Welcome to Crossing Borders with Nathan Lustig, where I interview entrepreneurs doing startups across borders and the investors who support them, with a focus on companies that have some relationship to Latin America. &nbsp; My guest today is Jose "Caya" Cayasso, a Costa Rican entrepreneur who is cofounder and CEO of Slidebean, a software company that helps people stop wasting time wresting with presentation design. Slidebean's product, presentations that design themselves, is used by thousands of people around the world, from students to business executives. &nbsp; We'll cover Caya's journey from Costa Rica to New York to launch his first business, what he learned in his first startup and how he used his experience to create Slidebean, which now has 20 employees in Costa Rica and 2 in New York City. We'll talk about the fundraising process and Caya's journey to raising money from Start-Up Chile, 500 startups, Carao Ventures, Firstrock Capital and of course Magma Partners. &nbsp; Be sure to listen for Caya's tips on how to run a business with two offices in different countries, how he thinks about scaling a SaaS business and why he invests time in creating investor updates. &nbsp; I've had the pleasure of getting to know Caya over the past year since Magma invested and it was great to be able to talk more in depth for the podcast. We had a few technical difficulties with the sound at the beginning, but push through, I think it's worth it!

Ep 6: Jose "Caya" Cayasso

Hello and welcome to Crossing Borders with Nathan Lustig, where I interview entrepreneurs doing startups across borders and the people who support them, with a focus on companies that have some relationship to Latin America. &nbsp; If you're new to the podcast be sure to check out  Episode 2 with Adrian Fisher who went from selling hotdogs to raising three million dollars and  Episode 5, with Devin Baptiste, cofounder of one of the most diverse startups in the world. &nbsp; My guest today is Nora&nbsp;Leary Co-Founder and Head of Marketing and Business Development at&nbsp;Launchway Media, a marketing agency that works with global startups launching in the US. &nbsp; Nora and I talk about her journey from the US to Africa to Latin America to leaving a job in Latam to start her own business. Nora lived in Buenos Aires and starter her business there with two other female cofounders, and then moved to Medellin to continue to expand the business. We cover cultural difference between doing business in the US and Latin America, what it's like being a woman in tech in Latin America, practical tips for getting pr in the US, getting into a US accelerator from latam, and tools and tricks you need to be successful launching in the us market. And also emojis. &nbsp; I've been working with Nora and her team for a few months now and it was great to finally get to connect outside of a pure business context. I hope you enjoy our conversation. &nbsp; If you enjoyed my conversation with Nora, please be sure to recommend Crossing Borders to a friend and rate us on Itunes and sticher. Check out previous episodes at  nathanlustig.com

EP 7: Nora Leary

Welcome to Crossing Borders with Nathan Lustig, where I interview entrepreneurs doing startups across borders and the people who support them, with a focus on companies that have some relationship to Latin America. Last week, I talked with Nora Leary Co-Founder and Head of Marketing and Business Development at Launchway Media, about how to get press in the US and what it's like starting up with three female cofounders in Latin America. My guest today is Nathan Klarer, founder of Bridgecrest Medical, a wearable that helps mining and oil companies around the world track employee performance to avoid accidents and keep employees safe. Nathan was working on some technology while at university and saw the coming wearable wave and realized that he could use the technology he was working for good. After raising more than $1.3m from venture capitalists in the Bay Area, Nathan continued to build his business, selling to some of the largest multinational mining companies in the world. This journey took him to Latin America, where he signed about half of his clients, including his first one, high up in the Argentine Andes Mountains. We talk about the challenges of doing business in Latin America as a US company, how investors looked at having half of his clients in Latin America, support systems from Latam governments, opportunities he saw, technical challenges he over came and how he led his business to be acquired by ability wearables. We'll also talk about where Nathan sees wearables going in the future and whether he would do business in Latin America in the future. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Nathan Klarer.

Ep 8: Nathan Klarer

Anytime you have an item that you need to send from here to there you enter the world of transport logistics. It may seem as simple as calling UPS or FedEx, but there’s a lot more that goes into it for the companies that provide the service. And when it comes to Latin America, things get even more complicated. In Brazil, for example, 40% the trucks that are on the road delivering packages are not full. That's a terrible use of the transport logistics resources that are available. When my guest today, Federico Vega realized that he saw an incredible opportunity to solve a problem and create a dynamic company. Through patience, perseverance, and iterations, Federico has built CargoX from the ground up - it’s the Uber for trucking in Brazil. When you solve a problem you have the potential for a business. Every entrepreneur has his/her own journey to discover exactly what kind of company they want to build. But as with every company that lasts, the needs of the consumer come to the forefront eventually. It’s the problems, the needs the customers have that drive the direction of the business. Federico Vega discovered that any company that regularly ships items across Brazil needs to do so reliably and as inexpensively as possible. His initial belief was that if he makes use of trucks that are already scheduled to embark on deliveries, he’ll be able to provide more income to the driver and deliver a less expensive way for companies that utilize transport logistics to do so. His idea has worked beautifully. On this episode, you’ll hear his story. From bathroom stall to a “Starbucks office,” to a fully formed company and team. CargoX didn’t start with its business approach and existing structure fully formed. No company does. In fact, Federico Vega started the company part time while he was still working a full-time job. He found himself more and more often visiting the bathroom stall with his iPad to take care of issues with his new company and decided it was time to quit his good paying job and launch the company for real. That’s when he moved to what he calls his “Starbucks office.” He and some hired help did their work from Starbucks every day for a long time as the company changed. At one point they even shut down and reopened with a new model and approach. Through funding rounds and iterations, CargoX has truly become the Uber of the trucking industry in Brazil. Advice for startups: Develop a network within your industry. Don’t waste time on irrelevant events. When I asked Federico what he’d say to others who are starting a company in Latin America he said that they should become laser focused on the niche or industry that they are serving and begin making connections. It’s not worth your time to go to broad conferences and events - including generalized networking events. You need to develop the contacts and connections within your industry that make it easier for you to build your company wisely. Advice for startups: Look for traditional industries that already work and use tech to make them better. Another piece of advice from my guest on this episode of Crossing Borders, Federico Vega is that rather than trying to create a new market (like Twitter or Uber) you should invest your time and energy in investigating the needs that exist in traditional, established industries. Once you locate the pain points, look at the possible tech solutions and see if there’s a way you can meet the need at a reasonable cost to the end-user and still make a profit. If you can, you’ve likely got a good business idea on your hands. Federico and I had a great time talking about how he’s changing the transport logistics industry in Brazil. My hope is that as his company grows, he’ll become like one of his favorite examples - Alibaba - and find ways to expand his influence worldwide. Enjoy listening. &nbsp; Outline of This Episode  [1:24] Federico’s background and current business - CargoX: Uber for trucks....

Ep #12 Federico Vega, Transforming Transport Logistics in Latin America

Welcome to Crossing Borders with Nathan Lustig, where I interview entrepreneurs doing startups across borders and the people who support them, with a focus on companies that have some relationship to Latin America.