In this episode of Entrepreneurship in Latam 101, we invited three STEM entrepreneurs to tell us what you need to know about the process of internationalizing a business. More and more Latin American startups are looking beyond their local market and thinking big, inventing new ways to solve global problems. Some companies are created with a regional vision from the start and stay that way, while others expand in response to customers’ needs.
In this edition, our three guests share their thoughts on their own experiences scaling the companies they founded globally, how they evaluate product-market fit in a new market, how they build a culture with a remote and international team, and how each internationalization process is unique.
Our three guests are:
- Madeleine Clavijo: co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Kushki, a digital payment gateway. When Kushki was just starting, Madeleine was Head of Country in Colombia, in charge of leading the expansion strategy in the country. Today, Kushki is present in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Brazil.
- Mafalda Barros: co-founder and Head of Product of Quansa, a benefits platform focused on the financial health of workers. Mafalda and her co-founder, Gonzalo Blanco, decided to launch Quansa in Chile and then expand to their target market: Brazil.
- Mariana Costa: co-founder and CEO of Laboratoria, a social enterprise that focuses on empowering women who dream of a better future, encouraging them to start and grow in technology careers. Laboratoria started in Peru, but quickly expanded to other Latin American countries such as Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia.
Outline of this episode:
- [00:40] – Introduction to the episode.
- [01:50] – Introduction to the three entrepreneurs and their startups.
- [03:50] – How did the internationalization of their companies begin?
- [15:16] – How to find the perfect timing to scale?
- [19:33] – Experiences that taught them lessons
- [23:31] – Culture in global teams
- [28:18] – Knowing the new markets in depth
- [37:36] – The most important recommendations
- [45:36] – Main conclusions
People and resources mentioned: