#493 Brian Requarth on Startups in Latin America

— Brian Requarth's journey from the Bay Area to Colombia, where he bootstrapped Viva Real into Brazil's leading real estate marketplace despite 30 investor rejections during the 2008 financial crisis.

— Latin America's emerging startup ecosystem: the region receives half the venture funding of India despite twice the GDP, but recent mega-rounds (Nubank at $25B, Rappi) have put it on the global stage.

— Evolution from copycat companies to locally-innovated solutions; examples include Quinto Andar (solving cosigner requirements for renters) and La House (combining marketplace and verticalized real estate services).

— Requarth's new Latitude fund and mentor network, launched to support early-stage founders in Latin America by connecting them with successful operators and global talent.

— The book *Viva the Entrepreneur: Founding, Scaling, and Raising Venture Capital in Latin America*, which hit #1 on Amazon's venture category and draws on Requarth's operational experience.

— COVID-19's acceleration of remote work and fundraising, democratizing access for Latin American entrepreneurs to global investors, mentors, and engineering talent without geography constraints.

— Early-stage founders in Latin America can tap Requarth's rolling fund at [funds.latitudenoE.com](https://funds.latitudenoE.com) to access both capital and a network of experienced operators willing to provide advisory support.

— Investors seeking emerging-market exposure should recognize that Latin America is underinvested relative to its market size and GDP; follow where top-tier funds (Andreessen, Sequoia, Excel) are deploying capital as a signal of opportunity.

— Building successful companies in emerging markets requires solving intrinsic local problems rather than simply replicating North American models; this shift from tropicalization to innovation is now visible in the region's most successful recent exits.