Marcial Gonzalez Fraga - Founder of Oss
Podcast Notes, Episode 19 - Empowering Founders & Flipping the Fundraising Script
La Frontera šµ Podcast, Episode 19 - Empowering Founders & Flipping the Fundraising Script
We sat down with Marcial GonzĆ”lez Fraga, the Founder of Oss, to unpack how startup founders can raise capital on their own terms. Marcial shares his journey from launching Mercado Libreās fintech lending arm to co-founding a startup, to leading 100+ investments at Latitud, and why he ultimately leapt from venture investing to become a āfundraising sherpaā for founders.
We dive into how Marcial helps entrepreneursĀ think like VCs when fundraising, crafting narratives and āsignalsā that flip the usual power dynamic between founders and investors. Marcial explains why even the best founders need a coach and how re-framing the fundraising process can keep leverage in the founderās hands. We also discuss his contrarian take on venture capital norms (like whether VCs should reserve follow-on capital or go all-in), and the importance of building a startup ecosystem where founders have support in their corner.
Episode 19 Summary
Thinking Like a VC: Founders often pitch too small. Marcial breaks down how to adopt an investorās perspective by showing the billion-dollar vision and massive upside VCs need to see, not just the modest wins of today.
Power to the Founder: In the fundraising dance, leverage usually tilts toward VCs. Marcial shares how founders can flip the script with thorough preparation, strategic storytelling, and running a tight process, so investors compete for your round.
Everyone Needs a Coach: Even elite entrepreneurs have blind spots. Marcial sees himself as a coach for top founders, akin to an Olympic trainer, helping great CEOs sharpen their edge and shave off those ā0.1 secondsā that make the difference between silver and gold.
Contrarian VC Insights: Marcial isnāt afraid to challenge venture norms. From questioning follow-on investments (he argues VCs should be all-in from the start) to prioritizing alignment over optionality, his hot takes aim to better align investors with founders.
From VC to Sherpa: Marcialās non-linear path ā MercadoLibre, founding a startup, Latitud VC, inDrive advisor ā all led to Oss. He candidly shares how personal passion and a few āahaā moments (including seeing a star founder still need help) drove him to build a company devoted to founder success.
In Today's Newsletter
Oss: Fundraising Sherpas
šĀ Founded: 2024 in Argentina
šĀ Stage: N/A
š° Total Funding Raised: N/A
š¤Ā Investors: N/A
šÆĀ Mission: Oss helps founders strategize, prepare, and execute fundraising processes, from Series As onward. Their goal is to eliminate errors and create leverage for the founders
Notable Oss clients include fast-growing startups like inDrive, TaxFlow, Cashea, Melonn, and Pulppo, many of which have gone on to close significant rounds.
Flipping the Fundraising Script
When you think of fundraising, you might imagine founders chasing VCs.
Marcial Fraga wants to flip that script. After building Mercado Libreās fintech arm, co-founding a startup, and leading 100 investments at Latitud, he founded Oss ā a boutique advisory that helps Latin American founders raise capital with confidence, clarity, and control.
āMy goal is to tilt the leverage in favor of founders. They carry the risk, so they should own the process.ā - Marcial Gonzalez Fraga
Think Like a VC
Founders often pitch too small. Marcial coaches them to see the world through investorsā eyes and to pitch the billion-dollar story.
Investors are ultimately asking: āCould this be a billion-dollar company?ā Marcial walks us through the VC math that founders should understand.
Imagine a $300M fund; they need a 4Ć return overall. This means they need 1 or 2 of their ~24 bets to truly āknock it out of the park.ā That one winner must have multi-billion dollar potential to make the fundās model work. As Marcial puts it, āWe startedā¦ thinking about this company doing two, three million ARRā¦ And on the other side, VC is thinking, can this company go to $2 billion in ARR?ā. You need to show hints that you and your company have that potential.
