Money is tight

Ok, gente, it's happening 🔥

Tickets for Vamos Latam Summit are officially for sale!

This year, over 4,000 founders, investors, and operators are expected at VLS 2023 for two whole days of IRL connection in São Paulo.

And you, dear subscriber, have an exclusive discount code to join us.

Just for being a subscriber?

Just for being our subscriber 🫶

And use the code --- to obtain your discount.

Oops, sorry, code is available only for subscribers.

Want to get benefits like this straight to your inbox? Then subscribe to this humble newsletter and don't miss the tea.

📆  See you in September 28 & 29. Vamos LatAm!

So, money

How many times in the past few months have you come across the statement "Do more with less"?

LinkedIn influencers sure are heavily talking about it (and about 136+ ways of using AI.)

Or maybe you didn't just come across it, but a WhatsApp message from an investor made you realize that had to be the next move for your early-stage startup.

💡 Whether it's a quick call or a decision you ponder around due to the market's moves, it all comes down to one business objective: keep your runway safe.

Yes…

… but safe, like, how?

What is safe in this entrepreneurial path we've taken, in this particular geographical part of the world, in this career chosen to be rad instead of trad?

Glad you got existential, Bruno.

📌 When Ana Martins and Julio Vasconcellos from Atlantico talked about runway for early-stage LatAm startups in the Latitud Podcast, they recommended having at least 24 months of runway.

👉 If you wanna be overly conservative, your safest place would be 36 months according to Julio.

Now call your finance gang: is it looking good? Nah? F*ck. Ok, act cool, we got you, relax your shoulders, nobody's gonna know they're gonna know.

3 things you can do 👇

• The obvious one. Decrease your expenses to lower your burn rate. That'll make your cash reserves last longer.
  
  This includes physical office spaces, company expenses, and customer acquisition costs. And yes, this also includes the ugly moment when you check the headcount in every department of your startup.

• Double your efforts on profitable channels and profitable customers. How? Do a customer acquisition cost and lifetime value analysis for every marketing and sales initiative. Do a what?
  
  This means you have to measure and discover the best marketing and sales strategies from a profit pov, comparing their costs and revenues in full. Keep the keepers and greet your customers through the right channels.

• Negotiate venture capital funding or debt. Raise external investment, but be prepared for smaller checks and more conservative valuations than what we saw in the famous 2021.
  
  Talk to your current angels and VCs about a round extension. This can appear in the form of a flat round (keeping the valuation of the previous round) or a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE).

If this is making 0 sense to you, you probably need to take some steps back and breathe. All good. Take your time to do it right.

📌 Check how to calculate your runway in 3 different ways and what boxes of our runway mistakes checklist you might be filling.

Speaking of which

Have you already requested early access to Meridian? No? Oh, this is divorce stuff.

Our very soon-to-be-launched business account will help you manage your company's runway (so you don't have to worry so much about everything we just told you to worry about), move capital across borders, and keep your flow of funds compliant.

Questions? Answers you may have.👇

‍

Hot News Ahoy! ⛵

(Hot on May 2023)

💪 CVC's on a streak

Braskem, a Brazilian petrochemical giant, is searching for startups to join the acceleration program brought by their corporate venture capital front.

🤖 Web Summit Rio and generative AI

How many buzzwords can we fit into one headline? At the event, our friend Gabe Vasquez from a16z talked about how generative AI will bring more efficiency to startups.

🌟 What's a good founder like?

Andrei, head of startups @ Cubo Itaú, wrote an article about what makes a good startup founder. He mentioned our co-founder Gina's words at Web Summit Rio: you have to like what you do, be good at what you do, and what you do needs to be a solution the world really needs. Did I just hear a ghost whispering ikigai?

-> Every time one of your friends subscribes to our Newsletter, your runway extends ✨ So ask them to subscribe!

‍