Crossing Borders With Nathan Lustig

YCombinator is one of the leading early-stage US investors in Latin America, and has served as a signal for other US investors to start making their first investments in the region. Since accepting its first Latin American founder in 2013, the region’s presence in the accelerator program has significantly increased. The most recent batch had over 15 companies from Latin America. In this episode, we’ve gathered advice from 8 founders, some we’ve interviewed previously, and some new ones, that have participated in YCombinator. They talk about their experience going through the program and give tips to founders in the interview process, which can also be useful for other accelerators. We start off with Christian Van der Henst from Platzi who describes YCombinator as the handbook of doing business in Silicon Valley, followed by Deepak Chhugani from Nuvocargo who explains how he thinks entrepreneurs can maximize resources and mentorship from the program.  Next is Emmanuel Oquendo from BrainHi who talks about being

In honor of the seventh edition of the IDB’s WeXchange annual event taking place in Asunción, Paraguay next week, this episode highlights the stories of seven women from both sides of the investment table featured in past Crossing Borders episodes. These high performers share their experiences of what it’s like being a woman in technology in Latin America. This episode starts off with a55’s Jackie Hyland talking about how gender balanced teams improve the long-term health of a business, and Lab4U’s Komal Dadlani talking about her experience as a female founder in science.  Next is Alejandria Tenorio, cofounder of La Manicurista, who talks about her transition from the oil and gas industry into tech, and Cory Siskind, founder of Base Operations, talks about the institutionalized challenges women face in entrepreneurship.  Elevar Equity’s Managing Director Johanna Posada also shares her opinion on investing in Latin America and upping women representation, and Maricel Saenz from Nextbiotic shares her experience

Andres Gutierrez was working for a can manufacturing company in Philadelphia when he realized that web and mobile apps were disrupting the US market. When he asked friends and family in Colombia if there were any equivalents to these companies back home, he discovered an underserved market.  While most tech companies were launching in Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, startups were overlooking 50M consumers, with a GDP of $360B. Andres decided to go back to Colombia to found Tappsi, a ride-hailing app that after operating for only 8 months got a $1M buyout offer which, to his parents’ dismay, he turned down.  In this episode, I sit down with Andres to discuss his most recent venture Tpaga, a mobile wallet that aims to give financial services to the 400M unbanked people in Latin America. We also talk about his story growing Tappsi to an exit, advice he has for Latin American entrepreneurs, and lessons learned from Tappsi that he used to start Tpaga. We also cover what it’s like to raise money and advice for going

Pedro Sorrentino and his team were successful angel investors with multiple exits and technology executives and entrepreneurs when Pedro and his team decided to co-found ONEVC, a cross-border seed-stage firm based in San Francisco and São Paulo. He went from being a tech executive to starting his own company and then transitioned into angel investing and parlayed this successful track record into a $38M venture capital fund.   ONEVC’s cross-border vision means that they invest in Latin America and the US with very specific theses for both regions. The fund focuses on investing early into category-defining startups that operate in Latin America or startups outside of Silicon Valley, whether that be in Latin America, US or in Europe, that have the potential to go global. In this episode, we cover the ONEVC investment thesis, and why they decided to invest against this thesis. We also discuss how Pedro thinks about helping companies he partners with and his advice to startup founders going into the Brazilian mar

In the US, most people would be surprised to find that WhatsApp is the main platform for Latin Americans to communicate between friends and family, and even more surprised that its one of the main channels for businesses and their clients to communicate. Migue Morkin, an Argentine entrepreneur and founder of Sirena, explains that in Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil 70% of the population actively uses WhatsApp on a daily basis. However, Migue noticed that businesses that used WhatsApp for sales, didn’t have a proper tool to do follow ups with their clients. Sirena seeks to solve that problem by helping businesses centralize, distribute, and answer their clients’ incoming messages from WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, chatbots, and websites through one app.  In this episode, I sit down with Migue to talk about his journey from working for a machine learning startup that was acquired by a global business, to starting a market place in Brazil, and the decision to pivot that led to successfully building Sirena to what

