Samuel Rizzon · Puentes III
A new sense of what’s possible.
Samuel on building his own opportunities and learning from the people he met in San Francisco.
Read his storyLatin America · San Francisco
Rewriting stories in a week
A week in San Francisco for exceptional engineers from Latin America who want to build their lives here.
- Live in a house with a small cohort of engineers from across Latin America.
- Meet founders over dinner and visit early teams hiring international talent.
- Get our help finding your place at an early-stage startup — and people to learn from as you work toward a company of your own.
Puentes runs in May and October. Applications are closed; exact dates for the next cohort will follow.
Explore the Puentes weekThe Puentes week
Our job is to make sure the right people know who you are.
We bring the cohort together in a house in San Francisco, invite founders to dinner every night, and introduce you to early teams looking for engineers. We help you get into the conversations that can lead to your next role.
Watch the film 4:59Founders at the table
Evenings with founders.
Every evening, we bring a small group of founders and fellows together over dinner. The conversations are off the record: about building a company, life in San Francisco, and the decisions along the way. We make the introduction; the conversation is yours.
Inside early teams
See the work up close.
Office visits put faces to the companies you have followed from afar. Meet the founders and engineers, ask about their work, and help them understand yours.
A shared home
Get to know the other fellows.
You stay together in San Francisco for the week. The house gives a small group of engineers from across Latin America a place to meet, compare experiences, and spend time together between visits and dinners.
Some of our past guests
Guillermo Rauch Vercel
Pedro Franceschi Brex
Eva Alonso Ribbit
David Cramer Sentry
Luis Paarup HappyRobot
Ted Nyman OpenAI
Who it’s for
You’re already good. You’re ready to be challenged.
You’re an engineer from Latin America. You build side projects because there’s something you want to figure out. You follow startups and technology closely. You may be doing well at work and still feel that you’ve reached a ceiling too soon.
You want an entrepreneurial life. That might begin by joining an early team, learning from its founders, and taking on work you haven’t done before. You can imagine starting a company yourself.
We’re looking for people seriously considering a move to San Francisco, willing to leave a place where they’re already established and put themselves somewhere they have more to learn. You don’t need every step planned. You should have work you’re proud of and be able to explain it in depth.
Come find out how far you can go.
San Francisco can change your sense of what is ordinary. Even the billboards are about technology. People come here from all over the world to build companies, and the intensity of that ambition is part of daily life.
Coming from somewhere else is something you share with many of the people who have built their lives here.
Moving countries takes thought and effort. The week gives you a chance to meet the people, feel the pace, and decide whether this is where you want to push yourself next.
The people of Puentes
Every fellow brings a different story.
Meet the 34 fellows from our first three cohorts. Engineers with different backgrounds, projects, and reasons for making the trip.
Seba Paps and Nico Montone, from the first cohort, share their experiences in their own words.
All stories
We want to know the founders you could become.
We’re Gadi Borovich and Daniel Ha, cofounders of Antigravity Capital. We invest in early companies building with AI.
We started Puentes because we kept meeting engineers in Latin America who were clearly good enough but didn’t have a way in. We help you land at an early-stage startup, surrounded by people who push you to do the best work of your life.
That’s the first step. After a few years learning alongside founders, we expect you’ll start a company of your own. And when you do, we’ll want to back you.
The practical details
What is Puentes?
Puentes is a one-week program in San Francisco for exceptional engineers from Latin America. Fewer than 20 fellows live together, visit startup teams that are hiring, and meet founders for dinner and off-the-record conversations.
Our aim is to help you meet people you want to build with, join an early team here, and eventually start a company of your own.
Who is Puentes for?
Engineers from Latin America who want to join an early team in San Francisco and can imagine starting a company themselves. You should have work you’re proud of, be able to explain it in depth, and be seriously considering a move.
Who is behind Puentes?
Puentes is run by Gadi Borovich and Daniel Ha, cofounders of Antigravity Capital, a small seed-stage venture capital firm in San Francisco investing in companies building with AI. We started Puentes to give talented engineers from Latin America a way into the startup community here.
Do I need a startup idea or a company to apply?
No. You can want to start a company someday without knowing what you’ll build yet. For the two-minute application demo, show something you’ve built and explain how it works. A project you made just for yourself is fine. We want to understand your work; you don’t need to turn it into a startup pitch.
How good does my English need to be?
You should be able to explain your work and how you think in English. It will matter well beyond the week, so make learning and practicing it part of your everyday life.
Is there an age limit?
No. We ask you to think through why you want to move and whether this is the right time in your life.
What do I need to pay for?
Puentes covers your housing and most meals for the week. You cover flights, local transportation, and meals outside the house.
How does selection work?
There are two interviews. The first is about you: what you’ve been building and why you want to join Puentes. The second is a technical conversation with an engineer from our network. You’ll share a project repository and walk through your work, the decisions you made, and how it all fits together.
Will I be working during the week?
No. Puentes is a week of talks, meetings, and networking; no productive work is performed during the program. Any future employment requires separate work authorization, obtained by you and your future employer before you start.
When does Puentes take place, and when can I apply?
Puentes runs twice a year, in May and October. Applications open ahead of each cohort. Applications are currently closed; exact dates and application details will follow.
Join our mailing list to hear when applications open.
Can I apply again if I wasn’t selected before?
Yes. If you still want to join Puentes, we’d be glad to hear from you again. Not being selected for one cohort doesn’t rule you out of a future one.
Want to stay in touch?
Join our mailing list for Puentes updates and future cohort announcements.
If you have a question, email us. We’d be glad to hear from you.
The next cohort
There’s more ahead.
Puentes runs twice a year, in May and October. Applications are currently closed. Exact dates and application details for the next cohort will follow.
Have a question? Say hello