The J Curve with Olga Maslikhova

Pedro Conrade is the founder of Neon, one of Brazil's leading neobanks and one of Latin America's most capital-efficient fintech startups. He started the company in 2016 at 23 — frustrated with his own bank account, with no playbook, no ecosystem, and no capital behind him.Nearly a decade later, Neon generates close to $1B in run-rate revenue, growing ~60% year over year, serving millions of Brazilians in the lower- to middle-income segments that most fintechs deliberately avoid. The company has raised close to $1B from General Atlantic, BBVA, BlackRock, PayPal, and others — and survived multiple near-death moments, most notably in 2018 when its partner bank was liquidated overnight, giving Pedro 72 hours to rebuild the entire company from scratch.In this episode of The J Curve, Pedro shares the non-obvious decisions behind one of Brazil's most efficient digital banks — and what it actually takes to build a unicorn for the people incumbent banks ignore.We discuss: • How to build a profitable neobank in an emerging market — and why serving the underbanked is a better business than it looks • Why engagement data beats credit scoring — and what that means for fintech underwriting at scale • The 72-hour crisis that almost ended Neon — and the decisions Pedro made in real time to save it • How Neon uses AI agents to handle collections, compliance, and customer support — and what that means for headcount at scale • The fundraising playbook behind $924M raised from General Atlantic, BBVA, BlackRock and PayPal • Why M&A destroys more value than it creates — and when it actually makes sense for a startupPedro also shares why the constraints of serving Brazil's underbanked population made efficiency non-negotiable — and why that same constraint became Neon's most durable advantage.This episode is a masterclass on: — Fintech startup strategy in Brazil and Latin America — Building a digital bank from scratch with no prior funding — Venture capital fundraising for emerging market founders — AI in financial services and banking automation — Neobank growth, unit economics, and profitability — Financial inclusion and underbanked market opportunities.Subscribe to The J Curve for conversations with the founders and investors building the future of Latin American tech.⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow the show on Spotify and sign up for The J Curve Insider ⁠⁠newsletter for deeper insights and behind-the-scenes content.

TJC Operators opens its series premiere with one of the architects of Latin America's most consequential technology company.Stelleo Tolda co-founded MercadoLibre in 1999 — when 80 competitors were chasing the same market, internet penetration was just 2%, and the infrastructure for e-commerce in Latin America barely existed. He ran Brazil for 25 years, orchestrated the logistics operation that scaled from 8% to 95% of packages handled in-house, and then spent three years designing his own succession before stepping back as an independent board member.Today MercadoLibre is a $100B company, the most valuable publicly traded company in Latin America.In this TJC Operators Series Premiere, Stelleo unpacks every key decision behind the rise of one of the most remarkable companies ever built in Latin America — and what it actually takes to build something designed to outlast its founders.We discuss: • How MercadoLibre outlasted 80 competitors while charging the highest fees in the market • The dot-com crash survival playbook — and what scarcity forces you to do right • Why MercadoLibre declared war on Amazon — and what happened in that war room • The 2010 technology bet: throwing away everything and rebuilding from scratch • The adjacency principle — how one marketplace became payments, logistics, credit and advertising • Why MercadoLibre chose to build versus buy at every inflection point • Investing in logistics CapEx as a public company — and how to bring Wall Street along • The Champions League analogy — what it means to compete against the world's best • How MercadoLibre codified its culture at scale without losing what made it win • The succession playbook: advisor, then board member, then gone — and why three years made it stick • What great board members actually do — and the difference between challenging and operating • AI in Latin America: why scarcity makes the region's builders betterStelleo also shares why the worst thing for an entrepreneur is abundance — and why the next generation of iconic Latin American companies is being built right now.This episode is a masterclass on: — Building enduring technology companies in emerging markets — Vertical integration as a competitive moat — Operating at scale without losing culture — Succession architecture vs. succession events — The founder identity transition — Latin America as a proving ground for world-class operatorsSubscribe to The J Curve for conversations with the founders and investors building the future of Latin American tech.⁠ ⁠⁠Follow the show on Spotify and sign up for The J Curve Insider ⁠newsletter for deeper insights and behind-the-scenes content.

