#133 – From childhood inventions to startup investing around the world: Mercedes Bent, Lightspeed Venture Partners

Santiago Rosenblatt has been hacking since he was a kid growing up in Uruguay. Curiosity turned into a career: as an ethical hacker, Santi led cybersecurity efforts at companies like AstroPay and PedidosYa, now part of Delivery Hero.But he had a hunch that this pain was actually massive, and faced by businesses of all sizes, sectors, and headquarters. Chats with company leaders proved that they were trying, but failing, to cover their safety vulnerabilities. That’s how Santi created Strike – a startup that makes offensive cybersecurity accessible, fast, and actually effective. Strike has grown all the way to raising a 13.5 million dollars Series A, led by Fintech Collective. Now it supports over a hundred companies such as Santander, Telefónica, MercadoLibre, Clip, and PedidosYa. As investors in Strike’s pre-seed round, we’ve been following that journey since the beginning. In this chat, Santi shares both valuable advice and what’s next. What you’ll hear in this episode:— Santiago’s battle with Crohn’s disease and what he realized from that journey;— His interest in hacking since childhood, and his career as an ethical hacker for large tech companies;— How he found the problem that would turn him into a startup founder with Strike;— Strike’s zero to one journey, including its validation and go-to-market strategies;— How to stay ahead of the curve, artificial intelligence adoption included;— Santiago’s most important learnings from his fundraising journey, all the way to a Series A;— What’s next for Strike;— And the advice Santiago would share with other startup founders across LatAm.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 And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Jorge Vargas Neto is now on his third journey as a fintech founder – and we had the pleasure of being not only one of their first customers, but also their first venture capital check.In three and a half years, the fintech achieved a $20M ARR and went from -696% to 63% gross margin. BHub now supports over seven thousand companies in Brazil, through backoffice services powered by AI.Jorge’s back to the pod to give us a masterclass on how to successfully incorporate artificial intelligence into your company. Plus, it wouldn’t be an episode with Jorge without his timeless advice on how to balance runway and growth.What you’ll hear in this episode:— BHub’s creation story;— The incorporation of artificial intelligence into the startup;— The debate of AI vs human profitability in Latin America;— Which models BHub uses today, and how to manage reducing headcount with their arrival;— BHub’s playbook to balance runway and growth;— What’s next for the startup in a couple of years, and BHub’s growth strategy;— What advice Jorge would share with other startup founders across 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

When it comes to pulling off successful acquisitions in tech, few people in Latin America have a playbook that’s as refined as Dennis. The CEO of TOTVS has been at the forefront of one of Brazil’s most aggressive expansion strategies, leading about 50 acquisitions.It all started 25 years ago, when Dennis co-founded an auction website that would compete with giants such as DeRemate and Mercado Libre. And while he didn’t win that fight, it was the best way to learn about how to build and grow a startup.This episode is a masterclass about balancing focus and expansion – and when the time comes, about how to prepare for an exit in the best way possible. What you’ll learn:– How Dennis got into the tech world;– How to balance execution and long-term vision;– When is the right time to expand your offering;– What to consider when exiting through an M&A, including the buyer’s view;– How Dennis sees the IPO exit route today in Latin America;– Why Dennis sees the AI race being different for every founder;– And what’s next for TOTVS.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

Belo was born from a simple vision: making crypto as easy to use as any other tech or currency. Today, half a million people use the app to store, spend, and send money. Leveraging stablecoins, they protect themselves against inflation and unlock financial freedom. Crypto is more accessible and impactful than ever across Latin America – and Belo is a sizable part of that movement.The vision might be simple, but the execution isn’t. In this episode, we had a chat with co-founder and CEO Manuel Beaudroit.Above all, this is a story about how to do more with less. Belo raised just over $4M with investors, and used that money wisely to now hit a $70M revenue run rate. What you’ll hear in this episode:– What was the idea behind Belo;– The importance of stablecoins;– How the startup found its ICP;– How to measure success and prioritize as a B2C startup;– The changes that lead the startup to efficient scale;– What’s next for Belo, and the advice Manu would share with early-stage founders.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 And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

From a family of entrepreneurs, Matias Gath wanted to be part of the change brought by startups. After an exit to the delivery conglomerate Glovo, Matias joined co-founder Agustin Iglesias in a new endeavor. In this episode, Matias shares the journey of taking Pulppo from a PowerPoint to an operating system for real estate agents, freeing them up to become home-buying advisors. We chat about:– What real estate insight led to the creation of Pulppo;– How to define company values based on the co-founders values;– How did Matias and Agustin went about validating their thesis, from customer discovery to defining priorities;– How they nailed go-to-market in the traditional segment of real estate, and across Latin America;– The next frontier for Pulppo;– What advice Matias would share for startup founders in their 0 to 1 phase.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 And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

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 And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

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