Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, discusses Brazil

Let’s hack Brazil!

I live in São Paulo and it was therefore extremely interesting to watch a recent interview on Globo News with Jack Dorsey, the inventor of Twitter, and Ronaldo Lemos, Director of the Centre of Technology and Society, FGV, one of the most important educational and research institutes in Brazil. In discussing Brazil, Dorsey had this to say:

“You have a lot of amazing events coming up in the next four years and the world wants to see them. The world can’t all be here but the world wants to participate. The more Brazil can share the amazing things which are happening in this country, through Twitter, through Vine, the more the world can see, and the more the world gets engaged with Brazil. I think it helps everyone in the country. But also it allows a connection between Brazil and the rest of the world. Not only will people be sharing what is happening here, they will be reading about what is all around them and getting a sense of the most important and meaningful things. So I think, the responsibility is, I would like to share what is great about this country with the world. We are providing two great platforms to do this with Twitter and Vine. I hope to see a lot.”

One of more interesting parts of the discussion though was what Dorsey had to say about Square, the new mobile payment system. Lemos had asked about this especially since in Brazil, a large proportion of people still do not have bank accounts (bank accounts seem to be far more expensive here to open and maintain each month, as are credit cards).

“The focus on mobile payments is the wrong focus. We want to make payments disappear completely. They are a burden. Not all can participate in it. We are not focussed on payments but commerce. It has become difficult and abstract. We can increase participation and the velocity.”

One aspect of Brazilian life that Brazilians have to suffer and endure is the cartorio system. I do not think any other country in the world has this, and it harks back to the colonial period where a small number of rich families were gifted much of the land of Brazil. The cartorio system is a private cartel run by some of the richest and most powerful families in Brazil.

In order to have any kind of document recognised as official and genuine, a Brazilian has to go to the one cartorio (a small office) which has a physical copy of their signature. They take their documents there, and a fee is paid to have the document stamped with an official seal. This happens with pretty much any document, even ones to rent a house or open a bank. So let me repeat, there is one single office in São Paulo which has my signature. In office hours, I have to go there in person and pay a rich family maybe $10 - $50 for the pleasure of recognising the documents. (I should add that the law has changed, and in theory anyone can now run a new cartorio when the need for one opens up - but there are still big issues about who wins the bidding for these and I do believe the winners of the bid win the cartorio for their lifetimes.)

As far as I can tell, no one is campaigning to evolve this insane, feudal and inefficient system. “It’s Brazil” I am told many times, i.e. this is Brazil and it’s just the way it is. But perhaps with some more enlightened entrepreneurs, a new system can be developed rendering cartorios obsolete? The people now running the system have no motivation to change, since it generates billions in revenue for them each year. But what if a new system were to be developed, perhaps using Square as a platform?

As with many things in Brazil, it is not just new technology which is needed, but a fundamental change in mindset. Dorsey had this to say about what his concept of entrepreneurship:

“Entrepreneurship is an attitude you take on, to take big risks to do something you believe in. You can start a company or also inside a big company. It means having the conviction and you can paint a picture of what you want to see in the world, then work backwards, then fighting like hell to make it exist. Many people have excuses which stop them doing what they really want to do. People have to start today, show people and then get feedback. They may say the idea is stupid. They may be wrong, or it may be right.”

Any time I talk about innovation here in Brazil, I also focus on the mindset and mental models. There are many aspects of Brazil which are currently broken, one of them being the national mindset which traditionally saw mediocre solutions as good enough, since there was so much chaos and lack of education that these were sufficient. Not any more. We need now to think in terms of epic wins in Brazil. And what Brazil needs most is visionary and mindful entrepreneurs such as Dorsey, who fully understand the purpose of their organisations and ventures, and know that money is one thing, but you will only get to where you want to be with a vision, fighting mentality and a massive belief in what you are doing.