Season 5 opens with one of the architects of Latin America’s tech ecosystem.Hernán Kazah co-founded MercadoLibre — Latin America’s most valuable technology company with a market cap exceeding $100B — and later built Kaszek Ventures into a multi-billion-dollar venture firm backing companies like Nubank, Kavak, and Gympass (Wellhub).In this Season 5 premiere of The J Curve, Hernán shares lessons from building MercadoLibre from a garage startup with 80 competitors into a generational technology company — and from investing in the next generation of Latin American founders.  We discuss:• The early strategic decisions that allowed MercadoLibre to win• Why the default outcome for founders is failure  • How Kaszek evaluates founders and investment opportunities  • The venture capital power law and why investors must be right only a few times  • Building a generational venture capital institution in Latin America  • The impact of AI on software and the future of SaaS  • How great founders actually get identified• The evolution of the Latin American tech ecosystemHernán also explains why building a startup in Latin America is like “climbing Everest on top of a rollercoaster” — and why the next generation of iconic companies is still ahead.  This episode is a masterclass on:– Building enduring technology companies– Venture capital decision-making– Founder psychology– Long-term compounding– The future of Latin American techSubscribe to The J Curve for conversations with the founders and investors building the future of Latin American tech. Follow the show on Spotify and sign up for The J Curve Insider newsletter for deeper insights and behind-the-scenes content.

Paulo Passoni, Managing Partner at Valor Capital, is back to share his expert insights on AI and capital allocation. He discusses why speed is the last real moat in tech and explains the striking differences in profitability timelines between Anthropic and OpenAI. Paulo delves into the culture at Perplexity and Cloudwalk, revealing their hiring strategies that fuel innovation. He also highlights the importance of focusing on community and hobbies in the AI age, emphasizing the need for founders to adopt an 'eternity' mindset. A must-listen for entrepreneurs!

Dileep Thazhmon, CEO of Jeeves, and Bruno Maimone, Growth Investor at Warburg Pincus, dive into the pulse of Brazil's booming business landscape. They discuss the rapid rise of B2B companies and the importance of localizing products to thrive. The duo also explores how AI is reshaping industries, presenting both threats and opportunities for established players. Key aspects like unit economics, retention, and the nuanced strategies for international expansion are unveiled, providing invaluable insights for founders looking to navigate this dynamic market.

Roberto Dagnoni, Executive Chairman of Mercado Bitcoin, leads on digital-asset infrastructure in Brazil. Gui Gomes, founder of OranjeBTC, shares insights on Bitcoin treasuries. Ben Lizana from SoftBank Latin America discusses institutional investment trends. They explore hurdles to crypto adoption, the benefits of Latin America’s volatility, and the growing interest in digital-asset companies in public markets. The trio delves into lessons from past crypto cycles and predicts how tokenization and stablecoins will reshape the financial landscape.

We talk about complexity all the time — but few founders have weaponized it like these four did.In markets where infrastructure is fragmented, regulation changes by the month, and operational chaos is the norm, most founders either give up or try to export Silicon Valley playbooks that don't translate.Daniel Vogel, Caique Carvalho, Tiago Dalvi, and Piero Contezini did something different.They didn't build despite the complexity. They built because of it.Daniel turned Mexico's regulatory maze into Bitso's $2.2 billion moat — Latin America's first crypto unicorn. Caique orchestrated Brazil's fragmented DMV infrastructure into Gringo's $200 million exit to Corpay. Tiago called every investor to return their money, then pivoted Olist into a $10 billion GMV platform. And Piero turned Brazil's Byzantine tax system into Asaas's 37 revenue streams and a path to a U.S. listing.This isn't a recap episode. It's a strategic debrief.Every few months, I step back to look at the patterns — the decisions, frameworks, and inflection points that separate companies that scale from those that stall. This quarter, one theme cut through everything: in emerging markets, the very friction that makes these markets "too hard" is what makes them defensible once you figure them out.What I cover:The infrastructure decision — When to build from scratch vs. orchestrate what exists, and why control beats features in volatile markets.The contrarian bet that won Mexico — How Bitso ignored the entire crypto industry's narrative about replacing fiat and built the bridge instead.The tattoo marketplace that failed — What Caique learned about the difference between problems people tolerate and problems they'll pay to eliminate.The pivot that required courage — Why Tiago offered to return investor money, and what that decision revealed about founder clarity.Distribution as product design — Why Gringo built for WhatsApp first, and the three questions every founder should ask before building any feature.The four-layer playbook — How Asaas went from "help SMBs get paid" to 37 revenue streams by solving sequential, interconnected problems.The M&A playbook that just works — Olist's four-step integration strategy that turned acquisitions into product strategy, not just consolidation.Why 2,600 hours on taxes = $185M raised — The value of inefficiency, and why vertical SaaS works differently in Latin America than anywhere else.This is a masterclass in seeing opportunity where others see impossibility.Join The J Curve Community:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Weekly deep dives into LATAM's hottest deals, emerging trends, and market intelligence⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Daily market insights and exclusive founder updates⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Behind-the-scenes podcast moments and quick industry takes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hit subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and share this episode with fellow entrepreneurs and investors

