Welcome to Tech Talents! In this newsletter, I share real-time key talent movements in the LatAm tech ecosystem, including founders entering and exiting stealth mode, executive-level movements in unicorns, and partner-level changes in local VC firms.
Here’s a quick look at what you’ll find in this week’s edition:
📖 Recent Reads: Artificial General Intelligence definition, Working at OpenAI, & more
🎊 Startup Launches: Kira, Enali
👀 Talents to Watch: Two recently exited founders
🤫 Talents Entering Stealth: Ex-Tech Lead Data Scientist at PicPay, ex-CFO at Mecanizou, ex-Principal ML Engineer at Localiza&Co & more
🦄 Unicorn Movements: Senior Head, Agents Strategy and Operations at QuintoAndar & more
👨💻 Practical AI Tips for Founders and VCs: Competitive analysis prompt
👋 Co-Founder Matching: Looking for an early or late-stage co-founder? Click here to be connected with top talent that matches your criteria
Let’s dive in…
📖 Recent Reads
My quick takes on interesting articles, news and data that I’ve come across recently.
What is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)? OpenAI defines it as “a highly autonomous system that outperforms humans at most economically valuable work” — a definition that is quite vague and that other players in the market would likely disagree with. Despite the lack of consensus on its definition, Microsoft and OpenAI placed this term at the center of their partnership, which grants Microsoft exclusive access to OpenAI's models and technology. This ambiguity around AGI appears to be one of the core issues making the relationship between these two companies more fragile than ever. After all, this might not just be another buzzword in the industry…
Here's how a recently departed OpenAI employee describes working at the company. Some of the core elements genuinely surprised me: a strong bottom-up culture, everything running on Slack (no emails), and quick, high-conviction direction changes. It offers a rare glimpse into one of the biggest and most secretive AI players in the market.
I've recently written about how Mark Zuckerberg is doing everything he can to poach top AI researchers from other AI labs to Meta. In this interview by The Information, he sheds light on the Big Tech’s overall AI strategy, how it intersects with their Augmented Reality initiatives, and the advantages of being an established player in the AI race. One thing is clear: both incumbents like Meta and new entrants are going all in on AI.
🎊 Startup Launches
Founders who have just publicly announced what they are working on.
Kira
Overview
Startup Description: Kira is the easiest way for non-fintech enterprises to launch AI-powered, stablecoin-based financial products. Through a unified API platform, Kira enables businesses to embed remittances, payroll, wallets, and real-time cross-border payments—without having to touch blockchain or navigate complex compliance requirements.
Industry: Fintech, Blockchain
Team Size: 33
Time in Stealth: 6 months
Founder Profile
José Alberto Díaz - Co-Founder at Kira
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Unicorn Experience
Previous Experience: Ex-Sr. Product Manager at Clip, ex-Growth Product Manager at Stori, ex-Head of Product at Konfront, Bachelor of Business Administration from Universidad Anáhuac.
Headquarters: Ciudad de México, México
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Enali Inc.
Overview
Startup Description: Restoring transparency, control, security, and accountability in interactions between people and companies.
Industry: SaaS, AI
Team Size: 11
Time in Stealth: 9 months
Founder Profile
Marcelo Castanha – Chief Executive Officer at Enali Inc.
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Masters, Top University
Previous Experience: Ex-Tech Startup Mentor at InovAtiva, ex-Founding Partner at RamCap Technology, ex-VP-LatAm, Head of Proposition Development at Thomson Reuters, MBA from USP, Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering from Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso.
Headquarters: United States
Ask for an Intro: Click here
👀 Talents to Watch
High-potential individuals likely to make significant career moves soon.
This section is exclusive to Pro subscribers, but here is a snippet of the profiles covered in the past two weeks. To view the full profiles, try Tech Talents Pro for free for 14 days here.
Recently exited startup, currently with no full-time position
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Previous Exit, Ecommerce
Previous Experience: Ex-Co-Founder & CEO at Startup (exit), ex-Co-Founder at Startup, Bachelor's in Business Administration.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: N/A
Recently exited startup, currently with no full-time position
Founder Highlights: Previous Exit, Masters, Top University, Ex-Corporate, Scaleup Experience, Fintech
Previous Experience: Ex-Managing Director - Financial Services at Scaleup, ex-Founder & CEO at Startup (exit), ex-Alternative Investments Manager at Asset Management Firm, ex-Portfolio Manager at Corporate. MBA in Finance from Duke, Bachelor's degree in Economics from PUC-RJ.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: N/A
🤫 Talents Entering Stealth
Talents with relevant experiences who have just entered stealth mode.
Daniel Alves – Founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Technical Founder, Doctorate, Masters, Ex-Corporate, Ex-Consultant, Scaleup Experience
Previous Experience: Ex-Tech Lead Data Scientist at PicPay, ex-Principal Data Scientist at Infosys, ex-Data Scientist at Ekantika Brasil, PhD in Theoretical Physics from UNESP, PhD in Theoretical Physics from University of California, Davis, Master's degree in Theoretical Physics from Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Física, Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from Universidade Federal do Ceará.
