Brex CEO Henrique Dubugras found himself playing an important role during the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.Brex is what you might call a neobank — not a traditional bank but rather a financial services provider that helps companies manage how they spend money, corporate cards, travel expenses and the rest. In the middle of the SVB collapse, Brex was more than just a spending management company. It was also a safe place to park money.Brex saw billions of deposits in a very short period of time, giving Dubugras a bird's-eye view of what was happening — and what was happening was not great for the banking system, especially in Silicon Valley. (Our own Liz Lopatto has been covering this in depth.)I wanted to hear Dubugras' perspective on SVB both as a fintech CEO and a founder himself, whether he thought the crisis was rational or just a panic caused by group texts and easy-to-use mobile banking interfaces, what he thinks will happen to the startup ecosystem next, and how much of an opportunity all this was for Brex.Dubugras is a young CEO. He just turned 27. He really surprised me with his depth here, and he will probably surprise some of you as well.Okay, Henrique Dubugras, CEO of Brex. Here we go.Links:The tech industry moved fast and broke its most prestigious bank Liz Lopatto - The Verge A fintech CEO is trying to raise more than $1 billion to fund bridge loans for startups impacted by the Silicon Valley Bank collapseRobinhood Users Say The Trading App Won’t Cash In Their Profitable Bets Against Silicon Valley Bank What Is A Neobank? – Forbes Advisor  Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23433504 Credits:Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.It was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters and our Executive Director is Eleanor Donovan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Henrique Dubugras is the Founder and CEO @ Brex, the company re-imagining financial systems so every growing company can realize its full potential. To date, Henrique has raised over $1.1BN for Brex from some of the best including Ribbit, Greenoaks, DST, IVP, Caffeinated Capital and Elad Gil to name a few. Henrique is also a board member at Mercado Libre. Prior to co-founding Brex, Henrique co-founded Pagar.me, there he scaled the company to $15BN in GMV and over 100 people before selling the company in 2016. In Today’s Episode with Henrique Dubugras You Will Learn: 1.) The Founding of Brex: What was the founding a-ha moment for Henrique and Pedro with Brex? What advice did Evan Spiegel give Henrique when it comes to being a great CEO? 2.) Hiring: The Trials and Tribulations What have been Henrique's biggest hiring mistakes? How do founders know when they are ready to bring in the seasoned exec vs the younger jack of all trades candidate? What have been Henrique's biggest lessons in what it takes to hire true A* talent? Where does Henrique see other founders make big hiring mistakes? 3.) Product Expansion and Marketing: How does Henrique assess when is the right time to release a second product? What have been Henrique's biggest mistakes and lessons when it comes to product marketing? How can one retain the simplicity of product messaging with scaling the product? Brex expanded the product too far, too fast. How did they walk it back so successfully? 4.) Henrique: The Leader How does Henrique approach his own relationship to money today? How has it changed over time? What luxury expenditure has Henrique made over the last 12 months that he feels is worth it? How does Henrique think about ego management? What does he do to keep his in check? Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Henrique Dubugras Henrique’s Favourite Book: The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth

This week, Mary Ann is taking the reins with another favorite from the TechCrunch Disrupt stage. She sat down with Brex CEO and co-founder, Henrique Dubugras, and Anu Hariharan, YC’s managing director for continuity and an early Brex investor, to expose the context around this whirlwind of a year.The conversation candidly uncovers details behind the fintech's pandemic pivot, layoffs, and going remote. If you love the conversation, share it with a friend. And if you want more on Brex, Mary Ann dove deeper into the conversation last month.Equity drops every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 a.m. PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, a show that details how our stories come together and more! Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.