This Entrepreneur Raised $85 Million To Bridge The Trade Finance Gap In LATAM Now on his second startup, Santiago Molina’s latest venture has raised tens of millions of dollars, to facilitate the movement of $90M in merchandise. On the Dealmakers Show Molina talked about who to hire, the keys to a successful company, debt financing, picking great investors, building and funding companies in Latin America, and transforming regions with capital and logistics tools. Listen to all the details on the Dealmakers Podcast here. The Three Fundamentals Of Building A Successful Company Santiago Molina was born in Cali, Colombia. He says he won the lottery in terms of great parents that supported him, and made sacrifices to ensure he got the best education, at the best school. Being the 90s, it was a turbulent time in Colombia. Not only going through a major housing crash, but dealing with growing up in a violent environment. It is something that seemed normal until he got out of it. Though which he now credits with helping to build his entrepreneurial spirit and grit. Playing soccer enabled Molina to get a full scholarship to college in the US. He came and got his degree. Today, he says that he loves to hire athletes for the strength and discipline they’ve developed playing sports. He played defense in soccer. While that may not be as fashionable or celebrated as being at the front, scoring the goals, and you only get noticed at the back when you mess up, it taught him the value of always performing well. Soccer took him through becoming an assistant coach while he was working on his MBA. After which he chose to move back to Colombia to try and make a difference there. Learning How Startups Work Landing back in Colombia, Molina went into investment banking and private equity. This experience provided immense learning, across many different industries. Giving a lot of insight into the similarities across successful companies, and those that don’t make it. Number one is really…
