Entrepreneurs are "Solution"

The associated restrictions of the global pandemic have caused major disruptions and created substantial pressure to the business landscape. However, when I look around, I see so many entrepreneurs that spark inspiration. Entrepreneurs are getting together to solve many issues that government are not able do it on its own. They do not ask for help, they propose solutions.

The word "entrepreneur" can be traced back to Richard Cantillon, an Irish banker writing in the early 1700s, before Adam Smith. He applied that concept to anyone who worked for unfixed wages. Such definition was further fine-tuned by Jean-Baptiste Say, who published his theory on entrepreneurs in 1803. His work elaborated on the famous phrase of “supply creates its own demand”, as Jean-Baptiste talked about the importance of entrepreneurs for the economy. Say pointed out in his own writings that it was entrepreneurs who sought out inefficient uses of resources and capital and moved them into more productive, higher yield areas.

As a son of self-made immigrants, I am blessed by the life opportunity of meeting and partner with entrepreneurs, as part of my work. I truly think they help to solve problems. I am convinced that we need to reinforce the belief  that entrepreneurship is not only desirable and attainable, but also contributes to the development of society.  

What is more, I have been lucky to be associated with several Brazilian entrepreneurs who are driven by purpose and hard work. Witnessing and learning from their dedication during the current crisis, I take the liberty of mentioning few of them and use them as example of decisiveness and agility (I trust all the other partners that I do not mention, will understand and that I also admire and have the highest opinion about them).

André Ferreira, CEO and Founder of Luminae:   With a degree in electrical engineering from USP in Brazil, André started to envision his business in 2008, when he realized the potential opportunity of the lighting market in Brazil. As soon as he finished his studies, André spent several months researching and developing  a luminaire that could allow for better lighting with lower consumption. 

He came up with a solution that involved specialized arranged mirrors together with lighting devices, and that ended up reshaping the lighting industry in Brazil. He founded Luminae and since the beginning, his commercial focus was based on clients looking for both sustainability and efficiency.

Still controlled by Andre, Luminae is, today, one of the leading lighting solutions provider in Brazil and has enabled for approximately 1.5 TWh in energy savings as of January 2020. We are everyday more impressed by the ethical, entrepreneurial and hardworking style of Andre. Sometimes, we joke with him regarding his sleeping hours, as he seems to always find time to strive to be better.

Caio Bonatto, CEO and Founder of Tecverde:  Caio Bonatto is a civil engineer, graduated from the Federal University of Paraná. Founder of Tecverde Engenharia, a company described as a symbol of change in Brazilian civil construction. Along with his partners, Caio was responsible for the technological development of Tecverde, leveraging know-how from Germany, United States and Canada, and pioneering a proprietary wood frame construction system.

The company was set up in 2009, in Araucária, in the metropolitan region of Curitiba, Parana. To achieve a sustainable model, the partners adapted solutions for civil construction in wooden sheets for the Brazilian reality.

A four-story building can be assembled in one week. "It is a more productive system," he says. The process is up to several times faster than a conventional work, with waste reduction of around 85%, and water consumption reduction by 90% versus traditional construction. “What we do is to industrialize the civil construction, so that the sector becomes more productive, with more competitive prices. And for more families to access decent housing with quality”.

In Tecverde's solution, 85% of the work arrives at the factory-ready construction site: the walls already have windows, and electrical and hydraulic wiring installed. With that, a house can be set up on the job site in few hours.

Eduardo Park, Board member of Unicoba Baterias and CEO of Ledstar:  With a degree in engineering, Eduardo is continuing the work of his father, Young Moo Park who founded the company in the early 1970s as an immigrant from Korea. As serial entrepreneur, Eduardo founded a well-known internet company “Apontador” in the early 2000’s which he sold, before taking over the leadership of what his father had built.

With about 1,200 employees, the company is headquartered in S?o Paulo and has two manufacturing units (Manaus and Extrema). For more than 40 years, Grupo Unicoba has been a pioneer in the Brazilian electronics sector, generating direct and indirect jobs to more than 1,200 people. Since the beginning, Eduardo and his family have brought new technologies that have helped to develop the national industry and the quality of life of the Brazilians.

