The J Curve with Martin Migoya, CEO and Chairman at $10B Globant: Five Big Ideas

Hi everyone,

Welcome to the second 2024 edition of Five Big Ideas newsletter in which we deconstruct main practical ideas from our The J Curve conversations with the best entrepreneurs and investors in Latin America.

My guest this week is Martin Migoya, founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Globant, NYSE-traded IT and software development company focused on reinventing businesses through innovative technology solutions. Globant powered digital transformation of the likes of FIFA, McDonald's, Nissan, and Novartis, and its most recent market cap is over $10B.

Additionally, Martin is a member of young president's organization and a board member of Endeavor Argentina.

Before we get to Five Big Ideas, here are some interesting facts about Globant:

✅ The idea of Globant was conceived in a Bar in Buenos Aires by Martin Migoya, Nestor Nocetti, Guilbert Englebienne, and Martin Umaran in 2003

✅ In 2004 sales added up to $3M with a staff of 70 in a single location in Buenos Aires

✅ By the end of 2010, the company reported sales of $57M with a staff of 2100 spread over 14 offices in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, the UK, the USA and Uruguay

✅ By the end of 2023 Globant reported $2B, a 20.17% increase year-over-year. Its annual revenue for 2022 was $1.78B, a 37.25% increase from 2021. Globant annual revenue for 2021 was $1.297B, a 59.32% increase from 2020

✅ Globant has become the first software development company from Latin America to do an IPO on the NYSE, in 2014

✅ Today Globant employees ~28000 people and is present in 35 markets. All four original co-founders are still involved with the company

FIVE big ideas from our conversation with Martin are 🧐💡👇🏻:

1️⃣ A culture of autonomy and drive is what sets successful companies apart

It comes down to setting the clear vision and purpose and empowering employees to generate and pursue new ideas. In Globant case, a lot of breakthroughs including  

2️⃣ AI will have a profound impact on consumer behavior and expectations as well as engineering talent

It will transform how businesses interact with their customers, influencing purchasing decisions and customers’ expectations. From the engineering standpoint, AI will change how work gets done and also the mix of talent and skills necessary to make it happen

3️⃣ Corporate culture is an imitation game

To foster the culture of experimentation, Globant created ‘Star me up’, a gamified social operating system that endorses employees who take an initiative and do something unique that connects to the company’s values

4️⃣ The secret to a successful co-founder relationships is putting ego aside, behaving as a team and doing what’s best for the company

If you are starting a business, make sure to start it with people who are different from you and whom you like / are friends with

5️⃣ To support global entrepreneurship from Latin America, we need more inspirational role models

If you managed to achieve success as an entrepreneur, be vocal about your story, both ups and downs of it. Founders need to understand that entrepreneurship is a virtuous cycle: sometimes they won’t be successful. But they will need to try harder and they will need to try again

Martin’s book recommendation is Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink. Another one is Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin.

You can watch the full interview with Martin on Youtube 👇🏻

Or listen / watch the episode on Spotify 🎧

PS: We have started a weekly trivia on LinkedIn. Each Thursday I make a post with hints about who’s going to be our next guest. Whomever guessed the name of the guest and company correctly first gets our branded T Shirt and my current favorite business book shipped to them. Stay tuned for this week’s post.

Thanks for reading,

Olga