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David Vélez

Co-founder and chief executive of Nubank

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
Primero, lanzarse, incluso sin tener todas las respuestas. Segundo, tener resiliencia y disciplina, porque los mercados son volátiles. Tercero, buscar grandes problemas del consumidor. Muchas oportunidades nacen de la frustración.

Alejandra Rico Muñoz, interview, La República, 25 March 2026 source ↗

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Shinya Yamanaka Stem cell biologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2012
Well, I will bring this technology to clinics. I really want to help as many patients as possible. As you may know, I started my career as a surgeon 25 years ago. But it turned out that I am not talented as a surgeon
Recorded Adam Smith, Telephone interview recorded shortly after the prize announcement, October 2012, Nobel Prize Outreach, 1 October 2012 source ↗
Bill Gates Co-founder of Microsoft; co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
My last piece of advice is the one I could have used the most. It took me a long time to learn. And it is this: You are not a slacker if you cut yourself some slack. When I was your age, I didn't believe in vacations. I didn't believe in weekends. I pushed everyone around me to work very long hours. In the early days of Microsoft, my office overlooked the parking lot—and I would keep track of who was leaving early and staying late. But as I got older—and especially once I became a father—I realized there is more to life than work. Don't wait as long as I did to learn this lesson.
Recorded Northern Arizona University Commencement, Gates Notes, 13 May 2023 source ↗
Amy Tan Novelist; author of The Joy Luck Club
I go back to this idea that I only discovered when I was older. I wish I had known it when I was younger, because I think I missed a lot of observations in life. That is to develop your own philosophy. I always thought philosophy was one of the most useless subjects in the world.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 28 June 1996 source ↗
Rosa Parks Civil-rights activist
The advice I would give any young person is, first of all, to rid themselves of prejudice against other people and to be concerned about what they can do to help others. And of course, to get a good education, and take advantage of the opportunities that they have. In fact, there are more opportunities today than when I was young.
Recorded Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 2 June 1995 source ↗

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Question What belief do you hold that most people around you would reject or find surprising? Values & belief
Pix is probably the most successful payment infrastructure run by a government in history. I think Pix has been what has allowed a country like Brazil to leapfrog developed economies like the U.S. and in Europe, and has positioned Brazil today probably five years ahead of the U.S. I don't think anybody understands that, and probably in the U.S. they didn't really expect that.
Recorded Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, interview, Fortune, 9 October 2023 source ↗
Question What makes you want to keep learning? Attention & the world
I wish I knew more about Clojure, which is the programming language we use most at Nubank. If I did, I could better understand some of the more complex problems we're trying to solve, and I think I could ask better questions when we're setting priorities. I'd like to be able to communicate at that level with the technical side of our team, and I think they would appreciate it, too.
Recorded questionnaire, Sequoia Capital, 15 August 2018 source ↗
Question What bad recommendations do people in your field repeat too often? Craft & work
The second thing there was another thing I learned at Sequoia is that the culture of a business is built in the first six months by the first ten to 15 employees. These are magical, really, really important times. And I used to hear a lot even at Sequoia, a lot of entrepreneurs saying, “Hey, I'm too busy to think about culture. When we become a unicorn, when we grow, I'll worry about culture.” And for whoever has kids, it's almost like saying I'm too busy about educating my kids. When they turn 18, then I'll figure it out. Too late.
Recorded John Waldron, Goldman Sachs Talks, Goldman Sachs (official event transcript) source ↗

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