Barrios: Building outside tech hubs is harder initially but builds flywheel advantages
Sebastian Barrios · Mercado Libre: 18k engineers, 30k deploys a day, & their own fleet of planes | Sebastian Barrios · Jun 8, 2025 · at 30:18
Sebastian Barrios, former VP of Product and Engineering at Mercado Libre, discusses the operational trade-offs and talent dynamics of building a tech giant outside Silicon Valley.
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“I think we can also be honest that it will be harder. It is easier to Recruit and build a team where you're in a place where the high density is all over. Another thing that happens to us is that many people try to recruit from us, and that's something that we have to deal with. But if you actually get that flywheel going, it becomes into a clear advantage.”
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“That is the right number. 18,000 and climbing. I just put specify that they don't report all directly to me. We can talk about how the company is structured, but yes, I lead the technology team that basically powers all of what they do.”
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“There's not a lot of tolerance for being in a meeting and getting asked the questions like, well, I need to check with this person to understand the details. Cause you know, I'm not sure what technology we're using, like That, that would not fly.”