Groupon, VivaReal, Nomad: Lucas Vargas spent over a decade sharpening his growth playbook for startups in Latin America.The end result is the true embodiment of founder mode. Be it product or marketing decisions,  Lucas went against the grain and trusted his intuition on the road building Nomad, a bank for Brazilians who include dollarization in their financial life planning.2 million customers later, Nomad is expanding its offers and combining financial and travel services. This episode is a masterclass on startup growth in Latin America: what has and hasn't changed in the past decade, and how to face prioritization and metrics as your startup expands.What you’ll hear in this episode:– What didn't change about growth in the past decade for Lucas;– What both of us think about Paul Graham's founder mode;– What was the fundamental ingredient when going from (Series) A to B;– The difference between VivaReal's and Nomad's growth playbooks, including prioritizing or not when there's the opportunity to build multiple products;– Nomad's main metrics to measure its health;– How Nomad makes branding decisions and measures their ROI;– What makes Lucas excited about building in fintech and in Latin America.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

If you're Brazilian or have lived in Brazil but you've never heard of Dr. Consulta, you've probably been living under a rock. So many people in the world don't have access to healthcare plans, and this is definitely the case in Brazil.Over a decade ago, Thomaz Srougi started working on this problem. And now, Dr. Consulta has already supported over 6 million Brazilians. Thomaz recently embarked on a new startup journey to disrupt healthcare once again. With the help of artificial intelligence and backed by a16z, Carecode is a personal assistant for those who already have health insurance.But to every A side, there's also a B side. This episode wouldn't be a masterclass on how to build a startup serving large and complex markets in LatAm without Thomaz sharing both ups and downs. As many who have attempted to build world-changing startups know, it's now always that you see hockey-stick growth in your first two years – but things can suddenly fire up with the right approach. What you'll hear in this episode:– Why Thomaz entered the startup and health worlds;– How he views building in the US vs building in LatAm; – The challenges faced at the beginning of Dr. Consulta, including how Thomaz worked through its initial growth problem;– Thomaz's view on traditional healthcare and the challenge of making preventive care a habit;– Thomaz's new healthcare startup built with the help of artificial intelligence, Carecode;– And the gaps and opportunities he still sees in LatAm healthtech.I'm Gina Gotthilf and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Download Atlantico’s Latin America Digital Report 2024: https://www.atlantico.vcThe new edition of Atlantico’s Latin America Digital Report is out today — and it’s all about how LatAm does it best when it comes to creating winners in tech.Ana Martins, Julio Vasconcellos, and I sat down and chatted about the biggest findings from the report, and what they mean for founders and investors in the region. Mercado Libre, iFood, and Nubank are just the beginning for Latin America. What you’ll hear in this episode:— What changed in this year’s Atlantico Digital Transformation Index;— Why LatAm does it best, and how regional constraints affect this in the middle to long term;— What made the big three in LatAm: Mercado Libre, Nubank, and iFood;— How and why venture capital investors in LatAm have outsized returns;— How artificial intelligence development and adoption has been growing in the region;— What surprised Ana and Julio the most as they finished the report.My name’s Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Lautaro Schiaffino and Ezequiel Sculli are two startup founders with a clear mission: enabling small and medium businesses to compete with players of all sizes. Working with these SMBs for over a decade in Latin America, they've conquered both an exit and a new frontier to work on: artificial intelligence. Darwin AI brings companies not only software, but an employee capable of making decisions that'll boost their sales.Darwin AI has raised 2.5 million dollars with investors, Latitud included, and it's on its way to processing over a million conversations by the end of the year. In this episode, Lautaro gives a masterclass on creating an AI-first startup and seeing the real challenges and opportunities for artificial intelligence in LatAm. What you'll hear in this episode:– The start of Lautaro's journey supporting SMBs with Sirena;– The creation and traction of Darwin AI;– How to train AI to become like an employee;– Where's the sweet spot in LatAm between AI foundational models x integration tools x applications;– The constant discussion of building either horizontal or vertical solutions;– What is the Meta Sandwich and why it matters;– Darwin AI's go-to-market strategy, inc. biggest value delivered and biggest challenge;– What's next for Darwin AI;– And what makes Lautaro the most excited about building in AI and supporting SMBs across LatAm.I'm your host Tomas Roggio, and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

