Latitud Podcast

Jonathan Gheller went from selling tequeños, or fried cheese breadsticks, to being a founder of companies sold to Facebook and Google. In a world where unit economics became the new king for startups, Gheller is a long-term preacher about building businesses that are scalable and profitable.Now, the Venezuelan entrepreneur not only advises early-stage startups. He also connects Latin American talents to Silicon Valley companies through Matilda Explorations.Today, Jonathan and I talk about:His first endeavors, and how to build scalable and profitable businesses;Advice for early-stage startups and just-exited founders;Reflections about remote work, being an efficient manager, and a new standard for salaries and hiring in techBuilding 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

Out of the billions of VC dollars that poured into Latin America in 2021, only 4% were allocated in seed and pre-seed rounds. For the investors at 17Sigma, that's where the biggest opportunity to find the next big thing lies – and LatAm is the perfect place to find it.17Sigma was created almost a year ago and is investing US$ 30 million in entrepreneurs and projects in the early stages. It already has over 10 startups in its portfolio and plans to reach up to 40 in the next few years. The fund is based in Argentina and led by Bianca Sassoon, who was previously at Kaszek and has become the first woman in Spanish-speaking LatAm to lead a VC fund.Today Bianca and I talk about:What she's looking for when evaluating a new startupThe 17Sigma strategy to help founders cross the death valleyHer outlook on the current investment climateBuilding 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

When it comes to communicating in Latin America, WhatsApp is king: people use it every day, all the time. But how many times did you sign a contract or had your ID checked via WhatsApp? That's a US$ 3.5 billion potential addressable market according to Truora, a Colombian startup that offers businesses tailored digital authentication solutions like background checks and identity validation.Back in April, that sort of pitch got it US$ 15 million in a Series A round led by Propel Ventures and Accel on a ​​US$ 75 million valuation. And full disclosure here: I have also invested in it, along with many other founders who see potential in the idea.Truora was founded in 2018 and it's now active in 9 LatAm countries. One of its founders is Maite Muniz, who wears many hats and is responsible for managing product strategy, research & development, and customer relationships. She's been an entrepreneur for pretty much her entire professional life and has learned on the job how to deal with some of Latin America's most challenging issues.Today Maite and I talk about:How Truora mapped growth opportunities in Latin AmericaThe challenges involved in scaling authentication solutions How to work intentionally to level the playing field for women in techBuilding 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

Pretty much everyone knows Endeavor, which is a thriving global community for high-impact entrepreneurs. What you might not know is that Endeavor also has a co-investment arm called Endeavor Catalyst, which has over US$ 500 million in assets under management and has participated in rounds alongside General Atlantic, a16z and Softbank, among others.Endeavor Catalyst has been active since 2012 and works with a long-term view in emerging markets. So far, it has seen 49 of its investees reach unicorn status – including Rappi in Colombia and Careem in Dubai – and it has just announced its 4th fund, closed at almost US$ 300 million.Having been managing director for about a decade, Allen Taylor has been with Endeavor since 2006 and has a lot to share about entrepreneurship in developing countries.Today Allen and I talk about:How recent changes in financial markets can impact investments in Latin AmericaWhat's different about having founders invest in other foundersWhat Endeavor Catalyst plans for its new US$ 292 million fundBuilding 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

