness platform for gyms in Latin America. But after Covid hit, Santiago and his cofounder decided to launch a second company, this time focusing on something becoming increasingly popular: remote working.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn how Ontop raised its initial money from founders of all over the region.Building a sales engine for high growthSantiago shares why the best salespeople are the ones that focus on the input instead of the output, and how finding the most predictable metrics in the sales funnel are the first steps to create a replicable process that allows a company to grow internationally.Find out about Santiago's advice on productizing a sales engine, how to hit network effect, and why you should focus on building something small instead of building something huge in this episode of Crossing BordersBiggest lessons as an entrepreneurSantiago offers advice on being kind, passing the ball to the team and being in constant pursuit of the best talent for Ontop. We also discuss the importance of staying grounded and not letting fame get in the way of creating a product that people will really love.Check out Santiago's story in this episode of Crossing Borders and find out why you should exercise kindness and the importance of having uncomfortable conversations within a company.Outline of this episode:[02:18] - About Ontop[02:39] - Top line metrics from Ontop[02:39] - Santiago's background[04:53] - On joining Rappi[07:05] - Launching Fitpal[08:48] - Santiago's biggest lessons[13:54] - Coming up with the idea for Ontop[14:23] - Fundraising for Ontop[17:13] - The crazy world of fundraising[18:42] - On building a sales engine[19:14] - The best salesman (or woman)[21:00] - Predictable metrics[23:52] - The big milestones[27:33] - Being famous is not being successful[28:13] - Advice for a younger Santiago[31:06] - How to hit network effects[32:48] - The importance of hard conversations[34:11] - The future of work Resources & people mentioned:Santiago AparicioFitpalOntopMeasure What Matters by John Doerr - BookThe Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben HorowitzRadical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott

Alejandro Gálvez was an early Mexican angel investor and now is Managing Partner of 99 Startups, a venture capital firm that invests in Latin American pre-seed and seed stage companies. After studying law, Alejandro's first step into the tech world was learning to code. However, it was networking, angel investing in great founders, and attending events like YC Demo Day that took Alejandro from coding to creating his fund.In this episode of Crossing Borders, Alejandro talks about his podcast Fundadores, the differences between angel investing and fund investing, starting small for long-term success, and 99 Startups' investment thesis.Starting as an angel investor in 2016 Mexico2016 was a turning point in Alejandro's life as it was the year he started investing in Latin American startups. Although he started his career pre-technology investing in real estate, he moved into tech as an LP in funds like 500 startups, Investo and Magma. As he learned from fund managers and entrepreneurs, Alejandro used what he learned to start his own fund.Listen to this episode to discover how Alejandro decided to create his fund after several years of angel investing.The Compound EffectAlejandro's approach to life and 99 Startups' investment thesis are similar: take small, smart steps for bigger returns in the long run.Alejandro believes that you can master something over the long term by taking small steps and practicing daily. As he says, he likes to make long-term bets and build long-term things with long-term people.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn why 99 Startups' thesis is to stay small and get bigger returns.Outline of this episode:[01:30] - About 99 Startups[01:45] - Alejandro's background[02:45] - Investing in real estate [03:43] - From tech enthusiast to angel investor[06:00] - Networking[07:18] - Angel investing versus fund investing[08:54] - Why did Alejandro start a fund?[10:20] - Alejandro's podcast Fundadores[11:12] - Biggest lessons from producing a podcast[12:50] - 99 Startups' thesis[14:46] - Reaching out to 99 Startups[15:14] - Advice to younger self [15:53] - Book and documentary recommendations [17:00] - What's next for 99 Startups? Resources & people mentioned:Alejandro Gálvez99 StartupsPodcast Fundadores500 StartupsInvestoJosé VielmaSantiago ZavalaMiguel McAllisterKaszekAndreseen HorowitzNowportsBook Atomic HabitDocumentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Cristobal Perdomo is cofounder and General Partner at Wollef, a Latin American VC firm. Five years ago, I sat down with Cristobal to talk about Latin American venture capital in what turned into Episode 34 of Crossing Borders, where we covered the state of play of VC in 2018. Listen to our conversation for an update into what's changed since our last sit down.After getting an MBA and working in consulting in Brazil, Cristobal realized that there was a big opportunity to fund Latin American startups, especially in Argentina and Mexico. In that episode, Cristobal shares advice for managing a business in multiple countries, investing in startups across LatAm and tips for managing teams across borders.Five years after that conversation, I sat again with Cristobal to discuss what's changed in Latin America's VC ecosystem in the last five years.Changes in LatAm's startup ecosystemIn this episode, Cristobal shares his take on how Latin America's startup ecosystem is improving, with more and better quality investors and founders. In conversation, he talks about the tourist capital and the tourist founders, the ups and downs of taking money from governments and the changes in Wollef's thesis from fund to fund.Lessons learned investing in Latin AmericaCristobal shares his thoughts on talent, investing in great founders and in investing in great teams. Cristobal invests a lot of his time trying to understand if the founders will be able to acquire and retain top talent to help them build their businesses.Listen to this episode to know more about what has changed for Wollef from fund 1 to fund 3, which LatAm country is the most interesting for investments today and all about Cristobal's new podcast Indie vs. Unicorn.Outline of this episode:[00:31] - Introduction to Cristobal[00:31] - Cristobal's quick overview of changes in the ecosystem in the past five years[04:34] - Thoughts on tourist capital and tourist entrepreneurs[06:54] - Wollef's evolution as a VC fund[12:10] - Changes in Wollef from fund 1 to fund 3[14:58] - Lessons learned from fund to fund[18:40] - The most interesting countries to invest in right now[21:41] - Thoughts on Colombia and the entrepreneur's mindset[29:23] - Technology's role in economic development[30:09] - Cristobal's opinion on web3 and crypto[33:12] - Documentaries and podcast recommendations[34:37] - Advice to a younger Cristobal[36:41] - Indie vs Unicornio, Cristobal's new podcastResources:Cristobal PerdomoCrossing Borders Ep 34 with Cristobal Perdomo WollefDocumentary: Something VenturedDocumentary: General MagicPodcast: Indie vs Unicornio

Cars and motorcycles are the most valuable assets for many Latin American families. People use them to access better opportunities and open income streams. Colombian fintech R5 solves a major pain point for vehicle owners by offering low-cost, fast, and fair insurance and loans for vehicles. Its mission is to help vehicle owners save money. Originally from Venezuela, Fernando Sucre, R5's cofounder, was building a career in finance in the UK before moving to Colombia. Fernando used his banking experience to create a financial product that is improving the financial health of Colombians.In this episode, I sat down with Fernando to discuss the lessons he learned from building tech businesses in Colombia, his path as an entrepreneur, hiring tech talent, and R5's business model.Starting a tech company in 2011 ColombiaIn 2011, Fernando founded ComparaMejor.com in Colombia, which became one of the country's leading insurance comparison websites. In 2018 ComparaOnline, the leading insurance comparison website in Latin America, acquired the company.2011 Colombia was not the ideal place to start a tech business. When building ComparaMejor, Fernando lacked money and access to venture capital, and found it difficult to hire talent. In this episode, Fernando shares the lessons he learned from building ComparaMejor in 2011 and R5 in 2018.R5's business modelR5's business model is unique because it combines insurance and lending. R5 uses technology and algorithms to cross-sell by offering loans to clients who buy insurance and vice versa, thereby lowering pricesTraditional insurance companies often use very basic pricing methods. Instead, R5 built a pricing algorithm to provide better prices to customers. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to discover how R5 combined timing, artificial intelligence, and TV ads to become a successful business in 6 months.Outline of this episode:[01:10] - About R5[01:37] - Insurance and lending for vehicles in Colombia[03:07] - Fernando's background[03:50] - Steps that Fernando took to start his own business[07:50] - Fernando's decision to move to Colombia[09:22] - About ComparaMejor[10:32] - Starting a tech company in 2011 in Colombia[13:37] - From R5's idea to creating a business[16:41] - How R5 became the business it is today[19:29] - Special characteristics of the Colombian lending and insurance market[21:08] - Advice to younger self[22:34] - Book and podcast recommendations[24:25] - What's next for R5People & resources mentioned:Fernando SucreR5ComparaMejorComparaOnlineBooksPrinciples: Life and Work by Ray DalioPoor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. MungerThe Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and HappinessPodcast The Knowledge Project

Only one inf ten Mexicans has access to a credit card. Many people have monthly incomes that are too low for traditional banks, or they are part of the 55% of Mexicans who form the informal, cash-based economy.Vexi helps Mexicans get their first credit cards by analyzing data that banks don't in order to issue credit. Users can build credit by using credit responsibly and paying off their bills each month. Vexi pairs this credit card with financial education to help people learn how to use their new credit cards.In this episode I sat down with Cinthia Merlos, Vexi's cofounder and Chief Product Office to talk about Mexico's financial system and lessons learned on her journey as an entrepreneur.Taking a leap of faithCinthia had to learn from early on how to overcome challenges with the tools she had. Although she didn't have the money to attend a top Mexican university, she was able to get a scholarship and a job to pay her way through university. . After graduating she landed a job at large company and worked her way quickly up the corporate ladder.Like most entrepreneurs, Cinthia wasn't happy with the status quo and the way business was being done in Mexico. So, she took a leap of faith into entrepreneurship to help solve a problem she knew well: access to credit. In conversation, Cinthia tells us more about her entrepreneurial journey and her motivation behind developing Vexi'sl product.The importance of listening to your customersVexi is a starting point for many Mexicans that are starting to build their credit history. To create a product people use and need, Cinthia invests a lot of her time talking to Vexi's clients. Listen to this episode to know how Vexi improves the lives of Mexicans by providing access to affordable credit and helps thousands of people build a strong financial future.Outline of this episode:[01:18]: About Vexi[03:53]: Cinthia's background[06:64]: Cinthia's motivations[07:51]: Breaking into the entrepreneurial world[09:21]: Lessons learned from her corporate career[11:23]: Best thing of building Vexi as a business[12:15]: Where is Vexi heading to[13:36]: How are people using their credit card[16:06]: Cinthia's books and podcasts recommendationsResources:Cinthia MerlosVexiPodcast: Cracks with Oso TravaBook: The Analyst by John KatzenbachBook: Azteca by Gary JenningsBook: Becoming by Michelle ObamaBook: Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

Twenty years ago, if you wanted to start a mobile telecom company, you had to either buy an existing company or build out extremely expensive infrastructure. Now, Oxio allows you to spin up your personalized, cloud-based mobile service in minutes using a simple API.In this episode, I sat down with Nicolas Girard, founder and CEO of Oxio, the first telecom as-a-service platform that allows companies to offer their own telecom service about the platform as a service revolution that Oxio is leading. Lessons learned working in government and starting startupsNicolas' first work experience was with the French government doing network security. After that he transitioned to research and fell in love with the telecom and wireless networks, where one of the byproducts of his research became his first company.In this episode of Crossing Borders, Nicolas walks us through his journey from working for the French government to becoming an entrepreneur. He also shares his motivation for starting Oxio and some of the lessons learned dealing with the first tech bubble and the 2008 financial crisis. Communication without cablesIt might sound strange now, but 20 years ago people used Ethernet cables to connect to the Internet. When Nicolast first saw wireless communication, he was fascinated, which led him to dig deeper into the telecommunications industry.Nicolas thought mobile connectivity was too expensive. In some markets one gigabyte of data costs the average wages of a full week's work, making many people unable to be digital participants in the economy. In order to solve this problem, Nicolas' idea was to build a global platform that became Oxio.In this episode, Nicolas shares his vision on building Oxio and the importance of understanding your customer and the market by collecting data to create a personalized experience.Bringing connectivity in Latin AmericaNicolas' business experience in LatAm made him realize the disparity of mobile operators in the region, and chose it as the best place to launch Oxio to improve connectivity in Latin America and create an experience that users want.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about why Nicolas chose Latin America to launch Oxio, how crypto and web3 decentralized technology apply to telecom, and the importance of diversity in the workplace.Outline of this episode:[00:01] - Introduction to this episode[01:20] - About Oxio[03:23] - From working for the government to entrepreneurship[05:51] - Wireless communication[07:43] - Biggest lessons from working for the government[10:49] - Biggest lessons learned from the financial crisis[14:37] - How Oxio came to be[16:22] - The affordability of mobile connectivity[19:07] - About Brand IQ[22:29] - Why is Latinamerica a great place to invest?[26:43] - How crypto and Web3 apply to telecom[33:15] - Advice to a young NicolasResources and people mentioned:Nicolas GirardOxioBook: The Five Dysfunctions of a TeamReid Hoffman podcast: Masters of ScaleAndreessen Horowitz Articles

