TacoGuru: Lessons from a failed $5M taco tech startup in Mexico

We built TacoGuru to be the Yelp for tacos in Mexico. The vision: map every taquería, let users review, and empower vendors with modern tools.

There are over 150,000 informal taquerías across Mexico — we wanted to arm them with tech: digital payments, loyalty systems, even loans. A fintech backbone for the taco economy. I still believe it could work if done right.

Why it didn’t work:

Market Reality: Most vendors didn’t care about tech. No POS. No email. No bank accounts. Many were cash-only, under-the-radar, and skeptical of change. User Mismatch: Consumers wanted quick taco recommendations, not a full-blown community or marketplace. Revenue Mirage: We focused on scale too early. Beautiful app, no monetization flywheel. Execution Gaps: Burned too much cash on dev and marketing before validating product-market fit. Timing + Fatigue: We pivoted to fintech for food vendors — payments and credit — but we were late, drained, and out of capital. What I learned: Vision isn’t enough. PMF is everything. Local behavior trumps Silicon Valley logic. And if you try to digitize 150,000 taquerías, you better speak their language — literally and culturally.

I still believe in the mission. Just not how we went about it.

AMA.