The J Curve Episode with Vander Corteze, Founder and CEO at Beep Saude: Five Big Ideas

Vander Corteze is the founder and CEO at Beep Saude, Brazil's leading at home healthcare company, backed by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), Valor Capital Group, Banco Bradesco, DNA Capital and the founder of Nubank David Velez.
Prior to that, Vander founded a Brazilian chain of occupational health clinics BR Med, and prior to that he served as an emergency doctor at a fire department in Rio de Janeiro.

In case you wonder about how big the healthcare market in Brazil is, it’s ENORMOUS:

1. In 2022 Brazil’s spending on heath was estimated at 13% of GDP or 1,124 U.S. dollars per capita. The country is the world’s eighth largest country in health expenditure

2. World’s biggest public healthcare system (known as SUS) by coverage. Third largest private healthcare market globally with $43B+ spent on private healthcare annually

3. ~75% of Brazilian population (~160m people) only have access to public healthcare which is poorly managed and inefficient

4. Revenue in the Digital Health market is projected to reach US$3.17bn in 2023 and is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 10.37%

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

1. The single most important skill of successful founders is coping with uncertainty and risk

   Entrepreneurs must reconcile what they want with what they are willing to risk. Running a startup is a roller coaster. You need to have the proper mindset for that and a solid system of emotional support among friends and family

2. Finding the right mentor could be a defining moment in your startup journey

   There’s no substitute for the experiential knowledge that comes from running an established company. In certain cases, the right mentor can help you re-think the core capabilities of your business

3. The real CEO of a company is the customer

   The best way to hit product market fit is to deliver the solution that your customers are looking for. To find out what they really want, it’s important to have a process in place for collecting feedback and, more importantly, putting it into action

4. The key to high NPS score in business is strong corporate culture

   It starts with vetting, hiring and training processes and transfers into the core values. In Beep Saude’s case, core values include ‘do the right thing’, ‘always bring energy to the table’, ‘discipline’ and ‘resilience’

5. In adverse market, when you need to make hard decisions and layoff people, don’t procrastinate

   Be radically honest with yourself and your senior team in terms of what it would take to keep the company afloat and take measures quickly and in respectful manner

Vander’s book recommendation is The Founder's Mentality: How to Overcome the Predictable Crises of Growth by Chris Zook and James Allen

You can watch the interview on YouTube here.

Listen to the episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Thanks for reading,

Olga