How a VC in Latin America Thinks Case Study | Sramana Mitra

This bundle of courses is designed for IT entrepreneurs who want to start and scale a business in Latin America.

The Latin America startup movement has accelerated recently. We’re seeing lots of e-commerce in various domains, of course, but also FinTech, AgTech, even B-to-B SaaS.

One of the first major Latin American successes was MercadoLibre, out of Argentina, which went public on NYSE in 2007. In fact, I worked with MercadoLibre early on and got to know a lot about the company’s thought process as they developed their strategy for dominating the continent’s e-commerce trend.

As other countries have figured out, if you are trying to build a global B-to-B tech company, typically, these days, a SaaS venture, you’d need to access the US market relatively early in your progression. You can validate in your local market, get some customers going, but quickly, start the process of penetrating the US customer base.

Now, e-Commerce or FinTech are very different animals. These startups tend to be much more local businesses. You can build a very large e-commerce or FinTech business without ever leaving Brazil or Argentina, Mexico, or Colombia.

So, let’s get started.

The first course features conversations with several super-successful Latin American entrepreneurs, as well as lessons learned and their best advice.

1. How to Build Tech Startups in Latin America with Sramana Mitra

In 2021, there are now 23 unicorns based in Latin America. We recommend that all entrepreneurs who believe their startup idea has the potential to develop into a Unicorn business take this course.

1. How To Build Unicorn Tech Startups with Sramana Mitra

In addition, if you want to build a venture-funded company, you should understand what investors look for before approaching VCs. Don’t go prematurely. Pre-seed funding is extremely difficult, rejection rates are very high. Take these courses to learn what investors want and avoid the time and emotional pain of repeated rejections.

1. How Pre-Seed Investors Think About Startups with Sramana Mitra

2. How Seed Investors Think About Startups with Sramana Mitra

3. Post-Seed and Pre-Series A Investors on Startups with Sramana Mitra

4. How Seed Investors Think About Deep Tech with Sramana Mitra

5. Alternatives to Unicorn Chasing Investors with Sramana Mitra

It’s also worth noting that learning to focus on a certain domain is essential. These courses may help you decide on a domain in which you already have an unfair advantage.

1. How to Build E-commerce Startups with Sramana Mitra

2. Building a Two-Sided E-commerce Marketplace w/ Sramana Mitra

3. How To Build AI Startups with Sramana Mitra

4. How to Build Online Education Startups with Sramana

5. How to Build Digital Health Startups with Sramana Mitra

If you’re just getting started, there are various ways to get your business up and running. The following is a comprehensive guide to bootstrapping techniques. You may pick one or a combination of different bootstrapping strategies.

1. Bootstrapping a Startup with Services with Sramana Mitra

2. Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later with Sramana Mitra

3. Bootstrapping a Startup with a Paycheck with Sramana Mitra

4. How to Bootstrap Startups by Piggybacking with Sramana Mitra

5. How to Bootstrap a Startup to Exit with Sramana Mitra

6. How To Succeed As A Solo Entrepreneur with Sramana Mitra

The bottom line is that no Latin American or Silicon Valley investor would finance your firm unless you do some amount of bootstrapping to get to validation.

Remember the 1Mby1M mantra: Do NOT go to investors as beggars, go as kings ?

And finally, this course may enhance your understanding of Latin American startup financing. You’ll get knowledge from real-world Latin American investors who want to fund viable businesses. You may also see ways to make your startup fundable in the process. Once upon a time, entrepreneurs had to pretty much bootstrap and look for funding in the US. No more. Take this course to learn more about how to navigate funding in Latin America.

1. How Investors Think of Startups in Latin America with Sramana Mitra

Here you have it. We’ve spent the past three decades immersed in entrepreneurial endeavors both in Latin America, Silicon Valley, and around the world. We synthesize thousands of entrepreneurial stories into a few dozens of key courses.

All of the above courses are based on the 1Mby1M Methodology. Take these courses in any order you wish, combine them as needed, but do not skip the learning. Be sure to deeply understand How Investors Think before you go chasing investors.

When you do, don’t do so with a begging bowl. Go with real validation and command the respect that would result in successful funding rounds.

If you have any specific questions, come and see me at a 1Mby1M free roundtable.

P.S. We’re looking to partner with community leaders who write blogs, teach and mentor entrepreneurs, and help support startup ecosystems in every corner of the world, no matter how small or how remote. I have written about my own journey building startup ecosystems around the world, and how you can draw from my lessons from the trenches. If you’re interested in partnering with 1Mby1M, please consider joining our ambassador program.

Hernan Kazah is Co-founder and Managing Partner at Kaszek Ventures, one of the earliest VC firms to start investing in the Latin American market. Hernan is a Co-founder of MercadoLibre, Latin America’s ecommerce leader. This discussion features a comprehensive overview of the trends in the Latin American startup scene.