Fintech Leaders Alfonso De los Rios, CEO of Nowports - The College Dropout That Built a Global Unicorn by Age 23
Miguel Armaza sits down with Alfonso (Poncho) De los Rios, CEO/Co-Founder of Nowports, the biggest digital freight forwarder in LatAm, that combines logistics with financial and technological tools to ship cargo around the world. Founded in 2018, Nowports is not only a Latin American company but is quickly becoming a global powerhouse. Nowports has also raised almost $250 million in equity from SoftBank, Tiger Global, Foundation Capital, Monashees, Soma Capital, Broadhaven Ventures, Mouro Capital, Tencent, YC, and more.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Poncho’s background, why he’s an entrepreneur at heart, and how his family played a big role in shaping and encouraging his adventurous nature
- How the decision to drop out of university during his first semester led him to Silicon Valley and to eventually cross paths with Max Casal, now his Nowports Co-Founder
- Building company culture and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who are smarter and more experienced than you are to actually execute your vision
- Why bold, unpopular, and fast decisions are what drives startup growth and some examples that have been consequential at Nowports
- Poncho’s vision to build a global company, instead of a local or regional firm… and a lot more!
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Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder & Managing General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.
Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4Z