Peso Power: Building Local Capital Before Global Capital

By Jonathan Joel Mentor | @jonathanjmentor

The Dominican startup story is often told backwards. First comes the Miami or New York check—then the photo op, then the headlines. Only after that does anyone ask if the company can actually sell in pesos, survive a tax audit, or build an ops team that won’t defect to the next call center wave.

The truth is harder: peso power is not optional. It is the real foundation of Dominican entrepreneurship. Dollar capital may crown you, but peso capital keeps you alive.

The Cold Reality of Institutions

Local founders already know this: institutions here can be cold, skeptical, and slow. Without the right last names or pedigrees, you’re ignored. For diaspora or expat founders, the suspicion doubles: Are you here to build with us—or extract from us?

This is not paranoia; it’s the institutional immune system at work. And yet, these same institutions—Banco de Reservas, ProDominicana, AMCHAMDR, PUCMM, INTEC—are gatekeepers to legitimacy, capital, and scale.

The Workaround: RevOps Science as Equalizer

You don’t beat the cold shoulder with charm. You beat it with discipline.

• Revenue before reputation.
• Sales architecture before sponsorships.
• Policy literacy before policy lobbying.

This is the workaround: build the operating system of your company so tightly that institutions have no choice but to respond. When your revenue engine is humming and your compliance is bulletproof, their suspicion turns into partnership.

This is exactly what the Founder’s Intensive was built for—arming expat and local founders alike with the tools to prove inevitability, not just potential.

The Action Map: From Spark to Scale

Here’s how founders—diaspora or local—can actually maneuver:

Stage 1: Proof of Ops

• Action: Build RevOps architecture (sales pipeline, pricing discipline, predictable cashflow).
• Leverage: Local angels, family offices, and diaspora checks.
• Goal: Survive six months without chasing headlines.

Stage 2: Institutional Legitimacy

• Action: Present a peso revenue story with documented compliance.
• Leverage: Banco de Reservas (financing products), ProDominicana (export-ready narrative), AMCHAMDR (network credibility).
• Goal: Signal that you are bankable and visible.

Stage 3: Regional Scale

• Action: Tie into Caribbean corridors (Jamaica, Puerto Rico) and regional VCs.
• Leverage: IDB Lab, CAF, Caribbean Export Development Agency.
• Goal: Position as a Dominican company with regional relevance—not a Miami branch office.

Stage 4: Global Capital

• Action: With peso and regional traction, approach dollar funds.
• Leverage: Diaspora networks, NYC/Miami investors, global accelerators.
• Goal: Dollars as multiplier, not lifeline.

The Institution Grid

The Challenger Call

Founders without pedigree, and diaspora founders carrying suspicion—your path is the same: build so strong that institutions cannot ignore you.

Peso power is not just about raising money—it’s about forcing credibility on systems designed to keep you waiting. The founders who master this discipline will not just raise capital; they will own the decade.

The Founder’s Intensive exists for exactly this reason: to train founders—Dominican and diaspora alike—to turn institutional cold shoulders into warm handshakes. To turn suspicion into scale. To build empires that last.

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Jonathan Joel Mentor is the CEO of Successment and architect of the Provoke Visibility™ campaign, scaling startups and challenging institutions to evolve. UN World Summit & ADOEXPO Award nominee. www.jonathanjmentor.co