Latitud Podcast

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