Panel SA: How to make BRL 1 billion

João Paulo Luque, 31, lost his father when he was two years old. Since then, he dreamed of getting rich playing football to take care of his mother, a maid, and his brothers. He pursued his dream of making a fortune as an aspiring scorer on a big team. But for nine years, he bounced between small clubs from North to South, always alone.

Luque went hungry, took a cold shower, until he changed his plans: making money selling swag, the only possible way out when he realized he wouldn’t be successful.

He then began to sell imports brought from the US by the wife of a bank director. The sales result caught the attention of the executive, who gave him the chance to join the institution.

In six years, Luque left the bank and set up his own business, an investment boutique together with other partners. Then he set up another, recently acquired by BTG, which has already raised more than R$1 billion in less than a year.

Selling swag helped to be banker? (Laughter) Basically, the bank’s business is getting customers. The swag helped me get here, without a doubt. I come from a poor family, my mother was a maid, and I, as a boy, had a big dream and an unshakable faith to win.

I promised my family that I would be a football player, a way to ensure a comfortable life for them. My father died early, I was only two years old.

I played in small teams in the country from the age of 11. All in the hope of making it to a big team and becoming famous. I was hungry, many times I only had bread and milk to eat, because many of these clubs had no structure. The day I had to take a cold shower, because there was no energy at the club, I understood that I would have no future.

What did you do to survive? At that time, my girlfriend knew the wife of the director of a major bank that bought goods imported from the US. I proposed to her to make the sale, charging 25% commission. The result caught the attention of her husband. He called me, said that I had talent and that it was a business with no future. He referred me for an interview at the bank. I didn’t even have the money to buy a suit. My girlfriend helped me out, buying a shirt at a thrift store so I could go to the interview. I got the job and started capturing clients.

Did you have a college degree? Not. He had finished high school in a public school. I went to college later. I graduated in commercial management and did an MBA in banking from the University of São Caetano do Sul.

Between 2010 and 2018 I got seven promotions. I left the bank to set up an investment office linked to XP. The CVM rule [Comissão de Valores Mobiliários] which allowed the proliferation of autonomous agents supported my business.

Like this?This rule allowed the opening of the market and the possibility for an office to attract clients and sell financial products from various market institutions. In less than a year we raised more than R$ 1 billion. The deal drew attention, and BTG made a proposal. I agreed. I set up AFS Capital together with other partners with the promise of raising BRL 1 billion again in less than a year.

It worked out?Our portfolio already has R$ 1.2 billion in customer applications.

Now that you’re a millionaire, what’s the next step?I’m still far from it (laughs). But I recently bought a penthouse for my mom in the city where she lives and it was an amazing moment.

Now I intend to set up a digital platform to register talented and dreamy people across Brazil with the potential to win in life to replicate what I did in profitable places.

It’s a way of retribution?Of course, but also to do business. The idea is to register this group, train them, and attract customers, especially those linked to new business frontiers, such as agro, which is booming in several regions of the country, and more strongly in the North.

What’s your goal?I intend to raise R$ 10 billion in five years with the manager alone. But the idea is to create a financial marketplace [espécie de supermercado digital] bringing together offers from banks, insurance, funds, fintechs. The company is now open and will be called Banflix. I intend to reach this result by concentrating efforts especially in the North, Midwest and Northeast.

Why in these regions?These are areas with incredible growth potential. Although the Midwest is the great breadbasket, the North has been developing agribusiness more strongly, and the Northeast should have a breath of investment with the new government.

What is your expectation with Lula?It’s good, but I think you need to say soon who will be the Minister of Finance. I see the country very well positioned externally, in the face of turbulent situations for other emerging countries. Russia is at war, Turkey is in crisis too.

We have an ongoing recovery, and the trend, if nothing goes off the road, is a drop in interest rates if the government sets out its debt control program in the future, even though it has to spend more now.

X-ray

Age: 31

Education: Commercial Management and MBA in Banking from the University of São Caetano do Sul (SP)

Activities: TrendBlue (2009); HSBC (2010 to 2016), Bradesco (2016 to 2018); partner at Monte Bravo (2018 to 2019); founding partner of HCI Investimentos (2019 to 2021), founding partner of AFS Capital