We talk about disruption all the time — but few founders have lived it like Daniel Vogel.In 2014, when crypto was still synonymous with Silk Road headlines and skepticism, Daniel left a comfortable Silicon Valley job to move back to Mexico and build Bitso — a crypto exchange in a country where millions remained outside the formal banking system.Ten years later, Bitso is one of Latin America’s largest digital-asset platforms — a cross-border payments engine moving billions in remittances and one of the region’s first crypto unicorns. But its story is far more nuanced than the headlines.Behind every “first crypto unicorn” lies a founder who spent a decade fighting regulators, skeptics, market crashes, and cultural resistance to risk — and still managed to build trust in one of the world’s most misunderstood industries.What stood out about Daniel wasn’t the scale of Bitso’s success — it was the depth of his conviction and the discipline behind his obsession. He talks about curiosity as a lifelong engine, leadership as reinvention, and composure as a skill refined the night the Central Bank nearly shut the company down on Christmas Eve.This conversation is a masterclass in resilience, clarity, and long-term thinking.The pilot’s mindset of leadership — what flying small planes taught Daniel about control, composure, and crisis management.The risk paradox — how growing up in a culture defined by risk-aversion shaped his contrarian approach to building in volatile markets.The product decision that killed the competition — how Bitso’s choice to own its tech stack became the unseen edge that turned early disadvantage into dominance.The end game of crypto—why AI agents will eat the crypto market before humans do, and what Daniel means when he says machines will transact with each other "in ways we don't even understand."The paradox of rivalry — how competition became Bitso’s great source of discipline and growth.Join The J Curve Community:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Weekly deep dives into LATAM's hottest deals, emerging trends, and market intelligence⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Daily market insights and exclusive founder updates⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Behind-the-scenes podcast moments and quick industry takes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hit subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and share this episode with fellow entrepreneurs and investors

Caique Carvalho, co-founder and former Chief Product Officer of Gringo, shares his journey from failed startups to building a $200 million acquisition. He discusses the importance of product-market fit, emphasizing the lessons learned from his early ventures. Caique reveals how the WhatsApp MVP faced fraud issues yet evolved into a powerful platform for drivers. He highlights principles of great UX, the significance of focused growth strategies, and the value of strategic investors in scaling Gringo's success in Brazil's competitive market.

Is hustle culture the biggest startup lie? Is Brazil the end of credit cards? Can a fintech run like a pharmaceutical lab?In this episode of The J Curve, I sit down with Piero Contezini — founder and executive chairman of Asaas, one of Brazil’s most influential fintech platforms serving thousands of SMEs and processing billions in payments. Backed by SoftBank, Bond, Bradesco, and other top investors, Asaas has evolved from a Stripe-for-Brazil experiment into a full-stack financial operating system with 37 revenue streams.Piero’s story is one of relentless experimentation, radical cultural rules (like an 8-hour workday and zero-bug policy), and building in sync with Brazil’s regulatory revolution around PIX and Open Finance.Here’s what we cover:• Why service companies can’t scale like product companies• How one SME pain point grew into 37 revenue streams• The fintech monetization model tied directly to customer success• The culture rules that shaped Asaas: 8-hour workdays and zero bugs• How PIX and Open Finance reshaped Brazil’s fintech landscapeJoin The J Curve Community:⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠: Weekly deep dives into LATAM's hottest deals, emerging trends, and market intelligence⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠: Daily market insights and exclusive founder updates⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠: Behind-the-scenes podcast moments and quick industry takes⁠⁠⁠Hit subscribe⁠⁠⁠ and share this episode with fellow entrepreneurs and investors