Before Divibank, small and medium enterprises in Brazil only had two financing options: getting debt from a bank or raising venture capital. But most startups don't meet bank financing requirements, and not every company can raise VC or wants to raise VC. Divibank provides a third alternative for startups and SMEs: revenue-based financing. Divibank launched in 2020 by financing digital marketing campaigns via a revenue share model. Since then, Divibank has launched other products including inventory financing and recurring revenue financing.In this episode, I sat down with Rebecca Fischer, Divibank's CPO and cofounder to talk about what she learned from working on digital marketing campaigns for huge brands, how she got Divibank off the ground, and how Divibank provides a better financing alternative for entrepreneurs in Brazil.The overlooked potential of ad spendBefore starting Divibank, Rebecca worked for an advertising agency where she helped companies grow via paid digital ads. Clients invested huge amounts of money in their digital marketing campaigns, and the returns were great. During her time running ad campaigns, Rebecca discovered two things that kickstarted the idea for Divibank: ad spend was a real asset class that could be an alternative to VC funding, and many people weren't taking their ad spend as seriously as she thought they should be. Listen to this episode to discover how Rebecca found an opportunity to provide financing for entrepreneurs to scale through digital marketing campaigns.Non-dilutive capital to extend entrepreneurs' runwaysDivibank provides financing for founders who don't want to dilute themselves through venture capital and want access to capital to scale their businesses.The startup's clients are usually digitally native companies that know what their revenue will look like in the short term. They are looking for financing, but they are not ready yet to split the pie with many other shareholders. Divibank gives them the freedom to choose whether to raise VC money or keep growing with non-dilutive capital.Check out this episode to find out how Divibank is helping founders in Brazil extend their runways and raise when they're at a higher valuation. Outline of this episode:[01:10] - About Divibank[01:42] - What financing looks like for SMEs in Brazil[03:40] - Divibank's average client[05:10] - Rebecca's background[06:00] - Lessons learned from working in advertising agencies[08:08] - ABC of non-dilutive financing [11:30] - Divibank's zero to one[12:58] - Divibank's first steps[14:43] - Divibank's experience with fundraising[16:30] - Where is Divibank today[17:49] - Rebecca's book recommendations[19:21] - Rebecca's advice to a younger self[20:10] - What's next for DivibankResources and people mentioned:Rebecca FischerDivibankKenshooNubankJaime TaboadaBook Piranesi by Susanna ClarkePodcast Fintech Leaders

Argentina has the most US dollars in circulation of any country after the US. Argentina's high inflation rate, currency controls, and multiple devaluations make it difficult for people to plan for their future. Saving is hard, and many people don't have the tools to save efficiently. Manuel Beaudroit is co-founder and CEO of Belo, a digital wallet that helps Latin Americans plan for their financial futures by saving and spending in both fiat and crypto.Manuel started out studying biology, worked at Accenture, and then created multiple businesses, including a brand of customized USB flash drives, before starting Belo. In this episode of Crossing Borders, I sat down with Manuel to talk about Belo, his thoughts on entrepreneurship in Argentina, and how Belo is solving a pressing financial problem. We also talk about the misunderstandings surrounding cryptocurrencies.Why can it be hard to save money in Latin America?Inflation in Argentina is approximately 60-70% per year, and for many years acquiring US dollars was the most efficient way to save money. At the same time, government regulations and currency devaluation made it increasingly complex for people to buy US dollars. In this episode, Manuel explains why crypto is becoming popular among Argentines and other Latin Americans and why many are eager to try new financial technologies.Transforming people's perceptions of cryptocurrencyRetail-oriented cryptocurrency products are often built with complex technologies. Sometimes they mimic Wall Street dynamics, but very few people understand how to trade stocks without losing lots of money. Complex user experiences won't work. Manuel finds that the cryptocurrency industry insists on talking about the technology that surrounds it. Instead, he believes it should focus on discussing the problems it can solve. In this episode, Manuel shares why one of Belo's main features is its simplicity and accessibility.Outline of this episode:[01:20] - About Belo[01:59] - What does inflation look like in Latin America versus the U.S.?[04:30] - Manuel's background[06:00] - Previous ventures before Belo[10:27] - Why is bitcoin popular in Argentina?[13:25] - Why Manuel started Belo instead of anything else[16:30] - How clients use Belo[19:43] - How will Belo's use cases and products evolve?[23:11] - Misunderstandings of crypto and Web3[25:56] - Book recommendations[26:45] - Advice to younger self[28:20] - What's next for BeloResources and people mentioned:Manuel BeaudroitBeloBitexAccentureBooksBuild: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making by Tony FadellTechnological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages by Carlota Pérez

Laura Martínez is a Senior Investment Analyst at Magma Partners, and she joined the team in 2021. Previously, she spent two years at Mastercard, where she helped launch an in-house accelerator program and fell in love with startups. In this episode, we went through Magma's investment process, what Magma looks for in startups, and Laura's experience working as an Investment Analyst. How to get funded by Magma PartnersMagma invests in Latin American startups solving the region's biggest problems. The best way to get in touch is by creating a Magma Memo, which explains what your business does in detail, why you wanted to start your business, and gives our team enough information to decide if it may fit our thesis. Next, Magma analysts like Laura review your memo to either provide feedback, ask for additional information, schedule a call, or let you know it doesn't fit our investment thesis. As Laura explains, it is essential to provide clear and specific information to help us give you feedback as fast as possible and get you money as quickly as possible if it's a fit for our thesis. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn about Laura's advice for startups that want to apply for Magma's funding.Why Magma looks for founder market fitLaura reflected on why founder market fit is important to Magma: why are you the best person to solve the problem you're trying to solve? Why do you care about this problem? Will you keep executing even after it gets hard?For example, Magma's portfolio company Kushki's four founders had deep payments industry experience before starting the company. And Maribel Domínguez, founder and CEO of Círculo de Belleza, had already spent nearly 10 years in the beauty industry.Check out this episode to find out why Laura believes founder-market fit is key to building a successful business.Laura's experience as a Magma AnalystLaura thinks of her job as an opportunity to help unleash the potential startups have to create groundbreaking technology. And in many cases, the products they build can be life-changing for people in Latin America.In this Crossing Borders episode, Laura shares what she likes most about working at Magma. She also talked about what the fund is looking for in candidates that apply to Magma's open positions.Outline of this episode:[01:30] - Laura's background[02:56] - Making the jump from corporate to the startup world[04:02] - Why she decided to work in the startup ecosystem[05:35] - Steps Magma takes towards an investment[07:20] - Advice for filling out Magma's Memo[09:45] - What a first call with Magma Analysts looks like[11:37] - Founder market fit[14:30] - The decision to make an investment[15:20] - Processes after investing in a startup[18:34] - What does an Investment Analyst do day to day[22:22] - Advice to herself when starting her journey at Magma[23:24] - Laura's favorite things about working at Magma[24:53] - Book and podcast recommendationsResources and people mentioned:Laura MartínezNathan LustigMagma PartnersKushkiCírculo de BellezaMaribel DomínguezThe Magma MemoAlexa ClarkPedro Pablo del CampoBook The Startup Nation

Gregorio Gilardini is the co-founder and CEO of Leasy, a Peru and Mexico-based startup that provides car financing for Latin Americans. Starting with ride-hailing drivers, Leasy is helping drivers who have good credit and income but that banks won't lend to.In this episode, Gregorio shares his experience as an Italian living and creating a business in Peru and what it's like to raise money and build a business starting outside of Mexico and Brazil.Lessons learned by an Italian doing business in Latin AmericaOriginally from Italy, Gregorio studied in England before moving to Peru. He didn't like his work as an intern in corporate banking, which confirmed that he wanted to follow his family's entrepreneurial mindset and start his own business. Eventually, family ties led him to apply for an investment job at a family office in Peru. In this episode of Crossing Borders, Gregorio shares how he decided to move to Peru and talks about the different businesses he built and the lessons he learned before creating Leasy.Starting with ride-hailing drivers as a wedge to open the marketAs a frequent user of ride-hailing services in Peru, Gregorio noticed that many drivers rented their cars because they could not access credit to buy one. These interactions sparked the idea for Leasy. In Latin America, ride-hailing drivers can generate up to four times the average salary, but because they have no fixed contract, they cannot access traditional financing.Gregorio shared the main differences between Latin America and the US ride-hailing markets and explained why Leasy's model is working in Latin America.Fundraising in Peru, a “non-sexy” country for VCsGregorio describes fundraising in Peru as a double-edged sword. There is little competition, which helped Leasy scale quickly. But the limited access to local venture capital made it particularly hard to start the journey. Gregorio explains that it took an enormous amount of time just to get someone to finance the cars. Leasy had to prove to VCs that their milestones were achievable and that they would scale to larger markets quickly.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn about Gregorio's advice on how to raise money in Latin America when your business is not based in Mexico or Brazil.Outline of this episode:[01:19] - About Leasy[01:46] - Why Leasy's model makes sense in Latin America[04:32] - Financing for ride-hailing drivers in the U.S. versus LatAm[09:49] - Gregorio's background[12:15] - How did Gregorio end up in Peru?[13:33] - Why Gregorio decided to build Leasy[17:33] - Lessons learned from entrepreneurial experiments pre-Leasy[19:40] - Steps to build and grow Leasy[23:35] - Fundraising in Peru[27:06] - Advice on the fundraising process[32:16] - Books and podcast recommendations[34:48] - Advice to younger self[36:5] - What's next for LeasyResources & people mentioned:Gregorio GilardiniLeasyFairCredit SuissePodcast How I built this by NPRBook Moonwalking with Einstein

Almost two-thirds of consumers ages 18 to 40 say ads are disruptive and annoying, while 54% say they don't spend any time watching television with advertising, according to a study by Marketing Dive. The survey found that 73% of younger consumers trust product reviews from “a person that seems like them,” while 62% trust the recommendations of people who follow the same creators. This yearning for authenticity makes influencer marketing an important tool for brands that seek to cut through ad clutter. 50 million creators advertise products worldwide and more brands are shifting from hiring big creators with huge audiences, to finding micro and nano influencers to target niche products and advertise their products in a more organic way.In this episode I sat down with Alessandra Angelini, CEO and cofounder of Influur, a marketplace that makes it easy for brands and influencers to connect and work together, to talk about influencer marketing, the latest marketing trends and how brands can benefit from working with influencers.From news to social media entrepreneurBefore becoming an entrepreneur, Alessandra worked at CNN alongside her now cofounder Paola Coleman as part of the breaking news team. They were both used to contacting presidents, heads of state and various public figures without difficulty so that they could be interviewed on CNN programs. However, both were surprised to realize that it was not so easy to contact influencers. For the duo, it was an "aha!" moment. In the creative world, influencers don't have LinkedIn or a professional platform to monetize their work. This realization led Alessandra to join forces with her cofounders and take the leap to launch a platform that would allow brands and influencers to easily connect and monetize their collaborations. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to find out how the four Influur cofounders met, and how they went from an idea to building a working marketplace for the creator economy.When your customers become your investorsFundraising is fundamentally a relationship game, and to Alessandra, a personal one. She is building a community and looks for investors who not only want to generate a financial return, but also add real value to her company. Some of Influur's own customers - the influencers - became some of their first investors. Talk about the perfect brand ambassadors!Although Influur is changing the way influencers make money and the way new creators can grow on social media, brands are the ones having their own "aha!" moments with the realization that partnering with influencers has a stronger ROI than paid ads. Listen to this episode to find out how Alessandra started her fundraising journey from doing a spreadsheet to having top celebrities like Sofia Vergara and Thalia in the investment team.Outline of this episode[01:10] - Introduction to Alessandra[01:29] - About Influur[02:17] - The world of influencers[04:36] - Alessandra's background[07:06] - Meeting her co founders[08:04] - Finding a problem[12:28] - From idea to launching a startup[13:55] - Fundraising[19:47] - Why should brands invest in influencer marketing?[23:10] - Alessandra's favorites podcasts and books[24:27] - Advice to a younger AlessandraResources and people mentioned:Alessandra AngeliniValeria AngeliniPaola ColemanFefi OliveiraInfluurHoward Schultz MasterclassBob Iger MasterclassSara Blakely MasterclassZero to One by Peter ThielThe Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