The Latitud Podcast is back with a new season — but that’s not all. We’re entering a new phase: Tomas Roggio will join me, Brian Requarth, as we uncover the playbooks used by founders and investors transforming Latin America. We hope you’ll leave each episode with a new approach to take your startup to 0, 1, and beyond.We couldn’t have found a better first guest than André Penha — the computer scientist who saw metrics that were better than he ever forecasted when he co-founded and became the CTO of Quinto Andar.In the beginning, you only have a dream. So you’ll have to take the lead and do things that don’t scale, just like André did. Now, Quinto Andar has over forty thousand active listings. Every three minutes, there's a new property ad on their website. This chat was a masterclass in how to build an exceptional product from scratch and scale through excellent user experience. What you'll hear in this episode:– The early days of André Penha and Quinto Andar;– Doing things that don't scale: a necessity for initial traction;– Impactful product tweaks for user acquisition and retention;– Optimizing unit economics and dealing with investor skepticism;– Finding partners and overcoming resistance between incumbents;– AI as an exception handler;– Building IPO-readiness;– Which startup André would build if he were to start today.I'm Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Scott Hartley was a researcher and went on to work with product and operations at companies like Facebook and Google. But the most well-known part of Scott’s journey began when he hit Sand Hill Road.Scott went on to become a co-founder of Two Culture Capital and Everywhere Ventures. Across these two VC firms, he invested in over 300 startups around the world — Latitud and LatAm included.In a world now ruled by AI, Scott talks instead about IA, or intellectual amplification. On a similar note, he’s also the author of The Fuzzy and the Techie: Why the Liberal Arts Will Rule the Digital World.In this chat, Scott and I talk about:• What makes him confident about investing early on and in multiple countries;• The difference between fuzzy and techie entrepreneurs;• And the advice Scott shares most often with startup founders.My name’s Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Back in 2018, Santiago Gomez and Alejandro Casas were just two young and hopeful founders, fresh into YC. However, with a team of 25 working on an e-commerce business, they struggled to find funding. "There's no founder-product fit", the investors would say. After a while, it clicked that their passion was elsewhere.They were challenged by a mentor to kill the startup and start building something, just the two of them, that really lit a fire under their feet. Oh yeah, and they should also be generating revenue in 6 months.Santiago reached out to his network and signed a 3-month contract with Rappi to map out problems within the company that they could solve through software. After an intense quarter, they came up with a platform to conciliate all the financial transactions ran through the super app, and an easy and reliable way for any company to manage their financial data.Simetrik was born, with Rappi's founders investing 2 million dollars in its pre-seed round. The product naturally evolved and now has customers in over 35 countries. Santiago and Alejandro also got a lot more funding – including a $20M Series A in 2022 and a $55M Series B announced just a few days ago.In this chat, we talk about:How Simetrik's culture contributed to its success The tricky balance between technical excellence and rapid growthAnd the challenges in fundraising that they didn't see comingBuilding good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Over a decade ago, Matias Recchia created a startup to take home maintenance services online. IguanaFix expanded across Latin America, and eventually attracted the Brazilian unicorn Madeira Madeira.After the sale, Matias dived into a new challenge: bringing more efficiency to the US real estate market. Keyway uses data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to improve how Americans manage investments in commercial properties.In this episode, Matias and I talk about:— Whether it's harder to operate a startup in LatAm or the US;— His company-building lessons, including how to efficiently use AI in your startup;— And how to divide roles between co-founders.Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

AI has been the talk of the town for a while. But have you seen it in your run-of-the-mill bank yet? Well, Hyperplane is changing that.About a dozen banks in Brazil are already getting all the information they have, running it by the startup's artificial intelligence, and then predicting customer behavior and building personalized experiences.The startup finally came out of stealth a few weeks ago, with a USD 6M round to boot. We're over the moon about being early investors in Hyperplane and participating in this new round as well.In this episode, co-founder Rohan Ramanath and I talk about:The problems Hyperplane is solving through artificial intelligence;The benefits of taking your time to learn and develop your startup;What companies investing in AI often overlook, and how the convergence between AI and fintech will play out in the next few years.