Santiago Aparicio CEO de Ontop | Como levantar 20M de usd en 2 años | Fundadores Podcast ep. 31

Episode Overview

• Santiago Aparicio shares his early life lessons from motocross and university, which shaped his philosophies on taking "massive action" and leading through influence rather than expertise.
• The discussion covers his experience as an early employee at Rappi, detailing the unglamorous reality of hyper-growth and his key B2B sales insight: focus on the personal incentives of individuals within corporations.
• Aparicio explains his motivation for leaving a high-level position at Rappi to found his own company, driven by a powerful desire to build his own vision rather than someone else's.
• The episode concludes with a look at his current venture, TOP, a platform for global remote hiring, and his core beliefs on risk-taking, continuous learning, and the future of work.

Key Concepts

• Massive Action: The philosophy that success is primarily the result of persistent, high-volume effort rather than innate talent or connections.
• Learning from "Doers": The principle of seeking knowledge and mentorship from practitioners who have real-world experience, rather than from theorists.
• Leadership as Facilitation: The idea that effective leadership involves organizing and aligning people more skilled than you towards a common goal, acting as a "director" rather than the top expert.
• Startup Reality vs. Perception: The contrast between the glamorous public image of startups and the gritty, frugal, and high-pressure reality of working in a hyper-growth environment.
• Person-Centric B2B Sales: The strategy of bypassing corporate bureaucracy by understanding and appealing to the personal KPIs and career incentives of the individuals you are dealing with.
• Entrepreneurial Drive: The intrinsic motivation to build one's own vision and create a direct impact, even if it means leaving a secure and successful position.
• Global Remote Hiring: The concept behind his company, TOP, which provides a software solution to handle contracts, compliance, and payroll for companies hiring talent worldwide.
• Risk and Opportunity: The belief that the greatest risk is inaction and that luck is created at the intersection of preparation (learning from mistakes) and opportunity.

Quotes

• At 0:00 - "Uno vende primero, con lo que vende construye, y tiene que apostarle todo al crecimiento. Porque la solución a todos los problemas es crecer y crecer desmedidamente." - Santiago Aparicio explaining the core philosophy for startups, emphasizing that prioritizing massive growth is essential for survival and problem-solving.
• At 3:50 - "La mayoría de cosas que se logran en la vida no es porque uno sea increíblemente bueno en algo... Yo creo que es más el resultado de tomar acción masiva." - Santiago Aparicio reflecting on how he secured a motocross sponsorship in Canada, attributing his success to persistence and making hundreds of calls rather than innate talent or connections.
• At 8:06 - "La mejor forma de lograr algo es rodeándote de personas que ya lo han hecho." - Santiago Aparicio on his realization that the most effective way to learn and succeed is by associating with people who have practical experience, a lesson that shaped his career.
• At 22:06 - "Llego a Rappi... me entregan una caja de donas y me dicen, 'Vaya y reparta donas al parque... porque tenemos que conseguir usuarios.'" - Santiago Aparicio describing the unglamorous reality of his first day at Rappi, which shattered his expectation of a "Google-like" startup and immediately immersed him in the hands-on work of acquiring customers.
• At 27:24 - "Cuando tú estás al interior de una startup, lo único que no tienes es tiempo." - He explains that the biggest challenge is compressing the typically long sales cycles of large, bureaucratic companies into the short timeframes a startup can afford.
• At 28:20 - "Tú no lidias con empresas, tú lidias con personas, y las personas tienen intereses propios... Si tú tienes una palanca que les permita a ellos avanzar ese KPI, intrínsecamente te vas a volver el número uno en la lista de prioridades." - Santiago Aparicio sharing his key insight on succeeding in B2B sales at Rappi, which was to focus on helping his corporate contacts achieve their personal career goals to bypass bureaucracy.
• At 29:54 - "Si yo no construyo algo por mí mismo, como si no persigo mi visión o algún sueño que tenga... pues la realidad es que me voy a quedar trabajando para el sueño de alguien más. Y está muy bien... pero definitivamente no era algo que yo quería para mí." - Santiago Aparicio on his motivation for leaving Rappi to start his own company, explaining his deep-seated need to build his own vision.
• At 34:52 - "El peor riesgo que tú puedes tomar es no tomar ningún riesgo." - Describing his philosophy on decision-making, he argues that inaction guarantees failure, while taking a chance, no matter how small, improves your odds of success.
• At 37:48 - "TOP es un... software, una solución que le permite a cualquier compañía del mundo contratar en todo el mundo." - He provides a concise explanation of his new company, TOP, and its mission to enable global remote hiring.
• At 60:39 - "Solo los idiotas no cambian de opinión." - When asked about a habit that has improved his life, he highlights the importance of being open to change, as it is the only constant in life and business.
• At 64:52 - "Ayer dijiste que iba a ser hoy." - When asked what message he would put on a billboard for everyone to see, he offers this quote to combat procrastination.

Takeaways

• To accelerate B2B sales with large corporations, identify the personal incentives of your contacts and frame your solution as a way to help them achieve their individual career goals.
• Effective leadership is not about being the most skilled person, but about identifying and aligning talented individuals towards a shared objective.
• Create opportunities and overcome challenges through persistent, massive action rather than waiting for perfect conditions or relying solely on innate talent.
• Embrace calculated risks, as inaction is often the riskiest choice of all; taking a chance significantly increases your probability of success compared to doing nothing.
• Prioritize learning from practitioners with real-world experience over theoretical experts, as this provides the most valuable and applicable insights for business.
• Cultivate the habit of asking questions, no matter how simple they seem, as curiosity is one of the most powerful tools for personal and professional growth.