Brazil, Uliassi, Berkshire discussed on Invest Like the Best

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What is the value of rewards programs. How did they work. Quite consumers like them so much. What does this experience tell you what we also saw. Initially as understood this market wise customers would paint some of these high fees for credit card. They were getting associated with wash program and the marketing of banks in a way taught them that rewards was a basis of differentiation that they should differentiate credit cards based on. Who gave you the best rewards in reality when you analyze a lot of these rewards the professor so complex so hard for consumers to understand that a lot of times. This consumers were making russian decision. You're paying very high fees to get a reward program that supposedly was good but if you had kept those fees money in your pocket that was worth more than programming so so one of the are bits that we did initially with our strategies. No-fee number watch that went complete as a conventional wisdom that you needed a program to get a card lots of consumer loved it in. We grew extremely fast. Lot of consumers didn't like it. They wanted the rewards were the true real rewards consumers in were willing to actually pay for it and so then we added a voluntary wash program coupla where you actually pay fee n. We created a program that is extremely simple consumers whereas effectively cash back for a number of different categories where points never expire. You get the points is simply you don't have to wait until the end of the month to get your point to get essentially and you can use the essentially you need. That has worked. Well has been a frog. We have a million customers in the program but one of the opportunities that we still see there and we still haven't necessarily be able to crack kid is that acute transparency would get to customers which we think we have to give it because he's value of us sometimes. It's a bit of a shot in the folks because customers comparison apple swap with our programs. They think are banks have better programs because they give them better points but then there's a lot of complexity and footnotes that they don't end up seeing customers end up preferring something else. That is much more complex. But he's worked for them so that's a challenge that we i guess opportunity that were person. How do we continue. Be this program. Montana the transparency. Because we're not going to move away from that. Even more value to the consumer but forcing the consumer also asked hard questions from the programs the i guess respondents as we are one of the things that i'm totally fascinated by is the line of questioning of investors into companies like yours at loved that you've had experience as an investor and then also just went you mentioned at the beginning that buffet and berkshire were asking great questions about your business. What were those best questions. Like if i was trying to understand new bank today from an investor's point of view maybe just using berkshire as the example. What were the best questions that they asked you. As a part of process. Getting to know you i would say it's first around really understanding the market opportunity and really understanding day uliassi's or this specificities of a marquette like brazil. Some of the biggest paternity or mentioning lost in love not having mls in brazil. I give you the case year out. Not how good feick was for some of the biggest opportunities that exist today. Globally are in. These market dislocations are as markets that have a significant failure in where technology adoption suddenly creates an opportunity to be conference and this could being real estates or financial services or in the number of different industries so a lot of investors especially now emerging marketing investors for us investors are getting emerging markets. Go very deep in are able to understand with a love. Cloudy white is these market dislocation. This markets failure and then understand how the companies able to find a unique angle into filling. That market is location. Us in europe are very efficient markets. When you look at economics wider architects generally very efficient financial services in the us. The margins of us backs are small. They're very small large in. That's working because of the four thousand banks everywhere you look fine to have an angle is hard to find differentiation. Even capitals traditionally capital constrained in any environment like ours. It's not a shred anymore so. Us europe is really hard to find that edge. Some of the best investor we've had today are you. Mr that have been able to understand what we have an edge. They are going to emerge markets nub deterred by the volatility or imperfections that these markets provide but actually attracted by them. They're able to be contrary ending away. I remember talking to syria. See when founders fund letter. She received peter thiel. We were closing in november. Two thousand fifteen brazil going into the worst economic recession in one hundred years everybody up to run through the heels meeting up to us that no interest when token to peter thunder fun about brazil democracy. I couldn't care less. This is when the headlines in the newspapers where horrible presume mental of corruption investigation. It could not get worse. And that's because he was able to go very deep in understand these annual in disney location. In why these opportunity. So i would say that macro view is one big buckets. Great questions the second is low. Focus on the team. Always this team really able to execute on that vision. because ultimately i would bet on the team more than the marquette the team can really changed and people in moves as needed seems a lot of these opportunities to be very they now make unita very in a third one is more of understood kinda unit economics or central economic step view of the business. I see these still in a lot of brazilian or latin america investors. Wear the here we charge. No fees and we don't do is about when the year that startup has financial losses. That means the business model is broken on his cynical valley in us. They're already much more sophisticated to understand that startups operate differently. And it's about. What are the underlying economics of a customer. In how do underline economics customer evolve over time to provide massive profitability down the road a lot of the most risque investors get to these unit economics or something very quickly and ask the right questions center. Send the potential for bala generator down the road. And i think this is already very much common in. Us europe i would say latin america still the more traditional investors are very stuck in a penal the generates losses what is the layer two of unit economics for you guys so certainly understand like trying to figure out okay. How much revenue might generate from a new customer over time you've already talked about your cost of acquisition is basically zero so it's pretty good level one unit economics. What's beneath that. The best investors dig in on unit economics for new bank. Where do they go beyond. That layer. one. We don't pay mush money marketing religion. But we do have setup cost is data cost of the writing a customer sending the customer creating physical car sending a car to customers. How so we set up costs so the first question is what the payback of that initial cost and one of the things that he's hardly the early stages. Let's say serious. A. b. and see what you already have some data but you don't have a lot of data is understanding how dot apec time might evolve over time in word. There might be economies of scale. And i remember when i was at sequoia at times starting business model of skepticism on whatever entrepreneur would teach economies of scale or improvements in those unit economics. Retire any there are some areas that i would be riley a skeptic take us requisition coverage something you can build arguments on both sides of the table that as the company grows that goes requisition costs will come down or that customer. Acquisition costs could go up ride. It could go both ways. It depends a lot on the marquette. Episode of the competition depends a lot of differentiated product. Liability of cock is hard to make a case right but when you look at the structure of the.

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