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Simon Borrero

CEO & Co-Founder, Rappi

Search every verified Simon Borrero interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Simón Borrero, co-founder and CEO of Rappi, discussed the company's early struggles and his broader vision for Latin American entrepreneurship in recent interviews. He recounted that Rappi launched in Bogotá in August 2015 with only six downloads on its first day, and that the company was rejected by approximately 57 investment funds. Borrero described an occasion when the company had only enough liquidity for 20 days, with 900 employees at risk of losing their jobs, and stated that he was extremely stressed but believed they would overcome the situation. He attributed Rappi's purpose to proving that world-class companies can be built in Latin America, saying the region's poverty stems from a lack of growth rather than political issues, and citing Samsung's contribution to South Korea's GDP as an example of corporate impact. Borrero also reflected on his entrepreneurial path, noting that his first four or five ventures failed before he founded a software studio that grew to over 250 developers. He stated that Rappi's success has come from maintaining focus, and described the company as nearing having the largest B2C industrial operation in Latin America. He discussed the importance of working toward a larger purpose and avoiding comparison with others on social media, which he said can lead to short-term thinking and anxiety. Borrero also mentioned the book "Deep Work" by Cal Newport as relevant to maintaining focus in an era of constant distractions.

Recent appearances

Notable quotes

“We pitched something like 57 funds and 57 funds told us no. They don't hit you hard; the hard part is the rejection, because you go with your whole life. At that moment we already had 400 or 500 people hired who had left their jobs to come work at Rappi for half the salary, because that's what we asked. You come to Rappi for your equity and stock options, not for salary. So there was a minimum cut of 35%, usually 50%”

“The first money for Rappi we put in ourselves from Grability and some investors who trusted more in me than in the idea. I remember when I told them, if this works, in a month we need more money. If this doesn't work, this money lasts us. That money lasted us a year and thanks to that it worked and began to grow a lot. But it didn't grow overnight. The story of when we spent 8 or 10 months making the first version of”

“No hay ninguna razón para que Colombia no sea más rica que España. Ninguna. La única razón está aquí. Entonces, cómo nosotros no la creemos y cómo nosotros también como nación... hay una cosa que tenemos que dejar de discutir como latinoamericanos y es algo que tiene que ser política de estado y es la política de crecimiento económico. Tenemos que tener mucho cuidado y tenemos que comenzar a medir nuestros gobernante”

“Si Rapi no hace IPO es por limitaciones de la cabeza. Porque hacer un IPO, eso es para gente que levita como David y extranjeros y yo no sé qué, pero un colombianito normal, ¿qué [__] va a ser IPO allá, ¿no? Y obviamente mi mindset ha ido cambiando y me la ha ido creyendo, pero necesito que se la crean los 4000 que trabajamos ahí.”

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