Courtney McColgan, Runa | Thinking Up Startup Ideas, Being a Non-Technical Founder, and When to Raise [Ep. 6]

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

Starting a startup is not easy. Coming up with a business idea is a harder process than some people think, and starting your company, especially when you do not have a technical background, is usually quite a challenge. In this episode, Courtney McColgan, CEO and founder of Runa, the startup whose software simplifies payroll and human resources management for SMEs in Latin America, told us how she researched and evaluated the idea behind her startup.

Runa went through the Y Combinator accelerator, raised seed capital from investors such as Susa Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and David Vélez, CEO and cofounder of Nubank; and raised one of the largest Series A rounds in Latin America with Ribbit Capital.

What You Can Learn Today

Startup ideation process
Lessons from the fundraising process
Advice for pitching to investors

If you like the podcast, the easiest way to help us is by leaving a review with ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on Apple Podcasts. It takes less than 1 minute and helps us convince the hardest guests to land, such as David Vélez, CEO and founder of Nubank, whom we would love to interview.

Origin of Runa

[2:02] - How did Courtney arrive at the world of startups?
- Courtney’s first ventures
[3:00] - Courtney arrives at the startup ecosystem in Latin America
- The beginnings of Runa
- Why did she choose Mexico as the country in which to launch Runa?

How to Think About a Startup Idea

[6:56] - Factors for building a billion-dollar company according to Courtney
- Rigorously evaluate the market you want to penetrate
- Analyze and compare the various existing players in the market
- Build a growth track record using the excel tool
- Design a go to market business strategy for the next 5 or 10 years
[17:25] - How to know whether the startup idea is going to work or not, according to Courtney
- Understand how the market works and the startup’s business model

Being a Solo Non-Technical Founder

[20:20] - Why did Y Combinator accept Runa into its accelerator program?
- Runa’s opportunity as a payroll platform in Latin America
[22:26] - Courtney’s recommendations for starting a startup in LatAm
- Test your idea at a cost of 0
- Build a product and raise capital
[27:30] - Courtney’s lessons in her role as a founder raising capital
- Development of new skills, a vision, and your startup’s strategy
- Learning to make difficult decisions
- Optimizing your processes
[35:23] - The challenges of being the founder of Runa
- Finding and growing product market fit
- Financing and team performance
- Coaching from mentors to solve problems at Runa

Fundraising

[40:00] - Why did Runa raise capital from Ribbit Capital, a fund specialized in fintech?
- Runa’s vision and new products related to financial services and payroll payments
[45:50] - How Courtney convinces Ribbit Capital to invest in Runa
- Runa’s product market fit
[48:09] - Courtney’s advice for pitching an investor
- How do you put together good storytelling?

Future of Runa and Courtney as an Angel Investor

[49:55] - The changes and Runa’s transition during 2020
- The challenge of standardizing the English language inside the startup
[53:10] - Sales channels and the documentation of processes at Runa
[55:12] - The reasons Courtney invests in a startup as an angel

Tweet Round

[57:02] -
- Recommended books: High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups From 10 to 10,000 People
- The investor who has helped the most to build Runa: executives from Rappi, Nubank, the ex-Head of sales at Gusto, the ex-Head of product at Gusto, and Elad Gil
- A change in the world of startups: the point of view on the opportunities that already exist in LatAm
- The best entrepreneur in LatAm: Carlos García (Kavak)