The J Curve Insider: Latam’s volatility builds better operators

Every few months, I zoom out to reflect on the lessons that stuck with me from the show. Think of this as your quarterly operator’s memo—especially if you’re building, raising, or investing in Latin America.

Q2 was full of sharp insights and real operator depth. But in this edition of The J Curve Insider, I won’t recap every episode.

I’ll go deep into three.

João Del Valle (EBANX), Mike Packer (QED), and Gustavo Mapeli (Kanastra).

We’ll unpack EBANX’s global growth playbook, explore how QED built conviction around LATAM as an outsider VC—and what they’re betting on next—and break down how Kanastra scaled by defying startup orthodoxy.

Here’s what I’ll get into:

→ In LATAM, complexity isn’t a bug—it’s the moat.

→ Revenue is the best anti-dilution strategy.

→ Global expansion isn’t just ambition—it’s risk management.

→ Outsider VCs win here when they operate like founders: test, learn, commit.

→ The real framework for choosing single-product vs. multi-product.

And more. Let’s get into it.

COMPLEXITY IS A MOAT. AND IT’S LATAM’S UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

Brazil is one of the most complex markets in the world. Volatile inflation, a 4,000-page tax code, and an average annual currency devaluation of 9%—none of this screams “scale.” In most ecosystems, this level of complexity kills scale. In Brazil, it forges operators.

EBANX is a case in point. One of the most under-the-radar global stories in payments, built not in São Paulo, but Curitiba. They process billions for Spotify, AliExpress, Shein—across 29 countries. Their entire strategy is built on one truth:

Complexity is friction. And friction, when solved well, becomes defensibility.

So instead of chasing mature markets with plug-and-play infrastructure—like the U.S., where entering is technically simple but competition is brutal and margins razor-thin—EBANX did the opposite. They went where infrastructure was broken or missing. Egypt. Argentina. Nigeria. Markets with messy payment rails, opaque regulation, and high friction. And they didn’t wait for traction. They built in advance—writing code, earning licenses, setting up local entities, and navigating regulatory mazes long before the first dollar of revenue showed up.

That’s what makes EBANX so hard to copy. They didn’t avoid the pain. They front-loaded it.

GLOBAL EXPANSION IS RISK MANAGEMENT

Most Brazilian founders still don’t think about building global businesses from day one. And on the surface, it makes sense—Brazil is massive. A $2.1T+ economy with deep local demand and endless infrastructure problems to solve.

But Brazil isn’t the U.S.

It’s volatile. Since 1994, real interest rates have averaged over 300 basis points—some of the highest in the world. The currency has devalued ~9% per year over the last decade. A single regulatory shift—or even a negative headline—can send capital fleeing and throw your P&L into chaos.

That’s why going global isn’t just a growth strategy. It’s a hedge.

EBANX understood that early. Cross-border payments wasn’t just a Brazilian pain point—it was a global friction. And betting only on Brazil was too risky.

So they scaled outward—starting with overlooked markets like Paraguay and Costa Rica, and later expanding into regions like Nigeria and Egypt.

That diversification gave them multiple structural advantages:

→ Revenue resiliency across cycles—currency swings in one market are offset by stability in another

→ One-stop-shop value prop—serving multiple countries under one roof reduces complexity for clients and increases stickiness

→ Deeper regulatory insight—operating across 29 countries builds pattern recognition and speeds up new market entry

→ Greater access to capital—global investors avoid single-market risk and favor companies with geographic diversification

PROFITABILITY AS A DEFAULT SETTING

Latin American founders need to unlearn Silicon Valley–style fundraising.

Too many still think raising capital is step one. But most don’t need expensive VC money to reach product–market fit or prove scalable revenue assumptions. What they need is a creative, resilient team—one that will run through walls to hit early revenue milestones without a full-stack sales org or burning money on performance marketing.

Because in this region, fundraising isn’t always an option—and it definitely shouldn’t be the plan.

Most local funds are small, risk-averse, and wait for social proof. Global capital has pulled back and become more cautious and concentrated. Relying on external money to validate your model is a dangerous bet.

What actually works?

→ Early revenue

→ Operational discipline

→ Clear customer pull

That’s what gives founders leverage.

That’s what keeps dilution in check.

That’s what makes you default investable—even when capital is scarce.

And EBANX is the clearest example of that mindset.

They scaled globally while staying default profitable. They didn’t rely on capital to survive—they raised to accelerate. And when they did bring in partners—FTV Capital and Advent (who wrote a ~$500M check, the largest in Advent’s tech portfolio to date)—it wasn’t just for cash. It was to level up governance, bring operational rigor, and scale responsibly without losing grip on the fundamentals.

That mindset shows up not just on the cap table, but in how EBANX operates day to day.

They stayed in founder mode—tracking ROI on every seat, scrutinizing tools, and asking the hard questions most growth-stage companies forget to ask:

→ What’s the return on this headcount?

→ Can we do more with fewer tools?

→ Is this expense tied to revenue?

Profitability isn’t just financial discipline—it’s strategic clarity.

It’s what gives you power when terms start to bite.

And in LATAM, it’s your best shot at building something that lasts.

WATCH OR LISTEN TO THE J CURVE EPISODE WITH OLGA ON SPOTIFY:

TOURISTS CHASE HYPE. BUILDERS COMMIT THROUGH CYCLES

QED Investors made their first LATAM bet in 2014. Nubank. They’ll be the first to admit—they didn’t predict it would become one of the world’s most valuable fintechs. Luck definitely played a role.

But what matters is what they did after that.

What followed was a decade-long feedback loop:

→ Invest

→ Observe

→ Learn

→ Validate the thesis

→ Reinvest—each time with more capital and more clarity

QED scaled their presence the way a founder builds a company. They didn’t spray capital. They tested hypotheses. Built local relationships. Hired on-the-ground teams. And expanded only as the market and their portfolio matured.

