Latitud Podcast

What’s the best way to make employees have skin in the game? Giving them a true chance at ownership. This is what employee stock ownership plans are all about. An impressive 85% of Latin American startups have already set up an ESOP. That’s the headline of a study by Caravela Capital, Norte Ventures, and Credit Saison.But there’s still a lot to be done. This episode is all about tactical advice when setting up an employee stock option plan for your startup. What you’ll hear:— When to kick off an ESOP;— How to mix salary and equity for employees, and define who can access stock options;— How to mix ownership and cashing out for founders;— What we think about the current vesting schedule;— And even more tactical advice on building an ESOP.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

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

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

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