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Unicorn stories generally look at the beginning and the end of the journey. There's not a lot out there about the messy middle, filled with patience and hard work.That's why we invited the co-founders of Pismo, 99, and Upload Ventures to our most recent Vamos Latam Summit. By the way, you can already click this link to pre-register for our next, incredible edition of VLS.In this episode, Daniela Binatti, Paulo Veras, and Rodrigo Baer talk about:- How previous failures and learnings played into success later on;- How to deal with competition and choose co-founders;- And how to survive through tough times and create a valuable company.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Most of the time, the road to startup success is not a straight and short one. Founders can face unexpected roadblocks and then take detours – especially in Latin America.Kristen Durham, the VP of SMBs and Startups at Zendesk, chatted with the founders of GetNinjas, Madeira Madeira, and Silverguard in our most recent Vamos Latam Summit. They shared the obstacles seen in their long journeys as entrepreneurs, from product development to employee retention. By the way, you can already click this link to pre-register for our next, incredible edition of VLS.In this episode, Eduardo L'Hotellier, Daniel Scandian, and Marcia Netto talk about:- Early product development and fundraising challenges;- How to deal with and learn from business crises;- And how to attract, engage, and retain top employees.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

A Series A is a crucial moment for every venture-backed business. Raising this round is a turning point for startups, from validation to scale.So at our most recent Vamos Latam Summit, we invited investors from Latitud Ventures, Canary, Valor Capital Group, and Fintech Collective to share their perspectives on the path to a Series A. By the way, you can already click this link to pre-register for our next, incredible edition of VLS.In this episode, Tomas Roggio, Carlos Torras, Marcos Toledo, and Antoine Colaço talk about:- The state of early and late-stage fundraising in LatAm in 2023 and 2024;- The metrics and milestones VCs take into consideration at the Series A stage;- And the perspective for downstream capital in LatAm, from Series B onward.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Fundraising the right way to end up with a healthy cap table isn't usually a top-of-mind priority for startup founders. But it should be. Making a dilution mistake in the earlier stages can bring you and your startup a lot of problems when it's time to raise new rounds.That's why we called experts from BZCP, Carta, Campbells, and Gunderson Dettmer. They shared the best cap table management practices during this year's Vamos Latam Summit. By the way, you can already click this link to pre-register for our next, incredible edition.In this episode, Eduardo Zilberberg, Reed McBride, Alexandra Clynes, and Adan Muller talk about:- The different corporate structures for fundraising and their trade-offs;- How founders and their startups should legally prepare for fundraising;- And what's the current state of fundraising and exits in LatAm.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

A founder-investor relationship is like a marriage: hopefully, you're both sticking to each other through thick and thin, for years to come.Finding the right partner and crafting this lasting relationship is no easy task. That's why we called founders and investors to share their experiences during this year's Vamos Latam Summit. By the way, you can already click the link in the description to pre-register for our next, incredible edition.In this episode, Cumbuca's founder Daniel Ruhman and the investors Jonathan Lewy, from Investo, and Mercedes Bent, from Lightspeed Venture Partners, talk about:- How investor relationships changed in the past few years;- The signs of a good and a bad partner, no matter if they're founders or investors;- How startups can differentiate themselves from competitors, and how founders can sell the value prop to investors.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Product-market fit can make or break your startup. Being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market is an essential but difficult task.That's why we asked the founders of BHub, Foodology, and Pomelo to come to Vamos Latam Summit and share their own journey of reaching PMF.In this episode, Jorge Vargas Neto, Daniela Izquierdo, and Gastón Irigoyen talk about:- What were the strategies to acquire their first customers in competitive markets;- What metrics they use to measure product-market fit;- And why achieving PMF, making small pivots, and talking to investors are constant efforts.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Sebastian Mejia is the co-founder and president of Rappi. And for the past 18 months, he’s been focused on a single goal: having the best team in the world. At Vamos Latam Summit, Sebastian shared how we went about it, and his journey as a startup founder. This is only one of the impressive panels we’ve had at VLS. And by the way, you can already click this link to pre-register for our next, incredible edition.In this episode, Sebastian and I talk about:- Why and how to hire world-class talent; - How to develop a “killer instinct” and deal with self-doubt as a founder; - And why Sebastian is optimistic about Latin America.My name’s Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, Latam!