Podcast Summary: Fintech Leaders – How Addi Reached $200M ARR with Better Margins Than Nubank, Affirm, and Klarna
Host: Miguel Armaza
Guest: Santiago Suarez, CEO & Co-founder, Addi
Date: October 14, 2025

Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Santiago Suarez, CEO and co-founder of Addi, Colombia's leading fintech and commerce platform. Santiago shares the gritty story behind Addi's explosive growth to $200M ARR with over 55% gross margins—outperforming industry giants like Nubank, Affirm, and Klarna. The conversation dives into scaling strategies, building a powerful board and management team, the science of saying no, visionary product evolution, market fit in Colombia, pioneering AI infrastructure, and the personal highs and lows of running a fintech rocketship.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Radical Transparency with the Board

• "We treat every board meeting as a dirty laundry event. So we always say this is not working. This we need help in. This is bad." (00:00, Santiago)
  • Treats board as true insiders, openly discusses challenges rather than just pitching a positive story.
  • Monthly board updates keep investors caught up in real time, allowing quarterly meetings to go deep on strategic topics.
  • Customizes board engagement—leverages each member’s expertise from capital markets to risk management (e.g., Union Square Ventures, Capital One, GIC).
  • Builds trust: "This feedback I got from our board members, this person said, 'I don't go to your board meetings wondering, what is he not saying? I go in being like, okay, this is what's happening.'" (05:51, Santiago)

2. The Power of Saying No & Relentless Focus

• Addi moved from OKRs to a single North Star at any time (“profitability” during 2022-24).
• Emphasizes having a contrarian, highly skilled management team that actively pushes back to keep projects focused and cut distractions:
  • "We have some extremely high power folks ... I joke, I will say guys, you always tell me no, all I do is lobby you. But that's actually what you want in a management team." (07:21, Santiago)
• Bi-annual strategic reviews clarify what to pursue or abandon.
• Remark: There is never “too much focus”—even highly disciplined teams can prune more.

3. Scaling World-Class Talent in Colombia

• Attracting international veterans (from Paytm, Amazon, eBay) by offering:
  • Top-tier tech and infrastructure (“best technology stack in the region”)
  • Exceptional business performance: "Five years of 100 plus percent year over year growth, an increasing product suite, growth in customers of over 50% in merchants over 100%.” (09:46, Santiago)
  • Ownership culture and high integrity (“We give them equity; we want them to call me out when I'm wrong.”)

4. The Vision Evolution: Learning from Caspi

• Inspired by Caspi (Kazakhstan’s fintech-ecosystem giant), Addi shifted from a regional BNPL to an integrated financial and commerce platform.
  • "We learned a little bit and we realized we had the same raw materials. But to the vision. What is our vision? We want to become the financial and commerce platform for Colombians, for everyday commerce…" (12:25, Santiago)
• The goal: Unite consumers and merchants for all needs (credit, payments, working capital, online marketplace, savings). Expands beyond fintech into holistic commerce ecosystem.

5. Winning in a Paradoxical Market

• Colombia: 50M+ people, $400B GDP, high smartphone penetration, but 65% of transactions are still cash, and <20% have credit cards.
  • Banks’ oligopoly and regulation make credit card competition nearly impossible.
• Addi’s approach:
  • Integrate roles of acquirer, network, processor, and issuer, collecting deep data for better risk and customer fit.
  • Build a self-reinforcing flywheel: non-credit card holders spend via Addi, which pulls in more merchants, which then draws in consumers.
  • Over 60,000 physical stores and presence in 1,045 of Colombia’s 1,100 cities: "We have customers say, oh, if it doesn't have Addi, I'll go somewhere else." (16:58, Santiago)
  • Created a demand-driven marketplace, using app search data to match customers and merchants at lower cost.

6. Impressive Scale & Financials

• "Customer wise we're now running around 2.5 million active customers. We have over 30,000 merchant partners ... clocking over $1.3 billion of GMV annualized ... right around the 200 million-ARR mark ... over 50% gross margins. We've been profitable for a year." (20:18, Santiago)
• 260 employees (non call-center), high revenue per FTE.
• 100%+ growth four years in a row; expansion self-funded via free cash flow.