As an intern at a law firm, Juan hated parking in cash-only parking lots. After having to go to the ATM or getting countless parking tickets, he thought there had to be a better way. In 2016, Parco was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and has since expanded into 28 cities across the country. Parco allows parking lot operators to install a software system to their existing parking systems for consumers to pay using a credit card via the Parco app. Users can also pay for parking tickets and get information about their driving history. In this episode, we discuss how Parco is changing how the parking business operates and improving people's lives across Latin America. We talk about his journey from working at a law firm to becoming a full-time tech entrepreneur and how the pandemic accelerated the company's growth. From law firm employee to full-time entrepreneurJuan knew nothing about the tech business world when he started Parco, but he did know a problem when he saw one. Juan drove a car to run errands for his job at a law firm in Guadalajara, and parking was a nightmare because parking lots only accepted cash. After a few costly parking tickets, Juan pitched the Parco idea to his boss, who thought it was a great idea and said he was willing to invest. In this episode of Crossing Borders, Juan talks us through his experience creating a company with zero experience to building a startup that plans to scale to multiple Latin American countries.Creating an easy and transparent way for people to pay for parking in Latin America Before Parco, parking meant long lines, carrying cash, or walking to an ATM to take out cash if you didn't have any with you. Today, Parco allows people to pay for their parking via an app, which is 10x better than waiting in line or running back into a mall to search for an ATM.Parco also generates user demographics and data for operators to understand how users behave and how often they park while providing transparency and safety.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about how Parco provides more revenue to parking operators and why they chose to be a software vendor instead of hardware.Scaling Parco in Mexico during the pandemicThe pandemic was a before and after for Parco. Before the pandemic, Parco had only launched in 8 cities. Since then, the Parco team launched 20 more cities remotely.The pandemic not only accelerated the parking industry's digitization but also changed the way Parco interacts with customers. The app quickly transitioned from an added value to a necessity. In this episode, Juan shares with us how the pandemic became a milestone for Parco because of how they learned to scale and expand. Outline of this episode:[01:20] - What problem does Parco solve?[05:08] - Juan's background[07:15] - Creating a company with zero experience[09:45] - Parco's geographic expansion[12:07] - Covid-19's effect on Parco[15:26] - Choosing to be a software vendor[16:48] - Planning for a LatAm expansion[18:23] - Parco as an operating system[20:30] - Data analytics for operators[23:48] - Advice for a younger Juan[24:55] - Book recommendations[26:25] - Parco's plans for the futureResources & People mentioned:Juan José LeañoNathan LustigParcoBooksThe Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric JorgensonHow to make friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie

Alexa Clark is an Associate at Magma Partners, an early-stage venture capital fund based in Latin America. After working for four years at an accelerator in Guadalajara, Mexico, Alexa joined the Magma team as an Investment Analyst and worked her way up to Associate. Although she majored in International Relations, she pivoted to the startup world to create more impact in Latin America. In this episode, Alexa talks about her unconventional path toward venture capital, explains what are some red and green flags when she meets startups, and shares lessons learned from her time in venture capital.Patience is key to being a successful venture investorLearning to be patient is crucial because VC is a no business. 99 times out of 100, investors have to tell founders they won't invest in their startup. Getting comfortable staying no is one of the first steps to being a successful investor.According to Alexa, trusting your gut and being proactive is essential. FOMO, or the Fear Of Missing Out, is a strong force in this industry, but good investors must overcome this fear and avoid investing in trends just because everyone else is doing it.In this episode, Alexa shares her experience investing in early stage Latin American startups.Investor's advice to early stage foundersAlexa believes that simple storytelling is better than using complicated jargon. Investors want to understand why a team is trying to solve a particular problem, how they think about the problem, and why they will be successful in solving it.Alexa sometimes meets founders that get carried away trying to create FOMO or try to fit a problem into a business model or technology instead of explaining the problem and solution clearly. Alexa doesn't expect early-stage startups to have everything figured out. Be honest about your numbers and answer questions directly.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to get more tips on how to talk to VCs.Which industries drive the most impact?Alexa decided to pivot to the startup world because she thought she could make a bigger impact helping founders solve Latin America's biggest problems than via international relations. Founders that solve big problems can impact millions or hundreds of millions of Latin Americans.Listen to this episode to discover why startups make Alexa feel hopeful about Latin America's future.Outline of this episode:[01:23] - The day-to-day as an Investment Analyst[02:16] - Alexa's background[04:18] - Working at a startup accelerator[05:28] - Starting at Magma Partners[06:28] - Alexa's evolution as an Investment Analyst[09:28] - Do's and Don'ts for founders [11:24] - Red flags when meeting startups[14:51] - What's interesting about tech in LatAm?[16:46] - What does Magma look for in candidates for Investment Analyst positions?[19:50] - Advice to younger self[21:53] - Alexa's favorite things about working at Magma[23:37] - Book recommendationsResources and people mentioned:Alexa ClarkNathan LustigMagma PartnersBooks:A room of one's own by Virginia WoolfA gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Two months ago HR tech startup Revelo acquired Listopro, a Mexican tech talent marketplace. In this episode, I interviewed the founders of both companies: Lucas Mendes (Revelo) and Giuseppe Belpiede (Listopro). Together, these startups have more than 300,000 tech professionals and are the largest platform for US companies to hire Latin American talent.Lucas, Revelo's cofounder, is Brazilian and previously started a beauty e-commerce company which was backed by Tiger Global and Kaszek. Originally from Italy, Giuseppe cofounded Rocket Internet startups like as Linio and worked at Foodpanda. In this episode of Crossing Borders Lucas and Giuseppe discuss building HR tech businesses in Latin America, share insights about why they decided to work together, and share fundraising advice for startups.The impact of Covid-19 on the remote tech talent industryGiuseppe and Lucas founded their startups before the Covid-19 pandemic transformed the talent market globally. Revelo helps companies find, screen, source, and onboard remote Latin American tech workers and Listopro is a marketplace that helps companies hire tech talent in Mexico. The pandemic was a tailwind for both businesses, and Revelo grew seven times since 2020.Listen to this episode to learn how Listopro and Revelo are solving one of the biggest bottlenecks for companies: hiring high quality tech talent.Why Revelo Acquired Listopro and Listopro said yesThe Covid-19 pandemic attracted more US companies to Revelo's services, which led them to. setup headquarters in Miami, as 80% of its business is in the US. As they expanded, Revelo decided they should find top talent across Latin America, not just in Brazil and started looking for opportunities to expand in Latin America. After getting to know each other,Revelo decided that acquiring Listopro's was the best way to expand, and Listopro was fully onboard with the Revelo mission. for expansion. They believe they will grow faster together than separately.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to understand how these startups are well positioned to connect the Americas through remote tech work.Fundraising advice for entrepreneursLucas and Giuseppe have impressive track records as entrepreneurs and have raised venture capital for multiple businesses at different times in the VC cycle. In this episode, they shared advice on how to approach fundraising and explained why persistence can pay off, consistency is key and discussed how investors make decisions based on trust. Find out more about their recommendations in this episode of Crossing Borders.Outline of this episode:[01:50] - About Listopro[03:50] - About Revelo[08:30] - Lucas' background[12:42] - Giuseppe's background[16:55] - Giuseppe as part of Linio, Rocket Internet and LSE's mafia[19:52] - Lucas' decision to pivot to HR in tech[22:41] - Lessons learned by Lucas with his first startup[25:09] - Advice from Lucas on fundraising[28:18] - What's wrong with incentives in VC[30:55] - Giuseppe on fundraising for Listopro[34:10] - Revelo's expansion outside Brazil[36:59] - Acquisition deal between Revelo and Listopro[40:50] - Book and podcast recommendations by Lucas[41:45] - Book and podcast recommendations by Giuseppe[43:00] - Giuseppe's advice to younger self[44:55] - Lucas' advice to younger self[47:23] - What's next for Revelo and ListoproResources and people mentioned:Giuseppe Belpiede ListoproLucas Mendes ReveloRocket InternetLinioFoodpandaLondon School of EconomicsBeleza na WebTiger GlobalKaszekMagma PartnersBooks/Blogs/PodcastsThe Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday Ego is the Enemy by Ryan HolidayPlatform Scale: How an emerging business model helps startups build large empires with minimum investment by Sangeet Paul ChoudaryWhy We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew WalkerSteve Blank blogNFX blogPaul Graham blogOpen by Andre Agassi

There are nine million motorcycles in Colombia, a country of 60M compared to eight million in the US, a country seven times larger, and Brazilians own 14+ million motorcycles. In Latin America, motorcycles are not transportation, they're also a work vehicle for delivery and courier workers.Freelancers who work for delivery apps like Rappi, Uber and Didi use motorcycles and bicycles to make deliveries, but gig workers make ~50% more money if they have a motorcycle, because they can make deliveries faster and fulfill more orders per day.I sat down with Daniel Otero to talk about how he is tackling financial inclusion via his company Ozon, a platform that finances motorcycles for gig workers and couriers in Latin America. We also discussed his entrepreneurial journey, the growth of Latin America's Motorcycle market, the advantages and disadvantages of running a multi-country company, and Ozon's plans for the future.Latin American motorcycle use is more like motorcycle use in SE Asia In Mexico, gig workers purchase nine out of ten motorcycles and the motorcycle market is growing quickly. As more Latin Americans purchase motorcycles, they become more important to Latin American economies. Daniel believes that Latin America might look more like SE Asia in the future. . Learn more about Daniel's insights on the data and trends of mobility in Latam in this episode of Crossing Borders.Becoming an entrepreneur: From Zero to OneDaniel always dreamed about becoming an entrepreneur, but it wasn't after working in a traditional company and finishing his MBA that he actually launched his first startup, Muvo, a micro mobility app that paved the way for Ozon.Daniel used what he learned starting Muvo to launch Ozon. This meant that from day one Ozon had access to data and resources to start testing different business models.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders with Daniel Otero to find out more about learning from mistakes, the importance of befriending your competitors and how to find new business opportunities.Outline of this episode:[01:25] - About Ozon[02:54] - Numbers and stats[05:05] - A trend like in South East Asia[07:33] - Daniel's background[09:38] - About Muvo and its story[13:50] - On launching Ozon[15:15] - Lessons learned[15:55] - Expanding to Mexico[16:37] - Advantages and disadvantages of being multicountry[18:44] - Insights on fundraising[20:47] - Where is Ozon today?[22:04] - Expanding to Brazil[22:58] - The Colombian Entrepreneurial Mindset[24:47] - Differences and similarities between Colombia and Mexico[25:58] - Books and podcasts recommendations[27:47] - Advice to a young Daniel[28:44] - Plans for the futureResources & people mentioned:Daniel OteroOzonTV Series: The DropoutBook: Blitzscaling from Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh

For this week's episode of Crossing Borders, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Benjamin Labra, CEO and Co-founder of Houm.Latin America's real estate market is opaque, broken, and bureaucratic. The home buying process in the region can take up to a year, and even just renting an apartment requires having another property as collateral in some countries. There are many pain points in the industry that are being unaddressed by the market.That's why Benjamin Labra is looking to fix the broken real estate industry in Latin America with Houm, an end-to-end solution helping property owners rent, manage and sell their properties through an online marketplace.I sat down with Benjamin to talk about how he's tackling some of the industry's deepest-rooted problems and streamlining the home buying and renting process in the region. We also discuss his experience at Y Combinator and how to build and maintain company culture once you go remote.Real estate runs in the familyReal estate runs through Benjamin's veins. He comes from two generations of Chilean real estate developers and was practically raised on construction sites and he always knew he wanted to do something on his own. For four years he managed his own private equity real estate firm and eventually decided to jump into tech. Learn more about Benjamin's journey into tech in this episode of Crossing Borders.Houm: allowing apartment rentals without a cosignerOne of the ways in which Houm's solution is truly revolutionary for the real estate market is that they've gotten rid of the cosigner. To mitigate this risk, the proptech guarantees the payment to the landlord even if the tenant doesn't pay. In doing so, property rentals become much easier and faster to process – and can be done in less than 24 hours, compared to up to 3 weeks without Houm.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about how Houm tackles the pain points of the real estate industry in Latin America.The YC stamp of approvalGetting accepted into YCombinator can help many early-stage startups. Even though Benjamin and his team knew they were on the right path, the accelerator's stamp of approval validated their vision.Learn more about the ways in which participating in YC transformed Houm as well as the perception of US investors in this episode of Crossing Borders.Benjamin Labra's extensive experience in the real estate industry makes him one of the best-equipped people to tackle the challenges that property owners and tenants face in Latin America.Outline of this episode:[1:10] - About Houm[2:28] - Pain points of the real estate industry in LatAm[4:00] - A family of real estate developers[5:32] - On Chilean talent[7:33] - Jumping into tech[8:35] - Switching from the investment side to running a startup[10:05] - Basics of renting a property[13:20] - Speeding up the renting process[16:17] - A change in US investors' perception [18:52] - Challenges of operating remotely[20:28] - Advice to entrepreneurs in smaller LatAm countries[21:38] - Proptech boom in LatAm[22:30] - Books, blogs, & podcast recommendations[23:00] - Advice to Benjamin's younger selfResources & people mentioned:Benjamin LabraHoumBook: The Hard Thing About Hard Things

