Anthemis Voices: Embracing Diversity
This year has been an unforgettable year for all of us across the world. For the first time, the world was forced to pause and reconfigure how we work, live and be human together. Throughout the month of November, we are shining a light on the operators within our portfolio who have been at the forefront of navigating the ‘new normal’ at their respective companies. In this instalment, we hear from Fabio Silva, Country Manager at alt.bank.
How did you get into fintech, and what is your professional story to date?
I began my career at Phillips in the financial department, working in various different roles, with the last one being Financial Controller, managing the budget for different corporate areas. I moved within the company from finance to HR, becoming lead on Latin America compensation and benefits. Following this, I moved to Embraco, leading the global function of compensation and benefits. During this period, I started to become an entrepreneur; I discovered active crowdfunding and co-founded StartMeUp, one of the first equity crowdfunding platforms in Brazil. When we began, there were no regulations in place, so we worked together with regulators to create this. It was super challenging. But, we started to empower startups here in Brazil to go through the process of opening up capital. I then initiated a new venture, focused on blockchain, digitizing Latin American assets and selling them globally. The solution was good, but it was too early — the classic case of bringing a solution to a market that is not ready yet. Once I left, I met Brad Leibmann. He was developing Digicash and invited me to join the venture. So, I joined, and we changed the name to alt.bank. We have grown from 100 customers to over 130,000, and it has been a super interesting journey since then.
What are your tips for startups looking to grow?
We believe that the people who will drive the product are our customers. They chose our name, our colors, our card design and even the app design. Basically, we ask them everything. And I believe this is the best way to drive growth. As founders, we have a broad vision, but the people managing at the end of the day need to be your customer. If you start to think that you know everything, that you know what the customer wants, you will face issues affecting growth; you will spend a lot of time and money on something that no one wants. So, we drive growth by seeing our customers as the main leaders of our company.
How have you tackled the challenge of work/life balance during COVID-19?
This is something that didn’t change for us — it’s always been a concern that people have that balance. We will not reach out to anyone during the weekends, late at night or super early in the morning. Since the beginning, we have been a company that wants to have this work/life balance, always reinforcing to the team that it’s time to shut down and spend time with your family, go to the gym, do anything you want. The only change we implemented was remote healthcare support through video chats as people might be more worried about their health.
How do you think the fintech industry can better support diversity, inclusion and belonging?
This is my favorite topic; this is the flag that I’m carrying within the company. This is my main personal goal. I have a strategy around diversity. I do not believe in percentages or targets because that’s not how we truly address the problem. If we are presenting the market with a number to demonstrate that we are diverse, to show we are ticking all the right boxes, to show that we respect diversity, we are not working to change or solve the issue. My belief is we need to do something to change the status quo. As a company, the pathway we are going down is to embrace diversity. We need to invest to solve the issue; we need to work at the base of the pyramid to solve the issue and create equal opportunities for everyone. As entrepreneurs, as people sitting in top management positions, we are the ones who can change this issue, not waiting for the government or somebody else to do it because it’s easier, but by supporting institutions or NGOs that are working to create equal opportunities now.
If you were to restart your career, what are the things you wish you knew sooner?
It’s hard to directly answer because all my experiences, personal and professional, have helped me. But, if I can give one piece of advice, something that worked well for me, it is to have role models and be around people who help you raise the bar. People who push you every day, who you can continue to learn from, who help you become the best professional you can become. This is what I think can help you have a wonderful career.
