• On March 26, 2018 by

    The Future of Payments

    future-of-payments

    Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to moderate an interesting panel on the “Future of Payments” at Finnovista’s yearly Fintech event called Finnosummit in Bogota, Colombia. This is a topic about which I have definite opinions.  Since I was moderating the panel with experienced executives from MercadoPago and Mastercard, it wasn’t appropriate for me to elaborate on my views, so I will use this blog to share my thoughts on the subject.

    For the longest time, I’ve felt there were a number of opportunities available in the payments space, particularly in Latin America. After researching this a little and, over the years, meeting a number of startups in the space, I’ve become more and more convinced of the same.

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  • On September 26, 2017 by

    Talking Fintech and remembering that life is precious.

    Mexico 2017 QuakeAs anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows, I’m passionate about startups and think a lot about how digital innovation is changing the world.  Nevertheless, last week, while awaiting my turn to go on stage at a Fintech event, I experienced a 7.1 level earthquake that shook Mexico city on the September 19th. My heart goes out those affected by this tragedy. Though my hotel was left standing the above picture shows that it did not escape damage.   For me, this event served as a stark reminder of how fragile life is and how, in an instant, one’s world can be rocked and how precious life and life’s blessings (e.g., one’s children) really are.

    That said, I decided to write a post about some general thoughts that were going through my head as I was preparing to take the stage.  I was to be a part of a panel discussion on the state of Latin American Fintech startups and the startup ecosystem.  I was hoping for a lively discussion.  Though a post can’t take the place of such a discussion, I think it will be cathartic to express some of my views here.

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  • On May 16, 2017 by

    The Digital Dilemma for “Traditional” Business

    Finnosummit-tropicalgringo

    In the title of this post, you’ll notice that I put the word “traditional” in quotes.  The reason for this is that I subscribe to the notion that, within the decade, it will be clear that “traditional” business or businesses that don’t have software (and data) at their core, will start to become the exception rather than the norm.  This is a theme that I’ve been communicating through a number of public presentations that I’ve done lately on Digital Transformation.

    I haven’t been this convinced (and gung-ho) about technology’s central role in the world economy since I was very young and naive (translation: a long time ago).  Some may say I’m still naive for thinking this way again, but there are some very real reasons for holding this perspective.  The newspaper, music, telecommunication and, now, retail industries have felt the sharp whip of digital disruption in the past and, some would say, have never recovered.  Industries such as that of financial services, education and even healthcare are now feeling the snap of that same whip threatening them. By the way, an internal analysis done by the New York Times was leaked today on the net.

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  • On February 24, 2017 by

    Tropicalgringo Startup Dinner 2017

    Tropicalgringo dinnerLast night, we had a great dinner with some of the startups from the TropicalGringo Portfolio (others were traveling). In the photo above, from left to right are Juan Salcedo (co-founder of Tappsi and TPaga), Arnulfo Ospina and Roxana Vergara (co-founders of Vendty), Javier Cardona and Nicolas Duran (co-founders of 1Doc3) and Andres Gutierrez (co-founder of Tappsi and TPaga).  Missing were Felipe Chavez and Sergio Pachon (co-founders of Kiwi Campus) and Carlos Santana (founder of Acsendo).  Needless to say, it was a night to remember!

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