Democratizing Wealth and Technology with Xochitl Cazador

Today we’re talking to Xochitl Cazador, Head of Ecosystem Growth at Celo Labs. Xochitl considers her background unique, as she came from a small town in Mexico with no running water and no electricity. Coming from a town of 200, she was the first in her family to go to college. From there, she became an executive for a Fortune 500 company. This is where she noticed there was plenty of wealth but a lack of opportunity in a lot of cities outside of Silicon Valley. She says when she discovered blockchain, she got goosebumps. She was excited about democratizing wealth and technology. This prompted her to leave her job at Cisco and go to Stanford Business School to try to find a way to bridge the gap. Xochitl would go on to become the Head of Ecosystem at Celo Labs, a mobile first blockchain company. Their mission is to build an open financial system that creates prosperity for all. She says when you look at penetration rates for smartphone users, you see that it’s increasing at a rapid pace. When you compare that to adoption of financial systems and tools, that still lags. Celo is uniquely positioned by being a mobile first app to bridge that gap. When it comes to use cases that will get to real world adoption, Xochitl says applications where you can store, send, and save money are at the top of the list. The decentralized aspect of it has helped their presence go from 87 countries to 113. What excites Xochitl most about crypto is the possibility for communities to leapfrog. It’s about taking a non-traditional path and doing something that allows you to surpass and advance in unimaginable ways. It’s amazing how emerging countries are using crypto. From a first world view, there are two roads to take; end users coming into DeFi, and how to take technology today and empower traditional FinTech. Xochitl says supporting entrepreneurs is key. She recommends any and all entrepreneurs to check out and apply at Celo Camp. The Celo Camp inspiration was how to provide mentorships and access to capital to entrepreneurs. Before, the basic route was to go to Silicon Valley and fundraise. Now we’re seeing the capital dispersed, as well as the support that goes with it. To learn more, visit Celo Labs at www.celo.org. -- The Fortune Teller podcast is a discussion between industry leaders in blockchain and financial technologies. The podcast focuses on the development of blockchain-based financial services and outlines the current state of the industry and future predictions for the adoption of decentralized finance. Go to www.teller.finance/