Tag: magma partners

Highlighting Latin American Startups

Category : Latin America Startups and Investing
Posted on by

When I meet with US and European entrepreneurs and investors, they frequently want to know what startups are doing well in Latin America.

There are generally three types of startups that generally do well:

1. Latin America based startups solving problems for Latin American market

2. Startups that target the US/European market and have a Latin American back office

3. Brazilian startups that generally target the Brazilian market

Each niche has their own pros and cons, but at Magma, we invest in a subset of the first niche: B2B startups that are based in Latin America and serve Latin American companies and the second niche: startups that target the US/European market, but have their back office in Latin America.

I’ll leave Brazil’s burgeoning startup scene aside for now and focus on some of the most interesting startups I’m seeing in Spanish speaking Latin America. Post in the comments if there’s a startup you think I should include. (more…)

Investor & “Advisor” Behavior in Latin America Can Make Startups Uninvestable

Category : Latin America Startups and Investing
Posted on by

One of the recurring problems we see with Latin American startups at Magma Partners is founders with too little equity. In the past two weeks, I’ve seen three cases where the full time founding team has 7%, 10% and 25% ownership after only one round of fundraising. Two companies had raised less than $100k, one had raised ~$200k. When we see companies with this structure, we tell the founders directly that it makes their company uninvestable. It’s especially true if the founders think they’ll need to raise even more money in the future, or plan to move to the United States. Every company is different, but founders should have at least ~70% at this stage, or even more if they plan to compete on the world stage.

We see five common causes:

  1. No Vesting – Cofounders who have left own significant equity
  2. “Part time cofounders” – People who aren’t full time who own significant equity
  3. “Advisors” – Companies with large numbers of “advisors” or “advisors” with significant of equity
  4. Unsophisticated investors – Raising money from people who view startup investing like investing in private equity or small businesses
  5. Investor Malice

Let’s unpack each one.

(more…)

My 2015

Category : Personal Thoughts
Posted on by

Ever since I started writing here, I’ve done a year end post summarizing what I’ve done in the past year. These posts are mostly for me, so that I can look back and remember what I did, what I was thinking and what was important to me each year. Previous versions (2000s, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014). Here’s what I did in 2015.

I rang in 2015 on a cold night in Wisconsin with friends and family, then went back to Chile to get back to summer. In 2015 I was in Chile for about 9 months, the least I’ve spent in Chile since 2011. It was an eventful year that took me to nine countries for work and fun. Looking back, I think 2015 can be distilled down to two main themes. Focus + Growth, and Reconnecting.

(more…)

Introducing Ttanti: Patagonian Wood Watches

Category : Chile, Latin America Startups and Investing, Magma Partners
Posted on by

ttanti wood watch

I’m really excited to introduce Ttanti’s Travelers Collection, wood watches direct from Chile’s Patagonia. Max and Angel, have been working on Ttanti for 2+ years to make it a reality. Although its outside of our primarily tech focus at Magma, we loved the project and the team and decided to help out.

We’ve been working with Max and Angel for the better part of 18 months, helping them go from a 100% Chilean made prototype, to a Patagonian designed watch with a Swiss made body, all expertly finished off by hand by Chilean artisans. Ttanti is one of our portfolio companies that I’m most proud of because of how far they’ve come. (more…)