I asked ChatGPT to pretend to be Peter Thiel talking about why he invested in my company

ChatGPT has been my go-to search engine for the last couple of years. But the fact that it remembers everything we’ve ever talked about is a bit scary sometimes.?

The other day I asked it to describe what my company does and it sounded as if it had co-founded Kontempo with me.

This gave me the crazy idea to interview ChatGPT about what we’re building and the potential for Kontempo to change how business is done in our market here in Mexico.

To make it more interesting I asked it to pretend to be Peter Thiel. ?? Mostly because I love the way he describes transformative technological inventions, but also I thought it would be fun to imagine he was a current shareholder providing an explanation for why he invested.

Here is the transcript below!

Interviewer: Peter, what excites you about Kontempo and the opportunity it represents?

ChatGPT / "Peter Thiel": The world’s largest markets are not yet efficient, and inefficiency is where opportunity lives. In Mexico, the backbone of economic activity—B2B trade—still operates with antiquated infrastructure. Credit flows are limited, fragmented, and slow. This isn’t just inconvenient; it’s a structural barrier to growth.

What Kontempo is building isn’t just a product—it’s a platform that rewires how businesses in Mexico and, eventually, across Latin America engage with credit. Historically, the big winners in emerging markets have been the companies that provide foundational infrastructure: railroads, steel, cement. Kontempo is that for the 21st century—it’s infrastructure for money, for risk assessment, for financial flows.

The brilliance of Kontempo lies in its strategic positioning. It starts where the leverage is greatest: with large corporations that dominate economic activity. By embedding advanced financial tools into their operations, Kontempo enables these companies to expand their reach and serve millions of SMBs without fundamentally altering their operations.

This approach scales. The data captured doesn’t just make transactions more efficient—it makes them smarter. Traditional banks, burdened by legacy systems, can’t compete here. Kontempo is building a system that learns, evolves, and compounds value.

Over the next decade, Kontempo could unlock billions in trade volume, creating new value and accelerating economic growth. This isn’t a fintech story; it’s a story about transforming commerce in Mexico, with ripple effects across the emerging world. And in that transformation, massive value is generated—for businesses, for the economy, and for Kontempo’s stakeholders.

Interviewer: Peter, what historical analogies come to mind when you think about what Kontempo is building?

ChatGPT / "Peter Thiel": If you think about the great transformations in history, they’re always about infrastructure. In the 19th century, the railroads didn’t just move goods faster—they rewired the economy. Suddenly, industries could scale, cities could grow, and new markets opened up.

Kontempo is building the 21st-century equivalent of that for financial infrastructure in Mexico. Today, businesses can’t grow at their full potential because credit doesn’t move efficiently. Imagine if, in the age of railroads, goods could only be transported by horse-drawn carts after reaching a train station. That’s essentially where B2B commerce is stuck today—fragmented, slow, and disconnected.

Kontempo’s platform is the equivalent of laying seamless tracks across the economy. It connects businesses of all sizes, moving money and credit fluidly. Like the railroads, it doesn’t just solve a logistics problem—it creates entirely new opportunities. Large corporations can serve smaller businesses more effectively, SMBs gain access to liquidity, and the entire economy operates with more speed and efficiency.

The key insight here is timing. Railroads didn’t succeed because they were invented—they succeeded because they came at the right moment in industrialization. Kontempo is operating in a similar moment. Mexico is ready for this infrastructure. The data, the need, the market—it’s all converging now.

The opportunity isn’t just about Mexico; it’s about rewriting the rules of commerce in emerging markets. That’s what makes this a once-in-a-generation business.

Interviewer:

This is really interesting, this point about railroads and infrastructure. I have a couple of questions here. What exactly about Kontempo's solution do you view as essential infrastructure and why do industrial companies in Mexico need this now? How are they solving this problem without Kontempo? Also, what makes you certain this is the right moment for Mexico to adopt this type of technology or start growing faster thanks to this type of infrastructure?

ChatGPT / "Peter Thiel": That’s a great question, and it cuts to the heart of why Kontempo is such an interesting company. Let’s start with what makes Kontempo essential infrastructure.

