Greatest Hits Episode: Mariana Castillo, Ben & Frank: Direct-to-Consumer Eyewear for the Mexican Market, Ep 159

Category : Crossing Borders Podcast
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Mariana_Castillo_Ben_Frank

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:

  • [1:37] – About Ben & Frank
  • [2:06] – Traditional retail experience for eyewear in Mexico
  • [3:23] – Mexican roots, nomadic upbringing
  • [5:05] – Entrepreneurial journey
  • [6:00] – Internship at ALLVP
  • [6:55] – Lessons learned at the Central Bank and ALLVP
  • [7:55] – Why tackle this specific problem?
  • [9:04] – Ben & Frank’s inflection point
  • [11:48] – Building a brand in Mexico
  • [13:15] – Insights into Latam’s direct-to-consumer category
  • [14:20] – Competing with traditional retailers
  • [17:25] – Expanding Mexican direct-to-consumer brands
  • [18:15] – Advice to Mariana’s younger self
  • [18:41] – Fundraising for a direct-to-consumer startup
  • [23:18] – Being a female founder in Latam
  • [26:35] – Avoiding biases in the VC ecosystem 
  • [29:07] – What’s next for Mariana and Ben & Frank?

Show notes on Latamlist.com.

Santiago Aparicio, Ontop: Building the future of work from Latin America, Ep 158

Category : Crossing Borders Podcast
Posted on by

Santiago Aparicio

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

Show notes on Latamlist.com

Maricel Saenz, Compound Foods: Saving Coffee from Climate Change, Ep 157

Category : Crossing Borders Podcast
Posted on by

Maricel-Saenz-Compound-Foods

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:

  • [01:06] – The backstory of creating coffee without coffee beans
  • [02:30] – Why is coffee the perfect target?
  • [03:28] – Why does coffee contribute to climate change?
  • [04:10] – Why do we need to brew coffee without coffee beans?
  • [05:10] – Two minute background on Maricel
  • [06:05] – First startup experience
  • [06:40] – Singularity University and meeting her first co-founder in the synthetic biology field
  • [07:10] – From fighting bacteria to fighting climate change
  • [08:03] – Can we do something for climate change now?
  • [08:40] – From climate anxiety to taking action
  • [09:27] – How to take action fighting climate change
  • [12:00] – Opening jobs at Compound Foods
  • [13:05] – What does it take to build a company like Compound?
  • [14:05] – From Costa Rica to the Bay Area
  • [15:33] – Fundraising for a live product
  • [16:25] – Thoughts on fundraising 
  • [17:35] – Why is Compound not a synthetic food company?
  • [19:50] – What does the future look like?
  • [21:05] – What are the next steps for the business?
  • [22:09] – What advice would you give to yourself when you were first getting into tech?

Show notes on Latamlist.com

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

Category : Crossing Borders Podcast
Posted on by

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