Chuck Feeney's "The Billionaire Who Wasn't" tells the story of his remarkable life and his commitment to philanthropy. Feeney, the founder of Duty Free Shoppers, amassed a fortune but chose to give it all away anonymously through his Atlantic Philanthropies. The book details his journey from humble beginnings to immense wealth, highlighting his business acumen and his unwavering dedication to charitable causes. Feeney's story is a testament to the power of generosity and the importance of giving back to society. The book inspires readers to consider their own values and how they can make a positive impact on the world.
One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of seven generations of the Buendía family, founders of the fictional town of Macondo. The novel spans a hundred years of turbulent Latin American history, from the postcolonial 1820s to the 1920s. It is a tale of love, loss, and the cyclical nature of history, filled with magical realism that blends the supernatural with the ordinary. The story follows the family's experiences, including civil war, marriages, births, and deaths, and explores themes such as solitude, fate, and the inevitability of repetition in history. The novel is renowned for its narrative style and its influence on the literary movement known as the Latin American Boom[1][4][5].
David Velez is the Founder & CEO @ Nubank, one of the fastest growing digital banks in the world with operations in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia. To fuel this growth, David has raised over $1.5BN for Nubank from some of the best in the business including Doug Leone @ Sequoia, Micky @ Ribbit, Thrive, Founders Fund, DST, Tiger and more. Before changing the world of LATAM finance, David was a Partner @ Sequoia where he was responsible for all LATAM investments. Prior to Sequoia, David was the co-founder of General Atlantic's South American investment programme.
In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How David made his way into the world of startups through becoming a Partner @ Sequoia? How that led to his founding of Nubank? How his time at Sequoia impacted how he thought about building Nubank?
2.) How does David think about the relationship between growth and quality in company scaling? When scaling so fast, what are the first things to break? How does one know when is the right time to expand geographically? What is the right thought process to go through when determining how to know when is the right time to expand product lines?
3.) Looking at the market today, how does David for-see the future of digital banks? Will we seen increased consolidation over the coming years? How does David think through the verticalisation of neo-banks? What does the reduction in barriers to creating neo-banks really mean? How did Nubank scale to the scale it is today with $0 CACs?
4.) How has David seen his leadership style change with the growth of the company? Why does David feel it is wrong that the titles of Founder & CEO are so inextricably linked? What element of being a great founder are actually not good for CEOs to have? What elements of great CEOs are bad for founders to have? What has David found the hardest to scale in himself?
5.) How does David use "the responsibility framework" when making decisions today? What are David's thoughts on imposter syndrome within leaders today and how it can be harnessed for good? How does David approach head vs heart when it comes to decision-making today? Does David engage with regret minimisation as part of this?
Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode
David’s Favourite Book: One Hundred Years of Solitude
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