“The end of friction” is the theme of @AtlanticoPart's 6th annual Latin America Digital Transformation Report. My top 10 highlights on LatAm tech and VC this year include AI in LatAm, tariff impact, founder archetypes, and venture returns. Link to report at the end of thread👇

If you are a founder looking for long-term Durable capital to compound your business over the decades, give Henry, Corey and team a call. This Colossus profile provides a rare glimpse into the mind and story behind one of tech's greatest investors: https://t.co/0E2MzuxORF

@domcooke's recent profile of Henry in @joincolossus captures why: Henry’s people-driven approach, rare in the growth and public circles, has led him to repeatedly back “Act 2” founders that return to partners who treat them as long-term relationships, not deals to be squeezed.

We ultimately sold to Baidu and it was the best outcome for our employees. Henry’s message stuck with me: Always optimize for long-term relationships, not short-term transactions. In the moment, that mindset is counterintuitive. In hindsight, it’s the only one that compounds.

As I walked Henry and Corey Shull through each offer—different prices, structures, and gotchas—Henry cut me off: “Julio, I don’t care about a few pennies here or there. I want you to pick the option that’s best for YOU. What I care about is backing you on your next company.”

A decade ago, I learned one of the most important lessons in investing in a single phone call with @henryellenbogen. I was selling my company, 3 offers in hand, trying to optimize every detail. What Henry told me in that moment reframed how I saw partners and relationships👇

Martín told me that LatAm produces entrepreneurs as good as the best in the world. The missing ingredient for more global outcomes is not more capital nor better talent, but more ambition. We need more Latin American role models. We need more Martíns. Thanks for paving the way

It was a crash landing, but a landing nonetheless. Employees kept their jobs and the company lived to fight another day. Reputations are forged in tough times. Martín taught me that when everyone wants to jump ship that's when you seize the helm.

Some investors wrote us off. Martín leaned in. He helped us navigate a tough M&A effort, lending us analysts, getting on calls to negotiate, and making himself available 24x7. We got 3 offers during the worst recession in Brazil's history. We picked the best and sold to Baidu.

GA invested in my company in 2011. At the time, we were the fastest growing tech company ever in Brazil. In 3 years we were in dire straits. I fired 70% of staff. We broke even and barely survived. GA would likely lose money on the deal. Note: GA doesn't "lose money" on deals.

Before taking GA's money, XP's legendary founder @Gui_Benchimol called me to ask for a reference on Martín and GA. While I sang their praises at the time, little did I know what lay ahead for us, and how much more I would come to respect them as investors and people.

Martín led GA’s 2013 investment in @xpinvestimentos a company that revolutionized investment management in Brazil (inspired by Charles Schwab). GA reportedly bought a 30% stake in XP for $170M. XP's Nasdaq IPO valued it at $15Bn in 2019. Growth investing, venture returns.

I had the pleasure of having Martín Escobari on my board for 3 years.  He’s one of the all-time greats of growth investing and @Patrickoshag brings out the best in him. Martín led one of GA’s best investments *of all time* in Brazil. More on that and what I learned from him 🧵

Growing up in Brazil in the late 80s I vividly recall supermarket employees marking up prices down the aisle. While hyperinflation in Brazil is long gone, many learnings remain for the US as it heads into "monetary-fiscal collision" by @JohnHCochrane https://t.co/IEOxP4MYDf

8/ If you want more on how regulation has been a tailwind for Brazilian fintech innovation or the history of Pix (including a useful slide deck you can download) I recommend these threads on the topics: Brazil fintech: https://t.co/KzzanQHO5R Pix history:

7/ I highly recommend watching this 10 minute clip of former Brazilian Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto describing his framework for fintech innovation in Brazil. This was taken from a talk at this year's @MilkenInstitute global conference in LA https://t.co/7s0y8V7NAg

6/ And Pix is just getting started... The roadmap ahead includes "tap to Pix" (NFC payments), automatic Pix (recurring subscription payments and auto-debit), and BNPL on Pix to name just a few. No wonder global financial incumbents are worried.

5/ To put in context, Pix is often compared to India's UPI. But Pix's success is so much greater, thanks to India's example. Today, more is transacted on Pix than on UPI (both on absolute and relative terms), and while 78% of Brazilians use Pix that number is only 31% for UPI

4/ The numbers prove the theory. Brazilian Central Bank data shows a 15 percentage point increase in access to credit for people that joined the financial system thanks to Pix. 72M new bank accounts were opened and a 50% drop in credit card concentration achieved (+competition!)

3/ We also know that as digital payment adoption grows, so does formal employment, which in turn leads to an increase in access to credit. Credit is a massive engine for growth and development, especially in a developing nation like Brazil. Thus, Pix ==> Economic development

2/ Pix is free to use and its usage benefits everyone. That is, except for the card networks. Based on our estimates, merchants have saved over $10Bn in card processing fees and an additional $3Bn in cash handling costs.