<p><strong>Most unicorns never leave the stable.</strong></p><p>We celebrate billion-dollar valuations on paper like they’re cash exits—but in Latin America, the real wins are different.</p><p>The true backbone of the region’s startup ecosystem isn’t paper unicorns. It’s the <em>strategic acquisitions</em> that return capital, recycle talent, and prove you can actually build, scale, and exit here. Yet we give them almost no airtime compared to funding rounds.</p><p>So earlier this year—months before <strong>Sem Parar</strong>, the Brazilian mobility giant owned by <strong>Corpay</strong>, a NYSE-listed payments company with a market cap of over <strong>$20 billion</strong>, acquired <strong>Gringo</strong>, a <em>super app for drivers</em>, for about <strong>$200 million</strong>—I sat down with <strong>Caique (Kai) Carvalho</strong>, Gringo’s co-founder and former Chief Product Officer.</p><p>We talked about what really matters when building a consumer-tech company:</p><p><br></p><ul><li><p>The hard lessons behind two failed startups—and how they shaped Kai’s approach to <strong>product-market fit</strong>.</p></li><li><p>The <strong>principles of great UX</strong>—why listening to customers isn’t enough, and how design clarity turned Gringo into one of Brazil’s most-loved consumer apps.</p></li><li><p>The <strong>80/20 rule of growth</strong>—why mastering one acquisition channel drove most of Gringo’s traction.</p></li><li><p>The business-model decisions that turned a <strong>WhatsApp MVP</strong> into a platform processing <strong>billions of reais in transactions </strong>every year.</p></li><li><p>The art of building a <strong>cap table</strong>—how Gringo brought in investors like <strong>Kaszek, VEF, and Valor Capital</strong> for their complementary strengths.</p></li><li><p>The culture principles that helped the team scale without losing its startup DNA.</p></li></ul><p><strong>Join The J Curve Community:</strong></p><p><a href="https://blog.thejcurve.com/">⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠</a>: Weekly deep dives into LATAM&#39;s hottest deals, emerging trends, and market intelligence</p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/olgamaslikhova/">⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠</a>: Daily market insights and exclusive founder updates</p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/olgamaslikhova/">⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠</a>: Behind-the-scenes podcast moments and quick industry takes</p><p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4vU5be4R3VfcY1BVxw8Q4q?si=669707605e9b447f">⁠⁠⁠⁠Hit subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> and share this episode with fellow entrepreneurs and investors</p><p><br></p>