Get inspired by Latin America’s most prominent tech founders and investors. They share personal and actionable insights on how to scale, raise capital, and beco...
The Growth Playbook of Rodrigo Tognini, Conta Simples
From his first days at university, Rodrigo realized he wasn’t going to follow a traditional path. An internship at the Brazilian payment company Stone was enough to inspire him to create his own startup. Through a mix of expense management software and financial services, Conta Simples now helps tens of thousands of companies stay on top of their finances and unlock their full potential.Conta has also raised more than 60 million dollars with investors – and I was fortunate enough to have invested early in it as an angel. But that’s not to say that this was a smooth journey, fundraising included.With time, Rodrigo nailed down the problem, the product, the customer profile, the expansion roadmap, profitability, and how to become a true leader. These are all part of the growth playbook he’ll share in this episode. What you’ll hear:— How Rodrigo entered the startup world while still in university;— What Rodrigo took from his years playing basketball to his startup journey;— The journey of raising the first checks for Conta Simples;— How Conta Simples refined its product and ideal customer profile;— How Rodrigo had to change his leadership style as the startup grew;— Conta Simples’ current journey of managing both break-even and product expansion;— And the advice Rodrigo would tell himself if he could go back to his early startup days.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
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55:26
The Growth Playbook of Lucas Vargas, Nomad
Groupon, VivaReal, Nomad: Lucas Vargas spent over a decade sharpening his growth playbook for startups in Latin America.The end result is the true embodiment of founder mode. Be it product or marketing decisions, Lucas went against the grain and trusted his intuition on the road building Nomad, a bank for Brazilians who include dollarization in their financial life planning.2 million customers later, Nomad is expanding its offers and combining financial and travel services. This episode is a masterclass on startup growth in Latin America: what has and hasn't changed in the past decade, and how to face prioritization and metrics as your startup expands.What you’ll hear in this episode:– What didn't change about growth in the past decade for Lucas;– What both of us think about Paul Graham's founder mode;– What was the fundamental ingredient when going from (Series) A to B;– The difference between VivaReal's and Nomad's growth playbooks, including prioritizing or not when there's the opportunity to build multiple products;– Nomad's main metrics to measure its health;– How Nomad makes branding decisions and measures their ROI;– What makes Lucas excited about building in fintech and in Latin America.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
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50:22
The Playbook for Building in Health for LatAm of Thomaz Srougi, Dr.Consulta and Carecode
If you're Brazilian or have lived in Brazil but you've never heard of Dr. Consulta, you've probably been living under a rock. So many people in the world don't have access to healthcare plans, and this is definitely the case in Brazil.Over a decade ago, Thomaz Srougi started working on this problem. And now, Dr. Consulta has already supported over 6 million Brazilians. Thomaz recently embarked on a new startup journey to disrupt healthcare once again. With the help of artificial intelligence and backed by a16z, Carecode is a personal assistant for those who already have health insurance.But to every A side, there's also a B side. This episode wouldn't be a masterclass on how to build a startup serving large and complex markets in LatAm without Thomaz sharing both ups and downs. As many who have attempted to build world-changing startups know, it's now always that you see hockey-stick growth in your first two years – but things can suddenly fire up with the right approach. What you'll hear in this episode:– Why Thomaz entered the startup and health worlds;– How he views building in the US vs building in LatAm; – The challenges faced at the beginning of Dr. Consulta, including how Thomaz worked through its initial growth problem;– Thomaz's view on traditional healthcare and the challenge of making preventive care a habit;– Thomaz's new healthcare startup built with the help of artificial intelligence, Carecode;– And the gaps and opportunities he still sees in LatAm healthtech.I'm Gina Gotthilf 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
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44:41
LatAm does it best: Atlantico’s Latin America Digital Report 2024
Download Atlantico’s Latin America Digital Report 2024: https://www.atlantico.vcThe new edition of Atlantico’s Latin America Digital Report is out today — and it’s all about how LatAm does it best when it comes to creating winners in tech.Ana Martins, Julio Vasconcellos, and I sat down and chatted about the biggest findings from the report, and what they mean for founders and investors in the region. Mercado Libre, iFood, and Nubank are just the beginning for Latin America. What you’ll hear in this episode:— What changed in this year’s Atlantico Digital Transformation Index;— Why LatAm does it best, and how regional constraints affect this in the middle to long term;— What made the big three in LatAm: Mercado Libre, Nubank, and iFood;— How and why venture capital investors in LatAm have outsized returns;— How artificial intelligence development and adoption has been growing in the region;— What surprised Ana and Julio the most as they finished the report.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
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39:59
Taking AI to SMBs in LatAm with Lautaro Schiaffino, Darwin AI
Lautaro Schiaffino and Ezequiel Sculli are two startup founders with a clear mission: enabling small and medium businesses to compete with players of all sizes. Working with these SMBs for over a decade in Latin America, they've conquered both an exit and a new frontier to work on: artificial intelligence. Darwin AI brings companies not only software, but an employee capable of making decisions that'll boost their sales.Darwin AI has raised 2.5 million dollars with investors, Latitud included, and it's on its way to processing over a million conversations by the end of the year. In this episode, Lautaro gives a masterclass on creating an AI-first startup and seeing the real challenges and opportunities for artificial intelligence in LatAm. What you'll hear in this episode:– The start of Lautaro's journey supporting SMBs with Sirena;– The creation and traction of Darwin AI;– How to train AI to become like an employee;– Where's the sweet spot in LatAm between AI foundational models x integration tools x applications;– The constant discussion of building either horizontal or vertical solutions;– What is the Meta Sandwich and why it matters;– Darwin AI's go-to-market strategy, inc. biggest value delivered and biggest challenge;– What's next for Darwin AI;– And what makes Lautaro the most excited about building in AI and supporting SMBs across LatAm.I'm your host Tomas Roggio, 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
Get inspired by Latin America’s most prominent tech founders and investors. They share personal and actionable insights on how to scale, raise capital, and become a better leader. Presented by Brian Requarth, Latitud’s cofounder.Top 1% most shared globally on Spotify in 2022.
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