Alex Szapiro is a veteran when it comes to working with tech in Brazil. He was part of the early Submarino team and served as the country manager for Palm, Apple and Amazon, where he helped bring its operation to the country and stayed for over 8 years of incredible growth.In April 2021, he left Amazon for Softbank, where he's now Head of Brazil and an Operating Partner. And it's an intense time for that position too, because Softbank is investing heavily in Latin America and especially in Brazil: the Softbank LATAM fund began with US$ 5 billion in 2019 and added another US$ 3 billion to it two years later.Softbank is now investing in early stage, growth and digital transformation in the region and has many unicorns in its 60+ company portfolio, like Rappi, Quinto Andar, Gympass, Loft and MadeiraMadeira.Alex and I talk about:How startup investing has changed in Latin America over the years;The importance of talent management;How Softbank makes choices now while thinking in the (very) long term.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 founder, you likely go out to raise money a handful of times during your journey. Investors, on the other hand, live and breathe pitches and term sheets everyday. Leveraging your position in the face of asymmetry is not an easy task – but it can be done.Tomi Roggio has over a decade of experience in consulting and investing. He joined Latitud as a founding member, launched our rolling fund and, as Head of Ventures, leads the team that invested in over 80 companies in less than a year and a half.Today, we share with all of you a bit of what we constantly share with Latitud fellows and portfolio companies, about the science behind fueling your company. In what our community started calling the Latitud Fundraising Playbook, you can learn the tactics to structure your process and increase your odds of being successful.Stick around to uncover:How the current economy affects fundraising and your valuationThe main paths you can take and how to plan aheadHow to prepare and approach investorsAnd the clear DOs and DON'Ts of speaking to VCsBuilding 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

You might have heard on the news a while back that Latitud raised a $13M seed round co-led by a16z and NfX.Today, we are going to do something a bit different: to celebrate our podcast's 100th episode, I'm going to tell you how we raised said round. I decided to provide an open and candid reflection about the process.Think of it as our on "how I built this" – except we're very early.Find the full article at latitud.com/seedBuilding 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 was early 2019 when Softbank's official landing in Latin America marked the largest-ever technology fund focused exclusively in the region. LatAm was breaking its own records in terms capital injection, and the firm had already tested the waters with a few juicy checks. So Softbank committed US$ 5 billion to the new Latin American Fund – about the same as all of the region’s venture investments in 2017 and 2018 combined.One of the people leading it was Paulo Passoni. But after three years as Softbank's Managing Partner in Latin America, he felt it was time to move towards different ambitions. In April 2022, Paulo announced he was leaving Softbank with Shu Nyatta, Softbank's other LATAM Managing Partner, and together they would do their own thing.All in all, Paulo has a solid 15-year experience investing in all business stages in Latin America. While on garden leave and building the next steps, he's remains active on the board of companies like VTEX, QuintoAndar, Creditas and Loggi.On today's episode, Paulo and Brian talk about:His plans for the future (at least what he can share for now)Softbank's effect on the overall LATAM ecosystemWhat he learned from brilliant foundersBuilding 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

Communicating safely and practically is something that interests everyone, from government agencies and big banks to small businesses and communities. That's the concept behind Rocket.Chat, an open source communication platform that began in Brazil in 2015 and now has over 12 million users in 150 countries.Besides being highly customizable, Rocket.Chat offers two server options: you can use their cloud or run it on your own server. It's that unique data protection layer that has attracted the likes of the US Department of Defense and the US Navy, besides the 30,000 new companies that become customers every month.Back in February 2021, Rocket.Chat raised a US$ 19 million Series A round. It remains based in Porto Alegre, a city in the south of Brazil where the co-founder and CEO Gabriel Engel was born, and it's still very much an open source project at heart.Stick around to find out:Why Gabriel chose Brazil as the headquarters for a global businessThe challenges and opportunities of an open source companyThe importance of keeping the community engaged to make the product betterBuilding 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

What if Twitch, AngelList and Shark Tank had a baby?That's the question Ali Moiz decided to address as a business opportunity, and the baby is none other than Stonks.Ali is a self-identified Meme Dealer with two multimillion-dollar company exits, over 75 investments as an angel and solid experience in the live streaming space, so I guess you could say he knew a thing or two about what he was getting himself into.Stonks is an online platform for startup demo days set out to democratize access to investment opportunities. Founders from all over the world can apply to raise funds through their platform, and things can get pretty intense: founders get to watch as investment commitments pour in mid-pitch, and investors in the community aren't afraid to put their money where their mouth is.Having founded Stonks in early 2021, Ali and the team raised an impressive $15 million dollar Seed round led by a16z last January – after less than a year of operations.On today's episode, Ali and Brian talk about:The rationale for giving the fundraising process a makeoverWhat he's learned from watching so many pitchesAnd why good sense of humor has a place in all of thisBuilding 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