Unicoba Baterias assists the telecommunications infrastructure by providing energy storage to support their core tower operations. In addition, it has a line of industrial batteries which serve as back-up to critical systems for hospitals, retailers, among others. The company is not only the largest local manufacturer of batteries for consumer electronics, but it is also leveraging the new LFP technology to provide more efficient energy storage solutions to solar farms and communication players throughout the country. 

What do these entrepreneurs have in common?

Andre, Eduardo and Caio are driven by a socially aware entrepreneurship. First of all, they are all showing citizenship. They realized they have an interest in societal well-being and gave up short-term profits for the benefit of their companies and employees. Second, they are showing resourcefulness. They are developing creative responses to emerging challenges with scarce resources. 

As soon as the pandemic started, all three entrepreneurs were quick to first take care of all their employees and create transparent and clear health and safety plans. Afterwards, each of them worked indefatigably to provide societal value by creating new products and services.

Luminae adapted one of its plants to manufacture protective face masks and it has just reached the mark of 100.000 reusable masks donated to help hospitals, supermarkets and other institutions in the fight against Covid-19. This initiative has instilled an important social awareness across all stakeholders.

Tecverde has been involved in constructing modular hospitals to support the health infrastructure needs during current situation. Caio and the rest of the founders are executing an inspiring job and are becoming a symbol of ingenuity in their organization.

Unicoba provided, in urgent fashion, the batteries to medical equipment manufacturers, that assemble respirators and fusion bombs using company’s batteries. Respirators that are vital medical devices for the recovery of serious patients from the COVID-19 disease. On the other hand, Unicoba is providing no-breaks to certain hospitals all over Brazil,  to guarantee reliable operation in case of interruption of the power supply, ensuring critical energy.

Confronting major business challenge, Andre, Eduardo, Caio have rolled up their sleeves and worked harder to create solutions to the existing problems. Unknowingly, through their tireless efforts, they make a difference and impact the lives of people through solutions. Their conscience and intuition help them to come up with answers. Being entrepreneurs, they walk their talk and talk their walk. 

The crisis creates opportunities for businesses to become more innovative. Facing external pressures, entrepreneurs like Andre, Eduardo and Caio are stepping out of their comfort zones to become creative problem-solvers. Along the way, they rediscover the entrepreneurial spirit that we all need.

Entrepreneurs are uniquely adaptable and are best equipped to pivot when times get tough. Entrepreneurs treating employees well during a time of hardship enhances a company’s reputation and helps attract talent as well as building a loyal workforce. Creative thinking and a disruptive mentality are their best assets right now. Their actions during the crisis shape their firms in the long run.

Entrepreneurs have the ability to think decisively even in indecisive environments like the one we are facing these days. They plan their work and do not hesitate to change and adapt such plans, as new information arrives. Entrepreneurs are here to make a valuable contribution to the world through their words and worthy actions; they want more than just occupy the space in the universe. 

It is promising to see that the private capital ecosystem in Brazil is evolving and adapting to support entrepreneurship. The mythology of a maverick genius like Elon Musk (although, I admire his vision and tenacity), obscures the truth that entrepreneurship can be profoundly lonely and full of failure. Business owners also need peers they can talk with, who can give them advice and guidance. These bonds ensure survival for some and lessen the trauma of failure for others.

The obsession with venture-funded tech startups has been wildly out of proportion to their importance in the real world. I do not mean to say we do not need technology, but real entrepreneurs are born out of mistakes, lack of resources, and crisis. It is why studying entrepreneurship is mostly a less effective learning mechanism than doing it. Real entrepreneurs build foundations for the future.

Let’s encourage and applaud entrepreneurship. We all need to support the entrepreneurs building their businesses, as the trickle-down of jobs and innovation would benefit everyone. Healthy economy needs a full complement of enterprises: the high-tech, rapidly growing companies and midsize manufacturers. Silicon Valley gurus talk a lot about the startups, but we need to remind ourselves that the healthiest ecosystems are diverse. We need bees, falcons, wolves and dolphins—not just Unicorns.

A notable passage of a Theodore Roosevelt speech is referred to as "The Man in the Arena":

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat”

Entrepreneurship is about paying the price of dedication, commitment, sacrifices, hard work and putting heart and soul into the journey to create something different that makes lives of people easier. It involves actually “doing” things rather than “talking”. Entrepreneurship is about getting close to the action, and feel alive. The world becomes better, through Adam Smith’s invisible hands of the “Man in the Arena”: The Entrepreneur.