Marcos Galperin revealed he wakes up at 5 a.m. and the keys to Mercado Libre’s success

Have passion, know how to look at the long term and build good work teams. Ah yes: and get up at 5 in the morning. Marcos Galperin, the Argentinian businessman who founded Mercado Libre, He said how is the routine that led him to have a fortune Furthermore $ 6.3 billion.

In an interview with Endeavor LatamGalperin said he thinks about ideas best early in the morning. “When I think the best and when most things come to mind, it’s dude five in the morning when I’m there half asleep, half awake, to the point that I had a notepad always next to my bed on my nightstand», He counted.

“You see that’s when my brain finds the best ideas or solutions to problems. Too, several times when I exercise. I free myself and think better, “he added.

Company data is overwhelming: Mercado Libre app is used by 69.8 million users in Latin America. As a percentage, the number of customers has increased by approximately one 61% compared to the same quarter of 2020 and it is positioned as one of the main e-commerce solutions in the region.

However, the businessman said the process was not at all easy: the company was founded 22 years ago, and for the first eight years it was not profitable: it was a loss. It was not until 2007 that he made a profit.

“I had a really bad time. There were times, especially at the beginning, when I remember that I didn’t want to get out of bed. The alarm clock rang in the morning and said: No I don’t want to get out of bed because I have to face all my employees and … the business is going to melt down, it’s not going to work, we are not doing it. money to pay salaries, all those people who quit their jobs or who believed in me and my idea. It’s not going to work now, ”Galperin said in the interview.

“It was a very, very deep anguish. It was not a depression, but it was a very strong anguish. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs have been there, the anguish of having risked everything for something that you think will fail. In my case, luckily it hasn’t failed, other times, yes it’s failed“he added.

For this, Galperin also spoke of what it means to be an entrepreneur.

Advice to entrepreneurs

Galperin also touched on the current state of “crypto” technology, which is very popular due to the rise in the price of bitcoin and ethereum. “I see now, in the crypto world, most think they’re crazy. It’s a small group that is totally convinced that this is going to change the world. Well, that was us in ’99 too,” a- he compared.

In this sense, he said that passion is the key to entrepreneurship. “When an entrepreneur has no passion, it is usually accompanied by what interests him is business and it is very difficult in the long term, It works. “

“I think it’s so difficult to undertake, it takes so much effort that it is essential to see in an entrepreneur the passion that goes with falling in love with his idea, or his product or his team, ”added Galperin.

Entrepreneurship “involves taking risks”, according to the businessman. “There are people who are comfortable with the risk and there are others who do not. If you don’t feel as comfortable with risk, it’s better to know that suddenly you’ll be more comfortable working in a large company than in a new company, ”he said. .

“New ventures are riskier, they are much more likely to fail and that daily adrenaline some people love it and some don’t,” Galperin concluded.

And, without a doubt, it seems that they are demanding get up very early.

SL