Crossing Borders With Nathan Lustig

Deepak Chhugani, Nuvocargo: Using software to modernize trade between Mexico and USA, Ep 116 Deepak Chhugani’s multicultural background was considered rare and unexpected in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where he grew up most of his life. He was born in Kenya to Indian parents who migrated to Ecuador in their late 20s. Logically, after studying at university in the US, Deepak wanted to find a way to connect all of these experiences. When he worked in investment banking in New York and Mexico, he saw the intersection that existed between the US and Latin America. Specifically, in trade with Mexico– the US’ largest trading partner.   Coming from a family with a background in logistics, Deepak founded Nuvocargo, a digital freight forwarder and licensed customs broker that helps companies move physical goods between the US and Mexico.    In this episode, Deepak shares stories about growing up in Ecuador as an Indian immigrant, his experience in investment banking in the US and Latin America, and the reason for pivoting in

Martin Schrimpff, Zinobe: Supporting Underserved SMEs with Fintech, Ep 115 Almost 20 years ago, after finishing his engineering degree at the University of Edinburgh, Martin Schrimpff jumped at the opportunity to move back to his native Colombia to set up his first software development company with a friend. That company, Sirius, would kick off Martin’s entrepreneurial journey and lead him to found Payu, a payments business with clients like  Facebook, Microsoft, Uber, Airbnb, and Google.  Becoming an entrepreneur was always at the back of Martin’s mind from a young age, whether it was selling chocolate or setting up small casinos at school, he knew he wanted to have his own business. Over the years, Martin has become an expert in the online payments industry and has founded several successful tech companies including Sirius, Payu, Zinobe, and most recently Centeo.   In this episode, I sat down with Martin to talk about his multicultural background, his experience financing his second company, and eventually

Florence Frech, Leal: Bringing Data-Driven Customer Engagement to Latin America, Ep 114 Despite coming from a family of entrepreneurs in El Salvador, Florence Frech hadn’t considered being one herself until she met her current co-founder while completing an MBA in Chicago. Up until that point, she had been building a stable career working at banks in the US and El Salvador. One startup competition later, Florence was hooked. In Latin America, where 50% of credit card consumers are completely inactive, engaging with and retaining customers can be a challenge. That’s why Florence and her co-founder, Camilo Martinez, decided to start Leal, a customer engagement platform that helps B2C customers truly understand who their customers are through loyalty programs. I sat down with Florence to talk about her upbringing in El Salvador and learning about entrepreneurship over the dinner table with her family, and how her first failure as a startup turned into a valuable life lesson. We also discuss why customer en

Gonzalo Galindo, Cemex Ventures: Bringing Innovation and Strategic Investments to the Construction Industry, Ep 113 The construction industry is known for being slow to adopt new technologies. However, Gonzalo Galindo seeks to break that barrier and bring innovation to an industry that is commonly considered to be monolithic and outdated.    Currently, Gonzalo is the Head of Cemex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Cemex, a Mexican company and a global leader in the building materials industry. Through this initiative, Gonzalo is helping Cemex prepare for the future by investing in startups that are developing disruptive technologies related to the construction industry.   I sat down with Gonzalo to talk about his transition from a more traditional business background to working in a disruptive industry like venture capital. He also gives advice to younger entrepreneurs on how to approach investment opportunities with corporations, and shares lessons he’s learned from working with startups. We also discuss

Pedro Góes, InEvent: Revamping the Events Industry in Latam & the US, Ep 112 Although originally from Salvador, Brazil Pedro Góes went to university in São Carlos where he met his future co-founders Vinicius Neris and Mauricio Giordano. There, Pedro was inspired by other Brazilian entrepreneurs that were providing solutions to problems that were hindering the region’s development.   Together, they founded InEvent, a SaaS startup that offers a platform to help enterprise event organizers boost revenue and provide attendees with a personalized experience. The platform’s events can range from 20 people to larger corporate events involving 44K people.   I sat down with Pedro to talk about what it was like growing up in Salvador and then starting a business during his college years in São Carlos. We also discuss his experience bootstrapping his company the first four years, his experience at YCombinator, and ultimately his decision to move the business to the US. Also, in light of COVID-19, we talk about how

