Nubank ft. David Vélez - An Outsider Upends the Brazilian Banking System

About this episode

David Vélez and co-founders discuss how Nubank challenged the Brazilian banking system and became a leading neobank.

When Nubank started 10 years ago, a few big banks in Brazil had a stranglehold on the largest economy in Latin America: they controlled nearly all the market share, and imposed some of the highest fees and worst banking terms in the world. David Vélez was an unlikely character to challenge the system: an outsider from Colombia and Costa Rica with a Stanford MBA, David was working at Sequoia with the goal of investing in Latin American companies. When the realization struck that they couldn’t find any companies they wanted to invest in, David set out to start one himself. What followed is a literal David vs. Goliath story of epic proportions. David and co-founders Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible explain how Nubank survived competitors' attempts to crush them, and became the largest Latin American neobank, with over 100 million customers across three countries. Host: Roelof Botha Featuring: David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira, Edward Wible, Doug Leone

People in this episode

Host: Roelof Botha

Guests: David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira, Edward Wible

Topics covered

• banking
• fintech
• entrepreneurship
• Latin America
• disruption
• neobanks

Keywords

• Nubank
• David Vélez
• Brazilian banking
• neobank
• fintech
• entrepreneurship
• disruption
• Latin America

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nubank, Sequoia

Places: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Latin America

More episodes of Crucible Moments

• Palo Alto Networks ft Nir Zuk & Nikesh Arora - The Grudge That Transformed Cybersecurity · December 4, 2025 · 47 min
• Bolt ft. Markus Villig - From Bootstrapping in Estonia to a Global Leader in Mobility · November 20, 2025 · 43 min
• Supercell ft Ilkka Paananen - How an Early Pivot Led to ‘Clash of Clans’ and ‘Brawl Stars’ · November 6, 2025 · 43 min
• Zipline ft Keller Cliffton - Reinventing Delivery with Instant Drone Transport · October 23, 2025 · 46 min
• Crucible Moments Season 3: Coming October 23 · October 16, 2025 · 3 min
• Dropbox ft. Drew Houston - How the Cloud Pioneer Reinvented Itself · January 9, 2025 · 51 min