For this week's episode of Crossing Borders, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Gonzalo Blanco, Co-founder of Quansa.For years, Gonzalo Blanco and Mafalda Barros have seen how the misaligned incentives in Latin American financial products push the average person to make bad financial decisions. Due to this lack of guidance, people improvise and spend money without realizing the impact that their decisions have on their financial health. This frustration with the lack of financial education led them to found Quansa, a corporate benefits platform focused on employee financial wellbeing. We invested in Quansa's last round and are excited to support them on their mission to promote employee financial health throughout the region.In this episode, I sat down with Gonzalo to talk about why the incentives in Latin American financial products are broken and how Quansa aims to change that. Gonzalo also shares his lessons learned from working in the corporate world, participating in Pear.vc's accelerator, and going through the fundraising process in the US and Latin America.Pushing for employee financial health with no hidden agendaLatin Americans historically don't trust financial institutions. Banks and financial institutions push products on their clients, and many make bad decisions. However, through Quansa's digital diagnostic and personal financial coach, clients have transparency and can easily understand the impact of their decisions. Learn more about how employees can incorporate healthy financial habits with Quansa in this episode of Crossing Borders.Transitioning from 10 years in the corporate worldGonzalo explains that there is no perfect recipe for a person's decision to transition from the corporate world into entrepreneurship. For him, it was a matter of understanding the opportunities that would be available to him if he decided to continue working for a corporation. It was important for him to learn about company processes from larger organizations that had perfected them over time, but for the next step in his career, he wanted to be able to work with more speed and fewer limitations. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about the lessons Gonzalo learned from working for a corporation.From Stanford's GSB to the Pear Accelerator 2020The idea for Quansa originated in Stanford's Graduate School of Business when Gonzalo was taking a class called Startup Garage, part of his Master's program. Gonzalo and Mafalda were focusing on solving for financial health in Latin America. At that moment, they met Mar Hershenson from Pear VC who invited them to participate in Pear's Accelerator. It opened a world of opportunities for them.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about how they attracted investors from the US and Latin America. Gonzalo Blanco is providing a financial solution to the Latin American market that has employees' best interests in mind with Quansa. With Mafalda, they are striving to change the way Latin Americans spend their money, putting their financial wellbeing first.Outline of this episode:[1:46] - About Quansa[4:55] - The entrepreneurial ‘itch'[6:15] - Transition from the corporate world[10:26] - On meeting his co-founder[12:47] - Misaligned incentives in financial solutions[24:30] - Quansa's fundraising process[28:00] - Advice to Gonzalo's younger self [29:49] - Books, blogs, and podcast recommendations[31:20] - What's next for Quansa?[33:00] - Magma Partners and QuansaResources & people mentioned:Gonzalo BlancoMafalda BarrosQuansaStartup GaragePear AcceleratorFarnam StreetNavalStartup SchoolMagma PartnersFrancisco Saenz

For this week's episode of Crossing Borders, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Maribel Dominguez, Founder, and CEO of Circulo de Belleza.After graduating from university in the US in 2009 at the height of the financial crisis, Maribel Dominguez decided to move back to her native Mexico until the economy got better. While she was home, Maribel and her dad came up with a business idea. They identified a problem that affects many industries: excess inventory. Together, they decided to found a company that helped corporations sell company's surplus stock and landed star clients like L'Oreal and United Colors of Benetton.That company she founded with her dad in 2009 would set the foundation for the eleven-year journey that would lead to Maribel founding Círculo de Belleza, a specialized B2B marketplace that supplies beauty salons and independent hairstylists. I sat down with Maribel to talk about why the distribution system in the professional beauty market is broken and the enormous opportunity it presents in an industry that is often overlooked.An alternative to the traditional supplierMaribel explains that there is a disconnect between big brands and the long tail of hair salons and independent stylists. With Círculo de Belleza, this unattended segment of the market has access to top name brands that they wouldn't be able to buy elsewhere. In addition to access, these clients can buy products at wholesale pricing and get products delivered anywhere in Mexico.Learn more about how Círculo de Belleza helps these small businesses overcome the traditional barriers to high-quality products in this episode of Crossing Borders.A business where everybody winsThroughout her journey as an entrepreneur, Maribel always had a clear vision of the type of business she wanted to be a part of. For one, she seeks businesses that challenge the status quo while making sure that everyone involved is winning. Find out how Maribel's values translated to the way she decided on her business model in this episode of Crossing Borders.On her decision to raise capitalDuring Maribel's first ten years as an entrepreneur, she was bootstrapping her business– taking the returns and reinvesting them into the company. However, she realized that to transform the family-run business into a scalable solution she needed to think bigger, create something new that was scalable, and potentially raise external investment. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Maribel's experience raising money during a pandemic.Círculo de Belleza is a great opportunity to connect underserved beauty professionals with the beauty products they need to run and grow their business.Outline of this episode:[1:39] - About Círculo de Belleza[6:45] - Maribel's path to entrepreneurship[20:00] - Lessons learned from a nonscalable business[23:00] - The fundraising process[27:09] - Books, blogs, and podcast recommendation[30:52] - What's next for Círculo de Belleza?Resources & people mentioned:Maribel DominguezCírculo de BellezaBooks: Playing to Win, The Relationship Cure

For this week's episode of Crossing Borders, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Agustin Feuerhake, Founder of Fintual.For retail investors in Latin America, the options to invest are limited. This space is often dominated by traditional banks that charge very high fees and involve processes that are quite complex for non-experts. As co-founder and CMO of robo advisor Fintual, Agustin Feuerhake intends to change that reality by helping Latin Americans invest well. Fintual is a digital platform that makes investing in mutual funds more accessible through lower fees and simpler processes.I sat down with Agustin to talk about his endeavors over the years as one of the most prolific entrepreneurs we've had on the podcast. He shares with us his reflections on reaching an exit with QueHambre as a young entrepreneur, as well as what it was like to have co-founded the first Chilean company to get into YCombinator.Exiting QueHambreWhen Agustin and his team were building the food delivery startup QueHambre –a novel concept for Latin America at the time– they were not comfortable with the idea of raising capital. According to Agustin, they had the wrong approach and thought of it as asking for money rather than selling part of their company. Once they ran out of money, instead of pursuing growth, they decided to sell the business.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to find out why small exits are extremely important for budding ecosystems and what Agustin learned from this experience.The best of both worldsIt was clear that Agustin and his team were on to something when they founded the software firm Platanus. There was high demand for their solutions which allowed them to filter through and pick the projects that they truly believed in. Sometimes, as in the case of Fintual and Buda, they would personally get involved with the projects. Agustin explains that this dynamic allows Platanus' team to keep working together, while also working on individual businesses that each is passionate about.Learn more about how Agustin works with his team and the success stories that have emerged in this episode of Crossing Borders.Getting the YC badgeAgustin had been a fan of Paul Graham's essays for a long time– before YC started to accept international companies into the program. So when his co-founder suggested they apply, it seemed like a long shot. But, much to his surprise, they got a callback and eventually became the first Chilean company to get into YC. Their investment prospects immediately changed after that. Learn more about their experience applying for YC and why it was hard to raise capital in Chile before the program in this episode of Crossing Borders.Agustin is changing the investment landscape in Latin America through Fintual. And by creating programs like Platanus' Demo Day, he is giving back to the ecosystem by providing tech founders with the contacts and entrepreneurial know-how needed to transform their ideas into successful businesses.Outline of this episode:[1:28] - About Fintual[5:03] - Early signs of a businessman[7:24] - First job as a young professional[8:42] - Getting into QueHambre[10:50] - Major takeaways from QueHambre[12:08] - QueHambre's blog post series[17:27] - About Platanus [20:12] - Creating Buda[22:57] - Agustin's business strategy[24:46] - Criteria for choosing a project[26:18] - The first Chilean company at YC[28:50] - Lessons learned at YC[30:25] - Struggling to raise money in Chile[32:47] - Changing his view on raising money[33:34] - Advice to Agustin's younger self[34:44] - Books, blogs, and podcast recommendations[36:44] - Platanus' Demo Day[38:34] - What's next for Fintual?Resources & people mentioned:Agustin FeuerhakeComo vendimos una empresa de 2 empleados en cerca de $1MFintualJaime BünzliQueHambrePlatanus VenturesBudaVoxoundBettermentWealthfrontBooks: Lifespan, Made to Stick, Thinking Fast and Slow

For this week's episode of Crossing Borders, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Ximena Aleman, co-CEO and co-founder of Prometeo.~70% of Latin Americans are unbanked or underbanked. That means that there's a huge opportunity to improve access to financial products and services across the region by leveraging data and technology. Ximena Aleman is co-founder and CEO of Prometeo, a startup that develops Open Banking APIs for fintechs and financial companies in Latin America. We invested in Prometeo in 2019 to support its mission to provide the infrastructure needed to help the region's fintech ecosystem evolve with better products and services.I sat down with Ximena to talk about LatAm's fintech wave and how Prometeo is building the future of financial services in the region. We also discuss her impressive career trajectory – from journalist to entrepreneur– and what it means to be a non-elite Uruguayan female founder in fintech. A concentrated financial landscapeXimena explains that in Latin America, a very small number of banks (4-5 in some, 2-3 in others!) generally have 80% of the market share in each Latin American country, compared to the US where there are thousands of banks across the country. In addition to this market concentration, most banks are more conservative and invest less in innovation. This conservative mindset results in financial products and services that are outdated and don't necessarily respond to the population's evolving needs. Learn more about how Prometeo is addressing this problem in this episode of Crossing Borders.Jumping from journalism into techAfter conducting interviews with many tech entrepreneurs during her journalism days, Ximena was inspired by what was happening in the tech scene. It was while working at a publishing house that she learned about scalable business models for the first time. That experience convinced her that she wanted to create her own company.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Ximena's path to fintech.Embracing fundraising from UruguayFor Ximena, being a Uruguayan female founder in fintech used to just be contextual information. It was when she started fundraising that she realized that these labels had a meaning. In understanding what it meant to be a non-elite or an underestimated founder, Ximena was able to make sense of why certain situations or processes weren't following through as she had expected. Learn about why Ximena considers that there's power in understanding these labels and how she finds ways to reframe what it means to be an elite founder in this episode of Crossing Borders.Ximena Aleman is redefining what it means to be an elite founder with her drive and passion for the fintech ecosystem. With Prometeo, she is powering the next wave of innovation in LatAm's fintech scene. Outline of this episode:[1:35] - About Prometeo[1:50] - Differences between LatAm and US markets[4:58] - Being an entrepreneur from Uruguay[6:58] - From journalism to creating a product that scales[12:25] - Choosing to specialize in fintech[15:45] - Understanding the ‘elite' labels[27:15] - The female founder in fintech experience[30:54] - Advice to Ximena's younger self[35:23] - What's next for Prometeo?Resources & people mentioned:Ximena AlemanPrometeo

For this week's episode of Crossing Borders, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Deepak Chhugani, CEO and founder of Nuvocargo.Deepak Chhugani's multicultural background was considered rare and unexpected in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where he grew up most of his life. He was born in Kenya to Indian parents who migrated to Ecuador in their late 20s. Logically, after studying at university in the US, Deepak wanted to find a way to connect all of these experiences. When he worked in investment banking in New York and Mexico, he saw the intersection that existed between the US and Latin America. Specifically, in trade with Mexico– the US' largest trading partner.Coming from a family with a background in logistics, Deepak founded Nuvocargo, a digital freight forwarder and licensed customs broker that helps companies move physical goods between the US and Mexico. In this episode, Deepak shares stories about growing up in Ecuador as an Indian immigrant, his experience in investment banking in the US and Latin America, and the reason for pivoting into Nuvocargo after going through YCombinator. We also delve deep into the complexity of carrying out international trade and how Nuvocargo's solution helps to streamline those processes.The LobbyWhen Deepak was starting his first company, he stood firm on the idea of working on a solution to a problem that affected him personally. At the time, one of his greatest accomplishments had been getting a job in investment banking despite having all the odds against him for that position. His first startup, the Lobby, originated from that experience, and was the vehicle that got him into YC as a single non-tech founder. Although he didn't follow through with the model, it taught him valuable lessons on what it takes to be an entrepreneur.Learn more about Deepak's major takeaways from his first startup in this episode of Crossing Borders.Investors' reaction to pivoting It takes a lot of courage to scrap a fully-fledged business model and start over. Even more so when investors are already involved. Deepak did just that when he decided to pivot his first startup to what is today Nuvocargo. Even though some investors pulled out of the deal, the ones that stayed did so because they had invested in the team. Some of them even tripled their investments with the new business model. Deepak explains that how investors react in these situations can speak volumes of their character. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Deepak's pivoting process and the reaction from investors. “Everyday there are about 15K-20K trucks crossing the border”Deepak explains that most people are unaware of the complexity involved in international trade, despite it being one of the biggest industries in the world. Transporting goods across borders is a highly complex process that can involve seven to eight different stakeholders, different currencies, laws, and languages. It's an operation that requires a lot of knowledge and efficiency. Nuvocargo helps coordinate that complexity, and digitizes processes that oftentimes are still relying on analogue systems.Find out in this episode of Crossing Borders how Deepak is bringing innovation to an industry that has yet to jump on the digital transformation other industries are already experiencing.Deepak Chhugani is at the forefront of innovation in the trade and logistics industry in Latin America. He is leveraging his multicultural background, expertise on logistics, and passion for the region to bring transparency and visibility to trade between the US and Latin America.Outline of this episode:[1:46] - About Nuvocargo[2:40] - A multicultural upbringing[4:15] - An Indian immigrant in Ecuador[6:50] - Choosing entrepreneurship[8:55] - Pivot into Nuvocargo[17:40] - Investing in the team[20:36] - Deepak's unfair advantage[23:03] - Import-export process in US-LatAm[27:00] - Trade market size[29:16] - Nuvocargo's fundraising process[32:50] - Books, blogs, & podcast recommendations[34:14] - Advice to Deepak's younger self[35:44] - What's next for Nuvocargo?Resources & people mentioned:Deepak ChhuganiNuvocargoThe LobbyYCombinatorMagma PartnersALLVPBooks: The Disunited NationsBlogs: AVCPodcasts: YCombinator, Dynamo

