Nobody Believed in Venezuela
Grit, the AI layoff wave hitting a new gear, and what honest restructuring really looks like.
Hey there,
Venezuela made baseball history last night, beating Team USA 3-2 in the World Baseball Classic final. I was rooting for Team USA, but watching Venezuela celebrate their win at loanDepot Park, I was struck by the moment.
This team knocked out Japan, the defending champions, used their entire bullpen the night before against Italy, and still came back to win. When Bryce Harper tied it in the eighth, the Venezuelan players didn’t panic. In the ninth, Eugenio Suárez drove in the go-ahead run, and they held on.
Nobody believed in Venezuela, Suárez said after the last out. But now we win the championship.
I spent part of the evening talking to Venezuelan colleagues and friends. They were all feeling the same thing, and it was hard to put into words — something like relief mixed with joy. For people who’ve had to build their careers and their lives far from home, in conditions most people never have to think about, there aren’t many moments of pure celebration without a shadow of something else attached. Last night was one of them. Venezuela declared today a national holiday.
The grit that the team showed on the field is something I see in Venezuelan professionals every single day. They adapt. They persist. They find a way. And last night, in front of the whole country watching from wherever they are in the world, they got to celebrate it openly.
Congratulations to Venezuela. You earned this.
Let’s get into it.
🌐 News Shortlist
1. Meta Is Planning to Cut Up to 16,000 Employees — and the Market Rewarded It Immediately
Recap: Reuters reported on March 13 that Meta plans to lay off about 16,000 employees, more than 20% of its workforce. The cuts offset Meta’s plan to double its AI spending to $135 billion in 2026, mostly for data centers, GPUs, and custom chips. Senior leaders are being told to prepare for smaller teams. Despite Meta calling the reports speculative, the stock still climbed nearly 3% on the news.
The stock reaction is the story worth paying attention to.
Meta’s share price went up when the layoffs leaked. The same thing happened with Block in February. Markets now reward companies that announce workforce cuts for AI, and boards see the signal. When cutting people produces a 3% share price pop, the incentive is obvious.
Meta is cutting jobs to fund its $135 billion AI infrastructure commitment this year, not because AI has replaced workers. Payroll is the fastest source of cash. We saw the same with Oracle two weeks ago: a big bet on AI, headcount as the shock absorber.
This is a different story from “AI replaced these jobs.” But it gets filed under the same headline, and that conflation is doing real damage to how people understand what’s actually happening. For leaders building teams right now, the practical upside is real: the professionals being displaced from Meta, Oracle, and Block are talented, motivated, and available. If you’ve been trying to hire senior people and couldn’t attract the caliber you needed, the next 60 to 90 days may be the best window you’ll have in some time.
Advice:
Don’t take every AI layoff announcement at face value. Ask whether the company is cutting because AI changed the work, or because they need cash to fund their AI bet. The first has strategic implications for your own hiring decisions. The second is just about capital allocation.
2. Atlassian Cut 1,600 Jobs and Was Unusually Honest About Why
Recap: On March 11, Atlassian announced it was cutting 10% of its global workforce, about 1,600 employees, to self-fund investments in AI and enterprise sales. CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes was direct: AI changes the mix of skills needed and roles in some areas. Over 900 of the cuts were in software R&D. The company reported strong cloud revenue growth, and its Rovo AI product passed 5 million users. Atlassian made the move from a position of strength, not crisis. The stock rose 2%.
What stands out about Atlassian is the candor.
Cannon-Brookes didn’t sugarcoat it. The skills the company needs have changed, the bar has moved, and they’re choosing to adapt now on their own terms instead of being forced into it later. Most CEOs won’t say that publicly.
More than 900 of the 1,600 cuts were in software R&D. With AI-assisted tools replacing this work, Atlassian now needs fewer people to build the tools software teams use. This is what transition looks like in 2026 from inside a software company.
Cannon-Brookes’ version: we’re in a good position, the nature of the work is changing faster than we are, and we’d rather decide deliberately than react. It’s a defensible but uncomfortable position. Most companies reach for vaguer language.
Advice:
Read the Atlassian memo. It’s one of the clearest public explanations of how a software company thinks through an AI-driven restructure from a position of momentum. Companies will soon talk about “reshaping the skill mix” instead of “replacing people with AI.” Learn the language now to ask better questions about it later.
3. Nubank Just Reported 131 Million Customers and Profits Up 62% — Latin America’s Digital Economy Is Growing on Its Own Terms
Recap: Nubank reported Q4 2025 net income of $894.8 million, up 62% year-over-year. Revenue rose 45% to $4.86 billion. The customer base grew 15% to 131 million across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. That makes Nubank the largest private financial institution by customers in Brazil and the top issuer of new credit cards in Mexico. The company is now aiming for a US launch after OCC approval. Mercado Libre, meanwhile, reported revenue up 45%, $19.9 billion in Gross Merchandise Volume, and its Mercado Pago fintech unit serves 78 million monthly active users. Both companies are rapidly adopting AI.
While US tech companies cut headcount to fund AI, Latin America’s digital economy is still early and growing fast.
Nubank serves roughly 15% of Mexico’s adult population and is the largest private bank by customers in Brazil. They built their base by making financial services accessible to people excluded by traditional banks, and their cost structure keeps them ahead. The 62% profit growth shows the model is scaled, not just bigger.
Mercado Libre’s numbers tell a similar story. 45% revenue growth, when US e-commerce is at 7–9%, shows what happens when a platform is still digitizing a whole region. The logistics-fintech flywheel is compounding: cheaper shipping drives more buying, and more payment data enables better credit. That’s a different business story than anything in US tech this week.
Nubank and Mercado Libre are scaling aggressively and hiring for it. Nubank is building its US presence. Mercado Libre is investing in fulfillment and enterprise AI across Latin America. They’re competing for senior talent, sometimes directly with US firms.
Advice:
If you work with or invest in LatAm, Nubank and Mercado Libre set the baseline for sustainable growth in the region. Companies focused on financial inclusion, digital payments, and logistics aren’t following the US tech playbook. Get clear on what makes them different before you try to benchmark them.
That’s it for this week.
Venezuela won by doing exactly what people said they couldn’t. They stayed composed when it mattered, responded under pressure, and finished what they started. That’s how I think about building teams right now. It’s about building with intention, knowing what you’re building, why it matters, and who you need to do it, not chasing a narrative with cuts and restructures.
That’s the work I do every day at Lupa. If you want to talk, you know where to find me: lupahire.com or just reply here.
Until next time,
Joseph Burns
CEO & Founder, Lupa