Santiago Gomez

For every startup, profitability is important—especially if you are fully bootstrapped. Building MRR with great traction from zero is one of the most rewarding feelings a founder can experience. We track and analyze our MRR and revenue graphs daily and monthly, witnessing how this “baby” grows bit by bit. I have always dreamed of creating something big. Alhamdulillah, that dream is becoming a reality. Once, a million-dollar revenue was just a dream. Now, Alhamdulillah, multi-million-dollar revenue feels achievable, in sha Allah.

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Insights on how to hire amazing people from Pedro Arnt, CEO of dLocal (1,000 employees) and ex-CFO of Mercado Libre (58,000 employees). Pedro has hired a lot of people over the last three decades. What has he learned? Structured Interviews Aren’t Enough. Work Samples & Reference Checks Are Key. Relying solely on structured interviews is a poor way to evaluate talent. While structured interviews are a step up from unstructured ones, they still feel like a crapshoot and leave too much uncertainty about a candidate’s potential. Pedro’s research showed that work samples are more predictive of future performance than interviews. However, the single best thing you can do before hiring someone is getting insights from people who’ve worked closely with the candidate. What colleagues and former managers say about a person over a long working relationship is the most reliable predictor of success. Redefining Reference Checks. Reference checks can often be regarded as a formality, with referees being hesitant to provide critical feedback. To change that, one has to create an environment where referees feel comfortable giving honest, candid evaluations. This involves setting the right tone early in the reference call, ensuring confidentiality, and asking structured questions about both strengths and weaknesses of the candidate. Full Fintech Leaders episode ⤵⤵⤵ Substack: https://bit.ly/3YnBopc Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Yr711r Apple: https://apple.co/4f4VoTb Youtube: https://bit.ly/3U8V8dH

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Is Y Combinator the only option for startups? Think again. While YC is often seen as the Ivy League of accelerators, it’s not always the best fit for every founder. Handing over 7% equity and competing in a high-pressure, Silicon Valley-centric environment isn’t for everyone—especially for startups in emerging markets like Southeast Asia and the Middle East. At WOWS Global, we offer a more founder-friendly alternative: ✔No equity taken ✔Guaranteed investor meetings with strategically matched investors ✔Ongoing, tailored support—not just a 3-month crash course ✔Specialization in Southeast Asia and Middle East markets For startups looking to grow on their own terms, WOWS Global provides a pathway to success without the pressure and strings attached. Explore how we’re redefining the accelerator experience for founders around the world.

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The best way to understand if your company has PMF…

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How to split equity in a start-up is essentially about founder alignment. It is not an easy task. One of the difficult aspects is to (1) incentivize the right people to join in the early stage and yet (2) to keep enough equity to get to the finish line (in the current climate this takes about 10-12 years) Founder alignment shall be considered: - Short term - Medium term - Long term

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Startup fundraising requirements have gone up... Here are 3 key takeaways and actionable steps you can take: Takeaways from Carta's report: 1️⃣ Lower Valuation Multiples – Series A startup valuation multiples have dropped from 4.9x in 2022 to 2.8x, indicating more cautious investor sentiment. 2️⃣ Extended Fundraising Cycles – Startups are now waiting over 100 days longer between rounds, reflecting slower deal flow. 3️⃣ New Opportunities – Larger seed rounds and technological advancements, such as AI, provide startups with ways to grow without relying as heavily on traditional VC funding. So, what can you do about it? If you’ve already raised pre-seed or seed funding, your primary focus should now be on generating revenue. There’s no way around that. If you haven't raised yet but plan to start a company, here are some strategies to consider: 1️⃣ Write Openly on LinkedIn - Share your thesis and gather feedback before you build. - Pay attention to what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t. 2️⃣ Talk to as Many People as Possible - Use tools like Dripify Lead Conversations to automate LinkedIn connections. - Cold email your ideal customer profile (ICP). - This will help refine your thesis and shape your vision. 3️⃣ Build a Network of VCs and Founders - Many VCs and founders are open to talking with aspiring entrepreneurs. - Use ChatGPT to refine your thesis and identify the best VC matches. - Reach out via concise emails or LinkedIn DMs. Bonus Tip – Be Patient - Once you raise capital, the clock starts ticking and pressure builds. - Consider developing a strong thesis and influence through writing before raising funds. This will give you conviction as you move forward. After all, you’re likely in this for the next 10+ years. #startup #fundraising #vc #entrepreneurship 

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Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and testing the foundational hypotheses is crucial, and 90% of the time you will iterate. Do you think a business plan is necessary for a startup? #startup #fintech