The essence of infrastructure is that it’s something you don’t think about—it just works. Kontempo’s solution integrates credit, payments, and data seamlessly into the operations of industrial companies. For these businesses, credit isn’t just a financial tool; it’s the grease that keeps the entire supply chain running. If credit doesn’t flow, business slows down, and opportunities are missed. Kontempo ensures that credit flows smoothly, predictably, and intelligently, all while allowing companies to maintain control over their operations.

Now, why does Mexico need this now? Mexico’s industrial companies are the backbone of its economy, yet they’re operating with patchwork systems. Without Kontempo, they’re solving this problem inefficiently—relying on manual processes, legacy banks that can’t move fast enough, or internal credit departments that lack the data and tools to scale effectively. These stopgap measures work, but they create friction. Friction slows growth.

So why is this the right moment? Timing is everything in business, and right now Mexico is at an inflection point. The country’s role as a key trading partner to the U.S. is growing thanks to nearshoring trends. The economy is modernizing, but it hasn’t reached full maturity, meaning there’s room to shape how that modernization happens. Companies are ready for technology that helps them compete globally, but they need solutions tailored to the realities of the Mexican market—not something too advanced or disconnected.

Kontempo meets the market exactly where it is. It brings proven concepts from other markets, adapts them to local needs, and positions itself as the bridge between where Mexico is today and where it can be tomorrow. That’s why this moment is so critical. Infrastructure like Kontempo’s isn’t just helpful; it’s necessary for Mexico to take its next economic leap.

What’s exciting is that the same dynamics we see in Mexico today will play out in other emerging markets. That’s the long-term vision: Kontempo as the infrastructure for a more connected and efficient global economy.

Interviewer: That's interesting. Do you have examples of other software or technology tools that have been adopted in similar industries either in Mexico or other places over the past 10 to 15 years that you think are similar to what Kontempo is doing or maybe not similar but just it could be a different workflow or process not necessarily payments or credit? How are some of those examples perhaps indicative of the path that Kontempo could follow?

ChatGPT / "Peter Thiel":

Absolutely. There are several examples of technology tools that have transformed workflows in traditional industries, not only in payments or credit but across various critical processes. Let me give you a few that stand out.

One example is SAP and ERP systems in manufacturing and industrial supply chains. Fifteen years ago, many companies in emerging markets were still relying on siloed, manual processes to manage inventory, production, and logistics. ERP systems brought integration and real-time visibility, transforming these operations into something far more efficient and scalable. What SAP did for operational data, Kontempo is doing for financial flows—embedding intelligence and automation into a previously fragmented system.

Another good example is Mercado Libre in Latin America. They started as a marketplace but realized that payments were a bottleneck. So, they built Mercado Pago, which turned into a financial ecosystem. What’s interesting here is the domino effect: solve one pain point effectively, and you unlock the next level of value creation. Kontempo is following a similar path by addressing credit and payments as foundational layers while opening the door to other financial innovations.

DocuSign is another fascinating case. On the surface, it’s just electronic signatures. But in reality, it revolutionized how contracts—an essential part of business workflows—are executed globally. It wasn’t flashy, but it was indispensable, and today it’s a multi-billion-dollar business. Kontempo feels similar in that it’s solving something fundamental but overlooked: how credit and payments are embedded directly into the operations of industrial companies.

These examples all share one thing in common: they identified a core friction point in a workflow and built scalable, intuitive solutions. And, crucially, they aligned with the readiness of their markets. Kontempo has the same opportunity—to introduce a technology that feels almost inevitable once it’s in place.

This isn’t just about replicating these paths; it’s about learning from their strategies. Kontempo is poised to follow that trajectory—starting with a clear value proposition and growing into something transformative for its entire ecosystem.

Interviewer:

Peter, tell us about how industrial companies operate today without Kontempo? How are they solving this problem of offering net terms or trade credit to their business buyers with recurring purchases for inventory and supplies?

ChatGPT / "Peter Thiel": Today, industrial companies in Mexico are stuck with suboptimal solutions when it comes to offering trade credit to their business buyers. These are companies operating in a modern economy but using processes that belong to a different era. Let me explain.

