The J Curve Episode with Fersen Lambranho, Chairman at GP Investments: Five Big Ideas

Fersen Lambranho is an a Brazilian entrepreneur and investor. He’s currently chairman of GP Investments and G2D Investments, member of the board of Centauro, Spice Private Equity and The Craftory. Fersen is also the former CEO of Lojas Americanas and the current board member of several non-profits including São Paulo Museum of Art. Additionally, he actively invests in deep tech initiatives in the USA, UK and Brazil through his family office Volpini Ventures.

The big part of our conversation was climate-tech. In case you wonder how big the opportunity in climate-tech investing is, it’s VERY BIG:

1. $70.1B & 3,300+ deals in Climate Tech Venture Funding for 2022, up 89% on 2021 🤯 

2. There are 83+ climate-tech unicorns with energy storage / distribution & mobility continue to dominate the mega rounds

3. The green economy in Brazil could be a $125 billion economy by 2040, with sustainable aviation fuel and the carbon credit market being the two largest opportunities

   

Here are 5 big ideas from our conversation with Fersen 🧐💡👇🏻:

1. Digitalization has strong potential to reduce social inequality

   By giving everyone in the world an opportunity to start from the same level of knowledge and information access. Tech breakthroughs in AI & Quantum Computing give us capabilities to understand things we didn't understand previously

2. Deep-techs will fuel the next tech revolution in Brazil 🚀

   The key challenge for Brazilian deep tech startups is access to qualified long-term venture capital. The key opportunity in deep-tech for Brazil lies in the Amazon and in understanding the intrinsic knowledge of the forest

3.  Founder profile is the single most important evaluation criteria for GP Investments and G2D Investments

   The interpersonal skills like problem-solving, humility and open-mindedness are equally or more important than tech and business skills

4. The key advice Fersen gives to his mentees is ‘avoid the short-term mindset’

   The business and fundraising success is the product of doing the right thing at the right time

5. To build high-performing startup board, founders have to attract people with diverse skills and talents who are capable to say NO

   The board has to be ‘sweet and sour’ at once to truly help the CEO navigate the minefields that all CEOs face

Fersen’s book recommendation is Made in America by Sam Walton

You can watch the interview on YouTube here

Listen to the episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Thanks for reading,

Olga