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
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DOWNLOAD THE FULL STUDY HERE: https://www.latitud.com/latam-tech-report

We just launched the newest edition of The LatAm Tech Report, our annual deep dive into the region’s startup ecosystem. It's a powerful reminder that LatAm founders aren't just building solutions. They're building unique innovations for the global stage.

This year, we focused on key trends, opportunities, and challenges across fintech, SaaS, e-commerce, logistics, and artificial intelligence.

If you’re looking for one last read of the year, this is it. But if you're pressed for time, don’t worry. We've got you covered. In this episode, we’ll give you the highlights of The LatAm Tech Report in under 20 minutes. 

And here's the fun twist: this episode was created with a little help from artificial intelligence, just like many of the innovations we dived into in The LatAm Tech Report report. Who says you can't combine human creativity with the power of AI?

Enjoy the summary and, when you get the chance, dive into the full report. My name’s Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm! Happy listening and happy holidays.

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

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

Download Atlantico’s Latin America Digital Report 2024: https://www.atlantico.vc

The new edition of Atlantico’s Latin America Digital Report is out today — and it’s all about how LatAm does it best when it comes to creating winners in tech.

Ana Martins, Julio Vasconcellos, and I sat down and chatted about the biggest findings from the report, and what they mean for founders and investors in the region. 

Mercado Libre, iFood, and Nubank are just the beginning for Latin America. What you’ll hear in this episode:

— What changed in this year’s Atlantico Digital Transformation Index;

— Why LatAm does it best, and how regional constraints affect this in the middle to long term;

— What made the big three in LatAm: Mercado Libre, Nubank, and iFood;

— How and why venture capital investors in LatAm have outsized returns;

— How artificial intelligence development and adoption has been growing in the region;

— What surprised Ana and Julio the most as they finished the report.

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

Lautaro Schiaffino and Ezequiel Sculli are two startup founders with a clear mission: enabling small and medium businesses to compete with players of all sizes. 

Working with these SMBs for over a decade in Latin America, they've conquered both an exit and a new frontier to work on: artificial intelligence. 

Darwin AI brings companies not only software, but an employee capable of making decisions that'll boost their sales.

Darwin AI has raised 2.5 million dollars with investors, Latitud included, and it's on its way to processing over a million conversations by the end of the year. 

In this episode, Lautaro gives a masterclass on creating an AI-first startup and seeing the real challenges and opportunities for artificial intelligence in LatAm. What you'll hear in this episode:

– The start of Lautaro's journey supporting SMBs with Sirena;

– The creation and traction of Darwin AI;

– How to train AI to become like an employee;

– Where's the sweet spot in LatAm between AI foundational models x integration tools x applications;
– The constant discussion of building either horizontal or vertical solutions;
– What is the Meta Sandwich and why it matters;

– Darwin AI's go-to-market strategy, inc. biggest value delivered and biggest challenge;
– What's next for Darwin AI;

– And what makes Lautaro the most excited about building in AI and supporting SMBs across LatAm.

I'm your host 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

The Latitud Podcast is back with a new season — but that’s not all. We’re entering a new phase: Tomas Roggio will join me, Brian Requarth, as we uncover the playbooks used by founders and investors transforming Latin America. We hope you’ll leave each episode with a new approach to take your startup to 0, 1, and beyond.

We couldn’t have found a better first guest than André Penha — the computer scientist who saw metrics that were better than he ever forecasted when he co-founded and became the CTO of Quinto Andar.

In the beginning, you only have a dream. So you’ll have to take the lead and do things that don’t scale, just like André did. Now, Quinto Andar has over forty thousand active listings. Every three minutes, there's a new property ad on their website. 

This chat was a masterclass in how to build an exceptional product from scratch and scale through excellent user experience. What you'll hear in this episode:

– The early days of André Penha and Quinto Andar;
– Doing things that don't scale: a necessity for initial traction;
– Impactful product tweaks for user acquisition and retention;
– Optimizing unit economics and dealing with investor skepticism;
– Finding partners and overcoming resistance between incumbents;
– AI as an exception handler;
– Building IPO-readiness;
– Which startup André would build if he were to start today.

I'm 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
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Scott Hartley was a researcher and went on to work with product and operations at companies like Facebook and Google. But the most well-known part of Scott’s journey began when he hit Sand Hill Road.

Scott went on to become a co-founder of Two Culture Capital and Everywhere Ventures. Across these two VC firms, he invested in over 300 startups around the world — Latitud and LatAm included.

In a world now ruled by AI, Scott talks instead about IA, or intellectual amplification. On a similar note, he’s also the author of The Fuzzy and the Techie: Why the Liberal Arts Will Rule the Digital World.

In this chat, Scott and I talk about:

• What makes him confident about investing early on and in multiple countries;

• The difference between fuzzy and techie entrepreneurs;

• And the advice Scott shares most often with startup founders.

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