Headquarters: Brazil
Time in Current Position: 2 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Rodrigo Salvador – Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Previous Exit
Previous Experience: Ex-VP of Strategy, M&A and B2B Business Unit at UOL EdTech, ex-CEO at Passei Direto, Bachelor's in Business Administration from PUC-Rio, Postgraduate CBA in Business Management from Ibmec.
Headquarters: Brazil
Time in Current Position: 6 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Alexandre Scortecci – Founder & CEO at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Ex-Corporate, Top University, Scaleup Experience
Previous Experience: Ex-CFO at Mecanizou, ex-Director of Finance and Operations at Alice, ex-International Corporate Treasury & Financial Services Manager at Decathlon, ex-Treasury Coordinator at Walmart Brasil. Bachelor in Business from USP.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 2 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Morgan Dierstein – Building AI-Powered Agents at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Masters, Previous Exit, Ex-Consultant, Ex-Corporate, Top University
Previous Experience: Ex-Founder & CEO at Foodz, ex-Director of Ad Sales at Digital Turbine, ex-Sales Director at Jeeng, an OpenWeb company, ex-Senior Sales Manager at Taboola, ex-Junior Consultant at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Master of Arts in Marketing from Université Paris Dauphine, MBA in Project Management from Fundação Getulio Vargas, Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Université Paris Dauphine.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 1 month
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Lucas Tonon – Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters, Top University, Ex-Consultant
Previous Experience: Ex-Principal ML Engineer, AI Engineering Leader at Localiza&Co, ex-Senior Data Scientist at Bain & Company, ex-Associate & Data Scientist at Boston Consulting Group, ex-Research and Development at GE Grid Solutions, ex-Machine Learning Engineer at LIRIS, Master of Engineering in Machine Learning Engineering from École Centrale de Lyon, Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering from USP.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 1 month
Ask for an Intro: Click here
🦄 Unicorn Movements
Promotions, new hires, and other movements in local unicorns’ executive-level.
Leandro Willarte – Senior Head, Agents Strategy and Operations at QuintoAndar
Previous Role: Director of Revenue Operations (RevOps) and Commercial Center of Excellence at Arco Educação
Previous Experience: Ex-Senior Manager at Bain & Company, MBA from Columbia Business School, Engineer's degree in Aeronautical Engineering from USP, MBA in Marketing and Financial Management from Florida Institute of Technology.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 3 months
Camila Velzi – Country Manager - Brazil at Karta
Previous Role: Ex-Customer Success Director at Clara
Previous Experience: Ex-Head of e-commerce at Mondelēz International, ex-Partner at Rappi, ex-Superintendente - Shopping Light at Gazit Brasil, Bachelor of Business Administration from ESPM.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 1 month
👨💻 Practical AI Tips for Founders and VCs
Sharing AI tips and tools to help founders and VCs be more effective in their day-to-day activities.
AI is extremely helpful for gaining competitive intelligence, which is key for both founders to understand the markets they are in and for VCs to assess investments in new companies. However, the model and the prompt you use can dramatically impact the quality of the output. After trying several different versions, here's a structure I think works best.
If you want a detailed report on the competitive landscape, I recommend using ChatGPT’s Deep Research. Go to ChatGPT, select the “o3” model on the top left-hand corner of the screen, and select “Run deep research” after clicking the “Tools” button in the dialogue box.
If you want a more concise and straight-to-the-point output, I recommend using Claude with web search enabled. You just need to go to Claude’s website and check if web search is enabled in the tools button in the dialogue box.
Copy, paste, and edit the prompt below based on the company you’re analysing and the direct competitors you know about.
Prompt:
You are an AI analyst tasked with conducting a detailed competitive analysis for a Venture Capital firm currently evaluating a startup investment opportunity. Below, you'll find the name and brief description of the startup being evaluated, along with a list of direct competitors.
Instructions:
Startup Information:
Name:
Brief Description:
Direct Competitors:
Competitor 1:
Competitor 2:
Competitor 3:
Competitive Analysis Requirements:
For each competitor listed above, perform an online search (including the company's website, reputable news sources, press releases, and industry reports) and provide a summarized comparison structured as follows:
Core Similarities:
List key similarities in product focus, features, positioning, and customer targets.
Key Differences:
Clearly outline major differences in the scope of offerings, product capabilities, unique selling propositions, positioning strategies, and target personas.
Traction and Revenue:
Summarize any publicly available insights into the competitor’s market traction, growth metrics, number of customers or users, and revenue data.
Example Format:
Core Similarities:
Similarity 1
Similarity 2
Key Differences:
Difference 1
Difference 2
Traction and Revenue:
[Competitor Name] recently announced raising [$amount] in [funding round] and reported having approximately [number] customers or users.
Summary & Insights:
Provide a summary table highlighting key findings for easy comparison.
Deliverable:
A structured, concise comparative report organized by competitor, concluding with a comparative summary and strategic insights section.
Of course, this is supposed to be just a starting point for your competitive research. In any case, I hope this is helpful, and let me know if you have any other recommended methods for doing competitive analysis with AI!
If you have any feedback or suggestions about Tech Talents LatAm, please share them with me through my LinkedIn.