The J Curve Episode with Talita Lacerda, PetLove CEO is LIVE

Talita Lacerda is CEO at Petlove, the largest pet e-commerce platform in Brazil and Latin America, that has raised over $225M+ from some of the best investors in Latin America including L Catterton, Riverwood Capital, SoftBank, Kaszek, Monashees, Globo Ventures, Porto Seguro and Tarpon. Petlove has recently announced its plan to go public within 2-3 years.

In case you wonder about how big the pet market in Brazil is, it’s VERY BIG:

1. Brazil ranks 3rd in the world in terms of pet population. With over 150m pets, dogs (58m+) are the favorites among Brazilian households

2. The Brazilian pet market is the 6th largest in the world in terms of revenue with ~$11B+ made in 2022 (in 2019 the combined revenues were $6.8B)

3. Brazil’s pet e-commerce penetration rates have grown at a 65% CAGR from 1.6% in 2016 to ~8.3% in 2021

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

1. Execution is more important than planning

   Sound plan is wasted on failed execution. As a team you need to be aligned on the big goals you want to achieve and be really flexible in terms of how to get there

2. The hardest thing about leadership is time management

   Knowing what to delegate is as important as knowing what to be involved in

3. Storytelling is the secret sauce of fundraising success

   Founders need to learn how to sell a vision and a team; how to communicate the unique value proposition and why the timing is right

4. The worst time to raise is when you are running out of cash

   To be able to negotiate good terms and valuation, and bring great investors on board the company should be in a strong position from a cash perspective.

5. Amazon’s single threaded leadership principle and focus on the input metrics; and Google’s OKR system were the huge inspiration for Petlove’s organizational design

   Every business unit has a clear leader with dedicated business and human resources. Input metrics are the lead indicators of future performance. Partnership mentality, emotional connection to the cause, execution drive and ‘always be learning and do things differently’ mindset are the building blocks of Petlove’s system design and corporate culture.

Talita’s book recommendation is The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rozamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

PS: What would your answer be to the last question of the rapid fire section? I am forever a red bold Bordeaux girl 🍷

You can watch the interview on YouTube here.

Listen to the episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Thanks for reading,

Olga