7. Organization & Culture: Writing, Clarity, and Weekly Cadence

• "We are a writing culture ... memos and Google Sheets—that's the currency of the realm here." (22:58, Santiago)
• Obsession with epistemology and intellectual honesty—everyone must articulate their reasoning (“Show your work!”).
• Constructive conflict is a cultural value—regular "sacred cows" are challenged and disrupted.
• Weekly business reviews (prepped with concise writeups and Loom videos); decisions made rapidly and efficiently.
• 11 direct reports—onboarding is hands-on, then communication moves to ad hoc, real-time.

8. Customer Service: In-House & AI-Enabled

• Mix of in-house and outsourced customer service; all agents get equity and benefits (two English teachers on staff).
• AI agent “ADRI” handles 70% of customer interactions with high CSAT, keeping headcount flat amidst growth.

9. Addi’s Data Infrastructure & AI at Scale

• Early decision to use a mono repo and event-based architecture:
  • "We're going to have a mono repo, which means we only have a single code repository for the entire company ... that turns out to be extremely valuable in the age of AI." (28:44, Santiago)
  • Acquires unique, granular data—down to SKU-level and device info—for every transaction.
  • Built an internal data platform (50+ terabytes) three years before mainstream LLMs, enabling 50+ AI agents to manage everything from recommendations to legal responses and credit/fraud modeling.
• Favorite anecdote:
  • "We had a job candidate ... applied with her Android device and we turned her down and she applied with her iPhone and we approved her. And I was like, of course, because you're like a fancy lady living in the fancy part of Bogotá... our model was like, this is funny, you shouldn't have a cheap Android device." (31:49, Santiago)
• Estimated >50 FTEs saved this year via AI—scaling without linear headcount growth.

10. Fundraising Lessons & Survival

• Raised aggressively during “go-go years”; later took lower-valuation rounds with less structure for survival.
  • "We may turn out to be one of those examples where poaching a ton of dollars on lending early on actually builds a scalable venture backable business ... because we use that to create network effects." (37:47, Santiago)
  • Early subsidized growth created critical mass—eventually top merchants sought Addi out for integration.

11. Founder Burnout and Renewal

• Candid on struggle after exiting Brazil and tough fundraising in 2023.
  • "I took 10 days off and went kite surfing." (40:09, Santiago)
  • Found renewal by returning to Colombia, getting close to the product and customers.
  • "Field Days": Weekly visits to stores, hands-on troubleshooting, and re-engagement with the team.

Notable Moments & Quotes

• On Board Relationships:
  • "We treat every board meeting as a dirty laundry event." (00:00, Santiago)
• On Culture:
  • "We're a writing culture ... memos and Google Sheets—that's the currency of the realm here." (22:58, Santiago)
  • "Everyone needs to show their work." (23:23, Santiago)
• On Tech:
  • "We're going to have a mono repo ... and an event based architecture ... that turns out to be extremely valuable in the age of AI." (28:44, Santiago)
• On Growth:
  • "GNV were now clocking over $1.3 billion of GMV annualized. And on revenue we're about right around the 200 million-ARR mark. And with phenomenal margins." (20:18, Santiago)
• On Burnout:
  • "I took 10 days off and went kite surfing." (40:09, Santiago)
• On Vision:
  • "We want to become the financial and commerce platform for Colombians, for everyday commerce, and eventually for other countries." (12:25, Santiago)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Board and Transparency Philosophy (00:00–06:24)
• Saying No/Focus (06:24–08:55)
• Hiring World-Class Talent & Management Chemistry (08:55–11:37)
• Vision Evolution & Caspi Influence (11:37–15:03)
• Colombian Market Strategy & Network Effects (15:03–19:43)
• Addi’s Scale, Metrics, and Profitability (19:43–22:34)
• Org Structure & Culture (22:34–26:47)
• Customer Service, AI, and Data Infrastructure (26:47–34:08)
• Fundraising Retrospective (37:31–39:58)
• Founder Burnout, Renewal, and Field Days (39:58–42:21)

Conclusion

Miguel and Santiago’s conversation is an in-depth case study in building a high-growth, high-margin fintech that punches far above its weight in a challenging market. Addi’s story is one of radical transparency, disciplined focus, world-class talent, visionary product evolution, and the catalytic role of data and AI. For operators, investors, and builders hungry to understand what it takes to dominate in emerging markets, this episode is packed with strategy, candor, and practical insight.

Recommended for: Fintech founders, executives, investors, and anyone interested in the intersection of technology, commerce, and high-velocity organizational growth in emerging markets.