The Enthusiast: Founders and VCs beyond the Valley
Pat Alex
"Entrepreneurial Talent is Global" - On The Enthusiast, Host Pat Alex chats with some of the most fascinating Founders, Operators and Investors Beyond 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. Follow the newsletter to always stay up to date with the latest episodes: https://linktr.ee/Patalex
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 14, 2021 • 45min
[Investor Journey] Fernando Fabre (Matterscale) on scaling Endeavor, playing the VC game & the link between employee engagement and culture
Patrick sat down with former Endeavor President Fernando Fabre to talk about how Endeavor has scaled from 9 to 27 markets during his tenure, how culture comes into the mix when scaling an organisation and his current role at Matterscale investing in early stage Latin founders across the globe.On this episode, you will learn about:How to scale an organisation without neglecting cultureHow Endeavor expanded beyond LatAm and grew into the global entrepreneurship organisation it is todayThe impor...
Aug 31, 2021 • 42min
[Operator Stories] Every cycle is a new cycle - Marco Fisbhen (Descomplica) on scaling edtech, acquisitions & cultural fit and growing as a leader
Patrick sat down with leading edtech entrepreneur Marcos Fisbhen of Brazilian edtech scaleup Descomplica to talk about his journey, how he is scaling Descomplica to build Brazil's largest education provider and how they approached their recent acquisition of UniAmerica. We dive into his learnings on how to grow as a leader while the company scales, building adjacent services whilst managing complexity and ensuring long-term user engagement. On this episode you will learn about: Why...
Aug 17, 2021 • 33min
Andy Tian (Asia Innovations Group) on building social media products for emerging markets, global expansion and user protection across cultures
Patrick sat down with serial entrepreneur and social media innovator Andy Tian, co-founder of Asia Innovation Group to discuss all things social and how he grew Asia Innovations Group into one of the world'd leading social media platform builders following a unique customization approach. During the conversation we dive also into his vision for emerging markets, cross-pollination and the edge less mature ecosystems possess.On this episode you will learn about: Latest trends and innovatio...
Aug 3, 2021 • 50min
Ryan Williams on giving & receiving advice, a film on emerging ecosystems and the entrepreneur as a surfer from Uruguay to NZ
In this episode Patrick sits down with startup advisor and documentary filmmaker Ryan Williams to talk about his film on emerging ecosystems that took him from Mexico to Argentina, to Uruguay, Portugal and eventually to New Zealand. During the conversation we touch upon a wide range of topics beyond the actual movie. We dive into the art of giving and receiving advice, his personal journey into the ecosystem and the opportunities he sees in emerging markets. On this episode you will learn abo...
Jul 20, 2021 • 42min
René Lomelí on the evolution of 500S in LatAm to SomosLucha, reducing biases in selecting founders & going remote
On this episode Patrick sat down with René Lomelí, Partner at 500Startups for Spanish speaking LatAm to talk about the ecosystem, the evolution of 500S throughout, their new programme "SomosLucha" and how the pandemic has changed the way they provide services to start-ups. Road down memory lane, how the latam ecosystem has evolved and 500S with itHow to lead a tech team as a non-technical founderWhy constant feedback to stay at the top of your gameThe importance of diverse teams an...
Jul 6, 2021 • 42min
[Investor Journey] Mario Mello (Valor) on the making of a SPAC - Insights into Valor’s latest feat, Adding Value on Boards & Staying humble
On this episode host Patrick Alex sat down with Mario Mello, Operating Partner at American- Brazilian fund Valor Capital to discuss their latest US$ 230M SPAC vehicle, how it came into being, the nitty gritty aspects of SPAC structuring and why they are an opportunity for emerging markets to provide more liquidity. During the session, we dive also into Mario experience concerning board structure, dynamics and the role of board observers. On this episode you will learn: Nitty gritty aspec...
Jun 22, 2021 • 32min
[Investor Journey] Alex Lazarow (Cathay) on innovation through cross-pollination, the last frontier & entrepreneurs as creators
On this episode host Patrick Alex sat down with leading investor Alexandre (Alex) Lazarow, author of "Out-innovate" and Partner at leading fund Cathay Capital to talk about his vision for emerging ecosystems, his book, how to best add value to entrepreneurs, the opportunities SPACs provide for young ecosystems and last but not least the importance of cross-pollination between ecosystems. On this episode you will learn: Alex's journey into VC That ecosystems outside Silicon Valley, n...
Jun 8, 2021 • 44min
[Investor Journey] Jason Ball (GR Capital) on growth stage investing, LP relationships and the opportunity in Eastern Europe
Jason Ball, a Partner at GR Capital, sheds light on the exciting world of growth-stage investing in Europe, with a keen focus on Eastern markets. He shares his insights on identifying top-performing teams and the critical dynamics between general and limited partners in VC. Listeners will learn about the importance of operational experience and the metrics that define successful investments. Ball also discusses strategies for fostering LP relationships and the significant potential emerging from Eastern Europe, particularly countries like Poland and Ukraine.
May 25, 2021 • 46min
Pete Benedetto on how Endeavor hacked market expansion to build the world’s leading community of high impact entrepreneurs
Patrick sat down with fellow Endeavor colleague Pete Benedetto, who co-leads Endeavor's expansion efforts globally. Pete talks in detail about Endeavor’s unique growth formula, how Endeavor identifies ecosystems with scale-up potential and determines whether they are ripe for Endeavor to go in and what makes the Romanian ecosystem (one of our newest markets) a perfect use case.About Endeavor: Established in 1997, Endeavor is the leading community of high-impact entrepreneurs to drive ec...
May 10, 2021 • 54min
[Strategic DeepDive] Community centred business models & vulnerability for leaders - Tristan Pollock on how to build a mission driven company and craft your authentic self
Tristan Pollock is an American tech entrepreneur and startup investor who has created and sold two companies and invested $30 million into Silicon Valley startups via 500 Startups.He has built startup ecosystems around the globe with the likes of Google for Startups, international VCs, and startup accelerator programs spanning from Russia to Saudi Arabia supporting thousands of startup founders on their entrepreneurial journeys.Tristan's work has been featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox, NBC, an...