Izabel Gallera is a Partner at Canary, a venture capital firm born in Brazil that invests in early-stage Latin American startups. She describes Canary's core business as leveraging its network to create connections and help founders fundraise for their startups. Izabel is from Brazil, and as an engineer, only discovered the startup world after graduating and entering the job market. Working at Endeavor, she met the Canary partners which would pull her into the VC world. In this episode, Izabel shares Canary's thesis and explains why the firm chooses to work with very early-stage startups. She also describes how the startup ecosystem evolved since Canary's beginnings and talks about why founders shouldn't underestimate the power of connections.Betting on early-stage startup founders Canary does not focus on business models or industry sectors because they aim to get involved early with startups and accompany them through their journey. The firm wants to be the first institutional investor of startups that can disrupt markets and whose founders want to build massive businesses. Listen to this episode to know why Canary invests in startups that are just starting to get off the ground to help them achieve great impact. The importance of connections in the VC worldIzabel explains that Canary helps founders raise funds and connects them to networks of experienced people where they can exchange value. The advice she would give to her younger self is to reinforce her network, which is also her advice to founders of early-stage startups. In this episode, Izabel explains why it is important to find the right fund at the right stage. For example, Canary is a top fund for early-stage ventures because its specialty is to leverage connections and relationships. The evolution of the startup ecosystem in Latin AmericaCanary got into the VC game in Latin America before Latam startups took off: since then there was a wave of tech talent, while the market size was huge in countries like Brazil, and capital was flowing in from other continents. Izabel has witnessed the ecosystem's evolution and helped support some of Latin America's top companies. Izabel shares that the number of startups they interview per month in Canary rose from 30 when they started to 500 or more now. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to understand how Izabel thinks about Latin America's startup ecosystem.Outline of this episode:[01:20] - About Canary[03:20] - Early-stage startup thesis[07:01] - Izabel's background[09:21] - Evolution of the startup ecosystem[13:48] - Expanding to other countries in LatAm[16:04] - Lessons learned as an investor and advice for founders[20:27] - Why did Canary choose to invest in early-stage startups?[24:17] - Advice to founders that want to partner with Canary[25:51] - Biggest leverage points for founders and lessons learned helping entrepreneurs on their journey. [27:57] - Advice to younger self[29:20] - Podcast recommendationsPeople & Resources mentioned: Izabel GalleraCanaryEndeavora16z PodcastMasters of Scale Podcast

For this week's episode of Crossing Borders, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Caterine Castillo, CEO and co-founder of Neivor.In Latin America, a building manager typically has to handle thousands of apartment units and tenants. This means simultaneously dealing with building maintenance, reconciling payments, and meeting tenant and landlord requests. Currently, this is done manually with pen and paper, maybe an Excel spreadsheet or through WhatsApp which leads to inefficiencies and unhappy residents. Caterine Castillo, Neivor's co-founder and CEO, is trying to make living in Latin America's apartment buildings and condos better. Neivor is a vertical SaaS platform that simplifies condo fee collections and streamlines management and communication between residents, property owners, and building managers. Neivor processes tens of millions of payments per month and help manage 3000+ apartment buildings in Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador.I sat down with Caterine to talk about the pain points of property management in Latin America and the differences in Neivor's reception between the Colombian and Mexican markets. We also talk about her experience in finance before becoming a founder and what it was like fundraising for the first time.Growing Neivor's teamOne of the biggest lessons Caterine learned from working at corporations was managing large teams. These skills are extremely critical in Neivor's roadmap with a team that is currently growing from 18 employees to 75 in under a year. Caterine also explained that hiring won't solve a company's problems immediately. It's important to understand that people are managing a big learning curve when they join a new team. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Caterine's main takeaways from her experience working in corporations. The importance of connections in VCCaterine's first fundraising experience was with Neivor. She explains that having a great solution and an underserved market with low-hanging fruit sometimes isn't enough. Having the right connections is key. She had connections in the corporate world, but not in the VC world. Besides funding, Caterine considers that those first warm introductions are game-changers for any entrepreneur that is new to the space.Learn more about Caterine's fundraising journey with Neivor and the connections that were key to their growth in this episode of Crossing Borders.Property management: Colombia versus MexicoExpanding to a new market in another country involves a lot of risks. Consulting with others who have done it before can be really helpful. However, there's so much more insight that can be gained from being on the ground and talking to clients before making a decision to expand. During her time in Mexico, Caterine discovered that their target market was much more receptive to Neivor's product, requiring a different marketing approach than in Colombia.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about the differences between the Colombian and Mexican property management markets. Caterine Castillo brings her expertise in business development, sales, marketing to propel Neivor's solution forward in Latin America. Her innate passion for team building and creating solutions that disrupt the market will be key to Neivor's success. Outline of this episode:[2:34] - About Neivor[5:20] - Dealing with fraud[6:35] - Where Neivor operates[7:02] - Becoming an entrepreneur[8:20] - From fintech to founder[9:14] - Biggest lessons learned in fintech[10:24] - Growing Neivor's team [13:40] - Fundraising process[15:30] - Jumping to Mexico[18:00] - How to sell in Mexico[20:27] - Books, blogs, and podcast recommendations[21:20] - Caterine's advice to her younger self[22:09] - What's next for Neivor? Resources & people mentioned:Caterine CastilloNeivorBooks: The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Lean In

Santiago Suarez is the CEO and co-founder of Addi, a Latin American fintech company. Addi promotes and enables digital commerce in Latam. As Santiago puts it, Addi's mission is to enable every Latin American to buy and shop digitally. Addi offers “buy now pay later”, and is currently active in Colombia and Brazil.Originally from Colombia, Santiago moved to the US on a full scholarship. After university and working in the finance industry, he decided to move back to LatAm. In this episode, Santiago talks about his background in financial services, and how it helped him become an entrepreneur.Latin America's payments problem Latin America has over 90% smartphone penetration. However, most Latin Americans are not full participants in the digital economy. Santiago realized this was a big problem, but also a great opportunity to create a startup by solving it.Listen to this episode to learn how Addi allows customers to buy online using installments. We also discuss why Santaigo views “buy now pay later” as a payment option, not a credit business.The organic approach to idea buildingSantiago's background in finance, passions and interests drove him to start a fintech. We discuss metrics and the importance of timely launching and iterating a MVP. Also, Santiago discusses how to solve the payment problem they first had to focus on trust.In this episode, find out Santiago's advice to entrepreneurs. Some of his advice is on empowering teams and in which level to operate as a CEO.Fundraising adviceSantiago knows that when you raise venture capital, you're paying for forward growth. We also discussed expanding, and how you package your business is critically important.Listen to this episode to learn why the biggest problem in fundraising is to think that investing is a rational decision. We also discuss the power of engaging investors with your story and the asymmetry in the investor-founder dynamic. Outline of this episode:[01:57] - Overview of ecommerce and payments in Latam[03:31] - On becoming an entrepreneur[04:52] - Coming back to Latam to start a company[06:04] - Things learned in the financial industry[07:50] - Differences between launching a startup in the US vs launching one in Latam[10:11] - The process of picking an idea[12:51] - Discussing product[14:50] - The real problem around payments in Latin America[16:20] - Starting operations[18:25] - Advice to other founders[20:07] - Talking about fundraising[22:22] - Founders' mistakes in fundraising[26:11] - The future for Addi[27:23] - Advice to Santiago (before launching a startup)Resources and people mentioned:Rob Frey PodcastBillion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork by Reeves WiedemanThe Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business. Written by Patrick LencioniThe 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success by Jim DethmerConscious LeadershipThe Alpinist documentary of Marc-André Leclerc

​​For this week's episode of Crossing Borders, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Gabriela Estrada, CFO and co-founder of Vexi.Only one in ten adults in Mexico have access to a formal credit card, according to Gabriela Estrada. That's more than 70 million people that are not able to build a credit history. As cofounder and CFO of Vexi, Gabriela is on a mission to make credit accessible to Mexico's underbanked population. Originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, Gabriela was at the peak of her career at Citibanamex in Mexico City when she decided the corporate world wasn't for her. She was the only female director as well as the youngest among her peers by 10 to 15 years. After leaving the bank, her friend convinced her to cofound Vexi with him, where she quickly fell in love with the power of impacting her community through fintech.I sit down with Gabriela to talk about her experience as a woman in finance in Mexico and some of the challenges she now faces as a female founder when seeking investment. We also discuss why she decided to tackle financial inclusion and how Vexi is helping increase financial literacy in Mexico.Vexi's clientbaseGabriela discovered that Vexi was a way of helping the local community by leveraging her extensive experience in finance. She explains that, although Vexi's clients come from diverse backgrounds, they have two common denominators: resilience and loyalty. These individuals are used to rejection from traditional financial institutions. When they find a bank that believes in them, they want to repay that trust. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about how Vexi is helping make credit accessible to underserved Mexicans. Credit vs. debitDebit cards are a huge success in regions like Europe. However, Gabriela explains that in Latin America the financial needs are different and the real game-changers are credit cards. However, finding a way to underwrite people that have never been underwritten before can be a daunting task. Gabriela explains that it requires a lot of creativity to be able to change the lives of the underbanked.Learn more about how gaining access to credit can change the lives of Latin Americans on this episode of Crossing Borders.The risk bias in venture capitalAs a female founder, Gabriela explains that she gets asked weird questions when raising money, making it difficult to build relationships with male venture capitalists. It took her some time to realize that investors weren't asking her about the risks of the business because she was CFO of the company. It was because of her gender.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn about how Gabriela learned to turn those questions into opportunitiesGabriela Estrada took a leap of faith when she left her job at one of the largest banks in Mexico. Since then, she has been using her knowledge to help thousands of people gain access to credit with Vexi. Her story is an example for women to continue to break the glass ceiling. Episode outline:[1:17] - About Vexi and Gabriela[3:25] - On Vexi's client base[7:54] - From Chihuahua to chilanga[9:32] - Falling in love with entrepreneurship[12:11] - Being a woman in finance in Mexico[13:50] - Lessons learned from working in banks[15:56] - Reaction from friends and family[17:39] - Choosing Vexi and financial inclusion[19:34] - Credit vs. debit[22:24] - Avoiding loan sharks[24:01] - Tackling financial illiteracy[25:50] - Raising money as a female founder[29:45] - Recommendations on books, blogs, or podcasts[30:56] - Advice on taking the leap [32:02] - What's next for Vexi?Resources & people mentionedGabriela EstradaVexiBook: Delivering Happiness

Stefan Moller, CEO of Klar, a Mexican fintech democratizing access to banking, wants to change the way Mexicans think about money.Stefan grew up between Mexico and Germany and worked traditional jobs to finance his own ventures. His experience working traditional jobs and startup companies led him to start Klar to try to make Mexicans' lives better.According to Stefan, traditional banking in Mexico is monopolistic and most Latin Americans have a negative experience dealing with banks. Klar makes it easy for Mexicans to use their smartphones to access better loans, savings, and investment products. In this episode, Stefan shares his entrepreneurial experience growing up in different cultures. We also talk about fintechs in Mexico and how Klar builds trust with its users.Lessons from growing up in Mexico and Germany Spending time between two different countries gave Stefan a unique perspective. Stefan spent time between Mexico and Germany, giving him a unique perspective. He saw how experiences and motivations can be completely different in each culture, which helped him decide to build better financial solutions for Mexico.In this episode, you'll learn how Stefan built a team with top-tier talent.Klar's long-term strategy for successBefore Klar, Stefan created several successful ventures, including selling 2 million Chinese Hologram bracelets in Mexico. In Germany, he built a market intelligence company that packaged business research papers to sell to large companies.The lessons learned while starting this company allowed Stefan to launch Klar. This also helped him to create a strategy to build the users' trust in the product. Check out this Crossing Borders episode to learn Klar's thesis and why it is compelling for both users and investors.Simplifying access to financial services for MexicansIn Mexico, opening a bank account involved signing many papers and long waiting times for service. Stefan describes Mexicans' relationship with banks as a “necessary evil.” Klar is developing better relations between banks and their users to change how people think about money. For example, Klar allows Mexicans to access payroll advances with the click of a button.In this episode, learn how Klar provides effective, tailored, and secure financial services.Outline of this episode:[01:35] - About Klar[02:01] - How Klar is an alternative to traditional financial services[03:55] - The problem with traditional banks [05:30] - Stefan's background[07:35] - Growing up across different cultures [09:16] - Stories of Stefan's past businesses[11:25] - Lessons learned through his path in entrepreneurship [13:00] - Why did Stefan fund Klar?[15:50] - Creating Klar from the start[18:38] - Stefan's take on neobanks[20:58] - Discussing the exit of Citi's retail banking from Mexico[22:58] - Fintech's strategy of bundling services and products[25:05] - Raising funding rounds for Klar [27:15] - Advice for younger self[29:26] - Book recommendations[30:30] - The future of KlarResources & people mentioned:Stefan MollerKlarCiti exiting retail banking from MexicoBook How Will You Measure Your Life? By Clayton Christensen.Nathan Lustig

