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...
AI-Powered $20M ARR: The Expansion Playbook of Jorge Vargas Neto, BHub
Jorge Vargas Neto is now on his third journey as a fintech founder – and we had the pleasure of being not only one of their first customers, but also their first venture capital check.In three and a half years, the fintech achieved a $20M ARR and went from -696% to 63% gross margin. BHub now supports over seven thousand companies in Brazil, through backoffice services powered by AI.Jorge’s back to the pod to give us a masterclass on how to successfully incorporate artificial intelligence into your company. Plus, it wouldn’t be an episode with Jorge without his timeless advice on how to balance runway and growth.What you’ll hear in this episode:— BHub’s creation story;— The incorporation of artificial intelligence into the startup;— The debate of AI vs human profitability in Latin America;— Which models BHub uses today, and how to manage reducing headcount with their arrival;— BHub’s playbook to balance runway and growth;— What’s next for the startup in a couple of years, and BHub’s growth strategy;— What advice Jorge would share with other startup founders across 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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37:23
The Expansion and M&A Playbook of Dennis Herszkowicz, TOTVS
When it comes to pulling off successful acquisitions in tech, few people in Latin America have a playbook that’s as refined as Dennis. The CEO of TOTVS has been at the forefront of one of Brazil’s most aggressive expansion strategies, leading about 50 acquisitions.It all started 25 years ago, when Dennis co-founded an auction website that would compete with giants such as DeRemate and Mercado Libre. And while he didn’t win that fight, it was the best way to learn about how to build and grow a startup.This episode is a masterclass about balancing focus and expansion – and when the time comes, about how to prepare for an exit in the best way possible. What you’ll learn:– How Dennis got into the tech world;– How to balance execution and long-term vision;– When is the right time to expand your offering;– What to consider when exiting through an M&A, including the buyer’s view;– How Dennis sees the IPO exit route today in Latin America;– Why Dennis sees the AI race being different for every founder;– And what’s next for TOTVS.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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36:52
Hitting $70M in revenue run rate with $4M raised: Manuel Beaudroit, Belo
Belo was born from a simple vision: making crypto as easy to use as any other tech or currency. Today, half a million people use the app to store, spend, and send money. Leveraging stablecoins, they protect themselves against inflation and unlock financial freedom. Crypto is more accessible and impactful than ever across Latin America – and Belo is a sizable part of that movement.The vision might be simple, but the execution isn’t. In this episode, we had a chat with co-founder and CEO Manuel Beaudroit.Above all, this is a story about how to do more with less. Belo raised just over $4M with investors, and used that money wisely to now hit a $70M revenue run rate. What you’ll hear in this episode:– What was the idea behind Belo;– The importance of stablecoins;– How the startup found its ICP;– How to measure success and prioritize as a B2C startup;– The changes that lead the startup to efficient scale;– What’s next for Belo, and the advice Manu would share with early-stage founders.My name’s 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
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34:12
Zero to One: Customer Discovery Lessons from Matias Gath, Pulppo
From a family of entrepreneurs, Matias Gath wanted to be part of the change brought by startups. After an exit to the delivery conglomerate Glovo, Matias joined co-founder Agustin Iglesias in a new endeavor. In this episode, Matias shares the journey of taking Pulppo from a PowerPoint to an operating system for real estate agents, freeing them up to become home-buying advisors. We chat about:– What real estate insight led to the creation of Pulppo;– How to define company values based on the co-founders values;– How did Matias and Agustin went about validating their thesis, from customer discovery to defining priorities;– How they nailed go-to-market in the traditional segment of real estate, and across Latin America;– The next frontier for Pulppo;– What advice Matias would share for startup founders in their 0 to 1 phase.My name’s 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
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34:34
Vertical SaaS in LatAm with Cometa, Fudo, and PulpOS
While the US is facing SaaS fatigue, the story of software as a service is still on page one in Latin America. The region has leapfrogged the on-premise stage, with companies looking for digitalization fixes that are easy yet personalized. This is where Vertical SaaS comes in. Here at Latitud, we’ve seen how some software as a service have traded market size for market share, aiming to lead by finding product-market fit inside an industry. That’s the case with Cometa’s private schools, Fudo’s restaurants, and PulpOS’ product retailers.We sat down with founders Andrés Benavides, Justo José Ferraro, and Frank Martin to understand how their startups conquered a fundamental piece for every SaaS: the right to win. What you’ll hear in this episode:— The key to growing a Vertical SaaS: building trust and dominating data;— Why we’re at the right time for building a VSaaS in LatAm;— What makes SaaS more defensible in your LatAm;— What was the core product, that initial wedge, and the additional layers of Cometa, Fudo, and PulpOS;— And how AI empowers or threatens VSaaS.My name's 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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