In The Room with Henrique Dubugras
Yesterday, Brex announced their Series D round, led by Tiger Global, which now valued them at $7.4 billion. Today, we share an episode of The Room Podcast that just couldn’t wait! Madison and Claudia sit down with Henrique Dubugras, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Brex in late March. For those who don’t know, Brex is the unicorn fintech startup that provides the all-in-one money and banking solution for startups. Both Brazilian natives, Henrique and his co-founder Pedro Franceschi founded Pagar.me before both attending, then dropping out of Stanford to found Brex.
We discuss the key themes of deciding what market you are built for, the multi-time co-founder experience, and Brex’s decision to remain fully remote in the future. Let’s open the door.
Key Theme 1: Deciding what market you, the founder, are built for
Fresh off a Series D fundraise of $425 million, Henrique came prepared with excellent advice for first-time founders. When preparing to fundraise, Henrique advises founders to think about two questions.
What is your founding story and why are you particularly suited to build this company right now?
Why is this market an interesting market to disrupt and what is your long term vision for this market?
Henrique advises founders early in their journey, like pre-product, to focus on building the story rather than the metrics. What are your answers to these questions?
Key Theme 2: The multi-time co-founder experience
Before Brex was Pagar.me. Henrique and Pedro have started multiple businesses together, and a key to their success has been the camaraderie between the two. Describing the relationship as a safety net of confidence, Henrique knows that while issues may arise, they together as a team will figure it out. The key to this dynamic is having complementary skill sets and personalities as well as zero ego. It’s a symbiotic, trusting relationship and friendship that has led the duo to build two successful companies.
P.s. they’re roommates too!
Key Theme 3: The future of work and opportunity in remaining fully remote
Behind Brex’s decision to remain fully remote post-Covid, Henrique explains that they didn’t want to limit talent to a few major cities. Take Jonathan Lima as an example. Meeting Henrique virtually on an online forum for the first time when he was only 11, Jonathan was the founding duo’s first engineering hire at Pagar.me while still in high school; he now also works at Brex.
The story of finding Jonathan exemplifies the thesis behind remote-first work. For Brex, remaining remote and free of any geographic limits empowers them to hire unique talent all over the world. Henrique caveated, however, that the future of work, whether fully in-person, remoote, or hybrid, will differ for each individual company depending on their needs and work structure. For Brex, hiring globally is the most impactful.
Thank you so much for joining us for another season of The Room Podcast. Next week, we are launching Season 3 with an extremely special guest… Grammy award winning singer and businesswoman Ciara. It’s a must-listen episode as we dive into Ciara’s early career and her experience becoming the CEO and founder of Beauty Marks Entertainment. See you in The Room.