He notes many founders take VC rejections too personally, when often āVC is not broken. It just knows most companies go to zero and can only invest in those with tremendous upside,ā Marcial says. An investor would rather bet on a crazy-ambitious idea than a steady grower.
The takeaway? Frame a bold vision. Donāt just seek an āA+ on the report cardā of past performance; paint the picture of an outlier future. As Marcial bluntly summarizes, āAll of this to say your pitch is not crazy enough. And thatās why Iām passing.ā Founders need to sell the dream of the massive outcome or risk a polite āno, thanksā from VCs.
āIf you pitch only what youāre doing now, itāll seem niche and too limited. VCs need to see you can think big.ā - Marcial Gonzalez Fraga
He teaches the Problem ā Solution ā Scale framework: start with a painful problem, show proof your solution works, then zoom out to the massive opportunity ahead.
Founder Leverage 101
For Marcial, fundraising is a psychological game as much as a financial one. Preparation and precision flip power dynamics.
Fundraising often feels like a game stacked in VCsā favor, but Marcial is determined to flip that script. He recalls meeting an outstanding founder and company, who nonetheless entered investor meetings with slumped shoulders and apologies, even thanking VCs āfor [their] timeā, basically giving up all the leverage from the start. Marcialās mission with Oss is to empower founders to take back control of those conversations. He dives deep into a startupās story and metrics so that when the founder walks into pitch, they exude confidence instead of deference.
With his dual perspective as a former VC and a founder, Marcial arms entrepreneurs with insider knowledge. āI have such a strong understanding of what goes on in the kitchen when a VC is analyzing a dealā¦ if I can knowledge-transfer that and put it in the hands of founders, then Iām going to create leverage for them,ā he explains . āIn this dance, this fundraising dance, the leverage is usually tilted towards the VCs. But if I can turn that in favor of founders, [they get] a fair chance to fight.ā Marcial essentially embeds with the company as a head of fundraising, helping founders run a disciplined process: from crafting an āIPO-worthyā narrative early to building a world-class data room, mapping the right investors, and orchestrating the timing of outreach.
By running the raise like a pro, founders can set the terms, instead of scrambling to react. Marcialās community-driven approach means he often leverages introductions between founders and specific investors (knowing exactly who in each fund would āgetā their business), tilting the odds in the founderās favor. The result is a power shift: founders maintaining scarcity and control in their round, rather than feeling at the mercy of VC whims.
Oss helps founders run tight processes ā from investor mapping to data-room readiness ā so that VCs chase them, not the other way around.
Everyone Needs a Coach
Marcial compares founders to Olympic athletes ā driven, talented, and still in need of coaching.
Marcial believes that even the best founders need coaching. He laughs at the idea some VCās have that āthe best ones donāt need helpā.
āTennis players, even the best ones, have coaches. Skiers have coaches. Michael Phelps had a coach.ā - Marcial Gonzalez Fraga
His sessions arenāt about doing the work for founders, theyāre about tightening storytelling, sharpening strategy, and elevating performance under pressure.
Contrarian VC Takes
Marcial isnāt afraid to challenge VC orthodoxy, and his view on follow-on investments is a perfect example. Most funds reserve 50ā60% of their capital to double down on winners. Marcialās take? That approach dilutes conviction and strains founder relationships.
āIf youāre a seed fund, go all in on your first checkā - Marcial Gonzalez Fraga
A Life by Design
Amid the strategy and hot takes, Marcialās north star is deeply personal. He calls Oss āa life project, not a business.ā The name itself comes from his Japanese father-in-law, a karate master who often says āossā, a word meaning āto endure under pressure.ā For Marcial, it symbolizes unwavering support. āWhen I tell a founder āoss,ā Iām saying they can count on me to endure with them,ā he explains.
āOss isnāt just a company ā itās a way of designing a life where family, work, health, and spirituality come together.ā - Marcial Gonzalez Fraga
Listen & Share
This episode is for founders re-thinking how they raise and for investors re-thinking how they back them.
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