You haven't bought your VLS tickets yet? Not even with the discount we gave you?

May I ask why you hate us, Rafael? Honestly.

Ticket prices for VLS will go up as of June 1st, so you might wanna finish that purchase this week y'know?

All good with a higher price, I'll buy them later 💸

But have you seen the price of chicken nuggets? Milk's also crazy expensive, and don't get me started on the gasoline…

VLS can open a lot of doors for you, but that's not a reason to hurt your cash flow in advance. Just saying...

Lessons on Instagram

In addition to the networking space that VLS offers – and which we all heavily crave, we know – it is the perfect place to get some entrepreneurial inspiration. ✨

On the first edition of Vamos Latam Summit, Mike Krieger, the lowkey Brazilian co-founder of Instagram was one of our most-expected speakers.

Did he share with us how to beat the algorithm and get 56k new followers?

Nope, but he did share with us how to get to our square photos + basic filters era (a.k.a PMF) and how to move on to our reels + AI filters era (a.k.a grow.)

📌 3 lessons on that:

1. Seize the power of focus

When Mike & company were launching Instagram's app, there were only 3 fighters standing for the team. Even though this meant LOTS of work for them, it created focus on the product.

Everybody knew what was going on.

👉 The focus that comes from having a small team is incredible and easy to lose when you start growing. So seize the opportunity of focus that you have now.

2. Things are never as bad or as good as you think

Let's say your runway is healthy. You got your dream team. Everything is on the go and life is good…until your most important product engineer quits. Crap.

You could also be on the other side, anxious because you're not getting lucky with investors, or clueless because you're not finding a market fit.

But you go on and contact your network. You meet the friend of a friend who knows an enthusiastic angel investor or an excellent engineer. Perfect matches. Quests completed.

👉 Whether you're on the bright side or on the dark side right now, keep in mind that this too shall pass.

3. Don't hold onto your product

The first time Mark was told they were going to destroy Instagram was when they allowed users to post more than just square pics. (Yes, the square format that nobody uses anymore.)

It's easy to define yourself based on where the company or product has been and forget why it was made that way in the first place.

👉 Don't hold onto what you've built, but onto the problem you want to solve.

So what do you say?

Networking + inspiration doesn't sound like a bad plan at all 😉.

Hot News Ahoy! ⛵

🔒 Security first

Silverguard, the new venture by Sallve's co-founder, Marcia Netto, secured its first US$1.5 million in a round with Astella and Latitud funds, as well as a group of angels specializing in technology, security, and credit.

📝 Freelancers 500

Takenos, the Argentinean startup that helps in the payment and collection of freelancers in Latam, has just announced that it has joined 500 Global LatAm, an accelerator and VC firm based in the US, which also has operations in Mexico.

💰Go Finkargo

Colombian startup Finkargo announced that it exceeded US$100 million in merchandise financed for SMEs and importing companies.

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-> Every time one of your friends subscribes to our Newsletter, you seize the power of focus ✨ So ask them to subscribe!

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