The $1B Pismo Playbook: How Brazilian Startups Beat Silicon Valley at Global Scale

06 Aug 2025 • 77 min • EN
77 min
00:00
01:17:58
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Three ecosystem builders who created $1B+ in exits share the exact strategies behind Latin America's biggest tech wins in this rare roundtable, recorded live in São Paulo with AWS. Daniela Binatti: Built Pismo into one of Visa's largest fintech acquisitions ($1B cash) Romero Rodrigues: Sold Buscapé to Naspers for $374M, now Managing Partner at Headline. Early investor in Pismo and Wellhub Carlos Costa: Valor Capital Managing Partner ($2B+ AUM) behind CloudWalk ($2.15B valuation), WellHub ($2.2B valuation), and Pismo ($1B exit) Key Insights & Takeaways:The "bonds vs options" framework: How Brazilian companies use stable local cash flow to fund aggressive global expansion betsWhy LATAM-to-LATAM expansion is a trap: Same operational complexity as global markets but with negligible valuation impactThe 25-year compounding curve: Why Pismo's real growth phase began after the $1B acquisition, not beforeGlobal infrastructure strategy: Building multi-country, multi-currency architecture from day one vs. retrofitting laterMarket education playbook: Converting banks from on-premise skeptics to SaaS believers across 78 countriesThe Brazil advantage: How a 150M+ user domestic market creates unique pressure-testing for global-ready productsTiming global expansion: When borderless business models should skip local validation entirely Join The J Curve Community: ⁠Newsletter⁠: Weekly deep dives into LATAM's hottest deals, emerging trends, and market intelligence ⁠LinkedIn⁠: Daily market insights and exclusive founder updates ⁠Instagram⁠: Behind-the-scenes podcast moments and quick industry takes Share this with one founder who needs to hear this playbook: Hit subscribe⁠ and help us reach more Latin American entrepreneurs and investors

From "The J Curve with Olga Maslikhova"

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