Today we’d like to introduce you to Juan Manuel Barrero.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Sure! And thanks for having me. So, I was born in Trenque Lauquen, a small town in the agricultural pampas of Argentina. My father is an accountant and has a professional service firm for agribusiness companies there. So, naturally, I grew up expecting to follow in his steps.
At the age of 26, I didn’t know much about entrepreneurship. The only thing I had was a degree and some experience in accounting, tax & finance, and a father with a small agribusiness accounting firm in my little hometown. I wanted to become an entrepreneur. I didn’t want to work for big corporations, so I told my dad we were going to create the most important agribusiness consulting firm in Argentina. And guess what: WE DID IT. But I was way too ambitious and one day my dad told me “Sorry son I cannot follow you anymore”. So we decided to split.
At that time, I started to feel that “traditional” wasn’t for me. Agribusiness is my identity. It takes me back to where I was born and my hometown. But I started to feel a fire inside asking for more. And that is why I decided to start working with startups. I understood startups are the future and they became my passion. Founders are achievers, founders are dreamers. So, I created CFOstartup, the first professional service company for startups in Argentina, and then expanded to all of Latin America.
At a certain point, we were growing too fast and without technology, processes, and without the right people. Eventually, it got too out of control, and we crashed. Without technology, processes, and the right people it is impossible to grow. Luckily, my wife was there to support me. Together, we started over, trying to correct previous mistakes. We tried again, and we did it! She is now the CEO of the Latam professional services company. Together with the right team, we became the #1 professional service company for startups in Latam.
But it was not enough for me. I realized professional services were not for me because I wanted to create something big, I wanted to transcend. So, after more than 12 years of helping more than 700 startups in Latam, I decided to move to Miami and create Lazo, a tech company.
In my nonprofit work, I’ve been President of the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Argentina and its Ibero-American Federation, I was the president of the Argentine delegation of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance in Japan 2019, I was 2008 President of Rotaract in Buenos Aires (Rotary for youth under 30), amongst others.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not. One of the reasons that I admire entrepreneurs so much is because I believe that change takes courage, as it is never a smooth road to create it. I always focus on building and scaling, but the truth is that without technology this is almost impossible.
I learned that the hard way when we almost crashed in 2020. We were growing too fast with little technology. That is where the idea of Lazo originated. I’d say my biggest challenges down the road have been incorporating technology and finding the right team to build together.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Lazo is a platform that helps startup founders achieve successful fundraising rounds. Our product structures the finance and legal data and solves the back-office issues that are expensive, time-consuming, and most especially, distract the founders from what their main focus should be: product, fundraising, sales, and team building.
We provide an accounting, finance, legal, taxes, payroll, and Investor relations solution, all in one place. Venture Capital firms and investors also benefit from our platform, as they can have access to their portfolio information and structured data.
On average, we help founders save up to 85% of the time and money spent on these annoying, tedious, and scary yet important back-office tasks.
We recently launched our platform! And after 1 year of business, we have already provided services for +300 customers.
I like to think about Lazo as an enabler of dreams. The issues we solve are extremely necessary and yet, amazingly, there is no one solving them in the way we are: integrating all existing tools in one simple easy-to-use platform.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
That you’ll never create something significant on your own.
This applies to all aspects of life. As an entrepreneur, I’ve always fostered relations with partners, colleagues, and even competitors. And in my personal life, I am currently enjoying the adventure of building a family: I recently got married and we are expecting a baby girl!
Contact Info:
- Website: lazo.us
- Instagram: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/ juanmanuelbarrero/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
juanmbarrero
