From Colombia Tech Fest to My New Role: Lessons in Building What Actually Matters

Coming back from Colombia Tech Fest last week, and it came at an interesting time. I recently stepped into the Head of Operations role at JustPaid, where I've been working since the early days. The conference gave me good perspective on how other companies handle scaling challenges and what the next phase of growth might look like.

Being around founders and operators at different stages was valuable for thinking about where we're headed and what we might need to adjust as we continue growing.

From Founding Team to Head of Operations

Walking into Colombia Tech Fest as someone who's helped build JustPaid from the ground up gave me a unique perspective. I wasn't there to learn how to start building processes—we've already done that. I was there to understand what comes next when you've established solid foundations and need to scale them intelligently.

The conversations I had were incredibly validating. Many of the approaches we've taken at JustPaid: being intentional about culture from day one, building processes that actually serve the team rather than just checking boxes, were echoed by successful founders who'd scaled much larger than us.

Key insight: The early investments in thoughtful processes and culture compound over time. What we build carefully at 10 people becomes the foundation that lets you scale to 100 without losing what makes your company special.

Marketing in Fintech Is Playing on Hard Mode

There was this whole panel on growth marketing, and I kept thinking, "Yeah, but try doing that when you're dealing with people's money." Every other industry can be scrappy with their messaging, iterate quickly, and "fake it till you make it." In fintech, one wrong word and people think you're a scam.

At JustPaid, we're constantly walking this line between being approachable (so young founders become interested) and being trustworthy (so they actually give us their financial data). It's exhausting, but it's also forced us to be more authentic than most startups.

Learning: Trust-building is everything in fintech marketing. Every message needs to balance being approachable with being credible. One misstep and potential users will question your entire platform.

LATAM's Strategic Approach to Fintech

What struck me most was how Latin American fintech companies approach market challenges differently than we do in the US. They're dealing with lower banking penetration, different regulatory environments, and varying levels of smartphone adoption—which has led to some incredibly creative solutions.

Key insight: Market constraints drive innovation. Many of the most elegant fintech solutions I saw were born from working within tight limitations. This reminded me that some of our best product decisions at JustPaid have come from similar constraints.

Culture as Competitive Advantage

Having been part of building JustPaid's culture from day one, I was particularly interested in conversations about maintaining culture during rapid growth. We've always believed that culture isn't something that happens to you—it's something you actively build and maintain.

One founder who'd grown from 15 to 150 people described challenges that felt familiar, but at a different scale. They talked about the same kinds of intentional practices we've built at JustPaid: how you structure meetings, how you celebrate wins, how you handle difficult conversations, how you onboard new team members so they understand not just what we do, but how we do it.

The culture work you do early becomes your infrastructure for scaling. The small, consistent practices we've established at JustPaid aren't just "nice culture things"—they're operational systems that let us maintain our identity as we grow.

What I'm Taking Back to JustPaid

The conversations I had are already changing how I think about our operations and potential expansion:

Hire for leadership potential, not just current fit. The most successful companies were obsessive about hiring people who could eventually run entire divisions. We're restructuring our hiring to prioritize candidates who can scale with us and attract top-tier talent.
Build systems that create competitive advantages. Every process we design should make it harder for competitors to match our execution speed and quality. This means thinking beyond efficiency to building operational moats.
Establish market positioning through superior execution. The companies that dominate markets don't just have good products—they execute at a level competitors can't match. We're using this early stage to build that execution discipline.
Design for exponential scale from day one. Instead of building for our current size and retrofitting later, we're building processes and systems that can handle 10x growth without fundamental restructuring.

While JustPaid is laser-focused on the US market right now, Colombia Tech Fest made it clear that Latin America represents a massive opportunity for US fintech companies that can execute well. The market is hungry for solutions, the regulatory environment is evolving favorably, and there's real venture capital flowing into the region.

Final Thoughts

Colombia Tech Fest came at the perfect moment in my journey with JustPaid. The conference reinforced something I already believed: the best companies aren't just those that grow fast, but those that grow sustainably while maintaining the things that make them special. The work we've put into building JustPaid thoughtfully from day one isn't just "nice to have"—it's what's going to let us scale effectively.

For anyone building operations at an early-stage company: invest in the foundations early. The culture and processes you build when you're small become the infrastructure that lets you scale without losing your identity.