My Journey to Becoming an Entrepreneur in Latin America

The following is adapted from Viva the Entrepreneur.

My experience as an entrepreneur started when I was just a kid. I have always been inspired to do my own thing, build value for myself, and chase my dreams. You’ll notice I didn’t mention making money anywhere in there. I never started my business to get rich: my main motivation was to create something I could be proud of and make an impact.

For me, I was able to express my passion and make a direct impact by building my startup, Viva Real, in Brazil. My journey from 15 year old swim instructor to selling Viva Real for $550 million dollars was filled with ups and downs. I needed and sought entrepreneurial guidance wherever I could get it and found incredible supporters along the way. 

This sparked a new passion in me: mentorship. To me, the spirit of entrepreneurship is to share your experiences. I personally know how mentorship can change a life and paying it forward to the next generation of entrepreneurs is my new goal.

By sharing my story, maybe I can help change someone else’s story and give back to the Latin American culture that gave so much to me.

Planting the Seed

I learned the word “entrepreneur” from my dad back when I was just a freshman in high school. At the time, I had started my own little business: private swim lessons at the pool behind my parents’ house in Sebastopol, California. A true-blue, one-man, grassroots start-up. 

This new word struck a chord with me. I identified it with what I was doing and where I wanted to go in life. But when I made the mistake of showing off my fancy word around my friends, they made fun of me for it: “Ohhh, so you’re an entrepreneur now?” I probably deserved the gentle teasing that I received. But it didn’t stop me from saying and thinking about it all the time. The word stuck with me. 

Many years later, after living in South America and building businesses there, I was fascinated to discover that “entrepreneur” in Portuguese—empreendedor—has only really existed in the popular lexicon for the past twenty years. (Before that, the word was just empresário, which calls to mind a staid businessman in a suit.)

When I first traveled to Rio de Janeiro in 2001, I tried to speak Spanish (like most Gringos). People were polite, but I quickly realized Brazil is different. Despite being part of Latin America, I could see that the country had its own strong, unique identity. I loved the vibe of the people. During my short trip, I realized that I would go back to Brazil. I didn’t know how or why, but a seed was planted, and I knew I was destined to return.

Love Merges with Passion

A few years later, at the age of twenty-three, I got in my car with a close friend and drove from California through Mexico and eventually to Costa Rica. From there, I sold my car and bought a one-way ticket to Colombia. My goal was to make it all the way down to Patagonia. But I also wanted to visit Andrea, who would later become my wife. I met her in college in San Diego. She was Colombian and, after graduating, had gone back to her home country.

It was at this time that my love and passion for this region of the world came together in a big way with my lifelong desire to build my own company. I had started Viva Real, an online portal for real estate, a few years earlier and ran the business along with my co-founder Thomas Floracks out of Colombia, where the cost of living was low. But at a certain point, we made the decision to change up our focus from trying to serve many markets across Latin America to targeting the biggest one only: Brazil. Diego Simon founded the Brazil operation and led the business there until I was able to move there full-time. 

Having wanted to be an entrepreneur ever since I learned the term from my dad, I had always been inspired to chase my dreams. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t start my business to get rich. I had an internal drive to build something of my own, something that would make my family proud. This built an authentic foundation for my success.

Working Together

For me, starting my business Viva Real, moving to Colombia, and later moving to Brazil was all an expression of this underlying passion. But even that passion was not always enough to fuel me through the tough times. My journey during these years, frankly, was filled with highs and lows. I often felt lost in the wilderness. It’s different now: there is a great deal of information out there about how to build businesses. Ten years ago, however, these resources were few and far between. I sought help wherever I could get it.

I received a lot of guidance along the way. Other passion-driven individuals that wanted to share their experiences with me. I believe this spirit of sharing and paying it forward is key to fostering healthy ecosystems. It’s how the most solid entrepreneurial environments are nurtured: through the virtuous cycle of having success and then helping and reinvesting in future leaders.

Giving Back

In Latin America, this dynamic is still nascent. Yes, there have been many incredible people who came before me and shared their experiences and insights. The social and economic landscape for incubating local entrepreneurship and helping it flourish remains in its early stages of development and it is something that I want to contribute to.

I am compelled to see the region strive and thrive. Having given so much to me, I feel extreme gratitude to the region of Latin America and its people. In fact, out of the nearly forty investments I have made as a successful angel investor, over 90 percent are in the region.

Not only am I betting on the current crop of entrepreneurs, I’m betting on the future of Latin America. I am convinced that with the talent and opportunities there, the future is bright for the entire region. I believe entrepreneurship is a huge lever for social mobility and prosperity, and I am fully committed to helping bring about these changes.

Being and becoming an entrepreneur in Latin America in and of itself is my life’s work. A true passion project that is rewarding beyond my early-childhood entrepreneurial dreams.

For more advice on becoming an entrepreneur in Latin America you can find Viva the Entrepreneur on Amazon 

Brian Requarth is the co-founder and former CEO of Viva Real, a leading proptech business in Brazil. He merged the company with ZAP Imóveis (owned by Grupo Globo) and became the Chairman of Grupo ZAP. Brian raised $74 million in venture capital funding for Viva Real, which sold for $550 million dollars. He now invests in the most promising tech companies in Brazil and Latin America as an angel investor. He is dedicated to empowering the next era of entrepreneurs in the region. His new company, Latitud aims to democratize access to everything an entrepreneur needs to succeed. Our fellowship brings together the top entrepreneurial minds and most experienced tech operators across Latin America to learn from each other, and obtain hands on mentorship from top experts in the region and Silicon Valley.