Greatest Hits Episode: Javier García, Femsa: Creating opportunities to collaborate with the best startups in Latin America, Ep 194

You can now find the full show notes of the Crossing Borders podcast on LatamList.com’s new podcast section. I’ll still post the audio of the podcast on my blog and I’m planning to start writing more again on my blog, like I used to.

Subscribe to the LatamList Weekly newsletter to get updated on the week’s top tech news and stories from the region.

Thanks for listening to Crossing Borders all these years! If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to reach out here, or contact me on social media.

Outline of this episode:

  • [1:41] – About FEMSA
  • [7:30] – Mechanical engineering in Monterrey
  • [11:55] – FEMSA’s investment strategy
  • [23:52] – Recommendations for working with big companies
  • [29:38] – Lessons learned from collaborating with startups
  • [36:24] – Advice to Javier’s younger self
  • [38:16] – Books, blogs, & podcast recommendations
  • [42:11] – What’s next for Javier and FEMSA ventures?

Shownotes on Latamlist.com

Greatest Hits Episode: Mariana Costa, Laboratoria: Transforming Latin America’s Tech Sector with Female Talent, Ep 193

You can now find the full show notes of the Crossing Borders podcast on LatamList.com’s new podcast section. I’ll still post the audio of the podcast on my blog and I’m planning to start writing more again on my blog, like I used to.

Subscribe to the LatamList Weekly newsletter to get updated on the week’s top tech news and stories from the region.

Thanks for listening to Crossing Borders all these years! If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to reach out here, or contact me on social media.

Outline of this episode:

  • [1:35] – About Laboratoria
  • [3:45] – Becoming entrepreneurs in Latin America
  • [7:01] – A picture Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg
  • [9:28] – Laboratoria’s success rate
  • [11:59] – Choosing the tech path
  • [13:54] – What did you do before you saw that weird screen of code?
  • [15:31] – Biggest lessons you learned from working in social impact
  • [17:48] – Finding a market for Laboratoria
  • [19:35] – Thoughts on international expansion
  • [22:51] – Raising money for Colombia
  • [25:54] – Strategies for hiring more women in tech
  • [29:18] – Advice to Mariana’s younger self
  • [30:50] – Books, blogs, and podcasts Mariana recommends
  • [32:30] – What’s next for Mariana and Laboratoria?

Shownotes on Latamlist.com

Greatest Hits Episode: Santiago Aparicio, Ontop: Transforming the future of work, Ep 192

You can now find the full show notes of the Crossing Borders podcast on LatamList.com’s new podcast section. I’ll still post the audio of the podcast on my blog and I’m planning to start writing more again on my blog, like I used to.

Subscribe to the LatamList Weekly newsletter to get updated on the week’s top tech news and stories from the region.

Thanks for listening to Crossing Borders all these years! If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to reach out here, or contact me on social media.

Outline of this episode:

  • [02:18] – About Ontop
  • [02:39] – Top line metrics from Ontop
  • [02:39] – Santiago’s background
  • [04:53] – On joining Rappi
  • [07:05] – Launching Fitpal
  • [08:48] – Santiago’s biggest lessons
  • [13:54] – Coming up with the idea for Ontop
  • [14:23] – Fundraising for Ontop
  • [17:13] – The crazy world of fundraising
  • [18:42] – On building a sales engine
  • [19:14] – The best salesman (or woman)
  • [21:00] – Predictable metrics
  • [23:52] – The big milestones
  • [27:33] – Being famous is not being successful
  • [28:13] – Advice for a younger Santiago
  • [31:06] – How to hit network effects
  • [32:48] – The importance of hard conversations
  • [34:11] – The future of work

Shownotes on Latamlist.com

Alejandro Gálvez, 99 Startups: From Latin American angel investor to starting a VC fund, Ep 191

You can now find the full show notes of the Crossing Borders podcast on LatamList.com’s new podcast section. I’ll still post the audio of the podcast on my blog and I’m planning to start writing more again on my blog, like I used to.

Subscribe to the LatamList Weekly newsletter to get updated on the week’s top tech news and stories from the region.

Thanks for listening to Crossing Borders all these years! If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to reach out here, or contact me on social media.

Outline of this episode:

  • [01:30] – About 99 Startups
  • [01:45] – Alejandro’s background
  • [02:45] – Investing in real estate 
  • [03:43] – From tech enthusiast to angel investor
  • [06:00] – Networking
  • [07:18] – Angel investing versus fund investing
  • [08:54] – Why did Alejandro start a fund?
  • [10:20] – Alejandro’s podcast Fundadores
  • [11:12] – Biggest lessons from producing a podcast
  • [12:50] – 99 Startups’ thesis
  • [14:46] – Reaching out to 99 Startups
  • [15:14] – Advice to younger self 
  • [15:53] – Book and documentary recommendations 
  • [17:00] – What’s next for 99 Startups? 

Shownotes on Latamlist.com