Mariana Costa, founder of Laboratoria, a programming bootcamp for Latin American women, found a way to mix two worlds she was passionate about: technology and helping women. Originally from Peru, Mariana combines technology with social impact by running programming bootcamps for women from underserved backgrounds. The program seeks to prepare these women for a career in tech by placing them in jobs with a success rate of over 85%. Laboratoria started operating in Lima, but has since expanded to Santiago, Chile, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Sao Paulo.  Laboratoria tackles both sides of the equation by propelling a digital and cultural transformation within the tech companies so that they will continue growing their teams, but with a lens of diversity and inclusion.  In this episode, I sit down with Mariana and a third special guest, her two week old baby, to talk about how she got into tech with her background in social impact, and what it was like to be on a panel in Silicon Valley with Barack Obama and Mark

Despite Brazil’s amazing abundance in raw materials for food, Victor Santos was finding that many delivery options in large cities like Sao Paulo offered mostly highly processed foods. Liv Up is a direct-to-consumer startup that uses local Brazilian ingredients to produce high-quality and healthy frozen meals that get delivered right to customers’ doors. Founded in March 2016 in Sao Paulo, Liv Up’s product portfolio is continuously evolving. With over 80 different SKUs to offer, from snacks to spreads, Liv Up’s team is constantly tweaking and improving their products based on customer feedback. I sat down with Liv Up’s founder, Victor Santos, to talk about his decision to leave the finance world to start a food e-commerce, as well as how he raised $10M from some of the top venture capital firms in Latin America, including Kaszek Ventures. We also cover why investors should be looking into the Brazilian market, touching on both the opportunities and challenges the market has to offer. Going against the grain L

Luis Garza is the founder of Kinedu, an app that provides educational games and activities for parents and kids to play together. He was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico but had the opportunity to study abroad at a young age. Luis knew from early on he wanted to give others the same educational opportunities he had been given as a child.  After college, he joined the corporate world but eventually made his way to his passion: early childhood education and entrepreneurship. His first startup was Advenio, a high-quality daycare for preschoolers in Mexico, which led to his current pursuit: Kinedu.  Kinedu encourages early childhood development at scale. Parents and teachers can access over 2,000 one-minute long videos on Kinedu’s app that provides them with content and tools to better engage in their child’s development. For this episode, I sat down with Luis, our first guest from Monterrey, to talk about what it’s like starting a business and living in one of Mexico’s most important business centres. We cov

Ariel Arrieta knew he wanted to work in tech from the moment he got his first computer, an Atari 800XL, when he was 12 years old– a gift that changed his life. Today, he is cofounder and Managing Partner at NXTP Labs, an Argentine venture capital firm and accelerator that invests in early-stage tech startups.  During the first Internet gold rush in the late 90s, Ariel was just starting his entrepreneurial career. He saw some of his businesses fail and others do really well. After he returned $2M to a friend who had invested $10K in his startup, he knew he wanted to be in startups for life. From there, he cofounded NXTP, which become one of the most active early-stage firms in Latin America, producing success stories like Auth0, their first portfolio unicorn. In this episode, I sit down with Ariel to talk about the evolution of Latin America’s tech ecosystem, advice for founders, and lessons learned from being an entrepreneur and investor. Since 2011, the Latin American ecosystem grew 100% yearly Ariel believe

After a trip to Latin America with three other friends from college, Julian Deutschle and his future co-founders wanted to solve a problem that was already solved in their native Germany: booking bus tickets online.  Friends and family back home were in disbelief when they heard they had to physically go to bus terminals to check out bus routes, and in some cases like in Bolivia, tickets were sold with pen and paper. This untapped opportunity was enough of a reason for Julian and his friends to move to Latin America and found Recorrido, an online platform that allows its users to search for and book bus tickets online.  On this episode, I sit down with Julian to talk about his decision to move to Latin America to start a tech startup, why they picked Chile despite being rejected from Start-Up Chile, and the challenges faced in starting a business as a foreigner.  We also cover why Latin America is a great place to start a business and his vision on what the future holds for the region.  Latin America’s untapp

