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"Amazing businesses can be built from anywhere" - On the Enthusiast host Pat Alex chats with some of the most fascinating founders, operators and investors outside Silicon Valley.
Every two weeks, he sits down with the likes of Arjuna Costa (Flourish), Paulo Passoni, Jeffrey Paine (Golden Gate Ventures), Gerry Giacoman (Clara) and Monica Brand Engel (Quona) to dissect their challenges around scaling, fundraising, managing boards and company leadership. Taken together, the guests have raised venture capital in the hundreds of millions and are behind their regions' biggest business and venture successes paving the way towards a more equitable and diverse future.
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78 Episodes
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![[Investor Journey] Ali Karabey (212vc) on bringing VC investing to Türkiye, playing the platform game right without losing focus and building conviction](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/heo0x41gvxoebkrrfz3msualc922?.jpg "[Investor Journey] Ali Karabey (212vc) on bringing VC investing to Türkiye, playing the platform game right without losing focus and building conviction")
On this episode Pat sits down with Ali Karabey, co-founder of Türkiye's first institutional VC 212 to dive into building the fund, making the first bets, getting conviction and ultimately turning 212 into a platform of funds that invests beyond its country's borders. On this episode you will learn about:Building a fund from scratch Playing the platform game right without losing focus The Türkiye opportunity and its remarkable roster of talentYou can find Ali on LinkedIn here. Support the show
![[Operator Stories] Hamdi Tabbaa (Abwaab) on scaling edtech in MENA, market expansion for a highly localized product offering and upselling](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/6loafnysqgkizpoowwefgbgk0sls?.jpg "[Operator Stories] Hamdi Tabbaa (Abwaab) on scaling edtech in MENA, market expansion for a highly localized product offering and upselling")
On this episode Pat sits down with Hamdi Tabbaa, Co-Founder and CEO of leading MENA edtech Abwaab. We dive into his journey moving from expansion at Uber to building a thriving edtech in the region, expansion into other markets and upselling opportunities. You will learn about:The edtech landscape in MENAExpanding into other geos with a highly localised productFundraising in a challenging industry and regional context You can find Hamdi on LinkedIn here. Support the show
![[Investor Journey] Dave Nangle (VEF) on successful founders go macro as well as micro, timing your entry moments and building global dealflow](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/uzu2bzgt8pzgw4z10qn3cqrxhtws?.jpg "[Investor Journey] Dave Nangle (VEF) on successful founders go macro as well as micro, timing your entry moments and building global dealflow")
On this episode Pat sits down with Dave Nangle, Managing Partner of VEF, a leading VC firm that invests in emerging markets fintech from Latin America to Asia. Dave is a true emerging markets warrior from day one having spent 10 years in Russia in the early 2000s when Tinkoff was getting off the ground and Dave smelled blood, he didn't let go of looking for the future Tinkoff's all across the globe. Fast forward 10 years later VEF has amassed an amazing portfolio of companies including Konfio, Creditas, TransferGo and Abhi. On this episode you will learn aboutHow to curate a global dealflow relying on local VCs as feeder firms and building crucial relationships on the groundWhat makes a great operatorThe pros and cons of investing through a publicly listed vehicleYou can find Dave on LinkedIn here. Support the show
![[Investor Journey] Ramiro Lauzan (L Catterton) on timing your exit and fundamentals of themes based investing](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/kvu8hx662pfkp54k5l1gw434pwo3?.jpg "[Investor Journey] Ramiro Lauzan (L Catterton) on timing your exit and fundamentals of themes based investing")
On this episode Pat sits down with Ramiro Lauzan, Partner at growth and private equity investing giant L Catterton to dissect their investment thesis, consumer trends and thematic investing and the playing field in Latin America and why he is bullish on the region. You will learn about:How L Catterton makes long term, thematic driven investment decisionsThe role long-term consumer trends play in defining the categoryThe differences in PE investing in LatAm vs. developed markets and its opportunitiesHow corporate governance and board roles changes as a company goes publicYou can find Ramiro on LinkedIn here.Support the show
![[Investor Journey] Carl Fritjofsson (Creandum) consistency as a driver of VC success, avoiding shiny objects & finally the advent of European tech leadership?](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/nhm5n7tezjyykvqwxjfkx64rey82?.jpg "[Investor Journey] Carl Fritjofsson (Creandum) consistency as a driver of VC success, avoiding shiny objects & finally the advent of European tech leadership?")
