David Vélez

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in the Bay Area, participating in some fantastic events, including Brazil at Silicon Valley. 💥 Unsurprisingly, AI remains the "talk of the town," and has been for quite some time now. 🎯 I synthesized six initial and preliminary insights into AI, both in general and within the realm of finance. These insights were drawn from my extensive reading, as well as conversations with ML specialists, founders, professors, and VCs. 🔊 I'd love to hear your thoughts on these observations. 🙂 💪 🔝 #AI #innovation #siliconvalley #future #perspectives #technology

34

1 comentário

This part of my conversation with Joao Barbosa, co-founder at the world’s leading wellness platform Gympass (now Wellhub) valued at $2.4 is a testament to the fact that nothing big actually started big 👇 It took Gympass 5 pivots and 2 near death experiences to find the business model that works and is scalable across the globe What I found really interesting is the framework that the team had around pivots - the tripod approach towards creating value. This approach could benefit many founders especially in marketplace kinda businesses Head over to our channels on Spotify, Apple and YouTube to watch / listen to the full conversation link in comment 🔗 The J Curve #thejcurvepodcast #podcastrecommendation #gympass #pivot #entrepreneurship #founder #venturecapital

55

6 comentários

‌I recently returned from spending a week in São Paulo, where I had the pleasure of visiting friends and loved ones. In addition to reconnecting, I engaged in productive discussions with founders, fellow venture capitalists, and other asset allocators. ✈ 👨‍💻 👊 The trip was filled with great meetings, offering valuable insights and market perspectives on early-stage venture capital and the fintech ecosystem in Brazil. 🎯 🌎 💡 #VCs #earlystage #investments #networking

57

2 comentários

Why top global tech Investors are excited about Brazil 🌎 🇧🇷👇🏻 Brazil's tech ecosystem has transformed dramatically since 2015, evolving from a nascent market to a vibrant, thriving hub. Early pioneers like KASZEK, monashees, and Redpoint eventures (Anderson Thees and Manoel Lemos) set the stage, and today, the ecosystem is deeper with more early and later-stage capital providers like Valor Capital Group, Bicycle Capital, and Lightrock. Successful exits like the Pismo M&A have made Brazil more attractive for investment. The Nubank IPO, despite its rocky start, is now soaring. Founders like David Vélez and Sergio Furio are reinvesting in new startups, creating a powerful cycle of innovation and growth. These and other reasons why Brazil is grabbing attention according to Dave Nangle, managing partner VEF who joined me this week on The J Curve in the short snippet below ⬇️ To watch / listen to our full conversation with Dave head over to our channels on Spotify, Apple and Youtube 🔗🎙 #latinamerica #techecosystem #exits #venturecapital #entrepreneurship #vef #thejcurvepodcast

43

9 comentários

Dear friends, we’re thrilled to announce that we’re (finally) launching our set custom of gen-ai solutions for the Brazilian market at the #riosebsummit. AI is a game changer for everything analytics. It’s all in Portuguese for now (sorry!),hit me up and we can walk you through our approach and why it’s different. A hint: it’s all powered by Observable. Everything is light-weigh, modular, auditable and reproducible. You can check it out at https://ai.belo.re

