The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Marcelo Claure, CEO of Softbank Group International on Lessons From Investing $1BN Per Week with Masa Son, How Softbank Could Have Up To 8 Companies Go Public in LATAM Alone Next Year & How Softbank Analyse Both Deal Pricing and Competition Today

Aug 30, 2021

Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank Group International and a key player in tech investments, shares his insights into a year spent with Masa Son. He reveals how their partnership redefined his approach to investing and operating. Topics include softbank's strategy in Latin America, with the potential for several IPOs next year, and the importance of founder-centric investments. Marcelo emphasizes the need for collaboration among entrepreneurs and uncovers how intuition plays a crucial role in venture capital. His commitment to empowering underrepresented groups in LATAM's business landscape also shines through.

39:06

Creator website

Episode guests

Marcelo Claure

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

The Story of Latamis

01:24

How Do You Think About Tiger?

01:39

Intro

3min

Transformative Leadership: Revitalizing Sprint and Beyond

5min

Navigating Investment with Masa

17min

Opportunities and Strategies in Latin American Venture Capital

6min

Qualities of Effective Leadership

4min

Transforming Ventures: Empowerment Through Dedicated Funds

2min

Trusting Instincts and Strategic Investments in Latin America

4min

Marcelo Claure serves as CEO of SoftBank Group International and COO of SoftBank Group Corp., the world’s largest tech investor. At Softbank, Marcelo oversees the company’s strategic direction and its portfolio of operating companies, including WeWork, SB Energy, Fortress, Boston Dynamics, as well as SoftBank’s stake in T-Mobile U.S. He also spearheads the SoftBank Latin America Fund, a $5 billion fund dedicated to investing in technology growth opportunities throughout the region. If that was not enough, Marcelo serves as Exec Chairman @ WeWork, is on the board of Arm, is the president of Club Bolívar, Bolivia's most popular and successful soccer team; co-owner and Chairman of Inter Miami CF and most recently co-owner of Girona FC.

In Today’s Episode with Marcelo Claure You Will Learn:

1.) How Marcelo made his way into the world of startups and came to found his first company, Brightstar? How did Brightstar lead to Marcelo meeting Masa and moving to Tokyo to invest $1BN per week with him?

2.) From spending a year with Masa in Tokyo, what did Marcelo learn about Masa that he did not know before? How did spending this time with Masa impact Marcelo's operating mindset and his investing mindset? What were the most memorable founder meetings that Marcelo and Masa had in that year? Why did those ones stand out?

3.) When starting Softbank's LATAM Fund, what hypothesis did Marcelo have going into investing in LATAM? Which were confirmed? On the flip side, which proved to be wrong? How does Marcelo respond to people that say "LATAM produces copycat companies"? Why does Marcelo bet that Softbank will have 8 portfolio companies in LATAM go public next year?

4.) How does Marcelo think about the importance of price and price discipline today? What is their decision-making framework when determining whether to pay up or not for a deal? What have been some of Marcelo's biggest misses? How did they impact his decision-making process moving forward? How does Softbank approach conflicts when investing today?

5.) How does Marcelo analyze the increasing competition in the LATAM ecosystem? How has his style changed as a result? Through what lens does Marcelo assess the role that Tiger has played over the last 18 months? Why does Marcelo think that other firms have trash-talked Softbank before? How does Marcelo see the venture landscape as fundamentally changed?

Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Marcelo Claure

Marcelo’s Favourite Book: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage to the Antarctic

Marcelo’s Most Recent Investment: Uala