On this episode Pat sits down with Carl Fritjofsson, Creandum's partner for the US to dive into what made the VC firm stand out and turn into one of the top European venture firms out there, his take on the future of European tech talent and why he is both optimistic and cautious about 2024. On this episode you will learn about:Carl's journey from former operator to investor Key takeaways for building a lasting VC firm Why he is bullish on the future of European start-ups2024 predictionsYou can follow Carl on LinkedIn here. Support the show
![[Investor Journey] Christopher Schroeder on the Venn Diagram between the private & the public sector, unleashing entrepreneurial talent and US leadership in tech](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/5nlb88azomvp3u4jyqhwny9bhfvs?.jpg "[Investor Journey] Christopher Schroeder on the Venn Diagram between the private & the public sector, unleashing entrepreneurial talent and US leadership in tech")
On this episode Pat sits down with the one and only Christopher Schroeder, author, investor, operator and advisor of startups in emerging markets. He has worn many heads during his stellar career amongst them CEO and President of Washington Post's online presence , founder of HealthCentral and President of Legi-Slate as well as senior policy positions during Georg Bush's administration.You will learn about: Christopher's journey into the world of startups and why he is bullish on the founder talent in emerging marketsThe Venn diagram between public policy and the private sector to build flourishing ecosystemsHis predictions for 2024What he looks for in founders ...and so much moreYou can find him on LinkedIn here and make sure to check out his newsletter Seeking Awesome here. Support the show
![[Operator Stories] Omair Ansari (Abhi) on tackling access to credit in Pakistan and going multi-product and multi-country early on](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/2gslkeatz814ui07420dwn5sw5t8?.jpg "[Operator Stories] Omair Ansari (Abhi) on tackling access to credit in Pakistan and going multi-product and multi-country early on")
On this episode Mikal Khoso joins Pat to chat with Omair Ansari, Founder and CEO of Pakistan Fintech Abhi about his journey into the world of entrepreneurship, scaling the company, going multi-product early on in the company's lifecycle as well as the expansion into the UAE and neighbouring Bangladesh. You will learn about:The state of the financial services industry in PakistanWhere Abhi fits into the marketScaling in a frontier ecosystem and going against the common wisdom Strategies on expansion across the region. You can find Omair on LinkedIn here and make sure to check out Mikal's newsletter Emergent here. Support the show
![[Strategic Deepdive] Leah Barto (Endeavor) on where unicorn founders come from, ecosystem building in emerging market and patterns vs. biases](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/6cwqa0uvz81oi0s8g27wjkuvzumi?.jpg "[Strategic Deepdive] Leah Barto (Endeavor) on where unicorn founders come from, ecosystem building in emerging market and patterns vs. biases")
On this episode Pat sits down with Endeavor's Senior Director of Research Leah Barto to discuss research at Endeavor, why studies on emerging ecosystems are important and Endeavor's most recent ground breaking research on founder pathways. You will learn about:The setup of Endeavor Insight, the very own research arm of EndeavorWhere successful unicorn founders come from and what they have in common What makes founders from emerging markets different to founders from the USAny future topics of resarch for EndeavorYou can find Leah on LinkedIn here. Make sure to check out Endeavor's research here. Support the show
![[Investor Journey] Julian Roeoes (Picus Capital) on long term investing in transformational companies, their Americas strategy and muscles of private vs. public markets investing](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/ntai7rrde6bzyucu93as5mti2rk2?.jpg "[Investor Journey] Julian Roeoes (Picus Capital) on long term investing in transformational companies, their Americas strategy and muscles of private vs. public markets investing")
On this episode Pat sits down with Julian Roeoes, Partner and Head of the Americas for global early stage fund Picus Capital. We dive into his journey into venture, Picus's born global investment strategy, how to branch out into investing in emerging markets and get off the ground and the business models he believes will shape the next wave of emerging markets entrepreneurship successYou will learn about:Global investing with an emerging markets angleDifferences between public vs. private market investing Picus Capital's long term investment horizon and its single LP structureYou can find Julian on LinkedIn here. Support the show
![[Investor Journey] Yana Yasevich & Yash Vardhan Kanoi (Alter Global) on investment roles in venture, curating dealflow and building trust with founders](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/6dcxf7eotitfrqedtqk55oeqo8hz?.jpg "[Investor Journey] Yana Yasevich & Yash Vardhan Kanoi (Alter Global) on investment roles in venture, curating dealflow and building trust with founders")