Banafsheh Fathieh invests in startups that positively impact their communities in Latin America. As an early-stage venture capitalist looking for opportunities in the Latin American market, Banafsheh is the Head of Investments at Prosus Ventures, the venture arm of Prosus Group, the international Internet assets division of South African multinational Naspers, and one of the largest tech investors globally.The company has a history of working in emerging markets, where it partners with entrepreneurs with high potential and an ambition to scale globally. Prosus tries to provide tailored support for startups to impact the communities where they operate. While Banafsheh dreamed of working as a diplomat, she ended up working in finance and investing almost by accident. Now she is passionate about helping Latin American startups scale. Listen to this episode to hear about Prosus Ventures' investment thesis, and learn why Banafsheh thinks Latin America is any VCs dream market. She also shares advice on how trusting your own gut and research can be more important than cold facts and macro trends. LatAm: talented entrepreneurs with capital constraintsWhile analyzing startups globally, Banafsheh realized that Latin America has a mismatch between available capital and the talent pool relative to other parts of the world. Latin America has gone through several unfavorable cycles that ended up spooking investors, who overcorrected and reduced the amount of capital allocated to both equity and credit. This overcorrection created a value asymmetry, where valuations did not match the quality of the entrepreneurs. In this episode, Banafsheh Fathieh explains the lack of investment in Latin America and how it bred a generation of creative founders that are blooming recently.Latin America's underserved tech-savvy populationLatin America has brilliant founders and a population of technology enthusiasts who love all things digital. As an American of Iranian descent, Banafsheh got to know Latin American culture through her university classmates. She spent time in Brazil and Argentina and found structural issues that founders could help solve. Banafsheh is helping foster Latin Americans' entrepreneurial spirit and helping them close the access gap in products and services for an underserved market.Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Banafsheh's insights on why, tech is moving in the right direction, despite some macro trends creating headwinds for some Latin American countries.Prosus Ventures patient investment thesisProsus Ventures is focused on helping early-stage entrepreneurs navigate the venture capital world. Prosus Ventures is stage agnostic and they focus on the talent and less on spreadsheets. Prosus's investments in Latin America are mainly in consumer Internet and fintech companies. Unlike a traditional fund, they can work with a company for decades and be long-term holders, this allows them to support startups through many cycles with no pressure to deploy. In this episode of Crossing Borders, Banafsheh explains her role in Prosus Ventures and why their structure allows them to provide “patient capital” with no artificial constraints.Outline of this episode:[01:25] - About Prosus Ventures[02:47] - What types of companies does Prosus invest in?[05:40] - Banafsheh's background[07:59] - Diplomatic training's lessons[09:17] - First connection to Latin America[12:15] - Evolution of investment thesis in Latin America.[15:39] - Receiving investment from a fund vs. from Prosus Ventures[18:23] - Some of Prosus' most interesting investments[23:02] - Being a bullish investor for Latin America[27:30] - Advice for founders[29:15] - Banafsheh's recommendations[30:30] - Advice to Banafsheh's younger self[32:18] - What's next for Prosus Ventures?People & resources mentioned:Banafsheh FathiehProsus VenturesNathan LustigGeorgetown UniversityMovileWebsiteCrossing Borders Episode with Fabricio Bloisi, CEO of Movile iFoodWebsiteCrossing Borders episode with Carlos Moyses, CEO of iFoodKlar Azos Kovi99 minutos

Doménica Obando, CEO and co-founder of Talently, is helping build Latin America into the next tech talent hub while offering better jobs to skilled developers and data scientists. Originally from Peru, Domenica worked in an NGO and the public sector before becoming a full-time entrepreneur. First, she founded Andi, a learning platform, which afterward she decided to pivot into Talently.Talently is a talent accelerator for tech professionals in Latin America. Software developers and data scientists who feel stuck in their careers apply to Talently to upgrade their skills and land better jobs in return. Talently diagnoses the skills tech professionals need to improve their careers and also provides courses to develop soft skills such as employability, interview prep, and more. The company has a heavy focus on improving their English fluency, which is a limiting factor that prevents their career growth.So far, Talently has helped 800 engineers land better jobs at companies such as Paypal, Nubank, and Mercado Libre. And this year, the startup is set to help 4,000-5,000 professionals. According to Doménica, Talently is looking forward to becoming Latin America's largest talent marketplace.In this episode, I sat down with Doménica to talk about the experiences that helped her become the entrepreneur she is today. She shares how families in Latin America can improve their economy with education, and her experience pivoting her startup.Doménica's path across private, nonprofit, and public sectorsDoménica fell in love with startups while in university but took a different path. She worked at the Ministry of Education and then joined a friend to start an educational-focused NGO. She spent three years leading a team of 50 volunteers, as they taught digital skills to school teachers. Doménica decided to move on after realizing that working in the public sector and in an NGO didn't fit her fast-paced personality and hunger for impact.Learn more about why Doménica chose to become an entrepreneur in the Edtech industry in this Crossing Borders episode.A startup as a vehicle to deliver outsized impactAndi, an English learning platform, was Doménica's first startup. However, when she found that most of Andi's customers were trying to improve their English in order to get international positions and that half of them were software developers, she decided Andi would pivot into Talently, a platform that could take advantage of the tech boom in Latin America. In just 8 hours after launch, Talently received 100 applications. Listen to this Crossing Borders episode to understand how Doménica's primary goal was to build a product that created the most impact.Developing skills in tech professionals to upgrade their realityTalently's participants finish the program earning 2X more on average than before. In many cases, they end up multiplying their earnings up to 10x. This increase in their income causes a huge impact on families and communities of Talently's graduates. Sometimes, they earn more money than all of their family combined. Before, Doménica felt that her lack of English proficiency prevented her from achieving professional success. Once she mastered the English language, she found the drive to advance her career as she had always wanted. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders and learn why Doménica thinks it is essential to build tools for tech professionals to become confident about their careers, so they can change their lives.. Outline of this episode:[01:30] - About Talently .[01:54] - Talently's value proposition.[03:27] - Improving the income of tech professionals.[05:40] - Latin America as a tech talent hub.[06:41] - Doménica's background.[09:53] - The importance of English proficiency.[11:37] - Pros and cons of working in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.[15:00] - Lessons learned from past working experiences.[16:40] - The path to product-market fit.[19:14] - Pivoting, from Andi to Talently.[21:27] - A multi-country startup.[24:32] - Talently's impact in Latam.[26:25] - Advice for her younger self.[27:10] - Doménica's book recommendations.[27:45] - What's next for Talently?Resources & people mentioned:Doménica ObandoTalentlyAndiDaniel UndurragaCornershopStartSchool PerúEdtech program: Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation at MFANathan LustigWayra AcceleratorBook The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary

Daniel Undurraga never thought he would sell even one Latin American company to a company in the US market, but with the recent US$225M acquisition of Cornershop, a grocery-delivery app he has officially sold two startups to US companies. His first startup, Needish, was the basis for Clan Descuento, a Chilean Groupon clone that was acquired by Groupon in 2010. Clandescuento's acquistion was before most people in Chile had heard of startups!Daniel is a lifelong entrepreneur with his share of failed projects, but ever since he and his business partner Oskar Hjertonsson found their niche in Latin American e-commerce, they've become an example for the whole ecosystem.I sat down with Daniel on this episode of Crossing Borders to talk about the Latin American startup ecosystem, living and working across borders, and advice for founders who are launching and scaling in Latin America. We also discuss the backstory behind Cornershop's decision to not raise capital in Chile and their experience raising money from funds across in Latin America.See yourself as a global company from the startDaniel Undurraga knows what it takes to scale a company from a small country like Chile to the rest of Latin America. Cornershop launched in Chile and Mexico simultaneously because the founders realized dominating only the Chilean market wouldn't create a company with scale. Rather than consolidating in their first market, then expanding, Cornershop took a global approach from the first day by creating processes that were “multi-currency, multi-language, and multi-time zone.”For startups just starting to consider scaling, Undurraga suggests incorporating outside your home country, such as in the US, UK or Cayman Islands. It can make expanding easier, plus make you act like a global startup from the beginning. Check out the rest of Daniel's tips for scaling in the Latin American market in this episode of Crossing Borders.You haven't sold the company until you sell the companyHaving already closed an acquisition from Groupon in 20010, Daniel knew how complicated selling Cornershop could be. The whole process took almost a year and they couldn't tell anyone about what was happening until they closed the deal.Find out how Daniel handled the Cornershop acquisition, and why the team continues to operate independently, in the rest of this episode.Why didn't Cornershop have any Chilean investment?Both Cornershop founders took to Twitter after the exit to discuss the role of Latin American funds in supporting Cornershop. In particular, many people speculated why Chilean VCs hadn't invested; their only Latin American VC investor was Mexican firm ALLVP. To learn more about ALLVP, you can listen to my recent podcast with the fund's cofounder, Federico Antoni.Daniel's explanation for the lack of Chilean investment is one that we discuss frequently at Magma Partners. Between timing, CORFO restrictions and mandate, most Chilean funds would not have been able to get into the deal. However, Cornershop's and Clan Descuento's first angel investors were the founders' Chilean friends and family. Learn more about how Cornershop's founders have handled this debate since the acquisition in this episode of Crossing Borders.Show Notes:[1:21] – Nathan introduces Daniel Undurraga[2:02] – Inside the acquisition process[5:07] – How has living in different places influenced your life?[6:06] – What do you see in the Chilean ecosystem now?[9:14] – Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?[12:00] – What was it like trying to raise money in 2007 in Chile?[14:12] – The background on Needish[21:02] – Why did you decide to go to San Francisco?[24:58] – VCs in LatAm or US?[26:22] – What was your experience with Chilean funds?[28:00] – Advice for founders on raising money[29:50] – How can copycat companies be successful in LatAm?[31:00] – Why launch in two countries at once?[32:40] – Stay in one country or target the region?[34:15] – When did you know the company would succeed?[36:00] – If you could make one change to the LatAm ecosystem, what would it be?[38:10] – What's next for you and Cornershop?[39:15] – Daniels advice to his younger selfResources:Clan DescuentoNeedishCornershopALLVPMy podcast with Federico AntoniWhy Magma Loves CorfoLatin America's Groupon Mafia

