Much has changed in Marcos Galperín’s life since 1999, when he and a colleague set up what would become the eBay of Latin America. But the 43-year-old Argentine dotcom entrepreneur has lost none of the youthful vigour that drove him to set up MercadoLibre, the region’s most visited ecommerce website.
“I feel exactly the same way as I did 15 years ago. I feel a desperation that there is so much to do, that this is just starting,” says MercadoLibre’s chief executive, explaining that although his online shopping site has become the undisputed leader of ecommerce in Latin America, the sector is still in its infancy.
He looks much the same too. In a hooded top, slouching on a sofa, with his feet up and a laptop on his knees as he awaits the FT, Mr Galperín could be just another employee at MercadoLibre’s buzzing designer offices in Buenos Aires. They fill three floors at the top of a glistening tower that peers down over the muddy waters of the river Plate.