Susana García Robles has been working to help create the venture capital industry in Latin America since the 90s, when she launched an ambitious flagship program in Brazil to jumpstart the Latin American ecosystem. Since then, she has been an LP to dozens of funds across the region in her role as Chief Investment Officer for IDB Lab at the Interamerican Development Bank, a Washington DC based multilateral development bank focused on Latin America and the Carribbean. In addition, Susana founded WeXchange, a platform run to empower Latin American and Caribbean female entrepreneurs and connect them to mentors and investors around the world.  In this episode, I sat down with Susana to talk about her first experience with venture capital in the region, from working in Brazil to replicating similar programs across Latin America. She offers advice to potential LPs on what to look for in successful fund managers and founders. We also cover why and how she founded WeXchange and the importance of women entrepreneurs fo

Originally from a small town outside of Sao Paulo, Joao de Paula cofounded the first Latin American startup to participate in YCombinator back in 2013. Fueled by an obsession with making an impact, he unknowingly embraced the entrepreneurial spirit from an early age. He created different projects while growing up and then later taught himself to code to start his business, which he cofounded with his friend Roberto Ricci, a former professional poker player. After his 7-year odyssey with the online platform, which was a proto-Yelp, Joao and his partner decided to close the company. Joao took a six-month break before deciding to return to the startup ecosystem by joining Origin, a financial wellness platform that helps freelancers and entrepreneurs get financial wellness. In this episode I sit down with Joao to talk about Glio’s early days, raising money, applying four times to YCombinator and finally getting in. Joao also offers advice to entrepreneurs applying for YCombinator , how to prepare for the intervie

Andres Sarrazola caught the entrepreneurial bug at the age of 17 in his home city in Medellín, Colombia. Fast forward eleven years later, he is now the CEO and founder of Ayenda, Colombia's largest virtual hotel chain and SoftBank’s first investment in the country.  According to Andres, in Latin America around 70% of properties are independently owned, meaning they are not affiliated with any hotel chain brand. By putting small hotels under its brand name, Ayenda can help these businesses increase their occupancy rate from 30% to 75% using online advertising and booking tools. In this episode, I sit down with Andres to talk about his entrepreneurial beginnings at 17, some of his startup failures, and how he pivoted into his current business, Ayenda. We also cover how Andres raised money for his business and the importance of writing investor updates.  The typo that made an entrepreneur A slip of the finger on a keyboard in an Internet café is what led Andres to enroll in a private university wher

Andy Kieffer and his family decided to spend a year relaxing in Guadalajara, Mexico, and ended up staying. As founder of AgaveLab, Andy helps startups in the US and Mexico build tech products with local Guadalajara talent.  Originally from the midwest, Andy moved to California straight out of high school and worked on early stage tech companies, helping them build product, raise money more quickly and even get acquired. After each project, he would take a year off to travel, which eventually led him to Guadalajara. In this episode I sit down with Andy to hear more about his story building tech companies in Silicon Valley, creating products for the Mexican market, and how he is helping solve some of Mexico’s biggest problems with his “startup apprenticeship program” AgaveLab. We also cover lessons learned from the Mexican ecosystem, why Mexico is an attractive market for starting a business as well as for foreign investment. “We’re the craft beer of startup studios” The idea behind AgaveLab is that traditional

Mixergy's Andrew Warner interviews Nathan Lustig on the Mixergy Podcast. I decided to cross post this interview, since we cover my story getting to chile, what it's like doing business in Latin America and my experience with previous startups. You can find Andrew's original podcast and show notes on his website: https://mixergy.com/interviews/magma-partners-with-nathan-lustig/ From Mixergy: Nathan Lustig is the co-founder of Magma Partners, an early-stage investment firm that supports the best Latin American entrepreneurs to launch and scale in the US. Nathan literally wrote the book on what it’s like to do business in different parts of Latin America. It’s called “Crossing Borders: A Venture Capitalist’s Guide to Doing Business in Latin America.” I wish I had read it before I flew to Mexico City to do my first set of interviews because he really explains how the world south of the American border operates when it comes to startups and business.

