Daniel Vogel, Bitso | Founding and Raising in a Market That Doesn't Exist Yet [Ep. 16]

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The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

In this episode we are with Daniel Vogel, CEO and cofounder of Bitso, the leading online platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies in Latin America. Here, we go deep into how Daniel thinks about founding a company and attacking a nascent market, where the growth of the segment does not depend entirely on you, and what the process is like of taking a product from an early adopter audience to the mainstream.

Today, Bitso has raised more than 65 million dollars of investment and has 2 million users across the entire region.

What You Can Learn Today

  • Entrepreneurship in an almost entirely new market
  • Challenges for the crypto market in Latin America
  • Evolution of a niche product to mainstream

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Origin and Scaling of Bitso

  • [1:09] - First contact with Bitcoin and how Daniel arrived at the world of startups
    • Discovering Bitcoin
    • Working at startups
  • [6:30] - How did that connection between Bitcoin and startups that led to Bitso happen?
    • The beginnings of Bitso, a cryptocurrency platform
    • The fusion between Startups and Bitcoin
    • Founding a company and attacking a nascent market
  • [9:44] - What is Bitso and what problem does it solve?
    • Simplifying access to Bitcoin
    • The largest Bitcoin platform in Latin America
  • [12:55] - The decision to attack a quasi-nonexistent market
    • Bitcoin in 2014
    • Conviction and risk-taking
    • Setting long-term goals
  • [19:07] - The start of fundraising
    • The uncertainty of Bitcoin
    • Dividing the task of raising capital
    • Being perseverant and learning to listen

The Plan Toward Mainstream

  • [28:40] - Challenges while growing and lessons learned
    • Platform scalability
    • Customer service
  • [33:23] - What does it take for crypto to go mainstream in Latin America?
    • An increase in access to Bitcoin in Latam
    • Better user interfaces
  • [37:00] - Decision-making in an uncontrollable market
    • Bitcoin volatility
    • Visualizing the future
    • Building a great team
  • [41:04] - Roadmap and future of Bitso in cryptocurrencies
    • New MVPs at Bitso
    • The new era of Bitso
  • [42:58] - Institutional interest in Bitcoin in Latin America
    • Bringing Bitcoin to all of Latin America

Angel Investing as an Entrepreneur

  • [44:58] - What led so many good entrepreneurs to found Bridge Partners?
    • The vision of Bridge Partners
    • Choosing carefully how you invest your time
  • [49:20] - A high initial investment
    • The evolution of Crypto
    • The evolution of Venture Capital

Episode Mentions

You can find Daniel on Twitter and LinkedIn

Bridge Partners entrepreneurs: Liza Shwartzman of FitPass, Arturo Sanchez of Sofía, Federico Ranero of Kavak

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