Crazy Wisdom
The Changing Face of Entrepreneurship in Latin America: A Conversation with Ivan Montoya
- Money & Sovereignty
- Argentina & Latin America
- Entrepreneurship & Startups
- latin america startups
- venture capital
- fintech
- entrepreneurship
- proptech
- startup ecosystem
About this episode
- Guest: Ivan Montoya, a LatAm Super Angel & VC. Follow him out on LinkedIN
- Focus areas: #fintech, #proptech, #logistics, #latinamerica, and #latamstartups.
- In Latin America, traditional methods still have a place, and macro-level influences are impactful, but the atomic level of capitalism is most vital.
- Technology startups have to consider various factors like interest rates, product pricing, investor risk, and tax incentives.
- The investment environment is dependent on both investors and founders, and the company's stage.
- A clear separation should exist between investors and the business, with distinctions between super passive investors and active investors.
- The investors' role in company ownership is crucial.
- There's a shift towards similarity in investing in private companies in Latin America.
- In 5 years, generalizations about Silicon Valley may change.
- Confidence levels in raising capital differ.
- 2nd and 3rd time investors are less rare in Silicon Valley, and the difference between LatAm and others is startup types and deep tech focus.
- Ambition levels differ across regions, but a focus exists on LatAm for global opportunities.
- Startups have evolved from a clubby environment to a more open one, where introductions are not limited to referrals.
- Different backgrounds create diversity, leading to great companies, as in Silicon Valley.
- The role of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and how it influences investment decisions.
- A focus on long-term prospects over quick gains.
- Overview of Brazilian startup landscape, which is ahead of other Latin American countries.
- Banks were traditionally oligopolistic; now, Central Bank drives innovation.
- Industry sectors include cyber security, hospitality, logistics, and social media.
- Trends include consumer and B2B focus, and a comparison to U.S. debt/credit.
- Innovations in access to credit, with examples of companies like Onecarnow.
- Inertia of organizations in the U.S. compared to Latin America.
- Innovation in home lending and credit systems, including AI and technology in collection processes.
- Economy as a mix of physics (e.g., positive cash flows, unit economics) and psychology (e.g., willingness to endure losses).
- Historical examples and reminiscing about market scenarios.
Episode transcript
welcome to the crazy wisdom podcast this podcast is for you if you have an insane drive to find the truth of things it's not the good answers that we seek but the good questions i interview a range of different guests from many different fields all with the intention to uncover the simple truths that are hidden in plain sight most people don't want to go there i go there my guests go there and you benefit please let me know if you enjoy these episodes and as always subscribe on itunes spotify or wherever you listen
to the podcasts welcome to the crazy wisdom podcast my guest today is ivan montoya he is a latin american super angel plus a vc it talks about fintech proptech logistics latin america and startups within latin america so welcome to the
here yeah so what is the most interesting thing you've learned about the latin american startup ecosystem that kind of surprised you over the last month over the
last month well i think that there's still companies that are growing fast and profitable despite the the environment that we're in right and that in latin america maybe throughout the world you can still be old school right and build profitable companies from the beginning that are tackling big problems and they can grow i
don't know if you'd like to talk about interest rates but i've been reading about this super interesting book that goes into like low and kind of negative interest rates the the kind of low interest rate period that we've been experiencing for the past twenty years and it's really interesting just kind of this like overarching incentive that kind of has created a lot of businesses over the last few years that have been kind of like crazy how do you think about like entrepreneurship in this environment do you think that entrepreneurs have learned bad skills but in latin america it's probably different because in latin america the governments the central banks probably might not have been doing the same type of interest rate stuff that we've been doing in the us do you know anything about that do you want to talk about that
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