Welcome to Season 4 of The J Curve with me, Olga Maslikhova.

Last week I got to spend a few days in cidade maravilhosa—Rio de Janeiro—for Web Summit, which this year attracted over 37,000 people. The event was action-packed—both inside the venue and across the city, with an incredible lineup of side events.

It was a milestone week for The J Curve. We recorded our very first live episode on stage—a conversation I’ve been wanting to have for a long time, and the one we’re releasing today: a live interview with Mike Packer, partner at QED Investors.

QED is the legendary firm founded by Frank Rotman and Nigel Morris—the creators of Capital One and pioneers of data-driven credit long before it became mainstream. They’ve been betting on Latin America for over a decade. Their first investment in the region was Nubank, now the most valuable digital bank in the world.

Here’s what we cover:

— Why growth capital is the new frontier in LatAm

— What makes a founder truly fundable in 2025+

— AI’s real impact across QED’s portfolio

— What it really takes to IPO from LatAm

— The vertical SaaS trap—and the case for vertical AI

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