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There is a lot in common between growing an early stage startup, and endurance sports. 1. The self-talk. During an ultra you always talk yourself into pushing one more mile, one more step, one more summit. You don’t know what’s after it, and how much more you are able to endure. But this is what startups and sports about - not knowing if you can make it, but still pushing, because fuck it, I can. 2. A guaranteed fuck-up. You will absolutely positively fuck something up. Will eat something wrong and stick with nausea for couple of hours. Will forget to change socks and end up with huge blisters. Forget the food you need. Will run out of water in the middle of nowhere. Startups are the same. You will fuck up a lot of things, and there’s no need to try not to. You will, and the idea is to solve problems on the go, to fix the plane in the middle of a flight. 3. Readiness to DNF. Did Not Finish — a fear of every runner. Startups are the same — you can DNF at some point, and odds are against you, so just be prepared. 4. Multitasking. You think about different things at the same time: route, water, food, your energy, physical feed, emotional state, weather, time. If you loose track of something — chances are you will have a problem with that in the future. The same goes with startups: product updates, testing, feedbacks, new leads, retention, fundraising, cashflow, support — everything is a priority, you don't have enough cash to delegate, but still have to do everything. So just stick to it as long as possible. I can add a lot more, but you got the point. Every time I run 50-60-70K trails, I think about this stuff, and it helps me figure out how to approach startup problems. Will see what it takes to run 100 miles. Maybe it's like growing to Series A.

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Multiples – Why EBITDA matters It used to be, not too many years ago, that SaaS companies were almost purely valued as a multiple of Revenue. Today, according to a recent report from Aventis Advisors, SaaS EV/Revenue multiples are less than 1/3 of what they were just two years ago, a 66% decrease. Interestingly enough, valuations based on EBITDA (of those same companies), while they have dropped, have only decreased by 25%. In other word - EBITDA matters. Gone are the days where simply posting growing revenue streams was enough to garner a great valuation. Now, you have to be profitable. Get a complimentary Value Builder assessment to see where you’re falling short. It may not be pretty – but isn’t it better to know now and address it vs. have an investor or acquirer give you the bad news? Either way, we’re here when you’re ready. ✅ Click the link in the comments section to 2x Your Value for your Endgame✅

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Founder/Mom ToDo: - Back to back sales and partner calls - Work through complex strategy and setup for a new customer - Plan a big feature announcement - Start a Girl Scout troop - Find the Paw Patrol book that mysteriously disappeared - Figure out where to host a donut making mermaid themed birthday party Anyone else in this boat? 🤪 For me what has helped is to not expect to "have it all," but to constantly search for balance. I almost never get to drop my daughter off or pick her up from school. I don't get to take my son to gym class and see how excited he gets in person. I do make sure to eat dinner with my kids and do their bedtimes every night. We spend quality time together on weekends. I don't get to spend all my time flying around the country to attend every conference, or have the flexibility to spend evenings networking. I do work productive full days (and most nights after kids bed) and make decisions about which events and trips are impactful and important for the business. It's important to me to be an engaged leader and parent and not sacrifice one for the other. Other parents out there? Would love to hear your tips on how you make it all happen.

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"Are accelerators worth it?" People often ask about my experience with Geeks and Experts joining the Founder Catalyst program by Techstars and I strongly believe that: All kinds of accelerators (non-dilutive, in-person, equity-based, remote) are what YOU make of them. The investment of time, resources, and effort needs to be well-thought-through because it can make or break your eventual outcomes. It’s unfair to expect that joining an accelerator means the programmers will: 1) Talk to your customers on your behalf 2) Build the product for you 3) Raise money for you 4) Pitch for you 5) Sell for you What accelerators can help with is: 1) Introductions to potential investors, partners, etc. 2) Mentorship from a vast network of the ecosystem 3) Peer support from founders fighting the same fight 4) Advice on leveraging tools, best practices, and resources 5) Real-time pitch practice and support from EIRs, designers Like grants, awards, and so on, accelerators are what you make of them. #entrepreneurship #startups #founders

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Drumrolls 🥁 You asked for it and we are launching it! This month we are taking the Next BIG Leap in our journey at HelloPM. This Sunday we are expanding to The US and launching our live product management bootcamp in US friendly timezones. And most seats are already grabbed by our community members. This program features: ✨ Seasoned leaders from Google, NASA, Meta, Walmart as mentors and speakers. 🚀 Top case studies from companies like Slack , YouTube , Descript , Airbnb, Google, Perplexity and more of your favourite B2B and B2C products. 🧠 Learning by doing: Multiple hands on assignments, case challenges and shadowing PMs to learn the PM craft by doing it. 🤝 Access to an evergrowing global community which becomes your support network. 🙌 Detailed coverage of all the product management aspects including growth, research, analytics, tech, UX and decision making. We are looking to create a global benchmark 🌍for upskilling with this deeply researched and hands on program. Want to board the rocket ship 🚀 ? Send me an email to [email protected] Or sign up from the website here https://lnkd.in/d3Cw3neZ Thanks to all the cohort learners and supporters of HelloPM for helping us reach here! Can’t wait to get started with our 30th Cohort - The US first Global Cohort. Thanks to folks who help us think BIG: Sairee | Siddhartha | Nansi | Anshuman | Ashish | Abhimanyu | Aakash | David #productmanagement #journey