33

4 comentários

Dear Brazilian CEOs: A Call for Humility Ever wondered why Silicon Valley continues to be a magnet for innovation and investment, consistently churning out unicorn companies? Driven by curiosity about this region's unique culture of collaboration and diversity, I embarked on an experiment to compare the dynamics in Silicon Valley to those in Brazil. The method was straightforward: attempt to connect with influential figures in both locales via LinkedIn, without seeking any personal gain, but instead offering ideas on contributing positively to societal needs. In Brazil, I approached three well-known individuals: a would-be unicorn CEO (who was a major client in a previous job of mine), a prominent investment bank CEO (whom I had previously reported to), and another high-ranking executive. Despite detailed messages outlining how their engagement could foster significant social benefits, not one of them accepted my connection request or responded to my messages. Contrast this with my experience in Silicon Valley, where I reached out to three CEOs of companies approaching trillion-dollar valuations, proposing a simple coffee meeting to discuss potential support for Brazil's entrepreneurial ecosystem. The response was overwhelmingly positive. All three not only accepted my LinkedIn request but also eagerly met with me. They were genuinely honored and moved by the opportunity to contribute. This experiment highlighted a stark difference: while Brazilian executives didn't even acknowledge the LinkedIn invites, Silicon Valley's leaders demonstrated an open and collaborative spirit. This willingness to connect and engage may very well be the "secret sauce" behind Silicon Valley's success, illustrating a fundamental difference in approach to professional relationships and networking that could partly explain the disparate levels of innovation and growth in these two regions. Silicon Valley is renowned not just for its technological advancements but also for its distinctive culture of "giving forward." This philosophy is integral to the ecosystem's success and is embedded in the daily interactions and strategic decisions of startups and established companies alike. To the egocentric CEOs, it's vital to remember the essence of humanity in leadership. You have reached incredible heights in your careers—positions that many aspire to but few achieve. It’s important to acknowledge and appreciate the journey that brought you here, which likely involved support and guidance from others at various stages. Embracing a more humble and generous spirit by giving back and helping others climb their own ladders of success doesn’t just enrich the lives of those you aid; it also deepens your own experience and legacy. By fostering a culture of mentorship and support, you can truly make a difference, transforming your success into a beacon that lights the way for future leaders. #Technology #Innovation #Leadership #SiliconValley #Disruption

37

3 comentários

Brazil is a crypto hub and if you’re a VC not paying attention to this region your missing out.. After being here only a few days, have met many incredible founders, investors, and startup talent. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next few years there are most exits and VCs coming out of Brazil. #crypto #web3 #blockchain #latam #emergingmarkets #investors #founders #builders #startups

299

71 comentários

Join us this week on The J Curve as we dive into the incredible journey of Geraldo Thomaz, co-founder and co-CEO of NYSE-traded VTEX! 🌐💡 Through numerous pivots and iterations, VTEX has evolved into a global digital commerce powerhouse, serving industry giants like Walmart, Coca-Cola, and L’Oreal. Before going public, VTEX raised $365M from prominent investors such as SoftBank Latin America Fund, Naspers Limited, Riverwood Capital, Endeavor Catalyst and more. In our conversation, we go deep into the key elements of this evolution and share Geraldo's invaluable lessons along the way. We discuss: 1️⃣ From zero to Walmart: key strategies for landing enterprise customers 2️⃣ Optimize for scalability: key trade-offs VTEX made for global growth 3️⃣ Building a high-performing partnership: trust, complementary skills, and a divide-and-conquer management approach 4️⃣ From founder to public company CEO: main lessons on leadership transformation 5️⃣ Take LatAm to the world: how to inspire global entrepreneurial ambitions in the region? Watch / listen to the episode by tuning into The J Curve podcast on 👇 Youtube 👀 ===> https://lnkd.in/eGraR9q3 Spotify 🎙===> https://lnkd.in/e-xAPqk2 Apple Podcast 🍏 ===> https://lnkd.in/enP4G_tU Huge thank you to Milena Oliveira, founding partner at Volpe Capital for introducing me to Geraldo and for some excellent question suggestions. I really really appreciate that. #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #DigitalCommerce #GlobalGrowth #TheJCurve #PodcastAlert

40

9 comentários

It was an absolute pleasure to sit down with Joao Barbosa, co-founder at the world's leading corporate wellness platform Gympass(now rebranded to Wellhub) for the most recent episode of The J Curve. Five big ideas from our convo 👇💡 1️⃣ Startup pivot is not an event, it’s a process Base your decision on data, customer feedback and other validated learnings. Establish clear KPIs that will guide decision-making and define what should success look like. Be prepared to test and iterate and test again. Flexibility, adaptability and sensitivity to feedback is key 2️⃣ Building a MOAT, or competitive advantage is essential for a startup to compete and sustain growth In Wellhub case the moat is network effect. It’s difficult and expensive to build (CAC was huge) but at scale it represents a huge barrier to exit for corporate clients 3️⃣ Put a lot of thought into pricing model, especially if you operate in a B2B segment Early-stage founders frequently under-price their offering. Once you land 1-2-year enterprise contracts, changing the price will be problematic 4️⃣ International expansion has to be carefully planned and executed post-product market fit Ideally once you have already significantly penetrated your domestic market and gained a clear understanding of how / why every dollar you spend internationally will deliver you more money than if you were to spend it domestically 5️⃣ Standardized processes are at the core of building teams at scale When you hire 100 people a month it’s not about keeping the bar high but about creating a clear set of rules to evaluate the performance and hire and fire fast You can listen to my full conversation with Joao by searching The J Curve Podcast on Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcast For deeper insights into this conversation + some of my favorite listens and reads of this week check out our newsletter link in comment 🔗

64

6 comentários

of course, we tend to miss some of the great stories in our lives. in just 4 years and its current valuation is mind-blowing. I would like to learn detailed business case studies. Share your thoughts on how it just destroyed its commepetteiors. what kind of technologies are they implementing? what technology there willing to apply in future?

