TRAILBLAZER
But in 2012 , Vélez returned to South America and relocated to São Paulo . He had secured himself a much-soughtafter position as a partner at Sequoia Capital . Then , aged 30 , Vélez was hired to establish the VC in the emerging market powerhouse of Brazil . The location was perfect : a young , tech-hungry population , plenty of natural resources and home to the world ’ s seventh-largest economy .
The project looked exciting and full of promise – but , before it had even got off the ground , it was dropped due to the shortage of computer science engineers graduating in Brazil .
The event was a great disappointment to Vélez , whose entrepreneurial background meant he ’ d always hankered after launching a dynamic startup . But investors had been discouraged by the sheer lack of on-the-ground innovators coming out of the Brazilian education system .
Plans to donate his personal US $ 6bn fortune to philanthropic causes
Describing that time in an interview with Forbes , he said : “ It was the day before my birthday , and it was a bit of a shock .
“ You want to position yourself on the side of the market where there ’ s scarcity . In the US , there ’ s an oversupply of good entrepreneurs . Somebody with my experience and background is a commodity . In Latin America , there was significant scarcity .”
Going after the big banks Following the disappointment , Vélez set his sights on the establishment , which consisted of several , giant incumbent banks that dominated Brazil ’ s financial industry . The system needed reform – and fast . High fees , poor service offerings and an aversion to technology within the legacy banks meant opportunity was ripe for the picking . According to reports , the vast majority of Brazilian banks were appallingly un-customerfriendly , charging annual fees for even basic credit cards . They also charged monthly fees for all services , ranging from
fraud protection to text-message alerts . Data shows that , even in 2019 , fees made up nearly 40 % of Brazilian banks ’ revenue , compared with 15-20 % for banks in other leading South American countries .
18 October 2022