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Ana Zucato is the co-founder and CEO of Noh, Brazil's first social fintech built specifically for couples and families. Ana has raised over $3 million in seed funding - one of the largest pre-seed rounds for a female-led company in Latin America - and Noh has already processed over $60 million in transactions with 400,000 app downloads. Before founding Noh, Ana built her career in Brazil's early fintech ecosystem, working at Guiabolso (one of Brazil's open banking pioneers) where she helped grow the platform to 6 million users, followed by roles at Intuit and as country manager for Colombian company Truora's Brazil expansion. Ana discovered the idea for Noh through personal experience - realizing there was no good way for couples to manage money together in Brazil, where joint accounts were still designed with women as "second-class citizens." In this episode, we discuss how Ana identified and validated this overlooked market, the unique challenges of building a "multiplayer" financial product, and her vision for transforming how Brazilian families manage their entire financial lives.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
1. How Ana discovered that joint accounts in Brazil were designed for "one person plus a second person" - historically women who weren't allowed their own bank accounts
2. The manual validation process of funding 50 couples' spending with her own money while embedding in their WhatsApp groups
3. Why Ana calls Noh a "social fintech" and how it mirrors the way Latin Americans actually live their interconnected lives
4. How Brazil's PIX instant payment system and payment initiation through open banking became the foundation for Noh's multiplayer banking experience
5. The clever marketing strategy behind becoming Brazil's first white debit card to spark curiosity and word-of-mouth growth
6. Ana's radical transparency approach where all employees know everyone's salaries, read the company P&L, and participate in every major decision
7. How content creation and a reality show featuring real couples helped Noh go viral on social media
8. Why the average Brazilian household has seven different bank accounts and Ana's vision to consolidate everything into "one Noh"
9. The evolution from couples banking to becoming the financial operating system for entire Brazilian families including kids and elderly parents
10. Ana's philosophy that AI should maximize your money's value rather than replicate your (financially "stupid") brain
11. How Ana's fundraising experience differed from expectations and her advice for fintech entrepreneurs pitching in today's market
12. The importance of separating "signal from noise" when building something truly new and why Ana stopped reading business books
13. Her backup career plans: becoming Brazil's president or running a neighborhood hair salon - both with the same commitment to transparency
Where to find Ana Zucato
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anazucato/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/azucato/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anadanoh
Where to find Noh:
• Website: https://www.noh.com.br/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fazumnoh
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fazumnoh/
Where to find Tony Cueva Bravo:
• Newsletter: https://emergingfintech.co
• X: https://x.com/tonycueva
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tonycueva
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Episode Highlights
(02:03) Welcome to Emerging Fintech and Ana's Introduction
(04:39) Ana's Journey in Fintech - From E-commerce to Guiabolso
(06:46) Key Lessons from Guiabolso and Intuit
(07:48) Learning Transparency at Truora - Building Philosophy
(10:17) Discovering the Problem - Personal Aha Moment with Joint Accounts
(13:34) The Concept of Social Fintech - Beyond Individual Banking
(16:15) Cultural Dynamics - Banking for Relationships, Not Just Money
(17:37) Leveraging Open Banking and PIX for Innovation
(20:15) Expanding Beyond Accounts - Investment and Financial Stack
(22:13) User Acquisition Strategy - The White Card and Word-of-Mouth
(27:17) Social Media Strategy - Authenticity and Reality Shows
(30:03) Vision for Multiplayer Banking - The Future of Household Finance
(30:23) Vision for the Future of Noh
(32:14) Five-Year Vision - Organizing Brazilian Family Finances
(34:11) Fundraising Experience - $3M Seed Round Success
(36:47) Fundraising Advice - Industry Fit and Hair-on-Fire Problems
(39:32) Building the Right Team - MVT (Minimum Viable Team)
(41:26) Core Values in Practice - Proposals and Customer Focus
(44:15) Radical Transparency - Open Numbers and Company Culture
(48:33) Scaling Transparency - Maintaining Culture as You Grow
(50:35) Leadership Challenges - Learning to Delegate and Ask for Help
(52:11) Best Career Advice - Separating Signal from Noise
(55:17) AI and the Future of Fintech - Automation vs. Human Touch
(01:00:34) Final Question - Alternative Paths if not building Noh
(01:02:30) Closing Thoughts and Thank You
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