I recently had lunch in Palo Alto with Santiago Zavala, one of the true pioneers of the LatAm startup and venture community. I first met Santiago in Oaxaca at the 500 LatAm founder retreat in September 2023.
We sat next to each other at dinner and I learned about the very early days of companies like 99minutos.com, how 500 LatAm started, and some of the lessons he’s learned after being an early stage investor and builder in LatAm for more than 10 years.
We had lunch at Crepevine, one of my favorite places for a good meal on University Avenue and walking distance to the 500 Startups office.
We talked about LatAm startup valuations, product market fit, his biggest lessons learned as a startup investor, AI, and the insights that led to the evolution of the 500 LatAm investment model that they recently announced.
Santiago also tolde me how he leads a team developing technology for 500 Startups globally and how his passion for building products makes him a better investor when he evaluates technology companies.
I always like to hear the inside story about companies I admire, so I asked him about the Baubap story. He shared how 500 LatAm evaluated the company, the core insight of the founders (Roberto Salcedo, Luis Villarreal Castilla), the immense challenges they faced with their initial fundraise, and how they progressed to the success they have achieved. As always, these stories have more ups/downs than most people know.
I am deeply thankful for the entire 500 LatAm team, especially René Lomelí Ojeda, Cecilia Ezquerro, and Santiago Zavala who do amazing work and have been so kind to me. I look forward to learning from and collaborating with the 500 LatAm team for years to come.
Special shout out to several 500 LatAm portfolio companies where I have also invested and/or are run by founders I admire deeply!
Ruedata, 99minutos.com, Avify, YoFio, Talently, Dapta, Picker
Sebastian Baquero, Jorge Quinche Serrano, Alexis Patjane, Pedro Gutiérrez,Alberto Bonetti, Domenica Obando, Nicolas Rojas Nino, Juan Daniel Nebel Romero
