Pablo Luscarain of Dissent Venture is revolutionizing venture capital and reshaping startup ecosystems with innovative strategies and bold leadership.
In a recent podcast hosted by Mark Allen of Gaper.io, Pablo Luscarain, a seasoned entrepreneur and venture capitalist, shared his insights into his journey, the companies he has built, and his latest endeavor, Dissent Ventures. With a rich background in founding and scaling companies, Luscarain offers a unique perspective on venture capital and the evolution of startup ecosystems, particularly in Latin America. This article delves into the major themes discussed during the podcast, offering a comprehensive look at Luscarain’s approach to business and his vision for the future of venture capital.
Pablo Luscarain has an impressive track record, having started 13 companies and successfully selling four of them across various industries including e-commerce, software, real estate, and advertising. Remarkably, Luscarain has never held a traditional job, emphasizing his deep-rooted commitment to entrepreneurship. “I’ve never received a salary, which I hear is amazing,” he humorously remarked, highlighting his lifelong dedication to creating and building businesses from the ground up.
His involvement with Startup Grind, a global community of startups, further fueled his passion for supporting and growing entrepreneurial ecosystems. He started as the chapter director in Monterrey, Mexico, and eventually became the partner managing the Latin American region. This experience led to the creation of several ventures including INDIE, a consulting firm, and For Founders, an initiative aimed at supporting late-stage startups.
For Founders is an initiative that challenges the traditional focus on early-stage startups. Luscarain explained that real startup ecosystems are often built on the success of one or two large companies that achieve liquidity events, which then drive broader growth and innovation. “Most ecosystems are built based on one or two companies that get really big and then have a liquidity event. That’s what builds the ecosystem on a much larger scale than having a thousand startups,” he noted.
Founders operates with a mission to help these larger startups scale even further, creating a ripple effect that strengthens the entire ecosystem. The initiative is not about generating revenue but about optimizing for finding the best startups and connecting them with top investors globally. “We’re not focusing on creating revenue; we are focusing on optimizing for finding the best startups,” Luscarain emphasized.
INDIE, Luscarain’s consulting firm, takes a different approach to solving corporate challenges. Rather than following the traditional consulting model, INDIE works with a select group of global companies to solve problems in an agnostic and innovative way. The firm has a unique structure, with around 30 employees who work on a project basis, allowing for the creation of perfect teams tailored to each client’s needs.
“We work with companies that have very large problems that usually they try to solve via one of the big four consulting firms, but they didn’t have any kind of good results on solving that,” Luscarain explained. This boutique approach allows INDIE to maintain a small client base while charging premium rates, focusing on value creation rather than scaling through volume.
Luscarain’s latest venture, Dissent Ventures, is an attempt to “rewrite the whole book on venture capital.” He believes that despite being an industry synonymous with innovation and risk-taking, venture capital has remained largely unchanged for decades. Dissent Ventures aims to disrupt this by focusing on people who are transforming a transaction for the first time, rather than simply looking for startups with early traction.
“We invest in people that are changing a transaction for the first time in the way they are doing it,” Luscarain explained. This approach shifts the focus from traditional metrics like traction to the sophistication of the product or service being developed. According to Luscarain, there is no proven correlation between early traction and long-term success. Instead, Dissent Ventures places greater importance on the belief and insight of the founders, along with the sophistication of their solutions.
In a venture capital landscape that often prioritizes early traction and recurring revenue, Luscarain’s approach is a breath of fresh air. He believes that traditional metrics are not always indicative of future success, particularly in the startup world where uncertainty and volatility are the norms. “If traction doesn’t matter, what if we can give a bigger value to the product or the service sophistication?” he questioned, challenging the status quo.
Luscarain’s method involves assessing how sophisticated a product is, even at an early stage. He likens this to training for a marathon: instead of focusing on how far one can run today, the emphasis is on the training plan and the commitment to long-term goals. This analogy underscores the importance of preparation, insight, and the potential for growth, rather than just immediate performance.
One of the key aspects of Dissent Ventures’ investment strategy is identifying founders who possess a deep belief in their ideas, even when those ideas challenge the status quo. Luscarain uses examples like Airbnb and Uber, which initially seemed counterintuitive but ultimately redefined their respective industries. “When we analyze a startup, our first question is, ‘Tell us about your belief. What do you know or what do you think most people in the world are wrong about?'” he explained.
This focus on belief and insight, rather than just market potential, allows Dissent Ventures to back truly innovative startups that have the potential to disrupt existing markets and create new ones. It’s a strategy that aligns more closely with the original spirit of venture capital, which is to take calculated risks on groundbreaking ideas.
Luscarain also provided valuable insights into the startup ecosystem in Latin America, a region that is rapidly evolving but still faces unique challenges. According to him, the region is currently in its second stage of development, where more professionals are entering the entrepreneurial space, often with a more opportunistic mindset.
He described this stage as one where many entrepreneurs are trying to “hack” entrepreneurship by starting businesses that may not align with their passions or expertise, but rather with perceived market opportunities. This approach, while sometimes successful, often lacks the depth and commitment needed to create truly transformative companies.
“For us, it’s about finding those founders who are deeply in love with what they are doing,” Luscarain said. He believes that the most successful entrepreneurs are those who have a profound understanding and passion for their industry, which drives them to innovate and push boundaries.
Luscarain’s approach to work and life is centered around creating value, rather than simply putting in hours. He works around 20-30 hours a week, focusing on solving problems and reimagining systems across his various ventures. “What we are doing is not measured in time but in the value we create for others,” he said, reflecting his belief that true impact comes from the quality and depth of one’s work, rather than the quantity.
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