In this episode of Venture Ahead, Professor Joe Haslam talks with global venture capitalist and author Alexandre Lazarow about how high-performing startups outside Silicon Valley succeed with different playbooks. Drawing on his book "Out-Innovate," Alex contrasts blitzscaling with resilient camel startup strategies that prioritize capital efficiency and staged growth. They explore why startups in smaller markets like Estonia and Singapore are born global from day one, how fintech evolved differently across regions and why innovation is increasingly polycentric.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexlazarow/

https://alexlazarow.com/

https://fluentventures.com/

https://www.ie.edu/university/about/faculty/joe-haslam/

https://www.southsummit.io/brazil/

In this episode of Venture Ahead, host Joe Haslam talks with Bruno Loiola, cofounder of Pluggy and IE University alum, about his journey from the Venture Lab to building fintech infrastructure in Brazil. They discuss Brazil's remarkable transformation from a cash-based to digital-first economy, driven by innovations like Pix instant payments and Open Finance regulations. Bruno explains Pluggy's role as the bridge connecting bank accounts to apps, and how Central Bank policies have brought 70 million Brazilians into the financial system.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brunoloiola

https://www.pluggy.ai/

https://www.ie.edu/university/about/faculty/joe-haslam/

https://www.southsummit.io/brazil/

https://www.ycombinator.com/

In this episode of Venture Ahead, Professor Joe Haslam chats with Chris Roe, an actor turned public-speaking coach who helps entrepreneurs, CEOs and other business professionals around the world understand the value of confident, authentic communication.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisroecoach/

https://chrisroe.co/

https://www.southsummit.io/brazil/