Scaling product and engineering at Mercado Libre

Engineering leaders own product decisions; titles don’t determine ownership.

Less than 1,000 PMs for 18,000 engineers (~5% vs 10-30% elsewhere). Engineers who understand tech feasibility, business needs, and user metrics drive the roadmap.

Why: Single-mind context reduces coordination overhead and speeds delivery.

"We don't feel like just having a title should determine who is the owner."

Reward bold bets and visible failures; punish only quality lapses.

Teams are encouraged to ship risky ideas; outages or sloppy code are unacceptable, but wrong market bets can earn promotions.

Why: Creates psychological safety for innovation at scale.

"No one's going to get fired for releasing something that didn't work... you might even get a promotion."

Cascade vision, not OKRs; give teams freedom within guardrails.

High-level objectives are shared, but teams decide what to build. Leadership reviews designs weekly and pivots quickly when vision is mistaken.

Why: 18,000 people can’t be micromanaged; autonomy plus tight feedback loops keep alignment.

"You can't sort of like be telling 18,000 people exactly what they should be working on every day and expect that to work."

Observe users silently instead of relying on stated feedback.

Watch real usage sessions; assumptions crumble when you see users type email and name in the same field labeled “email, name”.

Why: People often mis-report needs; behavior reveals truth.

"We like to observe users more than talk to users."

Practice radical candor with cultural awareness.

Direct, honest feedback is given cordially; adapted for Latin American politeness norms by modeling from Argentine founders.

Why: Prevents hierarchy-driven silence and speeds improvement.

"We're extremely direct, extremely candid... people appreciate the feedback."

Send a weekly “state of me” email to leadership and team.

Summarizes what worked, what didn’t, discoveries, and blockers. Shared with CEO and team to surface issues early.

Why: Creates transparency and unlocks help without extra meetings.

"I'll sort of like go over what I did in the week, what worked, what didn't work... I usually also get feedback on those emails."

Stay pragmatic: understand fundamentals, ignore hype.

Research deeply (e.g., crypto throughput limits, AI capabilities) before committing. Internal Verde platform abstracts AI complexity for teams.

Why: Avoids costly pivots on immature tech while capturing real value.

"Having a good understanding of the fundamentals... is helpful."

Be the top company in your region to attract world-class talent.

Mercado Libre’s dominance in Latin America creates a flywheel: best engineers want to join the best local company.

Why: Competes with global giants without being in Silicon Valley.

"If you can be the top in the region where there's great talent... it becomes into a clear advantage."