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Here’s Gina Gotthilf, co-founder of Latitud together with Brian and Yuri. You might have noticed this episode’s a bit different — but not only because I’m the one presenting it.This week onward, we’ll be sharing the most impressive panels we’ve had at Vamos Latam Summit. By the way, you can already click this link to pre-register for our next, awesome edition.There’s no better way to open this series than with the chat I’ve had with Hernan Kazah, co-founder of Mercado Libre and Kaszek Ventures.In this episode, Hernan and I talk about:- His biggest learnings as a startup founder;- What made Mercado Libre a success;- And how he evaluates segments, types of founders, and the current state of the market as a startup investor.This is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, Latam!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

After spending a decade at JP Morgan, all the way to becoming VP, Eduardo della Maggiora decided he wanted to go from company advisor to company builder. Betterfly got 99 nos and 1 yes in the beginning, as Eduardo puts it. After fundraisings and pivots, the corporate benefits platform became a unicorn back in 2022. Now, it's focusing on its global expansion.In this episode, Eduardo and I talk about:How to practice essentialism in our personal and professional lives;Eduardo's transition from financial exec to startup founder, including a journey to Africa;And the constant effort of leveling up.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Derek Hall and Miguel Burger-Calderon weren't born in Latin America but saw just how many opportunities the region has. They went from founders to angel investors in the US and LatAm, putting money into companies such as Clara, Cobli, and Nowports.Now, Derek and Miguel are venture capital investors for LatAm. At BFF, which is not "best friends forever" but "by founders for founders", they look for startups that can impact the 99%.In this episode, Derek, Miguel, and I talk about:- How Derek and Miguel got to know LatAm;- Their thesis as angel investors and now as VCs at BFF;- The advice Derek and Miguel have shared the most with startup founders in the past decade, and the advice they're sharing the most right now.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

We've been hearing startup founders all over LatAm for a while now. And we noticed a common reflection from those on a fundraising journey: how a simple and clean investment template could take much of the friction away.That's why we partnered up with law offices such as Gunderson Dettmer to launch MISTO in Brazil. MISTO is a document with optimized terms for investing, with language and practices understood and accepted by both founders and investors.Christel Moreno is a partner at Gunderson, leads their São Paulo office, and was deeply involved in the creation of MISTO. In this episode, Christel and I talk about:From a legal standpoint, how dealing with startups in LatAm is different from dealing with traditional companies around the world;What exactly is MISTO, and what makes it unique in comparison to other startup investment templates;Finally, the advice Christel would give startup founders with no legal experience.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Atlantico's back with its annual Latin America Digital Transformation Report. The study reflects on some of the forces transforming LatAm today, from the renewal of the entrepreneurial spirit in the region to the rise of artificial intelligence. We had early access to these findings here at Latitud, and decided to chat with Atlantico's Ana Martins and Julio Vasconcellos about the most impressive insights.In this episode, Ana, Julio, and I talk about:How LatAm founders are currently balancing excitement, optimism, and caution;How close we are to the end of the startup fundraising winter;Some trends to look out for in Latin America, from mobile to AI.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Parker Treacy voyaged down from the US to Brazil back in 2014 for two reasons. First, for the adventure. Second, and that's in his own words, for being irrationally convinced that he'd be successful. In the end, Parker stuck the landing. He took his experience in the auto industry to create Cobli, a startup that builds technology for fleet management. Now, Cobli has over 5 thousand clients and investors such as Fifth Wall, the IFC, and SoftBank.In this episode, Parker and I talked about:- How to balance curiosity and focus as a startup founder;- The story of how Parker landed in Brazil and co-founded Cobli;- How to balance founders' and investors' interests, and the importance of product-channel fit.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

