08. Alexandre Liuzzi (Remessa Online)

In this episode, I had the honor of talking to Alexandre Liuzzi, Founder of Remessa Online.

Remessa Online is a Brazilian company founded in 2016 to provide international payment and money transfer solutions through a cross-border infrastructure. In 5 years they went from a team of 3 to more than 200, acquired more than 350.000 customers, transacted more than R$11 billion, and did more than 527.000 thousand operations.

In this episode, we deep dive into Alexandre's background in Asset Management and Investment Banking, his lessons from founding a Venture Builder, and his decision to focus on Remessa.

Here are some of the questions I asked him:

• How were you as a kid? Which topics were you interested in? Did you want to be an entrepreneur since then?
• How was studying Economics for two years at the University of Chicago?
• Who were the entrepreneurs and investors you looked up to at that time?
• You spent years in the financial sector, working at Asset Management and Investment Banking at companies such as Santander and JPMorgan. How was transitioning from finance to tech?
• One of your first endeavors was Velt, an asset through which you invested in tech companies. How was your journey throughout the 6 years you spent helping to build it?
• You and your partner have known each other for more than 15 years. How does that compare to partnering with someone you've recently met?
• Besides Remessa, you also built MAR ventures, a venture builder. How do you manage to balance the time and energy you allocate to both?
• You invested and advised several startups while building Remessa. Did the process of helping other entrepreneurs changed you as a founder?
• Which were some of the toughest challenges you faced leading Remessa?
• At some point, you decided to shift your focus from enabling international transfers between individuals to serve small businesses. How was the pivoting process?
• Transferring money is just the beginning for Remessa. Your goal is to build a global financial system that will make life easier for global citizens and businesses alike. In 2018, Remessa partnered with Ripple, which changed the business, for instance. Could you talk more about your plans for the future of Remessa?
• Who are the founders and people, in general, you look up to and learn from today?
• Since 2018, you have changed your habits, lost a lot of weight, and started to practice sports such as surfing and cycling. to focus more on your health, and you lost a lot of weight. What sparked all these changes, and how was the process for you?
• You enjoy traveling and spending time in nature. How do you find time to do it while being extremely busy?
• How did marrying and having a child changed you?
• Which kinds of projects do you picture yourself putting energy on besides Remessa in the future?