[Raised $35 million] Ep.163 - This Founder was able to get buy-ins from 300 Global Payment Providers
Sep 16, 2024
auto_awesome
Juan Pablo Ortega, founder of Yuno and co-founder of delivery unicorn Rappi, shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey. He discusses the resilience needed to pivot from a stable career to a startup in the payment solutions space. Juan delves into the challenges of launching in Mexico, focusing on payment provider relationships and iterative sales strategies. He emphasizes the importance of integrity in scaling businesses and adapting to global markets. Additionally, he shares unique interview techniques that reveal candidate potential.
Juan Pablo Ortega emphasizes the importance of resilience in entrepreneurship, stating that failures can become crucial stepping stones to success.
In B2B customer acquisition, personal connections and strategic relationship-building are vital for securing major clients, requiring patience rather than expecting quick results.
Deep dives
The Entrepreneurial Journey of Juan Pablo Ortega
Juan Pablo Ortega's entrepreneurial journey began in childhood when he sold trending toys in his neighborhood in Colombia. This early experience laid the groundwork for a mindset focused on opportunity and innovation. Transitioning from a successful career as a pilot and management consultant in the airline industry, he took the leap into entrepreneurship with the launch of RAPI, a delivery unicorn. Ortega highlights resilience as a key trait for successful entrepreneurs, emphasizing that failures often become stepping stones towards eventual success.
Identifying and Solving the Payment Problem
Ortega identified a significant issue with payment approvals while expanding RAPI into Mexico, where up to 50% of transactions were declined. This experience prompted the founding of Uno, which aims to simplify payment integrations for companies by increasing approval rates through better transaction routing. He emphasizes the frustration faced by consumers when their payments are declined after spending significant time choosing a product, driving home the urgency of solving such critical issues. By developing technology that streamlines this process, Uno aims to enhance overall efficiency in the payment sector.
Building Relationships and Scaling Businesses
Ortega explored the different approaches to customer acquisition between B2C and B2B models, emphasizing the importance of personal connections in the latter. In his strategy for Uno, he initiated networking at events, leveraging personal interactions to establish rapport with decision-makers. He acknowledges that while many expect quick, high-volume results in sales, the B2B environment often requires patience and relationship-building over time. This nuanced understanding of customer engagement has been essential in securing major clients for Uno and highlights the importance of a solid product and strategic relationship-building.
Juan Pablo Ortega is the founder of Yuno, which enables any company to manage all payment methods and fraud providers through a single integration. Yuno has raised to date more than $35 million from notable investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, Kaszek Ventures, and Monashees.
This is Juan's 2nd startup. Before Yuno, he co-founded on-demand delivery unicorn Rappi (which as of last July was valued at $5.25 billion).
If you like our podcast, please don't forget to subscribe and support us on your favorite podcast players. We also would appreciate your feedback and rating to reach more people.
We recently launched our new newsletter, Principles Friday, where I share one principle that can help you in your life or business, one thought-provoking question, and one call to action toward that principle.