3

🚀 Investing in Resilience: Investor Focus in Brazil Last month, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Startup City Magazine, and I’m thrilled to announce that the article has been published this week! In our conversation, we explore various aspects of brazilian startups and their emerging trends. "Brazil's robust economy and population provide ample opportunities for startups to grow, even without international expansion" You can read the full article here:  https://lnkd.in/dKZ_aZ7V

64

7 comentários

Marcelo Claure insights to investing in Latin America at FII 1. Opportunities are greater than Capital 2. It is hard to screw up even if we try, it is world resource for food and minerals/ natural resources 3. LatAM have produced best iconic companies such as Nubank, Mercado Livre and has track record of success and will continue to have opportunities to be unlocked There is no better time to invest and build connectivity to Latin America.

32

In a weird way, market adversity and cash constraints faced by the growth-stage founders in Brazil and some other emerging markets are their golden ticket to the billion dollar startup club 🦄 The ‘foie gras effect’ sees startups in the US force-fed capital only to collapse under the weight of hyper growth (HBR). Today we see it happening with AI startups - they scale pre-maturely, burn tons of cash and raise at crazy valuations they won’t be able to justify in the future rounds of financing. We’ve seen this show before with crypto, D2C brands etc. Well that’s almost never (cuz forget 2021 funding craziness) the case in Brazilian tech investing especially at growth stage. While I don’t have data on LatAm, in 2022, in emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region, there was over 5 times as much capital deployed in early stage VC than in Growth Equity. I imagine its pretty comparable. So what does it mean? That means that founders in Brazil & certain emerging markets are more financially savvy, long-term focused and bake resiliency and adaptability into their mode of operations. Businesses they build tend to be problem-driven, faster to profitability and more complex than your average B2B SaaS. That also means that global Series B+++ investors should pay more attention to Brazil, LatAm and certain other emerging markets. Loggi CEO Thibaud Lecuyer who joined me on this week’s episode of The J Curve talked a lot about the opportunities that Brazilian market has to offer. Short snippet of that conversation 👇 To watch / listen to the full episode head over to our channels on Apple, Spotify and YouTube 🎙️

43

14 comentários

At #FIIPRIORITY in #Rio, André Esteves, Chairman & Senior Partner, BTG Pactual underscores how can #Brazil leverage its #CleanEnergy matrix to address critical global challenges like #EnergyCrisis & #FoodSecurity. Watch the full panel: https://lnkd.in/dBks4iaa

18

_We shall emphasized that VC landscape in Brazil entered a period of consolidation in 2023. _LAVCA has released that investors deployed US$4 billion across 770 transactions in Latin America, with US$1,764 billion being directed at 325 Brazilian start-ups. #venturecapital #startups #mastropasqua

7

#fintechs are ruling the #venturecapital in #latinamerica — From April to June 2024, Latin American startups raised $2.2 billion in venture capital, with Brazilian companies leading by securing $1.2 billion. This represents a significant 160% increase compared to the same period last year. Notable investments include $308 million for CloudWalk Pagamentos and $125 million for Celcoin. Mexico and Argentina followed Brazil in terms of funding. Worth noting the Argentine Vercel with $250 million. Fintech startups were the most attractive, securing $1.3 billion in investments. Additionally, deep tech funding surged by 302% year-over-year. Brazil also led in the number of funding rounds, with 142 out of 239 across the region, highlighting its growing influence in the Latin American startup ecosystem. #Startups #BrazilStartups #DeepTech #InvestmentGrowth #TechInnovation #VCFunding #StartupEcosystem