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🗺️ Startups are leaving NYC & Silicon Valley towards Florida Across 5 of the main investment regions in the US, 4 saw growth in funding, 1 saw a decline while all regions experienced decreased deal counts: 1. Southeast: 18% rise in funding, 20% decline in deal count 2. Mid Atlantic: 17% rise in funding, 27% decline in deal count 3. New England: 5% rise in funding, 20% decline in deal count 4. South: 7% rise in funding, 31% decline in deal count 5. West Coast: 7% decline in funding, 19% decline in deal count 6. Nationwide: 9% rise in funding, 20% decline in deal count From this, we are seeing bigger deals being signed at a lower frequency across the country. Data was based on all deals occurring in H1 2023 and compared to all deals occurring in H1 2024. For more data insights on startup deals, follow deelscoop. Source: Pitchbook

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Calling all Founders!!!! 📢📢📢 Applications are now open for our spring programs at Techstars!! From access to capital, to tailored mentorship, to joining one of the largest networks in the world, there are so many reasons why we have one of the best programs to get you from Idea to IPO. See any that pique your interest? Get your application in asap! Interested in helping Techstars create new programs to help entrepreneurs around the world? Shoot me a message! #BetterforFounders #Funding #Tech #Startup #Entrepreneurs #Accelerator #StartupPrograms

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US Startup M&A had its biggest quarter since 2022, per Carta. Startups that raised under $25M made up 75% of all transactions. This is consistent with Carta’s platform history and user demographics; however, there is a small uptick in larger deals this quarter—aligning with recent rate cuts, which lower the cost of capital and make larger deals more viable. 2024 shows renewed confidence, with a 24% increase in dealmaking over the past 4 quarters. This reflects both renewed market optimism and more active dealmaking. We’ve seen this trend at FE as well, with buyers becoming more hungry for acquisitions in recent months. The dry spell in mega deals and IPOs makes mid-size and smaller M&A deals more viable, while investor confidence rises as interest rates fall. Although this is a limited dataset—just 45K companies on Carta’s platform—it points to a broader trend of positive momentum. #acquistions #carta

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XPANCEO raised $40 million with this deck🔥 TechCrunch writer Haje Kamps analyzed the pitch deck they used for this funding round. We encounter hundreds of templates and how-tos every day. Today, I want to share a Pitch Deck Teardown, a very useful resource for founders who want to understand something that has already worked and brought concrete results. 👇 Link in the first comment 👇 #WearableTech #Innovation #Xpanceo #TechCrunch

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Most startups fail because they build products nobody needs. 💔 But there are those rare startups that grow to be worth over $1 billion! 💹 Guillermo Flor analyzed some of these companies, and here are 10 takeaways on how to reach product-market fit (PMF) 👇: 1. What is Product-Market Fit (PMF)? Step-by-step guide with success stories from companies like Notion, Canva, and Stripe.    2. Find your first 10 customers and keep them beyond the first month—learn how others succeeded. 3. The $1M ARR Playbook—how HeyGen, Lemlist, and Canny reached this milestone. 4. Customer-Centric Go-To-Market Strategy—the most effective way to sell, plus a growth flywheel strategy. 5. Ship fast! Create a customer feedback loop that scales your startup. 6. Sales for first-time founders—insights from Notion, HubSpot, and PandaDoc. 7. Product-Market Fit Framework from Sequoia—what's the magic formula? 8. The four levers of Product-Market Fit from First Round Capital—pull them right! 9. Learn from Linktree’s story—how they went from 0 to $37M ARR and 12M users with a simple product. 10. Understand timing—it took years for some of the biggest players like GitHub, Figma, and Slack to hit PMF. Startups that succeed do one thing right—they build what people need. What’s your biggest PMF lesson? P.S. You can access Guillermo Flor's original post from the link below: https://lnkd.in/efsxp4nj #startup #productmarketfit #growth #entrepreneurship #PMF #GoToMarket #yatırım #yatırımcı #girişimci #girişim #kitleselfonlama #alestagroupe #girişimsermayesi #risksermayesi #kitlefonlaması #startup #danışmanlık

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Fundraising is a tough sport. In today's Startup Riders newsletter, insights on: - 3 hacks to improve your pitch deck in today's newsletter. - Netscape CEO’s guide to world-class communication. - 18 startup deals in Spain (>€150M). - I launched a YouTube channel. - Meme of the month Read it via link in bio Ivan Landabaso and in the comments below 👇 #founders #startups #entrepreneur #venturecapital #vc #tech #technology #B2BSales #ai #llm #artificialintelligence #saas #fundraising #business #entrepreneurship

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Founders, if a VC is interested, believe me you’ll know, there will be no doubt. They’ll ask you for a second meeting in the first meeting. If you have to ping them after a week to follow up with you, the chances of them writing you a check are meager at best. This is interesting = I won’t fund you Let me think about it = I won’t fund you We’ll get back to you = I won’t fund you Spend the time on those who get it and are likely to convert. You should feel it even before they ask your for a second meeting by the type of questions they are asking. Pragmatic/skeptic vs belief in market and you (for early stage). Also, you can cut the meeting shorter. They are paid to meet with you, they don’t have a company to run.

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