Tag: entrepreneurship latin america

Juanma Gironella, Guros: Transforming the Insurance Industry in Latam, Ep 156

Juanma-Gironella-Guros

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:

  • [3:01] – About Guros
  • [3:44] – Before and after for insurance retail users
  • [8:20] – Doing partnerships with potencial partners
  • [14:51] – From the idea to real traction
  • [18:27] – Insurance opportunities in Mexico and Latin America
  • [21:47] – The growth opportunity in the insurance industry
  • [25:00] – The fundraising experience during the pandemic
  • [28:20] – Resources and recommendations
  • [29:49] – Advice to Juanma’s younger self

Show notes on Latamlist.com

Brian Requarth, Latitud: Building Iconic Companies in Brazil and Latin America, Ep 133

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:

  • [1:40] – About Brian
  • [3:58] – From merge to exit
  • [7:45] – Merging with a competitor
  • [12:11] – Advice for companies looking to buy instead of build
  • [14:58] – How the ecosystem has evolved since 2009
  • [17:00] – Brian’s latest book
  • [21:22] – Angel investing in Latam with Latitud
  • [27:00] – Do’s and don’ts of investing in tech
  • [34:00] – Where do you see the market going?
  • [36:43] – Advice to Brian’s younger self
  • [39:25] – Next steps for Brian

Show notes on Latamlist.com.

How Latin American Startups Are Changing the Workplace

The future of work is a hot topic these days. Technology is developing quickly, disrupting how, where, and when people work. Many worry about the loss of jobs as a result of AI and robotics, while others celebrate the potential for increased flexibility and collaboration across time zones and cultures. 

These changes in the workplace are taking several forms. One is the shift towards the gig economy, where workers act as free agents in contracted positions, often working multiple jobs simultaneously. Freelancers now make up 36% of the working US population, and were the fastest-growing group in the EU labor market between 2000 and 2014. In Latin America, technology is the key to increasing Latin America’s employment and productivity rates, and startups are at the heart of this change in the region’s workplace. 

Below are a few areas of disruptive change in the Latin American workplace, and the entrepreneurs at the forefront of that change. 

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Building a Startup Team: 10 Tips From Entrepreneurs in Latin America

Over the past few years, I’ve interviewed nearly 100 entrepreneurs on my podcast Crossing Borders about their experiences doing business in and across Latin America.

I always ask them to offer their advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, and one topic that comes up often is how they create a team that drives their companies to succeed. It takes time and effort to find the right people who fit your company culture and can meet a startup’s needs.

So I decided to round up the best advice on finding, building, and maintaining a successful startup team from these entrepreneurs. Check out their advice below.

1. Hire people who fit your company culture 

Komal Dadlani, the founder of Chilean science education startup Lab4U, says that when they were starting out they made the mistake of hiring “senior executives” that were not ready to sell a scrappy startup product. As a result, she found herself handling most of the sales, and paying a high price for experienced workers who weren’t meeting the company’s needs and weren’t a great fit for the company culture. 

Instead, she advises not to be dazzled by years of experience. In an early-stage startup with a small team, every person needs to pull their weight. It’s important to look for people who are a good cultural fit, and who are willing to do any task – big or small – to get the job done. 

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