How do you keep a global workforce up to date on daily security threats and confirm people are ok in the event of a natural disaster? Most companies are still stuck in phone call and paper based systems that are extremely expensive and hard to update. Cory Siskind, Base Operations’ founder, realized there was a better way than the standard practice that most multinational corporations give to employees who travel abroad for work: thirty page risk reports which mostly don’t even get read. Base Operations is an app that provides just-in-time information to its users in markets with high crime rates but poor access to crime data. Global workforces can quickly get a feel for their surroundings as soon as they touch down in a new city or country with the app’s features: intuitive heat maps, safe routing, geofenced alerts, and check-ins. Cory has always been passionate about emerging markets, specifically interested in how security and crime affect a country’s growth. But what was the spark that pushed Cory to s

Originally from Cali, Colombia, Daniel studied in the US and started a company in Silicon Valley before realizing he wanted to us his experience to solve a pressing Latin American problem: fraud. Truora, a startup that provides instant background checks, was born to fight that problem. I sat down with Daniel for this episode to talk about why he decided to go after the Latin American market instead of Silicon Valley, how he raised money from Y Combinator, Accel, and Kazsek Ventures, and why he wants to tackle the problem of fraud in Latin America. We also discuss why he based his company in Cali and the lessons he learned building and working for three startups in Latin America and Silicon Valley. Magma has been supporting Truora since before YCombinator, so I’m especially excited to share the story of this ambitious founder from Colombia on the podcast. Why background checks are a big deal in Latin America Background checks are customary practice in the US for reasons of compliance. Background checks are ess

Originally from Mexico, developing microfinance in Latin America and India was a natural step for Johanna Posada. With over 15 years of experience working in corporate finance, economics, microfinance and investing in emerging markets, Johanna, now based in Seattle, has long been involved in economic development. Currently, as Managing Director and cofounder of Elevar Equity, an impact investment fund that focuses on fintech in both of those regions, Johanna has been able to find an intersection between work that has a social component and is also business oriented. Elevar Equity targets investment in transformative and scalable businesses focusing on underserved customers. In this episode, I sat down with Johanna to talk about her experience and lessons learned from managing four funds with more than $270M assets under management, helping startups through multiple exits and impacting millions of people. We also cover her experience in microfinance and how the ecosystem has evolved over the years, her reasons

In 2014, nearly all US-based VCs were reticent to invest in Latin America. But that didn’t stop Washington, DC based QED from building one of Latin America’s most impressive startup portfolios. Before becoming a Partner at QED Investors, Mike’s path into the finance world was not obvious. Mike’s first foray into finance was his job at Capital One where he pursued his passion for using data to solve problems. Today, Mike lives in Tampa, Florida and is a Partner at QED Investors, a venture fund with over  100 mostly fintech investments in the US, UK, and Latin America. QED has been involved in some of Latin America’s top fintech deals including Nubank, Creditas, Credijusto, Guia Bolso, Loft, and Quinto Andar and many more. On this episode of Crossing Borders, I sit down with Mike Packer to talk about his journey from working in banking at Capital One to joining QED as Principal, and then making his way up to Partner. We also learn about how startups should approach venture capital firms for funding and what to

Juan Pablo Cappello met well-known Argentine entrepreneur Wenceslao Casares when he was “living out of a backpack in New York.” After a brief career in traditional law, Juan Pablo’s career took off when he was on the founding team of Patagon, Latin America’s first online bank, with Casares and two other entrepreneurs. A few years later, in 1999, Patagon was acquired for $750M, becoming one of Latin America’s first large exits. Despite the company’s massive success, he admits to making every mistake in the book along the way. Few other lawyers, especially in Latin American venture law, have such direct experience in founding, growing, and selling businesses. In this episode of Crossing Borders, I sat down with Juan Pablo Cappello to talk about the Latin American tech ecosystem in the late-1990s, what it was like to be part of a skyrocketing startup, and the lessons he learned while founding a startup. We also discuss his decision to found PAG.law in Miami, common mistakes made by Latin American founders, and