From the Brazilian city of Recife, André Ferraz co-founded a startup out of a research project. That was In Loco Media, a company that used geopositioning technology for marketing. Eventually, the retail giant Magazine Luiza bought the startup.But years before that sale, André was already working for years on using that same technology to solve another huge problem: online security. His new company, Incognia, has gone on to raise a Series A and be present in 200 million devices worldwide.In this episode, André and I talk about:André's journey from a computer science researcher to a startup founder;Lessons on cap table management, pivoting, exiting, and fundraising;Incognia's creation and André's view on the future of artificial intelligence.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Sujay Tyle sold his used cars marketplace to Naspers back in 2019. He could have stopped there. But he decided to double down on a segment and a market that still had a lot to offer.Sujay co-founded Merama, a marketplace that invests in and partners with e-commerces brands all over Latin America. Merama’s now a unicorn, and Sujay also became a startup investor to share what he’s learned with other founders.In this episode, Sujay and I talk about:- How he discovered and leveraged e-commerce in Latin America;- How to prepare for an exit and deal with competitors from your startup’s early days;- And the most common advice Sujay gives founders as an investor.My name’s Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, Latam!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Wanna win a free ticket to Vamos Latam Summit, and bring your friends along with a discount? Participate in our exclusive raffle for Latitud Podcast listeners! Click the following link and comment your favorite episode's title + tag two friends: https://bit.ly/latitud-podcast-vls-raffleConnections are really powerful — and even more so when we take the time to be together in real life. That’s why startups have adopted promoting their events as a brand and sales strategy. We’re no exception. I started promoting events at Viva Real, and now we’re taking that strategy to the next level at Latitud. Our next big thing is Vamos Latam Summit: we’re gathering the top startup founders and investors in the region so that they can learn and build relationships.4,000 people will be at VLS, on September 28th and 29th, in São Paulo. And you can win your ticket and even bring some of your friends with a discount. We’re doing an exclusive raffle for our podcast listeners. Click on the link in the description and learn how to join the raffle.Now, we don’t want to stop there. Founders have been sending us a lot of questions about how they can also make memorable events and leverage brand and sales with that. So Mariana Fonseca, Latitud’s Content Lead, and I gathered these questions and talked in this episode about:Why adopt the events strategy if you’re thinking of strengthening your brand and sales;How you can build events even on a tight budget;The top metric you should keep an eye on and how to produce results after your startup’s event.My name’s Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm! And see you at Vamos Latam Summit.Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Irit Epelbaum has managed product teams for more than a decade. From San Francisco to São Paulo, she's worked in companies like Trulia, Peixe Urbano, and VivaReal. Now, Irit makes use of that experience to coach founders on the best practices of product management. She's both the product operating partner at Atlantico and an independent product management coach.In this episode, Irit and I talk about:- The best practices on product management for startups before they reach product-market fit;- When to hire a product manager and how to structure the product team;- How AI is going to affect product management, and why your product might not be working as well as you expected.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Manoela Mitchell went from investor to founder because she wanted to crack one of Brazil's most challenging markets: healthcare. She's now the co-founder and CEO of Pipo Saúde, a startup that currently has 100,000 lives under management.Pipo Saúde's growth is a lesson on focus and efficiency, ranging from sales and fundraising to culture and diversity. In this episode, Manoela and I talk about:- What she learned from going from investor to founder;- How to discover your ideal customer profile;- And how to fundraise and innovate in the most efficient way. My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Latitud Podcast has been going strong for three years, and we’ve finally reached episode #150. So we decided to take a trip down memory lane and revisit some stories about how to survive through difficult times. These difficult moments can appear in your upbringing, in your startup’s ups and downs, in the market as a whole, or in your own limitations.Whatever your tough moment of the day is, we have a founder or investor who went through something similar. We’ll remember the challenges that entrepreneurs at the startups 99, Buser, and Loggi faced. We’ll also share deep reflections we had with investors at Atlantico, Cracks Fund, Ganas Ventures, and General Atlantic.We hope that these lessons will inspire you to keep pushing forward on your journey to make an impact in Latin America. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Alejandra Ríos started her studies in the food industry. But she already had another plan in mind: entering the finance and business world.Now, Alejandra is the CEO of the culinary education and events company Ambrosía. She's also a shark at Shark Tank Mexico. We share the stage in the show's newest season, which airs on July 7th, 2023.In this episode, Alejandra and I talk about:- How she carved her own path in finance and business;- What she's learned so far from being an investor through Shark Tank;- And how Alejandra sees her role in bringing more diversity to the business world.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Get out of the building! If you've never heard this advice before as a founder… wait, what am I saying, of course you have. Today, we welcome a true titan of the startup world, the man who coined "GOOB" and pioneered the Customer Development methodology, which has been instrumental in shaping the Lean Startup movement.Steve Blank is not only a serial entrepreneur with 8 ventures and 4 IPOs under his belt, but he is also an accomplished author, having penned four influential books, including "The Four Steps to the Epiphany" and "Startup Owner's Manual." Also an adjunct professor and co-founder of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford, it's safe to say that Steve has made a lasting impact on the entrepreneurial landscape. The masterclass you're about to listen to was originally a private session for the Latitud Community that was too good not to share with the world. Hosted by my co-founder and Latitud CTO Yuri Danilchenko, this chat covers:How the Customer Development methodology came about and evolved over the yearsCommon misconceptions and pitfalls about doing customer discovery and building MVPsThe impact of AI and other emerging technologies on entrepreneurshipAnd Steve's biggest lessons from past failuresBuilding good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Luis Lora has been in the media and tech scene for a long time – from writing a check into Napster and negotiating deals for iTunes to dealing with M&As, private equity, and venture capital deals in Latin America.Now, Luis is a managing partner at Globo Ventures. The investment firm writes checks for venture capital funds and startup founders transforming the Brazilian market. It also leverages the assets and know-how of Grupo Globo, the biggest media conglomerate in the country.In this episode, Luis and I talk about:Luis' trajectory in tech and media, ranging from investment banking and corporate development to M&A and venture capital;The key components for founders to extract the most value out of the sale or merger, how M&As compare to IPOs, and the future of M&As;Globo Ventures' thesis and value proposition, and how founders can use media in an efficient way.Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Anna Piñol moved from Spain to Silicon Valley to become a startup founder. She not only got invested by the venture capital firm NFX but decided to join them to fund other startups.Anna's now a Principal at NFX. Day after day, she sees and writes checks for transformational business models in Latin America.In this episode, Anna and Brian Requarth talk about:- What she learned from being an executive at Amazon in Spain and a startup founder in Silicon Valley;- How LatAm founders can join the Silicon Valley club, and how the giveback culture works around the world;- NFX's investment thesis and current numbers for Latin America, and Anna's advice for startup founders in the region.Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Arthur O' Keefe is no stranger to pressure. He started his professional journey by working in a nuclear submarine for the United States Navy, but later decided to go to Harvard Business School and make a career in finance.Arthur has led M&A efforts for years at Movile, the Brazilian tech company best known for the delivery app iFood. Now, Arthur's the founder of Bamboo. The company brings the private credit market to the digital world.In this episode, Arthur and I talk about:Arthur's journey, from a scholarship in the US Navy to dealing with corporate finance for Movile and iFood in Brazil;The lessons he'd share with founders on when to sell or not your startup;The gap that equity investment can't fill on its own, Bamboo's creation, and the debt market's current state.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, Latam!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Rafael Costa has been investing in Latin American startups for a decade. He's seen the development of the tech investing scene in LatAm by being an investor in growth equity firms like Vulcan Capital, and by sitting on the board of companies like Loft and Neon.This experience has opened Rafael's eyes to the opportunity of bridging tech communities in Latin America and the United States. He's now a general partner at Across Capital. The cross-border investment fund aims to leverage that geographic connection, transforming it into a competitive advantage for startups. In this episode, Rafael Costa and I talk about:How the Latin American startup ecosystem has evolved in the past decade, and at which point of the cycle we're currently in;Latin America's unique market dynamics, and Across Capital's thesis of connecting the tech scenes in the region and in the US;Rafael Costa's view on fund size, company sourcing, and the next few years for founders and investors.