The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch 20VC LATAM Part 2: a16z's Angela Strange on When To Expand Beyond Your Core Market, Why Serving the Unbanked is Such Good Business & Whether the Startup Will Acquire the Distribution before The Incumbent Acquires the Innovation?
Aug 19, 2021
Angela Strange, a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz with a notable background in product management at Google, dives deep into the thriving LATAM market. She discusses the significant potential in serving the unbanked and the dynamics of competition between startups and established banks. Angela emphasizes the importance of local knowledge for successful investments, explores the transition from cash to digital, and dispels myths of LATAM simply producing copycats. Her insights reveal the region's unique investment landscape and the promising future of fintech.
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Regional Winners in LATAM
- Latin American entrepreneurs often start in a single country like Brazil or Mexico.
- Ambitious founders aim to expand across Latin America, creating regional competition, but this is challenging due to varying regulations and infrastructure.
Expansion Timing
- Founders should dominate their initial market before expanding, focusing on distribution and retention.
- Evaluate bandwidth and resource constraints honestly, and ensure adaptability to local nuances in the new market.
Serving the Underserved
- Traditional banks in Latin America are highly profitable serving the affluent, leaving a large underserved population.
- Fintechs can capitalize on this by lowering distribution and infrastructure costs, leveraging the dissatisfaction of existing customers and reaching the unbanked.