Luis Rubén Chávez, co-founder and CEO of Zenfi, is changing the way people in Mexico think about financial health. Zenfi is a complete digital finance platform focused on lending that strives for the financial health of its customers. With more than 2.5 million users, the platform provides customers with tools to build a consistent long-term financial plan. Zenfi offers an app that reviews clients' credit bureaus for free. They provide personalized diagnostics, tips to improve the customer's profile, and identity theft alerts. Also, Zenfi helps those who need a personal loan, debt consolidation, or car insurance by reviewing their information and recommending products according to their needs.Before starting Zenfi, Luis Rubén worked in finance for eight years. He witnessed first-hand its inefficiencies, high concentration, and sometimes abusive practices that don't help the user in the longer term. Banks offer 60+ products and services but execute poorly a large percentage of them, and fintechs are filling this gap in the market. With the new fintechs that are emerging, Luis Rubén thinks Mexico will have in 5 years a completely different financial system.Listen to this episode to hear how Luis Rubén is raising awareness about the inefficient lending system in Mexico, what Zenfi is doing to provide a healthier alternative for people, and how the company is expanding its services by offering a marketplace of financial products. Diversifying the financial system in MexicoBanks own the credit bureau in Mexico, which reports only negative credit ratings of individuals. The five largest banks in Mexico hold 80-85% of the country's consumer portfolio, and this high concentration means there is little to no competition. Many financial institutions have conflicts of interest and few incentives to build better data and technological products and services. Mexicans perceive credit scores as a black box, filled with misconceptions that lead them to make adverse choices. Luis Rubén was part of the problem working within the financial system, but in this episode of Crossing Borders, he explains how he is now part of the solution.Demystifying credit scores for Mexico's populationZenfi's most attractive product is its free credit score check. The company analyzes the customer's information and provides them with a complete and user-friendly diagnosis. Also, it gives useful and detailed information such as the impact that each variable has on the score, and parameters to understand your strengths and weaknesses to see what you have to improve. The company has nailed a feature that millions of Mexicans need in an inefficient system that has few incentives to help them maintain a good credit score.Listen to this Crossing Borders episode to learn how Zenfi will continue to attract millions of users to its platform.A marketplace for financial productsUsers needed a bigger picture for making a long-term personal finance plan, so Zenfi started offering a marketplace where fintechs sell, for example, their mortgage, insurance, and credit card products. Zenfi's marketplace shows the best financial products that their users can have access to. Zenfi's lending criteria sometimes cannot give users a loan, so the company refers them to another fintech where they might have a product that serves them. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to understand how Zenfi is taking a hybrid approach by offering its products and a marketplace with the best fintechs in Mexico. Outline of this episode:[01:09] - About Zenfi [02:10] - Zenfi's credit scores[03:22] - Misconceptions and inefficiencies of the credit scoring system[05:20] - Zenfi in numbers[08:47] - Luis Rubén's background[11:10] - Why is the traditional financial system stalled?[15:30] - Zenfi's fintech marketplace[19:31] - The fintech ecosystem in Mexico in the last 5 years[25:10] - Reading recommendations[28:01] - Advice for a younger Luis Rubén[31:45] - The future of ZenfiResources & People mentioned:Luis Rubén ChávezNathan LustigZenfiBook The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of AmazonBlog by Paul Graham

Originally from the US, Sophia Wood is a political scientist turned tech entrepreneur, ghost writer, VC, and now leads a tourism company dedicated to boosting conservation in emerging markets as CEO of Friends of Wallacea.Sophia's journey from the US to Africa to Latin America shows what a determined, smart, principled person can do across multiple industries very quickly. Listen to this episode to hear how Sophia decided to start a company in Latin America, how she broke into VC, what she learned while working with Magma and how she uses it today to lead a high impact conservation company.Sophia's leap into Latin America's startup ecosystemWhile Sophia was in university, she decided to spend a year studying abroad in Santiago, Chile, which is where her Latin American journey began. After a failed attempt to create and sustain a startup as 21 years old, and working with Operation Wallacea in Fiji and Ecuador, she took a job at Magma Partners as a part time content writer.What started as a short term project turned into cofounding Latamlist.com, joining the Magma investment team and making investment decisions and helping early stage Latin American startups. m. As a writer, she learned why content and writing is important for starutps, how to communicate the “why” of a tech startup and more. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn about how Sophia became more comfortable taking risks after starting a startup and during her time at MagmaWhy creating accessible and useful content is key for a startup's growthSophia believes that its critical for startups to create content to help them expand and get their message across. After writing for me, Magma, Latamlist and other startups, Sophia shares her recommendations for successful writing. Articles about tech startups tend to be overly technical and sometimes wordy, and Sophia recommends taking a different approach. Instead, startups should communicate directly and share only the important, interesting parts of the story. Startups should ask themselves: why might people come to my website? What problem is my startup trying to solve? What can I teach people who read my articles? What do they care about? Founders should consistently publish content because it is key when creating organic thought leadership in an area, and writers can work alongside a startup's CEO or other experts to push content forward.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to understand why Sophia believes good content can help make customers trust you. Indigenous communities at the forefront of conservationAfter working with Magma, Sophia decided she needed to make an even bigger impact by working in conservation. Indigenous communities are protecting up to 80% of the world's remaining biodiversity, but are rarely provided with the resources they need to do so. The companies and organizations that do have resources sometimes apply conservation practices that do more harm than good. Sophia gives as an example the efforts of reforestation, where in many cases it is done with non-native species that do nothing to benefit the land. With a focus on providing resources to communities that know best how to conserve their own land, Friends of Wallacea boosts local incomes by offering novel wildlife tours. Learn more about how Friends of Wallacea partners with local communities for conservation that has a long-term impact.Outline of this episode:[02:21] - Sophia's work at Friends of Wallacea.[03:23] - Responsible conservation of wildlife.[06:40] - Sophia's background.[10:15] - Lessons learned on creating a startup at 21 [11:52] - Journey with Magma Partners.[16:18] - Sophia's writing process.[20:41] - The importance of good content.[25:25] - Accessible communication about the startup world[26:27] - Creating organic thought leadership.[32:49] - Top lessons learned with Magma Partners and LatamlistResources & people mentioned:Sophia WoodNathan LustigMagma PartnersFriends of Wallacea

From a young age, Daniel knew he wanted to create something new, but he didn't know exactly what it would be. His curiosity and drive led him to always have several side businesses, even as a teen when he started a (painful!) business raising bees and honey. Daniel pushed himself to try new projects, which helped him deal with adversity when starting Local Adventures, a travel startup that not only survived, but grew during the pandemic. 7 out of 10 Latin Americans don't travel internationally. Daniel saw this reality and he wanted to fix it. With LocalAdventures he opened up the international travel market for Latin Americans by improving the booking experience and financing instruments available.LocalAdventures is a startup that connects travelers with local elite adventure athletes to provide once-in-a-lifetime experiences around the world. It was not that people in Latin America did not care about going on adventures in other parts of the world, it was that they weren't able to. LocalAdventures is looking to help people to travel for the first time outside of Latin America. In this episode, I sat down with Daniel to go through the LocalAdventures story. We discussed Daniel's rise from couchsurfing in Dallas when creating LocalAdventures , to building a company that against all odds grew 80% during the pandemic. Daniel also shared how the challenges that he and the co-founders faced at the beginning taught them to get used to working with scarce resources, and we also discussed how LocalAdventures was able to grow by focusing on what clients really needed: flexibility.From couchsurfing in Dallas to a profitable businessWhen Daniel left his corporate job to create LocalAdventures, he decided to participate in an accelerator in Dallas, Texas. Daniel and his co-founders decided to invest 100% of the stipend for living expenses into the business, which led them to couchsurf in a living room, and eating many meals at networking events that had free food. They survived each month with a budget of a couple thousand dollars. This story reminded me of the interview I did with Frete's founder Federico Vega back in 2017, where he told his story of getting his startup off the ground.Find out more about the origins of LocalAdventures in this episode of Crossing Borders.Finding opportunity where others see disasterWhen LocalAdventures was finally taking off, growing 3X per year, and then Covid hit. LocalAdventures' biggest problem, after getting over the initial shock, was trying to figure out how long the pandemic would last, while managing cash.While other travel companies shut down or laid off staff, Daniel and his co-founders decided to keep on doing business normally. Instead of cutting back on expenses, they talked with consumers and listened to their feedback. LocalAdventures found out that there was still a small percentage of people who were eager to book trips with the risk of having it canceled, if they could in turn get a better price for it. By offering flexible packages and financial instruments to help people book trips with zero or little money down, Local was able to grow during the pandemic.Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about how LocalAdventures thrived in the most adverse conditions. Providing Latin Americans with affordable trips around the world Travelers in LatAm struggle when booking a trip, and so they end up exploring their own countries. LocalAdventures provides a more accessible experience, allowing the traveler to book a trip abroad with as low as 10% of the cost, and pay it in several months, even with no credit card and with a flexibility to change dates. In this episode of Crossing Borders, Daniel talks more about what makes LocalAdventures' product so unique and compelling to the Latin American market. Outline of the episode:[01:24] - About LocalAdventures[02:01] - What is the unique solution that LocalAdventures offers?[04:25] - Daniel's background[06:25] - Starting LocalAdventures[08:39] - Couchsurfing in Dallas[11:36] - LocalAdventures' transition through the pandemic[14:36] - How LocalAdventures grew during the pandemic[16:07] - Products that LocalAdventures offers to travelers [18:25] - Building a sales-focused organization[20:40] - Advice for entrepreneurs who are just getting started[22:26] - Daniel's book recommendations[23:26] - Advice to Daniel's younger self[25:05] - The future of LocalAdventuresResources & people mentioned:Daniel PeñaNathan LustigLocalAdventuresFederico VegaBooks:Why Startups FailThe Hard Thing About Hard ThingsHatching Twitter

Miguel Medina has been an entrepreneur for as long as he can remember. From selling backpacks at traffic lights to doing magic tricks at bars and selling candy to his classmates to earn extra money, Miguel is a pure entrepreneur.So when his travel startup Isibit was torpedoed by the pandemic, he decided to solve a big Latin American problem: improving the lives of the region's employees and team members.At least 23 million people transitioned to remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic in Latin America. Miguel is improving employees' well-being via a product specially designed to fit the growing remote working teams: a benefits management platform that allows companies to give virtual cards to their employees loaded with money for specific purposes.After working in huge companies such as Apple and Danone, Miguel shifted his career to begin working at Rappi, launching this startup in more than 25 cities in Latin America. He then decided to leave once again his comfort zone and found his own startup, Isibit, a company that through the pandemic transitioned to Plerk.In this episode, I sat down with Miguel to chat about what Plerk is doing to improve the quality of life for Latin America's workforce, and about how he decided to lean on his safety net to pivot Isibit and create a new startup when difficulties arose. Also, Miguel shared with us his story as a teenager magician and salesman, and how those experiences shaped him into the entrepreneur he is today.From magician to second-time entrepreneurAlthough the young Miguel was not planning on being an entrepreneur, his life experience led him down the entrepreneurial path. He sold candies at school, and after taking several jobs since the age of 14, worked as a magician at bars and restaurants. Being a magician, Miguel was forced to play character roles that were nothing like his introverted “normal” self. Soon enough, he realized that he could fake a more extroverted personality until he was comfortable with talking to more people and being more outgoing.Since then, Miguel not only worked for some of the largest companies in the world, but also built an extensive community and network of people in Latin America he could lean on when times were rough. As Miguel explained, “magic only happens when you jump from a cliff.”Find out more about his journey through job and life experiences in this episode of Crossing Borders.Transitioning from Isibit to Plerk during a global pandemicAfter working as Regional Manager at Rappi, Miguel decided to start his own startup, Isibit, in October 2019. Isibit was an all-in-one platform for business travel, an idea that sounded promising, but was torpedoed by the pandemic.. Although Isibit was accepted into the YCombinator Summer 2020 batch, the startup was doomed. In this episode of Crossing Borders, Miguel talks more about how important it is as an entrepreneur to count on a network of people, a community that can help you endure hard times and his process pivoting from Isibit to PlerkReplacing paper vouchers with virtual cardsBefore Plerk, companies gave employees benefits via paper vouchers to use for transportation or at restaurant venues. These vouchers created a problem that the gift card industry also has: “floating” unspent money, and that still constitutes an expense for the companies. Learn how Antonio Martínez, Miguel Medina and Angel Arias launched Plerk's virtual debit card to give employees personalized perks and benefits worldwide. Companies deposit money on the cards, which the employees spend according to their company's benefits program rules. After launching in January 2021, already in July 2021 Plerk announced that it had raised $1M in Pre-Seed funding from Y Combinator, Magma Partners, 500 Startups and more.Learn more about Plerk's project in this Crossing Borders episode and about how it was born in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.Outline of this episode:[00:34] - About Plerk[03:10] - Miguel's background [04:55] - Work experience before being an entrepreneur[07:30] - Launching Rappi in Latin American cities[09:20] - Turning point of Miguel's coming of age[11:05] - Biggest lessons learned at Rappi[12:10] - Making his own path[14:20] - The origins of Plerk[16:40] - Overcoming obstacles in entrepreneurship[18:55] - Creating an ecosystem with Plerk[21:23] - How fintechs are disrupting the industry[22:40] - Miguel's recommendations[23:10] - Advice to younger self[23:40] - Next years for PlerkResources and people mentioned:Miguel MedinaNathan LustigAntonio MartínezAngel AriasPlerkIsibitRappiDanoneAppleYCombinatorMagma Partners500 StartupsBook How to win friends and influence people