Today, they’re not just believers in LATAM’s potential—they’re one of the few firms still actively underwriting $20–30M Series B rounds in a region with massive capital gaps at that stage.

That’s the difference.

Tourists chase hype and retreat when the cycle turns.

Institutional builders like QED stay. And compound.

INTERNAL AI ISN’T NICE TO HAVE. IT’S THE BASELINE

So what are institutional builders like QED doubling down on now?

Not just markets—but mechanisms.

One of the most powerful structural levers they see across their portfolio isn’t pricing or GTM.

It’s AI embedded deep in the operating core.

In one QED portfolio company, 25% of production code is now generated by AI. CRM and funnel workflows are handled by autonomous agents.

AI is already reducing the operational overhead required to hit meaningful revenue milestones.

Some argue we’re heading toward a world where billion-dollar companies are built by teams of 10.

It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds.

Just look at Midjourney—reportedly generating over $200M in ARR with under 20 people.

And in Latin America—where talent is strong but resources are tight—internal AI isn’t optional.

It’s the new baseline for competitive efficiency.

The best companies in the region are already building around it:

→ Let AI handle high-volume, rules-based tasks: code generation, CRM updates, support ticket triage

→ Build human-in-the-loop systems for edge cases and escalation—especially in regulated industries like fintech and healthcare

→ Track performance: resolution speed, error rates, customer satisfaction

→ Use that data to feed feedback loops and continuously improve

→ Upskill the team—not just to use AI, but to think with it

This isn’t the future. It’s already happening.

And the teams that build with internal AI at their core will run leaner, faster, and smarter than anyone else.

LATAM SAAS ISN’T JUST SOFTWARE—IT’S CREDIT + INFRA

But AI isn’t the only structural unlock in the region.

In Latin America, some of the biggest opportunities aren’t about layering new tech on top—they’re about rebuilding the foundation. And nowhere is that more clear than in SaaS.

In the U.S., SaaS usually starts with software. You build tools to improve productivity, sell subscriptions, and scale through land-and-expand. But in Latin America, that sequence doesn’t always work. Pure SaaS is still too early in many sectors.

Why? Because the infrastructure just isn’t there yet. Unlike the U.S., where software can assume a baseline of digitization, automation, and integrated systems, many industries in Latin America—especially in healthcare, logistics, agriculture, and small business services—still operate largely offline or in fragmented environments.

You can’t sell software into workflows that don’t exist. But you can sell access.

And in LATAM, access almost always starts with credit.

In complex verticals, the wedge isn’t a feature—it’s working capital. Solve the financial bottleneck, and you earn the right to layer in SaaS: data, automation, analytics, workflows.

In LATAM, vertical SaaS isn’t venture-backable unless it becomes vertical fintech.

You start by embedding credit, then build value-add services around it to increase revenue per user and reduce risk.

Take Capim, for example. They didn’t start with dashboards. They started by financing dental clinics. That gave them transaction data, customer loyalty, and the foundation to build software on top.

It’s full-stack infrastructure, built in reverse. Credit first. Software second.

So if you’re building SaaS in Latin America, don’t ask what feature can I sell?

Ask: what essential workflow can I finance? And how do I build around that?

IN FRAGMENTED REGULATED MARKETS, YOU BUILD THE STACK

But solving the credit bottleneck is just one part of the equation.

In some cases, even that’s not enough—especially in highly regulated, fragmented markets where the real challenge isn’t just access to capital, but the lack of reliable infrastructure.

That’s where going full-stack isn’t a strategy. It’s a necessity.

Startups are usually told to focus. Nail one product. Don’t boil the ocean.

But in Brazil’s fragmented credit ecosystem, that playbook doesn’t always apply.

There’s no reliable middleware. No single source of truth. Most critical processes—escrow, reconciliation, bookkeeping—are handled by different vendors, often manually, and without integration.

That’s the environment Kanastra walked into.

And early on, they made a call: in a system this broken, you can’t just build one product—you have to build the full stack.

So instead of outsourcing, they built the full stack:

→ Fund admin

→ Escrow

→ Bookkeeping

→ Reconciliation

→ Investor reporting

Not because it was sexy. But because they couldn’t risk depending on vendors that might delay wires, miscalculate positions, or vanish mid-transaction.

Their approach wasn’t about speed. It was about trust and stability. If a startup promises “everything just works,” then everything actually has to work. Every time.

Before you go multi-product, ask these 6 questions:

1. Are external vendors killing your product experience?

2. Are customers asking for features that go beyond your core?

3. Is there a wedge into the next product based on current usage?

4. Do you have the team to support the complexity?

5. Will the second product reinforce—or distract from—the first?

6. What’s the cost of waiting?

If the risks of waiting outweigh the risks of expanding, you don’t have a choice. You go full-stack.

WHAT IT ALL COMES DOWN TO

If there’s a common thread across those stories—it’s this:

The best operators and investors in Latin America don’t follow playbooks. They write new ones. They build in the gaps. They don’t wait for perfect conditions—they solve for imperfect systems.

They make hard calls early. They go full-stack when others say focus. They scale globally when others stay local. And they stay default profitable when capital gets tight.

If you’re building right now—in a volatile market, in a tough vertical, or in a region most investors still underestimate.

Let this be your reminder:

If your journey doesn’t look like Silicon Valley’s—it shouldn’t.

 P.S. If this issue was valuable to you please share it with a founder who needs to hear it. Let’s build LATAM’s next tech leaders—together.

🎙 The J Curve is where LATAM’s boldest founders & investors come to talk real strategy, opportunity and leadership. Follow us for deep dives on the most exciting markets in tech.