It was the beginning of the millennium. I had just dropped out of school after 3 years studying at Universidade Estadual de Londrina. I still meant to please mom with a degree, so I applied for Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in Puerto Rico — but I would skip every possible class to master this brand new digital world I had just found...
In 1998, I saw for the first time a website with movement. Macromedia Flash was the go-to tool for web experiences. And boy did I spend hours and hours learning Actionscript, animation standards, and so much more. At the time, I had some graphic design experience from working in editorial lines of newspapers and magazines. I knew that "the internet thing" would change the world.
Having just arrived in Puerto Rico and bussing tables at a fancy restaurant in one of the island’s top resorts to pay for tuition and living expenses, I had an incredible sense of urgency to get back into the marketing landscape.
With very little experience and being an immigrant, I had to do something fast. I loved working at the restaurant, don’t get me wrong — I learned a lot from it. But the shortcut to resuming my career in marketing services was moving into the entrepreneurship world. So I did.
I started Zio Studios with someone who became one of my best friends: Guilherme Schneider. I met him on ICQ while looking for developers in Brazil who could help me deliver a full website I had pitched to a client.
It didn’t take long for it to fail completely. Not because we couldn't deliver on our promises, but because I didn't know how to charge and had very little experience in growing businesses. I had a really hard time selling, so I decided to look for the best.
With a few projects under my belt, I landed an awesome job at AgênciaClick (which later was acquired by Isobar, and then Dentsu). It was a magical time, and for the first time, I had an amazing creative leader: Rapha Vasconcellos. My life was never the same again. Every feedback session with him was like a full MBA course.
Unsettled by having to work with governmental accounts (I’m from the capital of Brazil, Brasília, which makes it very natural to work with these types of clients), I tried to fast forward my career in advertising. First, a short stop in São Paulo to create a portfolio with relevant work, good enough to attract headhunters in the US, Europe, and the Middle East. The latter offered a great possibility to skip a few steps in the corporate ladder, as the Arabian region was still finding its way to global relevance.
Starting at JWT Bahrain and then transferring to Wunderman Dubai, I faced the key challenge of helping this direct marketing agency implement a digital-first mindset for its survival. It was awesome being part of the company’s revival.
After four years in Dubai, with lots of big clients under my belt, it was time to go back home. The Economist had written a great article (which they later retracted) about Brazil’s economy. I felt prepared and decided it was time to return home — back to the entrepreneurial mindset that has never abandoned me.
I started an agency in my bedroom and grew it to 35+ employees in just two years. I was lucky enough that agencies were still so bad in the digital world that I found a very low-hanging fruit: becoming the digital shop for all big agencies in the city. It very soon led to an exit.
Following my passion for aviation and after developing some ideas for a client in this industry, my next move was clear: venture into the startup ecosystem. I thought that creating a tech company would be easy, given my experience. I couldn’t have been more wrong!
Learning how to raise capital, giving up financial stability, navigating terms I didn’t even care about before — these were just a few of the challenges that needed a steep learning curve. The founder’s life made me feel like playing in the rookie league all over again. I was nobody, and having decided to start my business in North America without an established network posed an even higher challenge.
The dynamic and vibrant world of startups, aviation, and venture capital can be overwhelming, especially working in such a niche market. But it gave me a whole new set of skills.
After some time, I was able to use my past experiences to mentor other startups in product design, marketing, and branding. And eventually, I became an investor in many of them.
This combination of sacrifice and pioneering, along with my desire to scale my experience, has led me to try new projects. Yes! All textbooks demand you to laser focus, but when you try to build something unique, you need to leave some room for experiments and errors. 2022 and 2023 were a big laboratory with multiple ideas and partnerships all happening at the same time.
Some of them failed majestically. Others, well... Let’s see!