From Solo Entrepreneur to $65 Million in Revenue: Brazilian Entrepreneur Daniel Scandian, CEO of MadeiraMadeira (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: Do you need to a raise more money or are you planning to now keep growing organically?

Daniel Scandian: Now, we are breaking even. Last year, we achieved $65 million in revenue and we plan to reach around $150 million in 2017. We are cash flow positive now. Just now, we are building another business plan to talk with some new investors. Now it’s more of an option. We don’t need the money to grow, but we have some opportunity in Brazil to expand into other categories and also to invest more in technology.

Sramana Mitra: This whole $65 million going to $150 million is an entirely Brazilian market-facing business?

Daniel Scandian: Yes, 100%.

Sramana Mitra: Excellent. It’s a great story.

Daniel Scandian: After six years, we feel good about the business and the independence that we can have from investors. We now see it as an option and not a necessity. We are able to negotiate much better.

Sramana Mitra: Late-stage funding for a well-performing business is always easier.

Daniel Scandian: The only situation that is negative right now is the Brazilian economy and the political crisis. Outside investors look at it and see that it’s a mess right now. Even when the economy is going down, we are growing more than 100%. We’ve built something very solid. The result that we got so far is that we are the only company that runs drop-shipping model in Brazil. We have proprietary technology catered for the Brazilian market. We have a four to five year advantage by doing this model.

Daniel Scandian: We have a very good team, but I didn’t talk too much about was the team. One of the biggest challenges that I had as an entrepreneur was to get the best team. It’s the same team from the start. I brought some executives from big companies, but it didn’t work. I had to change a lot of times. The investors were wondering about the changes. Hard work beats talent.

Sramana Mitra: I think I agree with you on that as well.

Daniel Scandian: I’m not a genius – not even close to genius, but I’m very hardworking. I learned a lot of great things over the past six years. It made me strong. My goal is to build a billion-dollar company.

Sramana Mitra: What are your options? Are you going to go public in Brazil? One of the most successful companies in Latin America, Merkato Libre, decided to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. What are your thoughts, and what are the investors’ thoughts about what happens to a company like you in terms of exit?

Daniel Scandian: Right now, I really think it’s too soon to understand the exit options. We are not thinking about it right now. I think we need another four or five years ahead to start planning. If you have a big company with profitability, you can choose in the future where you want to be.

This segment is part 5 in the series : From Solo Entrepreneur to $65 Million in Revenue: Brazilian Entrepreneur Daniel Scandian, CEO of MadeiraMadeira
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