I’m excited to introduce the Crossing Borders podcast where I share the stories of top entrepreneurs doing startups across borders and the investors who support them, with a focus on companies that have some relationship to Latin America.
Why?
Over the past 6+ years in Latin America, I’ve met entrepreneurs hailing from countries around the world doing business across borders. Some do business in Latin America. Others use Latin America as a base to target the US market.
They’re some of the most diverse, risk-taking, trailblazing entrepreneurs in the world. But when I come back to the US, Latin American startups just aren’t on people’s radars.
They’re mostly stuck on stereotypes of corruption, narcos, and failed states. They see Latin America as a monolith and couldn’t tell you the difference between Mexican, Chilean, and Argentine food, much less the difference between each country’s business climate.
As Magma portfolio companies started to do business in the US and meet with US investors, they came across this same ignorance of Latin America and its entrepreneurs. US entrepreneurs and investors have slept on Latin America and are missing out on some of the most interesting entrepreneurs in the world. And some of the best stories.
When I told people in the US that the biggest architecture website in the world in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese was based in Santiago, Chile, they didn’t believe me. When one of our portfolio companies told a US investor that he spent $125k on his team, the investor assumed it was monthly, not yearly. When corrected, he basically called the entrepreneur a liar and ended the meeting.
When I told people that we’d invested in a company with 20 people in Costa Rica and 2 in New York, they shook their heads in disbelief. And when I tell them there’s an international education company based in Latin America impacting thousands of students from dozens of countries each year, their jaws drop.
I started the Crossing Borders podcast to share the stories of the best entrepreneurs doing startups across borders and the investors who support them, with a focus on companies that have some relationship to Latin America.
I’m excited to share the first five episodes with you. You can click on each entrepreneur’s name for an in-depth bio, or just start listening.
David Lloyd – Cofounder and CEO, The Intern Group
Adrian Fisher – Founder and CEO, PropertySimple
Nicolas Shea – Startup Chile’s Founder, Chilean Presidential Candidate
David Assael & David Basulto – Cofounders ArchDaily
Devin Baptiste – Cofounder, GroupRaise
I’ve had a great time talking with these top entrepreneurs and I hope you enjoy their stories as much as I do. If you do, please subscribe on iTunes leave a rating, and tell your friends!
If you have questions, think there’s something I should improve, or have recommendations for guests you’d like me to interview, please let me know in the comments!
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