Greatest Hits Episode: Marta Forero, Driving Economic Growth in LatAm via Corporate Education with UBits, Ep 151

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:

  • [2:44] – What is UBits?
  • [3:09] – Courses the platform offers
  • [4:00] – How did you decide on UBits?
  • [5:26] – Why Marta decided to build a company
  • [7:18] – The benefits of a supportive dad
  • [9:32] – First steps in founding UBits.
  • [11:32] – How did you meet your co-founder?
  • [13:33] – On getting their first client
  • [15:40] – Decision to focus exclusively on online courses.
  • [16:52] – Toward a scalable business model
  • [18:22] – When did you decide to start raising money for the business?
  • [18:35] – Bootstrapping in Latin America.
  • [19:40] – Applying for Y Combinator
  • [23:20] -Tips for a Y Combinator interview.
  • [25:18] – How did you practice putting everything into 15-second responses?
  • [26:20] – Going to the US with a strategic plan and not feeling shame.
  • [29:24] – How to make the most of YC
  • [31:23] – Raising an investment round after Y Combinator.
  • [33:05] – Advice to other Latin American founders trying to raise in the US.
  • [35:10] – Being a female founder in Latin America.
  • [36:40] – How the ecosystem can improve on being more gender-inclusive.
  • [38:20] – Advice for women looking to raise money in the US and expand their business.
  • [40:46] – Marta’s top resources for entrepreneurs
  • [41:47] – What’s next for you and UBits?

Show notes on Latamlist.com.

Maribel Dominguez, Círculo de Belleza: Bringing scalable technology to the professional beauty market, Ep 150

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:

  • [1:39] – About Círculo de Belleza
  • [6:45] – Maribel’s path to entrepreneurship
  • [20:00] – Lessons learned from a nonscalable business
  • [23:00] – The fundraising process
  • [27:09] – Books, blogs, and podcast recommendation
  • [30:52] – What’s next for Círculo de Belleza?

Show notes on Latamlist.com.

Greatest Hits Episode: Matías Rivera from Fanatiz, Building Businesses and Replanting Patagonian Trees, Ep 149

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:

  • 2:10 – Nathan introduces Matias
  • 3:24 – Why Fanatiz?
  • 4:58 – Did you always know you would be an entrepreneur?
  • 6:45 – Trying to get students into entrepreneurship in 2008
  • 8:35 – Getting involved at Start-Up Chile
  • 11:02 – The early days of SUP Chile
  • 13:12 – For-profit conservation with Patagonia Sur
  • 15:07 – Highlights of projects with Patagonia Sur
  • 20:21 – Philanthropy in Latin America
  • 22:44 – What role do tax incentives play in philanthropy?
  • 25:05 – Angel investment as philanthropy
  • 25:40 – The Stanford MBA
  • 27:13 – Takeaways from time at Stanford
  • 28:22 – How to watch soccer abroad without Fanatiz
  • 30:12 – Matias’ marketing tips for entrepreneurs
  • 34:18 – What’s next for Fanatiz?
  • 35:53 – What’s next for the Latin American ecosystem?
  • 38:14 – Advice for US investors looking at LatAm
  • 39:04 – Advice for LatAm founders looking to raise
  • 42:05 – Matias’ advice to his younger self

Show notes on Latamlist.com.

Benjamin Labra, Houm: Fixing Latin America’s broken real estate industry, Ep 148

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:

  • [1:10] – About Houm
  • [2:28] – Pain points of the real estate industry in LatAm
  • [4:00] – A family of real estate developers
  • [5:32] – On Chilean talent
  • [7:33] – Jumping into tech
  • [8:35] – Switching from the investment side to running a startup
  • [10:05] – Basics of renting a property
  • [13:20] – Speeding up the renting process
  • [16:17] – A change in US investors’ perception 
  • [18:52] – Challenges of operating remotely
  • [20:28] – Advice to entrepreneurs in smaller LatAm countries
  • [21:38] – Proptech boom in LatAm
  • [22:30] – Books, blogs, & podcast recommendations
  • [23:00] – Advice to Benjamin’s younger self

Show notes on Latamlist.com.