Welcome to Season 3 of The J Curve, a podcast about entrepreneurship in Latin America. My guest today is Marcelo Abritta, founder and CEO of Buser, a Brazilian bus transportation platform that connects passengers with underutilized charter buses, offering affordable travel while disrupting the traditional $10 billion intercity bus industry.
Most recently, Buser raised $138m Series C from the likes of Lightrock, Softbank, monashees, Valor Capital, Globo Ventures and Canary. Marcelo shares his inspiring entrepreneurial journey, from selling emoji pillows to building a tech-driven company that directly challenges Brazil’s entrenched bus monopolies. We explore how Buser’s innovative platform is providing affordable, on-demand transportation for millions of Brazilians, while tackling complex legal challenges and scaling in one of the most fragmented transportation markets in the world.
In today's episode we discuss:
1. Before you build, validate: why early demand validation is the key to smarter, leaner startup launches
Learn how building a waitlist and testing demand upfront can help you scale smarter without burning through your cash.
2. Make headlines work for you: how to leverage media to boost your startup’s growth and user adoption
Discover how strategic media coverage from pivotal moments can rapidly boost your user base and brand awareness.
3. Play by the rules (or break them!): How to innovate in heavily regulated industries
Learn how startups can navigate tricky regulations and carve out opportunities for disruption in established markets.
4. Right place, right time: how spotting lucky moments can be your startup’s secret growth hack
Timing is everything—explore how to recognize and ride lucky breaks that could make your startup a success.
5. Turning red to black: a practical guide for startups to survive (and thrive) through financial crises
Learn actionable steps to cut costs, achieve cash flow neutrality, and ensure your startup thrives, even during economic downturns.
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Follow Olga on LinkedIn or Instagram Olga is an entrepreneur, venture capital investor, mentor at Techstars and founder at The J Curve, Latin America's leading English speaking podcast about tech builders. She's been investing in the USA, SEA and Latin America for over 13 years. Companies she backed include tech unicorn ClassPass (acquired by Mindbody) and Vitalk (acquired by Gympass).
