David Velez and Nubank:

  • 50% of the Brazilian adult population is a customer of Nubank.
  • Nubank is the primary bank account for close to 30% of adult Brazilians.

Challenges Faced by Nubank:

  • The challenge of building an organization without being familiar with Brazilian banking or speaking Portuguese.
  • Overcoming the perception that it was impossible for fintechs to compete against established banks in Brazil.

Lessons from Sequoia's Doug Leone:

  • Doug Leone has an uncanny ability to read people and understand their character traits, which influenced David's approach to hiring at Nubank.
  • Treating employees as partners and making them feel valued leads to increased motivation.

Opportunities in Latin American Fintech:

  • Latin America presents a significant market opportunity with its large population, high smartphone penetration, and complex issues that technology can address (e.g., financial services, healthcare, education).
  • Western fintech companies can learn from BRIC economy fintechs about serving emerging markets and addressing specific local needs.

The Impact of AI on Financial Services:

  • AI has the potential to transform financial services by changing how products are delivered and improving efficiency.
  • It can provide access to better products, offer personalized recommendations, and handle complex tasks such as credit assessment or investment advice.
  • Banks may need to maintain neutrality and prioritize consumer satisfaction over their own interests when designing AI algorithms.

Newbank's Strategy for Growth:

  • Newbank aims to be the primary banking relationship for its customers rather than just providing ancillary wallet services.
  • Expansion beyond financial services into a consumer platform involves offering a broader range of products through partnerships.

Success:

  • Definition of success for David Velez is having the journey and adventure of his lifetime.
  • Success for him was about the journey, not the destination. Whether they succeeded or failed, as long as they had a great journey and learned from it, it was considered a success.

Philanthropy:

  • David thinks about efficient giving versus giving.
  • He focuses on maximizing impact per dollar spent in philanthropic endeavors.
  • The foundation he created has a strategy focused on areas like education and building leadership to create systemic impact.
  • However, he acknowledges the contradiction between creating sophisticated models of impact and the immediate needs of people in Latin America who require assistance with healthcare and food.

Raising children in affluence:

  • David wants to ensure that his children don't realize they have wealth and become complacent.
  • He believes it's important for them to have some struggle so they can prove themselves and build self-confidence.
  • They are given responsibilities such as making their beds, cleaning up after themselves, and doing chores so they understand the value of hard work.

Remote work:

  • David is still making up his mind about remote work.
  • As Nubank operates globally, he realizes the need to have access to talent beyond Sao Paulo or Mexico City.
  • While there are pros to being in an office for faster decision-making and innovation, he understands that requiring everyone to be in the office would mean losing valuable talent.

Dinner guests:

  • If he could have dinner with anyone alive or dead, David would choose Steve Jobs, Karl Marx, and Nietzsche.
  • He wants to ask Steve Jobs if Apple today reflects what he intended to build originally.
  • His conversation with Karl Marx would revolve around whether Marxism turned out as expected in the 20th century and how it affected society.
  • Lastly, he finds Nietzsche intellectually stimulating and believes having a conversation with him would be exhilarating.

Importance of experience when building a team:

  • David acknowledges the importance of bringing people with more experience sooner than he did at Nubank.
  • While he initially sought out individuals without experience who would bring questions, he realizes the value of having people on the team with answers.

Near-death experience for Nubank:

  • In 2017, there was a potential crisis for Nubank when the government planned to change the liquidating timeline for credit cards.
  • They would need to raise a large amount of money overnight to stay afloat.
  • With support from their customers and negotiations with regulators, they were able to overcome this near-death experience.