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© 2023 Federico Eisner
Description
This is the story of Mercado Libre told in first person by its protagonists, using their own professional AI cloned voices, with full authorizations. Escaladores combines two words when translating from Spanish to English – climbers and scalers. Climbers, because they climbed mountains of difficulties and prejudices and mountain ranges of impossibilities. And scalers, because they managed to scale their initial idea. climbers & scalers is the story of people who think they can. Reaching the summit is not only touching the top, but also enjoying competing in the most challenging league with the best in the world.
28 Episodes
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One of the most important companies in the world. And a tech giant. Very few people can grasp the size and complexity of its systems. To build and oversee them, you'd need more than just a systems engineer — you’d need a programming genius. Or a magician. Luckily, Mercado Libre found someone who is all three. Please welcome, Dani Rabinovich.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Mercado Libre needed to develop a mobile app. The company’s future depended on it. Consultants and specialized firms charging millions couldn’t find the solution. Until Dani Rabinovich discovered that three of his employees were doing something behind his back. Any other boss would have fired them on the spot. But Dani isn’t just any boss. That’s why he decided to reward them. Sole Dematteo shares the B-side of the story.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Dani doesn’t really enjoy awards, or celebrations. Not even results. For him, the key to success is sustainable enjoyment. A much-needed concept whether you’re running a regatta, managing the systems of a company like Mercado Libre, or playing the tango El Choclo on a guitar duo.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Hernán Kazah explains how you go from being a middle-class kid in public school to raising seven million dollars for your startup in its first funding round. Susan Segal says she bet on them because she saw exceptional people, with an exceptional idea, and an exceptional organization.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
What happens when the world changes and no one is interested anymore in investing in your organization, your people, or your idea — no matter how exceptional they are? You find yourself an exceptional partner who buys into your company, you learn from their mistakes, and then you surpass them. Hernán Kazah, co-founder of Mercado Libre, explains this in this episode.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
For someone who was able to see the future more than twenty years ago, it would be very easy to just sit back and enjoy the results of that vision. But Hernán Kazah has another idea: to use his experience to find and support those who are seeing the future today. And, along the way, to tell us what that future will look like.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Mercado Libre needs to find a CFO, the top executive in charge of the company’s finances. What kind of profile should they look for? Probably someone who studied political science and Latin American literature wouldn’t be the most logical choice. Pedro Arnt explains how he managed to convince not only those who had to choose him, but also himself.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Pedro explains, among other things, the concept of permanent beta. And why being in a spectacular hotel on the shores of Lake Como in Italy, drinking incredible wines and eating dishes prepared by international chefs, is the greatest fear everyone at Mercado Libre has.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Karen Bruck shares how she managed to convince Mercado Libre that she could lead a team of more than three hundred people when she had only been managing a team of two. Something that still amazes her is the extraordinary talent of the Mercado Libre team. Pedro adds to her story, sharing the challenges that lie ahead.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Nico Berman was the eighth person to join Mercado Libre. He didn’t study at Stanford, but at the University of Buenos Aires. There’s a saying that it doesn’t matter where you come from, but where you want to go. And where did Nico come from? From being one of the best salespeople at Mercado Libre. And how far did he get? All the way to vice president, in charge of all marketing and advertising. Today, he is a partner at Kaszek Ventures with Hernán Kazah and Nico Szekasy.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Nico Berman had a position at a major company, where he was earning an excellent salary. But one day he decided to quit that job to join a company whose offices were in a basement, with no windows and no bathrooms. The salary? Seventy percent less. Why did he go? Because he saw a billboard on the street. One of the first things he did? Call Google during a break at university.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Buying groceries, getting a haircut, a book, a cooking class, or shopping on Mercado Libre. Whatever you want can be paid for with nothing but your phone. Mercado Pago is a revolution in simplicity. But getting here was anything but easy. And Ozzie Giménez and Paula Arregui tell us how they made it possible.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Mercado Libre wasn’t going to survive if it couldn’t solve online payments. And solving online payments meant nothing less than solving fraud. When there are only a few transactions, it’s simple. But when there are millions, you have to think beyond common sense—until you get to neural networks.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Mercado Libre transformed the way we buy and sell. Mercado Pago transformed the way we pay, get paid, and invest our money. Many believe that such a colossal transformation can’t be repeated. Ozzie and Paula don’t think so. On the contrary, they believe the transformation is only just beginning.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Nico Szekasy left his corporate life to become an entrepreneur in a start-up that earned less than the corner pizza shop. And the minute he stepped in, he helped change Mercado Libre’s course so it could survive the nuclear winter.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
From earning less than the corner pizza shop to having a giant like eBay want to be your partner. From having that giant as your partner and wanting to buy you out, to becoming much bigger than that giant through the independence of your IPO. From helping change the way people buy and sell, and the way they pay and get paid, to helping create the next generation of Mercado Libres in Latin America.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Two passions live within Stelleo: math and the humanities. It’s no coincidence that he’s a mechanical engineer and the son of a music store owner. With his logical, mathematical mindset, he decided to shift the course of his career toward the financial world. But his intuition would take him somewhere very different.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Stelleo knew that one day Amazon would arrive, and sure enough, in 2012 they finally came to Brazil. Stelleo and the team had prepared. They studied every case of Amazon’s market entries around the world and learned that to really be competitive, they would have to deeply localize their business model for Brazil. And that’s where Mercado Libre had its advantage, because their internal mantra was: Brazil First.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
To compete with Amazon, they needed to bring in talent with deep knowledge of how it operated. One of them was Germán Spataro, who had worked at Amazon UK, Amazon Spain, and Amazon Brazil. From his encounter with Jeff Bezos to the differences in culture, Germán shares why Mercado Libre beats Amazon. But Stelleo is clear about one thing: today, everyone takes for granted that Mercado Libre is one of the world’s most important companies. But that’s how Yahoo looked just a few years ago — and today it has been displaced by Mercado Libre from the list of the 100 most important companies on the Nasdaq index. How do you make sure not to meet the same fate?
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
Sean Summers trained at PepsiCo through three different cycles. But when he arrived at Mercado Libre, he sensed a founder’s mentality infused throughout the organization — something he hadn’t found anywhere else with professional managers. From his position as the top leader of marketing and the advertising business, Sean shares some of the elements of that founder’s mentality that make them unique.
Producer & Host: Federico Eisner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/feisner/
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