Tag: edtech

Greatest Hits Episode: Doménica Obando, Talently: Empowering Latin American tech talent, Ep 197

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 Talently.
  • [01:54] – Talently’s value proposition.
  • [03:27] – Improving the income of tech professionals.
  • [05:40] – Latin America as a tech talent hub.
  • [06:41] – Doménica’s background.
  • [09:53] – The importance of English proficiency.
  • [11:37] – Pros and cons of working in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.
  • [15:00] – Lessons learned from past working experiences.
  • [16:40] – The path to product-market fit.
  • [19:14] – Pivoting, from  Andi to Talently.
  • [21:27] – A multi-country startup.
  • [24:32] – Talently’s impact in Latam.
  • [26:25] – Advice for her younger self.
  • [27:10] – Doménica’s book recommendations.
  • [27:45] – What’s next for Talently?

Shownotes on Latamlist.com

Doménica Obando, Talently: Creating the next tech talent hub in Latin America, Ep 165

You can now find the full show notes of the Crossing Borders podcast on LatamList.com’s 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 Talently .
  • [01:54] – Talently’s value proposition.
  • [03:27] – Improving the income of tech professionals.
  • [05:40] – Latin America as a tech talent hub.
  • [06:41] – Doménica’s background.
  • [09:53] – The importance of English proficiency.
  • [11:37] – Pros and cons of working in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.
  • [15:00] – Lessons learned from past working experiences.
  • [16:40] – The path to product-market fit.
  • [19:14] – Pivoting, from  Andi to Talently.
  • [21:27] – A multi-country startup.
  • [24:32] – Talently’s impact in Latam.
  • [26:25] – Advice for her younger self.
  • [27:10] – Doménica’s book recommendations.
  • [27:45] – What’s next for Talently?

Shownotes on Latamlist.com

Greatest Hits Episode: Christian Van der Henst, Helping Latin America Learn with Platzi, Ep 155

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:

  • [1:54] – Splitting time between Platzi offices in Bogota, San Francisco, and Mexico City
  • [2:31] – What does Platzi do?
  • [3:46] – Were you always an entrepreneur?
  • [4:57] – How did you get started with Maestros del Web?
  • [5:56] – Growing up in Guatemala
  • [8:40] –  How Christian fell in love with the internet at a young age
  • [11:26] – Going from Guatemala to Barcelona
  • [12:37] – What were some of the biggest challenges you had to overcome going from 0 to 10M page views?
  • [15:42] – What was like going from being a solo founder to teaming up with somebody?
  • [16:55] – Why Mejorando.la went from live classes to streaming and YouTube
  • [18:24] – Why mistakes are good for learning
  • [19:39] – Why Latino founders should learn to put themselves out there and stop fearing failure
  • [22:53] – Rebranding: Your users care more about product than name
  • [24:15] – Why they targeted the Spanish-speaking market
  • [25:23] – What was it like to enter YCombinator as the first fully Latin American company?
  • [27:30] – Biggest surprises participating in YCombinator
  • [29:19] – Why Colombia is leading the way for international investment in LatAm
  • [31:17] – When did you know Platzi would grow to be something big?
  • [34:25] – Why keep an office in San Francisco?
  • [36:24] – What advice would you give to other Latin American founders when they are trying to raise money?
  • [38:02] – Why should more US VCs be looking at companies from LatAm?
  • [40:26] – Why fintech is so important in LatAm
  • [42:53] – What’s your advice for people that want to start learning to code?
  • [44:05] – If you could go back to when you were first starting Mejorando.la, what advice would you give yourself?

Show notes on Latamlist.com.

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.