Back on the road, to new horizons

In just over a month, I attended some of the trendiest executive world technology events. In the following article, I tell you what that means to Digibee’s present and future

Rodrigo Bernardinelli?

How many steps are there in a climb? Regarding sport climbing, there is not much I can tell. Corporate scale-up-wise, though, there are many steps I have been both achieving and experiencing as of lately. Yes, the process is challenging, but also quite diverse and rich. And the higher my Digibee folks and I go, the more we discover that its outcomes are also all about diversity and richness.

The last two months have been pretty hectic. In May, all of us digibees gathered in a meeting to talk about our strategy. Shortly afterwards, I actually hit the road. I started a tour with clients and investors beginning in New York, passing through Boston and San Francisco and ending up at? Silicon Valley.

I can guarantee that? every detail of this journey is worthy of mentioning.

Starting with the Big Apple. In early May, our CSO, Flavio Pripas, and I participated in the Itaú BBA 15th Annual Latam CEO Conference, an event for Latin America CEOs. We told our story to CEOs of leading companies, such as B3, Renner, CVRD, Cosan, Itaú, and Totvs, just to name a few – and all of them already knew Digibee to some extent. The feedback keeps coming in and it has been amazing ever since. I am glad that, as regards everyone I talked to, our message has really gotten across.

The following week, we headed for Silicon Valley, where we attended Brazil at Silicon Valley at the Computer History Museum, in Palo Alto. This is an event organized by Brazilian students from Stanford and Berkeley as a means to gather the industry’s entrepreneurs, investors, students, and professors. We talked to unicorn entrepreneurs like VTEX, Gympass, Take Blip, and many others, in an intense exchange of experiences. On top of our strategy of working with software vendors, we then advanced with deals and partnerships with these companies.

Another highlight of the trip to Silicon Valley was the conversations with US investors, in an early preparation for the B Series, i.e. - our next investment round. In addition to the local Softbank team, we met other giants, such as Bessemer, Accel, Sixth Street, Founders Fund, CapitalG (the Alphabet-led independent venture capital fund) and lTS.

It is notable that, even with dimming markets and scarcer investments, all the funds we spoke to were quite impressed by the evolution of our business. Some of them even offered to anticipate the next round of investments, as they strongly believe in what we have been developing, and didn’t feel like missing out on the opportunity.

Even those not totally ready to make a pitch were likewise interested, which is why we kept ongoing conversations with all of them. When the time is right – that is, when the B Series is closer – we will be quite ahead.

This appeal to investors is not about luck, advertising, “chance,” or even a good relationship. It has to do with up-to-date business metrics, with having a solution of proven effectiveness and endorsed by large companies, with the progress we have shown not only about the solution development but also in regard to Digibee as a company, and as a hub for excellent human assets. Our opportunities and our growth are born and flourish in this setting.

In the midst of such positive recognition, one feedback piece stood out: our strategy. Having a C-level position on our org chart for a Chief Strategy Officer was no ordinary decision. On the contrary: we have always been certain that strategy needs not only to be discussed at senior management level, but rather built into planning and efforts alike.

The trip to Boston was also remarkable: I was at the Technology, Media & Communications Conference held by JPMorgan Chase, an event with an impressive lineup of speakers, which also expanded our universe of relationships.

We still had time enough to return to New York and participate in an event with our partner Thought Machine, a newly arrived English core banking company. Digibee has been increasingly acknowledged as a platform that speeds deployments and integrations through Thought Machine, which is why this event was so important, as I got to know their team better and tell them how we will be focusing on Latin America, not only on the US.

And before all that, in late April, I was at Trancoso (Bahia) for the IT Forum, one of Brazil’s most important technology events, which had Digibee as one of its sponsors.

Lastly, I returned to Digibee just in time to celebrate our fifth anniversary, on June 6th!

As you can see, it was a very busy period, with the depth and warmth that only face-to-face exchanges allow, and a great celebration to top it off. It is quite meaningful if we think of it: our platform integrates systems, and our work thrives and cements itself by integrating people. Such integration starts at home, on top of team management models we have been applying, and extends to the relationships we have been developing with the market.

This is Digibee creating culture and sowing the seeds of a legacy. But there is still a long way to go. Throughout this year I will be sharing each new charted territory with you. See you later!

Know more:

The match between market challenges and integration solutions

An equation full of human variables