The J Curve with Olga Maslikhova

• The Aviation Principle That Built a Unicorn - with Daniel Vogel (Bitso)

  We talk about disruption all the time — but few founders have lived it like Daniel Vogel.In 2014, when crypto was still synonymous with Silk Road headlines and skepticism, Daniel left a comfortable Silicon Valley job to move back to Mexico and build Bitso — a crypto exchange in a country where millions remained outside the formal banking system.Ten years later, Bitso is one of Latin America’s largest digital-asset platforms — a cross-border payments engine moving billions in remittances and one of the region’s first crypto unicorns. But its story is far more nuanced than the headlines.Behind every “first crypto unicorn” lies a founder who spent a decade fighting regulators, skeptics, market crashes, and cultural resistance to risk — and still managed to build trust in one of the world’s most misunderstood industries.What stood out about Daniel wasn’t the scale of Bitso’s success — it was the depth of his conviction and the discipline behind his obsession. He talks about curiosity as a lifelong engine, leadership as reinvention, and composure as a skill refined the night the Central Bank nearly shut the company down on Christmas Eve.This conversation is a masterclass in resilience, clarity, and long-term thinking.The pilot’s mindset of leadership — what flying small planes taught Daniel about control, composure, and crisis management.The risk paradox — how growing up in a culture defined by risk-aversion shaped his contrarian approach to building in volatile markets.The product decision that killed the competition — how Bitso’s choice to own its tech stack became the unseen edge that turned early disadvantage into dominance.The end game of crypto—why AI agents will eat the crypto market before humans do, and what Daniel means when he says machines will transact with each other "in ways we don't even understand."The paradox of rivalry — how competition became Bitso’s great source of discipline and growth.Join The J Curve Community:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Weekly deep dives into LATAM's hottest deals, emerging trends, and market intelligence⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Daily market insights and exclusive founder updates⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Behind-the-scenes podcast moments and quick industry takes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hit subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and share this episode with fellow entrepreneurs and investors

  --------  

  1:14:33

  --------

  1:14:33
• The WhatsApp MVP that became a $200M exit - w Caique Carvalho (ex-Gringo)

  Most unicorns never leave the stable.We celebrate billion-dollar valuations on paper like they’re cash exits—but in Latin America, the real wins are different.The true backbone of the region’s startup ecosystem isn’t paper unicorns. It’s the strategic acquisitions that return capital, recycle talent, and prove you can actually build, scale, and exit here. Yet we give them almost no airtime compared to funding rounds.So earlier this year—months before Sem Parar, the Brazilian mobility giant owned by Corpay, a NYSE-listed payments company with a market cap of over $20 billion, acquired Gringo, a super app for drivers, for about $200 million—I sat down with Caique (Kai) Carvalho, Gringo’s co-founder and former Chief Product Officer.We talked about what really matters when building a consumer-tech company:The hard lessons behind two failed startups—and how they shaped Kai’s approach to product-market fit.The principles of great UX—why listening to customers isn’t enough, and how design clarity turned Gringo into one of Brazil’s most-loved consumer apps.The 80/20 rule of growth—why mastering one acquisition channel drove most of Gringo’s traction.The business-model decisions that turned a WhatsApp MVP into a platform processing billions of reais in transactions every year.The art of building a cap table—how Gringo brought in investors like Kaszek, VEF, and Valor Capital for their complementary strengths.The culture principles that helped the team scale without losing its startup DNA.Join The J Curve Community:⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠: Weekly deep dives into LATAM's hottest deals, emerging trends, and market intelligence⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠: Daily market insights and exclusive founder updates⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠: Behind-the-scenes podcast moments and quick industry takes⁠⁠⁠⁠Hit subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠ and share this episode with fellow entrepreneurs and investors

  --------  

  45:56

  --------

  45:56
• The Anti-Hustle Culture Behind One of Brazil’s Fastest-Growing Fintechs — with Piero Contezini (Asaas)

  Is hustle culture the biggest startup lie? Is Brazil the end of credit cards? Can a fintech run like a pharmaceutical lab?In this episode of The J Curve, I sit down with Piero Contezini — founder and executive chairman of Asaas, one of Brazil’s most influential fintech platforms serving thousands of SMEs and processing billions in payments. Backed by SoftBank, Bond, Bradesco, and other top investors, Asaas has evolved from a Stripe-for-Brazil experiment into a full-stack financial operating system with 37 revenue streams.Piero’s story is one of relentless experimentation, radical cultural rules (like an 8-hour workday and zero-bug policy), and building in sync with Brazil’s regulatory revolution around PIX and Open Finance.Here’s what we cover:• Why service companies can’t scale like product companies• How one SME pain point grew into 37 revenue streams• The fintech monetization model tied directly to customer success• The culture rules that shaped Asaas: 8-hour workdays and zero bugs• How PIX and Open Finance reshaped Brazil’s fintech landscapeJoin The J Curve Community:⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠: Weekly deep dives into LATAM's hottest deals, emerging trends, and market intelligence⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠: Daily market insights and exclusive founder updates⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠: Behind-the-scenes podcast moments and quick industry takes⁠⁠⁠Hit subscribe⁠⁠⁠ and share this episode with fellow entrepreneurs and investors

