Is hustle culture the biggest startup lie? Is Brazil the end of credit cards? Can a fintech run like a pharmaceutical lab?

In this episode of The J Curve, I sit down with Piero Contezini — founder and executive chairman of Asaas, one of Brazil’s most influential fintech platforms serving thousands of SMEs and processing billions in payments. Backed by SoftBank, Bond, Bradesco, and other top investors, Asaas has evolved from a Stripe-for-Brazil experiment into a full-stack financial operating system with 37 revenue streams.

Piero’s story is one of relentless experimentation, radical cultural rules (like an 8-hour workday and zero-bug policy), and building in sync with Brazil’s regulatory revolution around PIX and Open Finance.

Here’s what we cover:

• Why service companies can’t scale like product companies

• How one SME pain point grew into 37 revenue streams

• The fintech monetization model tied directly to customer success

• The culture rules that shaped Asaas: 8-hour workdays and zero bugs

• How PIX and Open Finance reshaped Brazil’s fintech landscape

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