Antonia Rojas, ALLVP: Investing in Latin America's Human Capital & Smart Cities, Ep 111 Antonia Rojas has been surrounded by machines and technology ever since she can remember. Her grandfather was one of the engineers that developed the first computer in Germany, while her mother was a digital photography pioneer in Chile.    Now, Antonia is carving her own path in the tech world with her passion for supporting startups that use technology to provide solutions to real-world problems. This year, she became the youngest female venture capital partner in Latin America when she joined ALLVP, a Mexico-based venture capital firm.   In this episode, I sit down with Antonia to talk about her journey as an entrepreneur-turned-investor and her views on the future of Latin America’s tech ecosystem. We also talk about her experience going through Start-Up Chile and her current work and investment process at ALLVP. ALLVP’s four verticals Antonia explains that ALLVP targets tech startups in four different industries:

Albert Santalo, 8base: Building the Software of the Future, Ep 110 Albert Santalo launched two successful tech companies from South Florida during economic recessions. The first company was right after 9/11 and a year after the dotcom bubble had burst. He recalls that being an entrepreneur in those times was like being “the scourge of the economy.” The second company was in the midst of the 2008 global financial crisis. This company was Carecloud, a cloud-based health tech company that currently processes billions of dollars in annualized accounts receivable.   Now Albert is the founder and CEO of 8base, a low-code development platform that helps entrepreneurs bring their digital products to life. Founders, particularly, non-technical founders can use 8base to get their products up and running in a faster and more economical way. He states that by 2024, 65% of the software will be written using low-code platforms.   In this episode, I sat down with Albert to talk about why low-code platforms are the future o

Ángel Sahagún, Albo: Bringing Financial Inclusion to Mexico’s Underbanked , Ep 109 Originally from Campeche, Yucatan, Ángel Sahagún has been obsessed with fintech for the past ten years. From an early age, he realized that there was limited access to financial products for a large portion of the Mexican population. Since then, he has made it his mission to improve the country’s financial system.   Ángel founded Albo in 2016 to help Mexicans optimize the way they manage their money.  Today, Albo is Mexico’s leading neobank and allows users to get a full-fledged bank account in just 5 minutes.   I sat down with Ángel to talk about why Albo is a game-changer in Mexico’s banking industry, how he became obsessed with fintech from a young age, and what his first steps in finance looked like. Ángel also explains how he approaches fundraising and gives advice to other entrepreneurs looking to raise money locally and globally as he did with Albo. It’s been a pleasure to get to know Angel while supporting him via Magm

Laura Mendoza, Unima: Developing Low-Cost Diagnostics for 3 Billion People, Ep 108 Laura Mendoza was already working on solutions for tuberculosis, the leading infectious killer worldwide, before COVID-19 came along. As founder and CPO of biotech Unima, Laura develops fast and low-cost diagnostics for infectious diseases. Her solutions help decision-makers create better programs for the treatment and control of these diseases.   From the first mentions of coronavirus early in 2020, Laura and her team immediately understood the magnitude of the problem. Quickly shifting gears, Unima started to focus on solutions for COVID-19, such as molecular tests for antibody detection.   I sit down with Laura to talk about why she decided to tackle human health and how she became an entrepreneur while completing several Masters along the way. We also discuss the work Unima was doing before COVID-19 and what it’s like to raise money as a biotech company in Latin America. Tackling global health It had never crossed Laura’s

Maya Dadoo, Worky: Revolutionizing the HR Industry for Mexican SMEs, Ep 107 In Mexico, SME employees rotate at a rate of ~60% per year! With about 20M Mexicans working in this sector, this means 12M are switching jobs on a yearly basis. It’s amazing companies can get anything done! Coming from a background in chemical engineering, Maya Dadoo has always had a passion for making processes more efficient. When she noticed a problem in Mexico’s HR industry that was hindering talent growth in SMEs, Maya decided to look for an innovative solution.    In 2018, Maya founded Worky, an all-in-one HR software built for Mexican SMEs. Maya and her partner discovered that one of the main reasons employee retention is so problematic in Mexico is the lack of employee benefits in SMEs. Today, Worky closed a $3M round led by QED Investors and LEAP Global Partners, and is helping over 170 companies encourage financial health in employees and streamline their HR operations.   In this episode, I sit down with Maya to talk about