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, Latam!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Born in Colombia but raised in the US, Brian York went back to Latin America a few years ago. He not only discovered his roots but also a mission -- driving value to the Colombian startup ecosystem, and generating economic and social progress with that.Brian's now a co-founder and the CEO of Cubbo, a startup that provides logistics to e-commerce players. He's also sharing everything he has learned and is still learning about tech entrepreneurship through social media, in the spirit of building in public.In this episode, Brian York and I talk about:- His personal story and the challenges he went through on his own startups;- Why and how Brian started building in public through TikTok;- His advice on fundraising, from how to build a relationship with investors to the perfect valuation of a pre-Seed startup.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

As a lawyer, Jorge Vargas Neto met fintech founders like David Vélez from Nubank and Sergio Furio from Creditas. He got so inspired that he decided to become a fintech founder himself.After exiting two startups to the unicorns PagSeguro and Rappi, Jorge is now on his third journey as a fintech founder. BHub offers back-office-as-a-service for startups and traditional SMBs. They have accomplished a ton in the last couple of years. We have the pleasure of being their first check. They're supporters of our Vamos Latam Summit. And we're customers.But in this episode, Jorge and I talked about:- The lessons he learned from his first two fintechs, and what made him want to be a fintech founder for the third time;- BHub's fundraising journey, and making the decision of how much to spend or to save;- And how Jorge sees competition and culture in a startup.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, Latam!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Tractian is part of a small LatAm startup club that focuses on hardware and software. This was a decision that Gabriel Lameirinhas, Igor Marinelli, and Leonardo Vieira took early on. And it was a necessary step to solve a massive global problem: making factories more efficient.The hard work has paid off, and Tractian now supports hundreds of clients and monitors thousands of machines in Brazil and Mexico. There's much to learn about identifying pains and winning over clients, even when you're facing a difficult environment.In this episode, Leonardo and I talk about:- Tractian's early days, from discovering the problem to nailing the customer acquisition strategy;- How the startup went beyond Brazilian borders and conquered sales in Mexico; - Leonardo's advice on fundraising in a tough market and building a deep tech startup in Latin America.Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Fabien Mendez grew up in France but discovered his entrepreneurial vein in Latin America. That calling led to one of Brazil's biggest startups. Loggi became a unicorn back in 2019. Now, it moves 300 thousand packages every day across the country. But these numbers don't tell how hard the journey has been, from convincing early investors to adapting to regulations and new business models.In this episode, Fabien and I talk about:His first startup, and how that "epic fail" later helped in his fundraising for Loggi;How Loggi went from an asset-light first phase to an asset-intensive second phase, and what Loggi's third phase looks like;Fabien's most humbling experience, and what he's learned from the difficult transition from CEO to chairman.Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Bernardo Cordero has always liked to be one of the first people to arrive at the scene. That was the case with Linio, an e-commerce company created more than a decade ago. That was also the case with STARTegy, his venture builder for fintechs. Finally, history repeated itself when he co-founded the real estate business Flat. These years in tech entrepreneurship have taught Bernardo valuable lessons on how to make the best use of blue oceans. His learnings go from retaining the best employees to picking the right initiatives to scale.In this episode, Bernardo and I talked about:- How to balance family life and business life, and how to retain top talent in the early days of a startup;- Bernardo's endeavors in e-commerce, fintech, and real estate, and what other opportunities Latin American startup founders will need to seize;- What Bernardo looks for as a startup investor, and the main lessons he shares with founders.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, Latam!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Mar Hershenson has done it all. She's been a VP of product development and a co-founder of three successful startups.With 14 patents under her belt and a passion for teaching, Mar has joined us today to share her insights on:What it takes to succeed in the startup world, Experience as a managing partner at Pear VC to Her early bet on DoorDash, Thoughts on the role of academia in the startup ecosystem and much more.  You won't want to miss a word of this conversation.Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Growing up in the Bahamas gave Stevon Darling an interesting world vision. He started his career studying to be a doctor but later was exposed to finance education and found his calling. He was, until very recently, the CIO of H2O Capital,  an investment company that focuses on large and valuable companies in LatAm. Stevon faces another key moment in his career, founding a neobank for the Caribbean and Central America. We discussed his upbringing, the work and numbers of H2O, investing in LatAm, the forecast for 2023, and his current mission to empower Central America and the Caribbean with capital access. Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Hugh Strange worked as a VP of product at Nubank. As you know, being a company devoted to innovation and product development, his work there was full of rich and broad experiences. In our conversation, Hugh shared how to choose the right technology, build the ideal team, use product development for growth, incorporate the company's culture into the work, and some history behind product decisions.It was an insightful conversation, and I look forward to hearing about his next adventures. Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

This is an open and honest conversation full of lessons and ideas from a dynamic and curious founder: Marcelo Lombardo. As a kid, He used to build electronic equipment for fun, buying parts, dismantling, and building them back again. His obsession with understanding how things work led him to start coding, giving him the critical thinking he needed to envision product development opportunities. In this episode, you will see that Marcelo loves to share his learnings, processes, journey, and results. Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

This is a special episode about a product we have been working on for some time now. Meridian is the business account for LatAm startups. You can manage your company's runway, move capital across borders, and keep your flow of funds compliant. To learn more about Meridian, go to https://meridian.latitud.com/In this conversation with Patrick Kolencherry, we discussed the latest developments with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), our decision to launch Meridian, and why it is a revolutionary fintech product. Vamos LatAm! Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Mercedes grew up in a household where inventions, product ideas, and web development were discussed at the dinner table. That unique environment created a curious-minded person who started her professional career on Wall-street but later became a startup founder and investor. Today she is part of Lightspeed venture partners. We discussed her interest in fintech, crypto, NFTs, LatAm investing, and much more. Show notes: Mercedes Bent's article on Crypto Utility. https://medium.com/lightspeed-venture-partners/the-future-of-crypto-native-consumer-products-part-3-utility-229e605bc3daBuilding good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

It's 2023, and all startups are trying to find answers to profound questions that may affect their present and future existence.  We invited back Dan Green from Gunderson Dettmer for a series of special episodes where we will focus on vital legal and financial information.Dan works with all corporate and securities law areas, including company formation and financing, debt transactions, and investor-side financings. He got an exceptional eye for the Latam Startup universe. In this episode, we have a chance to overview what is happening with so many companies right now and discuss fundraising, down and extension rounds, dilutions, debt, vesting, and other crucial financial and legal topics.Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Yuri Danilchenko is Latitud's tech-co founder, and I have introduced him many times before.  Personally, what I find very compelling about his story is that we can see clearly how his personal experience helped shape who he is and how he works. He was born naturally curious about technology and is a great translator between product x business, and tech. He grew up in Russia during some history-defining moments and moved to the US, where he got his masters in Artificial Intelligence. He worked at several startups and, later, in Brazil, he co-founded Vamos. In this episode, we discussed: The tech job market. How to attract and keep talent. Where the technology is heading, and how this will impact our lives and work. Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

It takes an effort of titans to elevate the startup ecosystem in Latam. At Latitud, we know it's not possible to do it alone; that's why we partnered with Jeeves to help provide access to financial tools to help founders in the most critical stages of their startups.In today's episode, we will have an honest conversation with four great talents: Dileep from Jeeves, Antonia from ALLVP, Gabriel from a16z, and Jonathan from Investo. We will focus on demystifying fundraising for Latin American startups. There is a lot of good information here, and I am sure it will be helpful for everyone, especially considering the outlook for 2023. Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop