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The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Why Market Size is Everything | Three Signs of a Bull Market and How To Remain Disciplined | Why Investing is a Young Person's Game | The Secret to Negotiation | Missing a $200M Opportunity in Nubank and more with Martín Escobari, Co-President @ Ge

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

The Twenty Minute VC

Finance, Venturecapital, Tech News, News, Siliconvalley, Technology, Investing, Startups, Business

4.4637 Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2022

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Martín Escobari is Co-President, Managing Director and Head of General Atlantic’s business in Latin America. Martín is Chairman of the firm’s Investment Committee and also serves on the Management and Portfolio Committees. Before joining General Atlantic in 2012, Martín was a Managing Director at Advent International. Prior to that, he was Co-Founder and CFO of Submarino.com, a leading Brazilian online retailer that went public and was sold to Lojas Americanas in 2006. Martin started his career as a management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. Thanks to Seba Kanovich @ dlocal for the introduction today.

In Today's Episode with Martín Escobari:

1.) From Bolivia to Harvard to Leading General Atlantic:

  • How did Martin make his way into the world of venture from a small town in Bolivia?
  • How did being an operator going through a bust impact how Martin invests and works with founders?
  • How does Martin advise young members on his team about surviving through a bust?

2.) Market Matters: Founders, Product or Market:

  • Why does Martin believe the single most important element when investing is the market you are entering?
  • How does Martin assess both market size and market growth?
  • What does Martin believe makes a "beautiful business model"? What is the difference between good vs great? Why have we seen a generation of bad business models?
  • How did Martin's analysis of Nubank's market lead him to turn them down? How did Martin change his approach to investing on the back of turning down Nubank?

3.) The Venture Landscape:

  • What made Martin believe there was a downturn last year? What three signs always suggest we are in a bubble?
  • As a result, how did General Atlantic retain their discipline when others did not? Where did they lose their discipline and invest at the top of the market?
  • How does Martin analyse the performance of the crossover funds in the last 24 months? Who did well? Who did not? Do they remain in the market?
  • Is Martin concerned by the exodus of capital out of South America with the bust?

4.) Martin Escobari: The Investor and Board Member:

  • How has Martin's style of investing changed over the last decade?
  • How does Martin reflect on his own price sensitivity? Does Martin engage in outcome scenario planning?
  • What has been Martin's biggest hit? How did it change his mindset?
  • How would Martin analyze his own style of board membership? How does Martin advise young board members gaining their first boards?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Most significant size of the market.

0:02.3

Because no matter how good a team and a model is, you will never outgrow your market.

0:06.5

I mean, what an insanely great show we have in store for you today with Martine Escobari.

0:10.8

Martine is one of the ultimate gentlemen of venture, one of the kindest, wisest and funniest guess I've had on the show in a long time.

0:17.0

I so love doing this episode.

0:18.8

So, Martin is co-president, managing director and head of General

0:22.4

Atlantic's business in Latin America. Before joining General Atlantic in 2012, Martin was a managing

0:28.1

director at Advent International. Prior to that, he was on the operator's side of the table as co-found

0:33.4

and CFO of Submarino.com, a leading Brazilian online retailer that went public and was sold to

0:39.1

Lojas Americanas in 2006. I'm sure I butchered that pronunciation, but we'll roll with it anyway.

0:45.2

And I want to say a huge thank you to Sabra at DeLocal for the amazing intro and questions today,

0:49.9

without which this episode would not have been possible. But before we move into the episode today, holiday gifting for your friends and family can be hard.

0:57.3

And for your business, it can be even harder.

0:59.5

And Open helps companies of all sizes deliver better gifts, and they make it super easy.

1:05.0

Their platform is filled with best in class brands.

1:07.7

There are no bad gifts ever.

1:09.4

They source locally and operate globally. You don't even

1:12.4

need an address. Simply send an email or DM with a unique gift link, ready to put the ease and

1:18.1

joy back into your company's gifting. Head over to and open.com forward slash 20VC. That's

1:25.1

and open.com forward slash 20VC to get started today.

1:29.9

And speaking of amazing tools, which really take complex processes and make them super easy,

1:34.5

AngelList has been a key partner for me in managing my investments.

...

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