From Scarcity to Scale: Building Startups in Latin America’s Earliest Stages

From Scarcity to Scale: Building Startups in Latin America’s Earliest Stages

From Fund/Build/Scale by Walter Thompson

January 20, 2026 · 38 min · Season 2 · Episode 88

About this episode

Odille Sánchez discusses the evolving landscape of startup culture in Latin America, focusing on resource orchestration and the importance of a global mindset for founders.

Odille Sánchez leads the Tech and Scientific-Based Entrepreneurship Center of Excellence at Tecnológico de Monterrey, where she works with hundreds of early-stage founders across Latin America. In this episode, she explains how mindset, methodology, and community are reshaping what it means to launch a startup in a region where early capital is scarce and institutional support is fragmented. We also talk about: Why resource orchestration — not acceleration — is what most founders need How cultural attitudes toward risk impact founder behavior What Latin American investors and institutions can learn from each other Why commercialization is often the missing piece How to help first-time founders develop a global mindset from day one Whether you're supporting under-networked founders or trying to build in an emerging market, Odille offers a clear-eyed look at what it really takes to go from scarcity to scale. RUNTIME 37:46 EPISODE BREAKDOWN [2:10] Mission-Driven Work at Tecnológico de Monterrey [5:20] Resource Orchestration, Not Acceleration [6:45] " We work with a lot of profiles." [8:47] Bridging The Cultural Gap Around Risk-Taking [11:37] A Founder Success Story: Ricardo Baez +…

People in this episode

Host: Walter Thompson

Guest: Odille Sánchez

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Tecnológico de Monterrey

Products: Safe Fruit

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