Vitor Torres, Contabilizei: Helping Brazilian SMEs with Tax Compliance, Ep 106 According to The World Bank, Brazil ranks as one of the top 10 hardest countries in the world to pay taxes, which can be concerning considering that Brazilians have to file their taxes on a monthly basis. Vitor Torres experienced the painful process of finding an accountant in Brazil, which is why he founded Contabilizei.   Contabilizei is an online tax filing and accounting service for SMEs in Brazil, where having an accountant as a business owner is not optional, it’s mandated by law. By using technology to scale their services, Contabilizei is disrupting the traditional accounting industry and helping customers save up to 80% on accounting fees a month.    I sat down with Vitor to talk about how he became a lieutenant in the Brazilian army and then started working as a business analyst for Nick Faldo’s Golf & Resort Management company. We also discuss how Curitiba’s ecosystem has evolved over the years and how he started Con

Geoff Michener, dataPlor: Closing the Latin American Data Gap with Human Verified SME Data, Ep 105 Growing up in Denver, Colorado, Geoff Michener was interested in international trade and economics. During his undergrad, he got the opportunity to study abroad in Nicaragua and learn about foreign investment. There, he quickly fell in love with Latin America and promised himself that he would come back and do business in the future.   Geoff kept his promise and is now CEO and founder of dataPlor, a Magma portfolio company that provides quality data on small businesses in Latin America. He noticed that there was a huge information gap in the region where up to 75% of SMEs have no online presence. DataPlor’s team of “explorers’ capture and validate data to build a database which provides enterprises with accurate information on small businesses.   In this episode, I sit down with Geoff to talk about the value dataPlor brings to large enterprises as well as the challenges of collecting data in Latin America compar

Gabriela Estrada, Vexi: Bringing Credit to the Underbanked in Mexico, Ep 104 Only one in ten adults in Mexico have access to a formal credit card, according to Gabriela Estrada. That’s more than 70 million people that are not able to build a credit history. As cofounder and CFO of Vexi, Gabriela is on a mission to make credit accessible to Mexico’s underbanked population.    Originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, Gabriela was at the peak of her career at Citibanamex in Mexico City when she decided the corporate world wasn’t for her. She was the only female director as well as the youngest among her peers by 10 to 15 years. After leaving the bank, her friend convinced her to cofound Vexi with him, where she quickly fell in love with the power of impacting her community through fintech.   I sit down with Gabriela to talk about her experience as a woman in finance in Mexico and some of the challenges she now faces as a female founder when seeking investment. We also discuss why she decided to tackle financial inclus

Gonzalo Ucar, Hogaru: Empowering Colombia’s Cleaners to Earn Stable Wages, Ep 103   As an engineer, Gonzalo Ucar wanted to solve real world problems. Originally from Spain, he decided to move to Latin America to become an entrepreneur and tap into the region’s opportunities. Today, he lives in Bogota and is co-founder of Hogaru, an on-demand cleaning company in Colombia.   Gonzalo and his partner recognized a huge pain point in Colombia’s cleaning industry: a deeply-rooted informal economy. Most cleaners in Colombia do not have a steady income or a social security number, which restricts their ability to realize their full economic potential. That’s why Hogaru’s cleaning service functions on a direct employment basis and avoids encouraging a gig economy.    In this episode, I sit down with Gonzalo to talk about how a Spaniard ended up in Colombia, Hogaru’s unique business model, and the lessons he’s learned as an engineer that he applies as an entrepreneur. We also discuss his major takeaways from participati

Daniel Cossío, Village Capital: Transforming Big Ideas from Vision to Scale, Ep 102   Daniel Cossío decided he wanted to be involved in technology when he realized that businesses could produce a greater social impact than just an economic return. Today, he is Regional Manager for Latin America at Village Capital, a venture capital firm that supports impact-driven, seed-stage startups that focus on financial services, sustainability, and the future of work and education.    For ten years, Village Capital has supported over 1100 entrepreneurs from around the world, investing in more than 110 startups including Fintual, Vexi, and Siembro in Latin America. Daniel explains that Village Capital believes in supporting entrepreneurs that are often overlooked, helping them bring their big ideas from vision to scale.   In this episode, I sit down with Daniel to discuss how he got on the investor side of the table and became the lead in LatAm and how entrepreneurs can get involved with Village Capital. We also talk abo