On this episode Pat sits down with Yana and Yash of Alter Global, a leading early stage investment firm that has backed companies in the seed to Series-A stage in LatAm, Africa, South East Asia, Middle East and beyond. We dive intoYana and Yash's role at AlterHow Alter is set up as a decentralised, global early stage VC with a lean team Identifying founder talent on the ground at the early stage You can find Yana on LinkedIn here and Yash here. Support the show
![[Investor Journey] Victor Chua (Vynn Capital) on raising capital & investing in SEA, adding value on boards, trends for the region](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/99gtge2fdceqqvw8qs9kn31nh80a?.jpg "[Investor Journey] Victor Chua (Vynn Capital) on raising capital & investing in SEA, adding value on boards, trends for the region")
On this episode Pat sits down with Victor Chua, Managing Partner of Southeast Asian venture firm Vynn Capital to dive into Victor's investor journey, lessons learned along the way, raising as a first time fund manager and the evolution of the venture and startup ecosystem in the region. You will learn about:Victor's journey into ventureHis time at Gobi Partners and how it prepared him for launching his own firmFundraising and building LP relationshipsThe state of venture in region and the role of CVC You can find Victor on LinkedIn here. Support the show
![[Operator Stories] Victor Noguera & Bernardo Cordero (Flat.mx) on fixing real-estate transactions in Mexico, the evolution of the industry and branching out into investing with Nascent.vc](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/4dk2ystssrb4vk7inmj3is7wloh6?.jpg "[Operator Stories] Victor Noguera & Bernardo Cordero (Flat.mx) on fixing real-estate transactions in Mexico, the evolution of the industry and branching out into investing with Nascent.vc")
On this episode Pat sits down with Victor Noguera & Bernardo Cordero, Co-Founders at leading Mexican proptech Flat.mx to discuss their founder journey, the evolution of the proptech space in Latin America, how Flat is adding valuable building blocks to a more inclusive real-estate market in Mexico and their angel investing activity through their vehicle Nascent.vcOn this episode you will learn about: Victor and Berni's journey into founding Flat What to look for in a co-founderHow investing whilst being a founder actually makes you more successful in bothThe evolution of proptech in LatAm and the VC ecosystem in generalYou can find Victor and Berni on Linkedin here and here. Also make sure to check out Mexico TechWeek, co-organised by Flat here. Support the show
![[Investor Journey] Fersen Lambranho (GP Investments) on what makes a great CEO, looking back onto 30 years of investing and differences between PE in Brazil vs. US](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/go5rf01jqk3kvihd54bkvtku9qcu?.jpg "[Investor Journey] Fersen Lambranho (GP Investments) on what makes a great CEO, looking back onto 30 years of investing and differences between PE in Brazil vs. US")
On this episode Pat sits down with Brazilian investment icon Fersen Lambrahno, Chairman of GP Investments.We dive into his long career, the evolution of Brazilian PE and investment space, what makes PE in Brazil to operate fundamentally differently to the US or Europe and much more. You will learn about: Fersen’s way into investing and lessons learned looking back to a fulfilling careerThe evolution of the Brazilian economy in the last 40 yearsWhy PE in Brazil is a lot more operational and hands on compared to the US or EuropeThe current investment structure of GPThe role of Green Capitalism to prevent the effects of climate changeYou can find Fersen on LinkedIn here.Support the show
On this episode Pat sits down with seasoned entrepreneur and investor Ganesh Rengaswamy, co-founding partner of leading fintech inclusion fund Quona and Kulin Shah, Co-Founder and CEO of Onsurity, a leading Indian insurtech. We dive into the founder-investor relationship, the insuretech space in India and how to manage boards successfully. So much to unpack here with the two of the on the show. You will learn about: Kulin & Ganesh's journey into the world of entrepreneurshipHow to find your match between investor and founder and what to be aware of on both sides of the tableHow to manage boards sucessfullyThe state of insuretech in IndiaYou can find Kulin on LinkedIn here and Ganesh here. Support the show
![[Operator Stories] Karim Jouini (Expensya) how to avoid value destruction in M&A, scaling across borders and the expense-management space](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/mgdv8noim2lnioswretnkr47cq9z?.jpg "[Operator Stories] Karim Jouini (Expensya) how to avoid value destruction in M&A, scaling across borders and the expense-management space")
On this episode Pat sits down with Tunisian tech entrepreneur Karim Jouini, Co-Founder and CEO of Expensya. We dive into his journey into tech, scaling out of his native Tunisia, drivers for M&A success and much more. You will learn about: Building an international company from day oneHow to reduce value destruction that comes with an M&A dealThe latest trends and developments in the expense management space You can find Karim on LinkedIn here. Support the show