​​For this week's episode of Crossing Borders, we're revisiting one of our greatest hits episodes featuring Ben & Frank's co-founder Mariana Castillo.Mariana Castillo believes that the eyewear shopping experience in Mexico is broken. It's generally reduced to an impersonal exchange that only considers the basic optical measurements, rather than catering the product to the customer's style and personality. Mariana is the co-founder and co-CEO of Ben & Frank, a direct-to-consumer eyewear brand that seeks to transform the way Mexicans buy eyewear by providing fashionable and affordable options.I sat down with Mariana to talk about why an internship at ALLVP played a key role in her decision to become an entrepreneur, the lessons she learned from working at Mexico's Central Bank, and the insights she's gained about the direct-to-consumer category in Latam; from building a brand to fundraising. And lastly, Mariana shares advice on how to remove biases in the ecosystem to empower female founders.A career-defining moment at ALLVPBefore discovering her entrepreneurial journey, Mariana immersed herself in the investment world. She learned about venture capital and realized that she wanted to get involved with early-stage investment and started an internship at ALLVP, a VC firm based in Mexico City, for three months. Fascinated by the ability of some of the startups she worked with to execute ideas quickly, Mariana decided she wanted to pursue a career that would involve entrepreneurship in any way. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Mariana's lessons learned from her early days at Mexico's Central Bank to her time at ALLVP. Redefining what it means to be a “four-eyes”Through Ben & Frank, Mariana has built a strong eyewear brand. She explains that consistency is key to building a successful brand in Mexico. That means that everything related to the brand reflects the same values, mission, and vision. From the unboxing experience to how a company reacts when they've made a mistake are all part of what makes a brand. At Ben & Frank, Mariana explains that they are very intentional about the language they use. For example, they've chosen to reclaim what it means to be a “four-eyes”. Learn more about building a successful brand in this episode of Crossing Borders. The untapped potential of direct-to-consumer companies in LatamMariana explains that direct-to-consumer brands caught on quickly in Mexico. Customer centricity is what traditional retailers in Mexico lack, and what direct-to-consumer brands excel at providing. As consumer habits change from generation to generation, companies will need to adapt to the demands of customers that are more conscious about the value for money and what a brand stands for. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about the opportunities and the barriers that exist in the retail industry in Mexico. Mariana Castillo is transforming the meaning of “four eyes” in Mexico to be synonymous with cool and fashionable with Ben & Frank. The startup is breaking the barriers of the traditional retail industry and unleashing the potential of direct-to-consumer brands for the digital age. Outline of this episode:[1:37] – About Ben & Frank[2:06] – Traditional retail experience for eyewear in Mexico[3:23] – Mexican roots, nomadic upbringing[5:05] – Entrepreneurial journey[6:00] – Internship at ALLVP[6:55] – Lessons learned at the Central Bank and ALLVP[7:55] – Why tackle this specific problem?[9:04] – Ben & Frank's inflection point[11:48] – Building a brand in Mexico[13:15] – Insights into Latam's direct-to-consumer category[14:20] – Competing with traditional retailers[17:25] – Expanding Mexican direct-to-consumer brands[18:15] – Advice to Mariana's younger self[18:41] – Fundraising for a direct-to-consumer startup[23:18] – Being a female founder in Latam[26:35] – Avoiding biases in the VC ecosystem [29:07] – What's next for Mariana and Ben & Frank?Resources & people mentioned:Mariana CastilloBen & FrankALLVPFederico AntoniFernando Lelo de LarreaYCombinator

Santiago Aparicio, Ontop: Transforming the future of work, Ep 158   The future of work is going to be remote and decentralized, according to Santiago Aparicio, Co-Founder and CEO of Ontop, a payroll software startup that allows companies to legally hire and pay anyone in the world. Santiago is a serial entrepreneur and sales passionate who believes in the influence of developing markets in defining the future of work.     After long nights working on Excel sheets back in his banking days, Santiago decided he wanted a change. He reached out to Felipe Villamarin, co-founder at Rappi, and joined the team as its seventh employee, which really helped him to become an entrepreneur.   I sat down with Santiago to talk about his experience as an entrepreneur, while Santiago shared the story of Ontop and their meteoric growth in their first fifteen months (actively operating in over 190 countries, transacting over $2M per month). Fundraising and starting his first two companies For Santiago, the next frontier as a salesperson was fundraising, which pushed him to build his first company, Fitpal, a fitness and wellness platform for gyms in Latin America. But after Covid hit, Santiago and his cofounder decided to launch a second company, this time focusing on something becoming increasingly popular: remote working.   Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn how Ontop raised its initial money from founders of all over the region. Building a sales engine for high growth Santiago shares why the best salespeople are the ones that focus on the input instead of the output, and how finding the most predictable metrics in the sales funnel are the first steps to create a replicable process that allows a company to grow internationally.   Find out about Santiago's advice on productizing a sales engine, how to hit network effect, and why you should focus on building something small instead of building something huge in this episode of Crossing Borders   Biggest lessons as an entrepreneur Santiago offers advice on being kind, passing the ball to the team and being in constant pursuit of the best talent for Ontop. We also discuss the importance of staying grounded and not letting fame get in the way of creating a product that people will really love.   Check out Santiago's story in this episode of Crossing Borders and find out why you should exercise kindness and the importance of having uncomfortable conversations within a company.   Outline of this episode: [02:18] - About Ontop [02:39] - Top line metrics from Ontop [02:39] - Santiago's background [04:53] - On joining Rappi [07:05] - Launching Fitpal [08:48] - Santiago's biggest lessons [13:54] - Coming up with the idea for Ontop [14:23] - Fundraising for Ontop [17:13] - The crazy world of fundraising [18:42] - On building a sales engine [19:14] - The best salesman (or woman) [21:00] - Predictable metrics [23:52] - The big milestones [27:33] - Being famous is not being successful [28:13] - Advice for a younger Santiago [31:06] - How to hit network effects [32:48] - The importance of hard conversations [34:11] - The future of work    Resources & people mentioned: Santiago Aparicio Fitpal Ontop Measure What Matters by John Doerr -  Book The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott

Maricel Saenz, Compound Foods: Coffee without Coffee Beans, Ep 157 People continue to experience how global warming can have devastating effects on the world. Crop yields have already started to decline from rising temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns and extreme weather events. Climate change is threatening the future of many foods, and that includes coffee. This threat and her love for coffee inspired Maricel Saenz to launch Compound Foods, a food science company to reinvent coffee. Originally from Costa Rica, where coffee is ingrained in the national identity, Maricel wanted to dedicate her time and energy to creating solutions fighting climate change. Maricel left her first startup to create a product that could recreate coffee in a sustainable way. Coffee is one of the most consumed products in the world and it comes with a large water footprint. Maricel's idea for Compound Foods is to replicate the coffee experience with less environmental impact. In this episode, I sat down with Maricel to talk about Compound Food's mission in tackling climate change, her career in science without being a scientist, her journey of building a company at the start of the pandemic and the future of the coffee industry. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Maricel Saenz.   From fighting bacterias to fighting climate change Maricel shares why she left her first startup to start Compound Foods to fight climate change. Maricel's experience in biotechnology and her longing to impact the world positively were the catalyst to launch Compound Foods and ultimately, what happens on a coffee farm in the lab.  Find out why Maricel decided to follow her passion to tackle climate change in this episode of Crossing Borders. If you want to learn more about Maricel's backstory, I talked to her in Episode 76 about the battle against drug resistant bacteria and the challenges of raising capital in Silicon Valley as a Latina entrepreneur.    Drawing inspiration from nature Research shows that 50% of the land we grow coffee on today may not be suitable for growing coffee in the future. A big chunk of coffee production could go away over the next few years due to environmental changes, for which Marciel believes we must take action and start producing coffee in an environmentally friendly way. Compound Food's draws inspiration from nature and relies heavily on the fermentation process to create a product that has the same chemical composition of coffee beans. The microbes play a key role in creating flavors and aromas, and are grown efficiently and in a scalable way. Check out this episode to learn more about why Maricel wants to make coffee without coffee beans!   Changing the mindset around climate change Maricel conveys an empowering message to go from climate anxiety to taking action. We can still do something significant about climate change and the environment. Technologies and companies are being built around climate change and people have the power to make big changes through simple choices, like buying a product that has less of an environmental impact.  Listen to the rest of this episode to hear Maricel on changing the mindset and the advice she would give to her younger self.       Coffee is one of the most consumed products on the planet and the way we produce it today has a high environmental impact. Solving this global problem is not easy and needs all hands on the (coffee) table. If this resonates with you, Compound Foods is on the lookout for more passionate team members to join the team.  Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to hear Maricel tell her story in her own words and her enthusiasm about creating a climate-resilient future, starting with your morning coffee.   Outline of this episode:   [01:06] - The backstory of creating coffee without coffee beans [02:30] - Why is coffee the perfect target? [03:28] - Why does coffee contribute to climate change? [04:10] - Why do we need to brew coffee without coffee beans? [05:10] - Two minute background on Maricel [06:05] - First startup experience [06:40] - Singularity University and meeting her first co-founder  [07:10] - From fighting bacteria to fighting climate change [08:03] - Can we do something for climate change now? [08:40] - From climate anxiety to taking action [09:27] - How to take action fighting climate change [12:00] - Opening jobs at Compound Foods [13:05] - What does it take to build a company like Compound? [14:05] - From Costa Rica to the Bay Area [15:33] - Fundraising for a live product [16:25] - Thoughts on fundraising  [17:35] - Why is Compound not a synthetic food company? [19:50] - What does the future look like? [21:05] - Next steps for Compound [22:09] - What advice would you give to yourself when you were first getting into tech? Resources & people mentioned: Sci-Fi Book: Seveneves by Neal Stephenson Newsletter: Snaxshot Podcast: Crossing Borders   This episode of Crossing Borders is brought to you by AWS Startups. AWS Startups supports entrepreneurs in Latin America across multiple programs, including Cloud Credits to help startups test features and extend runway, technical support to help optimize AWS solutions and integrations with your product, and – on the business side – help you build strategic contacts with investment funds, accelerators, and corporations to accelerate your growth. For more information, check out aws.amazon.com/es/campaigns/founders, where you can access $1,350 in AWS credits for your startup.

Juanma Gironella, Guros: Reshaping The Latin American Insurance Industry, Ep 156   The traditional insurance experience in Latin America is an inefficient, non tech process. Most people don't want to buy it but know they have to. At the same time, customer expectations of instant digital transactions sustained seamlessly across digital channels are increasingly the norm. This is exactly what Juanma Gironella is providing with Guros, the operating system for insurance in Latin America.    After working in financial services consulting, Juanma decided to build digital tools to help bring the insurance industry into the digital age.    In this episode, I sat down with Juanma to discuss how Guros is making inroads into the insurance industry and gaining market share with a digital model that is democratizing access to insurance and bringing new opportunities to innovate, improve customer experience, and ultimately, driving growth.   Improving the insurance experience Juanma contrasts the experience of comparing and purchasing auto insurance in Guros as easy as booking a flight or a hotel online. But the innovation opportunities do not stop there: on top of offering a better buying experience, what sets Guros apart is the fact that they provide value to the customers after purchase with new products, like a wallet that allows users to have multiple insurance products, and an API integration for fintech companies. This integration works like an embedded marketplace, enabling fintech companies to rapidly deploy integration into their app and allowing users to self-serve with a few clicks.   Learn more about how Guros is helping customers and fintech partners in this episode of Crossing Borders.   The insurance opportunity in Mexico and Latin America Guros is building their business model by addressing the pain points customers experience in their relationships with incumbent insurers. Of the $240 billion a year industry in Latin America, no player has over 5% of the market, which reflects that the (poor) value proposition essentially is pretty much the same in the entire region.   Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about this massive opportunity in Latam and why Guros is already thinking of other verticals.   Fundraising during Covid times Juanma's first fundraising experience was with Guros during the Covid pandemic. He explains that finding the right partners and bringing in the right people is key to getting the insights that allow things to start happening at a faster pace.    Learn more about Juanma's fundraising journey with Guros, and how it is to have never met in person over 95% of his team in this episode of Crossing Borders.   In Mexico and other relevant Latin American markets, insurance in general, and especially auto insurance, are radically fragmented markets. Consumers have to go through a painful experience when signing up for and purchasing insurance, and even after purchasing, it's hard to get value from the insurer provider. Guros is leading the change to disrupt innovation in the insurance industry. Outline of this episode: [03:01] - About Guros [03:44] - Before and after for insurance retail users [08:20] - Doing partnerships with potential partners [14:51] - From the idea to real traction [18:27] - Insurance opportunities in Mexico and Latin America [21:47] - The growth opportunity in the insurance industry [25:00] - The fundraising experience during the pandemic [28:20] - Resources and recommendations [29:49] - Advice to Juanma's younger self   Resources & people mentioned: Juanma Gironella Guros Growth Series by Reforge Training courses at ​​ConversionXL First Round Review Mexico Investment %of GDP "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." ― Thomas Alva Edison “What the mind can conceive and believe, and the heart desire, you can achieve.” ― Norman Vincent Peale This episode of Crossing Borders is brought to you by AWS Startups. AWS Startups supports entrepreneurs in Latin America across multiple programs, including Cloud Credits to help startups test features and extend runway, technical support to help optimize AWS solutions and integrations with your product, and – on the business side – help you build strategic contacts with investment funds, accelerators, and corporations to accelerate your growth. For more information, check out aws.amazon.com/es/campaigns/founders, where you can access $1,350 in AWS credits for your startup.