19

2 comentários

Translating the headline: "Taco Bell wants Brazil to become the biggest operator out of the USA". It is a very bold expansion plan of the fast food company within Brazil, I would say. They currently have a little bit more than 30 stores in the country and want to open 200 more till 2030. I see the 2 sides of the coin in this situation: 1) Yes, indeed I also see a whitespace for junkie Mexican restaurants in the country, as there are not so many of them compared to other cuisines (Japanese, Arabic, Italian, and so on); 2) At the same time, Brazilians are not so used to having Mexican food, especially in its junkie version. And considering the 6 years time they want to open all of these stores, I believe the time is too short for that. Some may say: "But what about Sí Señor restaurant and other Mexican ones?". Well, most of the Mexican restaurants spread out the country offer an experience as well, and use the Mexican culture as part of it to attract customers. Many of them have Mariachi shows, characters from the famous and popular Chavo del Ocho series, and other very cool Mexican experiences that Brazilians generally like. They are not only a place to sit and eat, in most cases. Sí Señor! (El Camino Foods S.A.) restaurant, to mention another one, offers TEX-MEX food and competes in a different category with other players, such as Outback, Applebee's, Olive Garden, etc. They have a different approach and offer another type of experience to their customers. I truly hope they are very successful in the country. Similarly, I am sure they went through an extensive market research to make this decision to avoid having the same bad experience they have in Mexico, where they failed and completely left the country. Nevertheless, I would be way less aggressive with these expansion plans. Hopefully everything goes well and they crush it - with plenty of tacos.

7

I recently had an insightful conversation with @ Suzana Kubric, Nubank's Chief People Officer, on our latest Nu Videocast IR. We discussed in-depth about Nubank's talent acquisition strategies and our commitment to fostering driven and engaged teams, with individuals who stretch themselves to do the best work of their lives. Our strength lies not just in our product, but in our world-class talent with their unique perspectives that fuel our growth. Talent isn't just about technical skills – it's about nurturing a culture imbued with innovation, customer centricity, and a passion for challenging the status quo. Those are the Nubankers! We instill ownership mindset in our employees through long-term incentives and we believe in rewarding hard work and embracing failures as room for growth. Check out the complete episode here: https://lnkd.in/dM6-sRRE

38

2 comentários

I am currently engaged in discussions about the future of financial services at Columbia Business School, where I am in the company of some of the brightest minds in the industry. Fresh from an immersive deep dive into Silicon Valley companies, it's becoming increasingly clear that the trend of utilizing open-source platforms is gaining traction across the financial market. The annual FINOS study delves into both the nitty-gritty numbers and the qualitative aspects to map out the shifting landscape of open source adoption across various industries, from banking to asset management and investment funds. It's no secret that more and more organizations are hopping on the open source train, with a significant 94% allowing some degree of engagement and a noteworthy 78% attesting to increased value compared to the prior year. In the realm of financial services, leveraging open source software is akin to fast-tracking the launch of new services at a fraction of the usual cost. It offers startups the ability to swiftly develop and scale their offerings, especially when paired with cloud computing solutions. The prevalence of open source tools across the market, including widespread adoption by banks for various applications, speaks volumes about its practicality and efficiency. Amidst whispers that fintech companies are poised to snag a larger share of banking transactions from traditional institutions, the rise of open banking seems to be transforming financial transaction data into a valuable commodity. Embracing open source frameworks to build these services could pave the way for swift adaptation and alignment with market demands, while banks navigate strategies to fortify the security of open source technologies. Enter lerian, an up-and-coming startup making waves with their foray into open source solutions for the banking core. Their Midaz ledger is poised to cater to growing enterprises seeking a departure from the rigidity and high costs associated with current banking service models. Lerian boldly champions the notion that the future of the banking core lies within open source avenues, offering innovative and cost-effective solutions for the ever-evolving financial sector. For Fred Amaral, a former Dock, like me – definitely one of the top schools for Financial Services in Brazil – and for me, too, it's crystal clear: when it comes to how open source can help banks and startups pave the way for fintech's future, the right answer should be "collaboration." #FinancialServices #OpenSource #Fintech #Banking #Innovation #Technology #SiliconValleyInsights #FINOS #Startup #CloudComputing #OpenBanking #FinancialInclusion #Lerian #MidazLedger #FinancialTechnology #BankingInnovation #FutureOfFinance #TechTrends #IndustryLeaders #FinancialResearch

25

4 comentários