![[Operator Stories] Razaq Ahmed (Cowrywise) on revolutionising retail investing in Nigeria, playing the volume game, and using social media as an engagement tactic](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/wubm7udfqm18yih84qtv6uhaqg6t?.jpg "[Operator Stories] Razaq Ahmed (Cowrywise) on revolutionising retail investing in Nigeria, playing the volume game, and using social media as an engagement tactic")
On this episode Pat sits down with Razaq Ahmed, Co-Founder and CEO of Nigerian Fintech Cowrywise, that is all but revolutionising the retail investment space in the country providing access to investment products to millions of young Nigerians. You will learn about: Razaq's journey into the world of startups and founding Cowrywise after a stint at Investment BankingThe particularities of building a retail investing business in an emerging market such as NigeriaHow to acquire users effectively and at scale leveraging gamification and social mediaHow to play the volume game successful and add complimentary products to the mixYou can find Razaq on LinkedIn here. Support the show
![[Operator Stories] Sandra Nolasco (Twinco Capital) on fixing global trade finance, growth potential for emerging markets SMEs and sustainability](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/4cl7zas622z29lydefl0udwbv1mb?.jpg "[Operator Stories] Sandra Nolasco (Twinco Capital) on fixing global trade finance, growth potential for emerging markets SMEs and sustainability")
On this episode Pat sits down with Sandra Nolasco, CEO and Co-founder of Spain based Twinco Capital, a B2B fintech focused on supply chain financing.On the episode you will learn about:The intricacies of supply chain financing and why the status quo is not helping SMEs in emerging marketsTwinco’s value proposition The role of supply chain traceability and ESG criteriaHow Twinco can become the standard in global trade financingYou can find Sandra on LinkedIn here.Support the show
![[Operator Stories] Pedro Conrade (Neon) dreaming up the future of financial services in Brazil, when is it the right time to introduce new products and lessons learned from 5 acquisitions](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/cvhw5cxs2s2ryusoj9uf4rxs52yj?.jpg "[Operator Stories] Pedro Conrade (Neon) dreaming up the future of financial services in Brazil, when is it the right time to introduce new products and lessons learned from 5 acquisitions")
On this episode Pat sits down with one of LatAm Fintech greats, Pedro Conrade, Co-Founder and CEO of Neon, a leading challenger bank in Brazil that serves more than 23M customers and has raised an impressive $700M. We dive into the making of Neon, how the company has scaled, when is it right time to introduce new product features and how to manage acquisitions successfully.On this episode you will learn: Pedro's way into entrepreneurshipLeadership lessons along the way and why it is all a team effort The financial services landscape in Brazil, what is has been, how it looks today and what the future might bring You can follow Pedro on LinkedIn here. Support the show
![[Operator Stories] Wiktor Schmidt (Netguru) on optimising for execution risk, scaling Netguru and the launch of Endeavor Poland](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/iroegihc8gm4atik5a2xh5eqmf85?.jpg "[Operator Stories] Wiktor Schmidt (Netguru) on optimising for execution risk, scaling Netguru and the launch of Endeavor Poland")
On this episode Pat sits down with Polish IT entrepreneur Wiktor Schmidt, co-founder and executive chairman of Netguru, a IT company that has scaled to 30M in revenues providing its services at a global scale. Aside from his role at Netguru, Wiktor is the founding board chair of Endeavor Poland. We dive into his role in the Polish ecosystem, his experience scaling Netguru and what is next for the country with the arrival of Endeavor. On this episode you will learn about: Wiktor's journey becoming a tech entrepreneurHow to build a competitive advantage in the IT services spaces The future of Polish tech The arrival of Endeavor in Poland You can find Wiktor on LinkedIn here.Support the show
![[Investor Journey] Inanc Balci (Crestone VC) on scaling Lazada in SEA, launching an emerging markets Fintech VC and parallels between LatAm & Asia](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/sje04qlhqt6ec6yrrelv4cxw6vvb?.jpg "[Investor Journey] Inanc Balci (Crestone VC) on scaling Lazada in SEA, launching an emerging markets Fintech VC and parallels between LatAm & Asia")
On this episode Pat sits down with Inanc Balci, Co-Founder and Partner at emerging markets fintech fund Crestone Venture Capital where he invests across South East Asia and Latin America. We dive into his journey as an operator turned VC, scaling in SEA, similarities between LatAm and SEA in terms of fintech models and much moreYou will learn about: How Inanc ended up in SEA as an operator and Co-founder of Lazada Why operators make good investorsWhat input metrics he finds critical in evaluating dealsLessons learned on building a fund Similarities between SEA and LatAm in terms of fintech You can find Inanc on LinkedIn hereSupport the show
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