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How Mercado Libre built Latin America's most valuable company: 18k engineers, 30k deploys a day, and their own fleet of planes | Sebastian Barrios

Overview

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How Mercado Libre built Latin America's most valuable company: 18k engineers, 30k deploys a day, and their own fleet of planes | Sebastian Barrios

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

2025/06/08
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

2025/06/08
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Sebastian Barrios was the longtime head of product and engineering at Mercado Libre, the largest company in Latin America—valued at over $100 billion and home to more than 100,000 employees. There, he led a team of more than 18,000 engineers across 18 coun...

Highlights

Sebastian Barrios, a seasoned engineering leader with extensive experience at Mercado Libre and now Roblox, shares insights on managing large-scale operations and fostering innovation. Known for his unique management style that blends engineering and product roles, Sebastian has overseen teams of over 18,000 engineers across Latin America. His journey includes early entrepreneurial ventures and a memorable call from Steve Jobs.
00:00
Received a call from Steve Jobs at 17 about his app.
10:45
Mercado Libre operates with a bias towards engineering in hiring and role assignments.
17:55
AI can combine existing code and APIs to create new features without writing new code
28:41
Building a strong company culture outside the U.S. depends on leadership actions and clear communication of values.
37:09
A company should not be compared to a family but to a high-performance sports team.
40:56
It's a great tool, and I got something from your post.
41:03
Deep research and understanding fundamentals help avoid hype cycles.
44:25
Sebastian made an app for learning phone sensors which led to a call from Steve Jobs
51:51
Built a taxi-ordering app in Mexico City achieving network effects
1:01:49
Success is about following curiosity rather than sticking to a routine.
1:04:01
Tobi Lütke's mother used unconventional methods like survival camping and solo international trips to teach independence.
1:13:09
The world is malleable and one can change it

Chapters

Introduction to Sebastian Barrios and Mercado Libre
00:00
Mercado Libre’s scale and unique ways of operating
05:03
AI’s impact on operations
14:48
Empowering teams and reducing fear of failure
19:19
The importance of radical candor
34:20
Weekly updates
38:26
Avoiding hype cycles
41:03
When Steve Jobs personally called 17-year-old Sebastian
44:24
Building successful app businesses
49:00
Unique personal habits
55:33
Raising independent children
1:04:00
Lightning round and final thoughts
1:07:15

Transcript

Lenny Rachitsky: Steve Jobs called you. Sebastian Barrios: One day I'm walking in the street and I get a phone and a blocked number. I was super young, by the way, at the time. I think I was like 16. Pick up, I said, well, hi, it's Sebastian. This is Stev...