Many companies manage trade credit in-house. This often means offline, manual workflows—paper-based applications, spreadsheets for tracking receivables, and approvals that can take weeks. It’s a slow, reactive process that drains time and resources. And it doesn’t scale. As businesses grow or want to onboard more buyers, this approach becomes a bottleneck.

Others turn to factoring, which is really a workaround, not a solution. Factoring only allows for post-sale financing, so businesses still carry the burden of the upfront credit decision. It’s costly, inflexible, and doesn’t address the root problem of assessing risk before extending credit.

Some companies rely on trade credit insurance to reduce risk, but this comes with its own limitations. It’s slow to set up, only covers a fraction of the buyer base, and doesn’t address the underlying inefficiencies in the process.

What these approaches all share is that they’re fragmented and reactive. They add friction to the buyer-seller relationship instead of enabling it. This is the gap Kontempo fills.

Kontempo replaces these outdated methods with a seamless, embedded solution that automates credit assessment, offers financing upfront, and integrates directly into a company’s operations. Instead of slowing down growth, Kontempo becomes the engine that drives it. Companies can scale, serve more buyers, and focus on their core business—because credit is no longer a barrier.

This is why I say Kontempo is infrastructure. It’s not just solving a problem; it’s fundamentally changing how industrial companies operate.

Interviewer:

How will Kontempo compete with other fintech companies in Mexico?

ChatGPT / "Peter Thiel": Competition in fintech is inevitable, but what separates Kontempo is its strategic positioning and its ability to solve problems at the infrastructure level, not just the product level. Let me explain how Kontempo stands apart from other companies in the lending fintech space.

Many fintech companies in Mexico have focused on solving for SMBs because they see a large, underserved market. That’s a valid strategy, but it often comes with challenges in scalability, margins, and long-term defensibility. Kontempo takes a different approach by starting at the top—with the large corporations that dominate economic activity.

Why does this matter? These large corporations are already hubs for massive transaction volumes. By embedding Kontempo’s solution into their operations, we effectively unlock the SMB opportunity as a downstream effect. Instead of chasing small businesses one by one, Kontempo enables large corporates to extend trade credit seamlessly to their buyers. This top-down approach is far more scalable and creates stronger network effects.

In contrast, other fintechs often operate as external lenders or service providers, which can feel disconnected from a business’s operations. Kontempo’s solution is different—it integrates directly into the workflow, allowing companies to maintain control over the customer experience while benefiting from advanced automation and data-driven decision-making.

And then there’s the matter of data. Kontempo’s approach leverages deep insights into both buyer and seller behaviors, which traditional competitors, and even some fintechs, don’t have. This creates a compounding advantage: the more businesses use Kontempo, the smarter and more efficient the platform becomes.

Ultimately, Kontempo isn’t competing on the surface—it’s building the foundation. That’s a far more defensible position. While others are fighting for market share in isolated niches, Kontempo is creating infrastructure that the entire market will eventually rely on. That’s what makes it so powerful.

Interviewer:

How do you see the evolution of this type of technology being adopted in the industrial sector? Do you see examples of Kontempo-like software already transforming industry in other countries or regions?

ChatGPT / "Peter Thiel": The industrial sector is typically slower to adopt technology compared to consumer-facing markets, but when adoption happens, it’s transformative. What we’re seeing is an accelerating shift in how technology is used to manage critical workflows, especially financial ones. Kontempo fits squarely into this evolution—starting with foundational use cases like trade credit and scaling outward as businesses recognize the efficiency and scalability it offers.

In terms of global examples, we’ve already seen similar trajectories in other regions. Take China’s supply chain financing platforms, for instance. Companies like Ant Financial and JD Digits have digitized trade credit in a way that integrates directly into supply chains, making financial services a seamless part of doing business. These platforms didn’t just improve efficiency—they fundamentally reshaped how businesses access liquidity and manage cash flow.

Another example is KredX in India, which started with invoice discounting but evolved into a broader ecosystem of trade financing solutions. Their success is indicative of how embedding financial tools into industrial workflows can unlock enormous value, especially in markets with historically inefficient financial systems.

And in the U.S., we’ve seen the rise of bill.com and FIS—companies that digitize payments and accounts receivable workflows for businesses. While these focus more on operational efficiency, they illustrate the appetite for technology that simplifies complex, outdated processes. Kontempo’s focus on trade credit brings a layer of innovation that goes beyond these platforms, addressing not just operational inefficiency but the fundamental need for liquidity and risk management.

What makes the industrial sector particularly ripe for this transformation is that it’s reaching a tipping point. As industries globalize and supply chains become more complex, there’s no room for slow, manual systems. Kontempo doesn’t just automate processes—it provides a new way to think about how credit and payments integrate into the very structure of industrial operations.

The question isn’t whether this kind of technology will be adopted—it’s how fast, and who will lead the charge. Kontempo has the opportunity to set the standard in Mexico and beyond.

Interviewer:

Do you see industrial companies adopting other types of technology (different from Kontempo's trade credit software) to increase efficiency in their operations?

ChatGPT / "Peter Thiel": Absolutely. Industrial companies globally, including in Mexico, are increasingly adopting new technologies to drive efficiency and remain competitive in a more interconnected economy. While trade credit software like Kontempo's addresses a critical financial layer, there are parallel innovations in other parts of the industrial workflow that are shaping how businesses operate.

For instance, IoT (Internet of Things) solutions are being widely adopted to track assets, monitor production lines, and optimize supply chains. Companies like GE and Siemens are embedding IoT into industrial equipment, allowing businesses to gather real-time data and reduce downtime. This kind of operational intelligence is becoming essential for scaling efficiently.

Another area is cloud-based ERP systems, which have moved from being a luxury to a necessity. Platforms like SAP, Oracle NetSuite, and even smaller players like Odoo are helping industrial companies centralize and automate core processes, from inventory management to procurement and logistics. This is especially relevant in emerging markets, where many businesses are modernizing their back-office systems.

We’re also seeing robotic process automation (RPA) being adopted to streamline repetitive administrative tasks, such as invoice processing or compliance management. This is directly tied to the broader trend of digitizing workflows—Kontempo is part of that wave by automating trade credit, but similar tools are emerging in areas like payroll, HR, and tax compliance.

Finally, AI and predictive analytics are transforming how companies make decisions. In the industrial sector, this might mean predicting supply chain disruptions, forecasting demand, or optimizing pricing strategies. Businesses that adopt these technologies are gaining a significant edge in efficiency and adaptability.

What ties all of these innovations together is the realization that inefficiencies—whether operational, logistical, or financial—are opportunities. Industrial companies are recognizing that the right technology doesn’t just make them more efficient; it positions them for long-term competitiveness. Kontempo fits into this narrative perfectly—it’s not just a financial tool; it’s part of a broader shift toward smarter, integrated operations.

Interviewer:

Why is Kontempo offered as a white label solution? Might the company be giving up the opportunity to build a brand directly with the market as a payments interface?

ChatGPT / "Peter Thiel": That’s an insightful question, and at first glance, it might seem counterintuitive. But offering Kontempo as a white-label solution is actually a strategic masterstroke. Let me explain why.

In the world of business-to-business transactions, trust and relationships are everything. Large corporations and industrial companies have spent decades building their brands and fostering loyalty with their customers. By offering Kontempo as a white-label solution, we’re not asking them to disrupt those relationships or introduce a third-party brand into the equation. Instead, we’re giving them the tools to deepen those relationships under their own banner.

Think of it this way: Kontempo doesn’t need to be the face of the transaction to create value. It’s the infrastructure, the engine powering the credit and payment flows. The companies we work with get to own the customer experience entirely, while leveraging our advanced technology. It’s like building the railroads but letting the train operators take the credit for the journey.

As for giving up the opportunity to build a direct brand, I’d argue that Kontempo’s brand is built in a different way—by being indispensable. When a system is truly integral, people may not see it, but they feel its absence immediately. That’s the kind of brand Kontempo is building: one defined by reliability, scalability, and empowerment.

Ultimately, this approach scales better. By embedding into our customers’ brands and operations, we tap into their trust, their networks, and their reach. This creates a multiplier effect that a direct-to-market strategy simply can’t replicate. It’s not just about a market presence; it’s about becoming the infrastructure of choice for modern commercial credit. That’s a much bigger opportunity.