  --------  

  51:56

  --------

  51:56
• Brazil vs Mexico: The Playbook for Betting on LatAm’s Giants — with Julio Vasconcellos (Atlantico)

  Julio Vasconcellos is the Managing Partner at Atlantico, one of Latin America’s leading venture firms, and the driving force behind the Latin America Digital Transformation Report. Now in its 6th edition, the report has become the definitive data backbone for investors and founders seeking to understand the region’s tech landscape.Previously, Julio was Facebook’s first country lead in Brazil and co-founder of Peixe Urbano, giving him a rare operator-to-investor perspective on LatAm’s digital transformation.In this episode, Julio unpacks the 2025 report’s biggest findings—from venture returns to geopolitics, Pix’s disruption, AI adoption, and Mexico’s rise—and what they mean for global LPs, founders, and corporates betting on the region.Here’s what we cover:LatAm Venture Outperformance: Why local VC funds have quietly outperformed global peers, and what it will take to attract more LP capital.Brazil vs. Mexico: Why Mexico features so prominently this year, how it compares to Brazil, and what it means for investors placing their first bets.The Geopolitics of Tech: 39% of Brazilians say they’d align with China over the U.S.—what’s driving that sentiment?Pix’s Relentless Rise: With 87% corporate penetration and $15B in fee savings, Pix is reshaping payments. What does this mean for Visa, Mastercard, and fintechs?Brazil’s AI Moment: Over 60% of Brazilians have tried ChatGPT, and Microsoft just invested $2.7B in AI/cloud. What role will Brazil play in the global AI race?Founder Archetypes: Atlantico’s research into the traits of successful Latin American founders—and how they compare to Silicon Valley counterparts.Join The J Curve Community:⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠: Weekly deep dives into LATAM's hottest deals, emerging trends, and market intelligence⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠: Daily market insights and exclusive founder updates⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠: Behind-the-scenes podcast moments and quick industry takes⁠⁠Hit subscribe⁠⁠ and share this episode with fellow entrepreneurs and investors

  --------  

  1:18:17

  --------

  1:18:17
• Building Olist: Pivots, M&A, Product-Market Fit & AI-Powered Commerce in Brazil w Tiago Dalvi

  Tiago Dalvi is the solo founder and CEO of Olist, Brazil's leading e-commerce operating system serving 45,000+ merchants and processing 60 billion reais annually. Olist has raised $314M from investors including SoftBank, Wellington Management, Goldman Sachs, Valor Capital Group, and Accel partner Kevin Efrusy, and operates in Brazil's $60B+ e-commerce market.The Brazilian unicorn founder discusses marketplace strategy, venture capital, M&A integration, and building Latin America's leading SMB commerce platform.Here's what we cover:From Marketplace to Ecosystem: Olist began as a single storefront. Today it's an operating system for 45,000+ merchants. What does it really take to expand from one product to a multi-product platform?The Three Pillars of a High-Performing Board: Behind every enduring company is a board built on the right foundation. What makes boards truly high-performing—and why do the best ones keep evolving?The M&A Integration Playbook: Acquisitions can accelerate growth—or sink the ship. Tiago shares the hardest lessons from integration, why protecting new acquisitions from the gravitational pull of core operations is critical for innovation, and why earnouts are so tricky to get right.Olist's Vision of Intelligent Commerce: What if your business could think for itself? Tiago explains how AI-powered decision-making could reshape SMB operations across Latin America's fragmented ecosystem.The Investor Breakup Playbook: Not every relationship lasts forever—including with investors. Why does Tiago part ways with board members he "really likes," what tough conversations are required when someone who got you to $10M isn't right for $100M, and how secondaries help recycle the cap table without burning bridges?Join The J Curve Community:⁠Newsletter⁠: Weekly deep dives into LATAM's hottest deals, emerging trends, and market intelligence⁠LinkedIn⁠: Daily market insights and exclusive founder updates⁠Instagram⁠: Behind-the-scenes podcast moments and quick industry takes⁠Hit subscribe⁠ and share this episode with fellow entrepreneurs and investors

  --------  

  1:13:49

  --------

  1:13:49

Mais podcasts de Negócios

Podcasts em tendência em Negócios

Sobre The J Curve with Olga Maslikhova

The J Curve with Olga Maslikhova: Podcast do grupo