Ishan Sinha, Point72 Ventures: Investing in Global Fintech Startups, Ep 101 Originally from New Delhi and Kathmandu, Ishan Sinha grew up on the move. Due to his Dad’s job, he lived in six countries in three different continents until finally settling down in Connecticut. Today, as Vice President of Point72 Ventures, he still spends a lot of time on planes, however his usual travel plans are currently on hold in light of COVID-19. In normal circumstances, he travels several times throughout the year to explore markets in the Middle East, Northern Africa, South East Asia, and Latin America.    Point72 Ventures is the independent, early-stage investment arm of Steve Cohen’s $16B hedge fund Point72 Asset Management.  The fund –always seeking to be at the forefront of new technology– naturally contacted a lot of startups, which eventually turned into investable businesses. Their first investment in Latin America was in Pierpaolo Barbieri’s fintech Ualá. Ishan, with his international background, immediately jumped

Advice from Venture Capitalists to Latin American Founders, Ep 100 Over the years, we’ve had the chance to interview some of the best venture capital investors in Latin America on the Crossing Borders podcast. With that in mind, we decided to launch an Investor Remix Series, where we go back to previous episodes to highlight the stories of some of the region’s most interesting and successful investors. For the first episode in the series, we feature six investors giving advice to founders from Latin America.   The episode kicks off with Michael Sidgmore, Partner at Broadhaven Ventures, who provides tips to founders on how they should be approaching their investment pitch. Next, Andrés Barreto, Founder of Firstock Capital, talks about some of the most common mistakes founders make when seeking investment. Then, Amanda Jacobson, a venture capitalist currently working at fintech startup Oyster Financial, talks about the lessons she’s learned from when she first started out as an entrepreneur.   Next, Johanna Po

At Magma Partners, we work with people who share our values, whether they’re the founders we invest in or the mentors and investors we bring on to our team. We hope to create lifelong relationships with the people we support.    For this episode, we’re featuring eleven Magma entrepreneurs –some are members of our portfolio, and others are from our team– who have appeared on previous episodes of the Crossing Borders podcast to share their advice to founders from Latin America on how to get started.    This episode starts off with GroupRaise’s Sean Park who reflects on what he has learned since starting his online restaurant reservation platform. Next, is Matías Rivera, founder of Fanatiz, who talks about his perspective on resistance to change. Kevin Valdez, also co-founder of GroupRaise, explains how advice from his father has shaped his outlook on life. Keteka’s Jack Fischl, talks about what he would have told 2014-Jack on managing a company. Emmanuel Oquendo from BrainHi then explains what it means to be a

80% of Venezuelans today depend on remittances to survive. Almost seven million people have left the country since the protests against the Maduro government started, creating a massive diaspora, almost all of whom send money home to family members trapped in the country.  Simon Chamorro was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, so he has seen this problem firsthand. He co-founded Valiu to make it easier to transfer money from Colombia to Venezuela by streamlining remittances using cryptocurrency. In this episode of Crossing Borders, Simon explains how Valiu is using cryptocurrency to solve real-life problems, and how it has the potential to combat inflation in economies across Latin America. Now living in Colombia, Simon also discusses the important lessons he has learned working with four startups in the Colombian ecosystem, his own experience in starting a company, and where Valiu is headed next. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about the current situation in Venezuela and how Vali

When Michael Sidgmore thinks about investing, he thinks about making the biggest impact possible in people’s lives. His passion for economic development and financial inclusion has led him to build a career as a fintech investor and entrepreneur focused on financial infrastructure, wealth management, and financial inclusion. Today, he is a Partner and cofounder of Broadhaven Ventures, a Silicon Valley based fintech venture capital firm that has invested in 5 startups in Latin America.   Broadhaven Ventures invests globally in early-stage fintech startups but largely focuses on Latin America and the US. The fund was built out of a market leading fintech investment bank called Broadhaven Capital Partners to start to invest directly into some of the best companies they were seeing on the investment banking side of the business.  In this episode, I sit down with Michael in Mexico City to talk about his background in soccer, then in tech banking, and how an NGO inspired him to kickstart his investing career. We di