Tagline
Every young person wants to make a difference. All they need is a chance.
Bio for Breno Araujo
Breno is the founder and CEO of Boto, a no code platform that gives people an opportunity to share and build automation. As the CEO of Boto, Breno has ensured that all the people who work for him are culture fit. His view on how human resources should be managed is peerless. To Breno, community management is the most important thing when running a company.
Something amazing about Breno’s story is how he overcame the challenge of dyslexia by understanding deeply and memorizing things he couldn’t read or write down.
Episode highlight
Breno was born and raised in Brazil until the age of 24. His parents were entrepreneurs. At the age of 12, Breno discovered his interest in coding thanks to his dad’s computer stationed in their bedroom.
Being a Brazilian, Breno believed everyone should be expressive. Shock hit him when he moved to Europe and found people who hardly expressed their emotions and were less sociable than Brazilians. This experience was a blessing in disguise for Breno because it helped him become more organized and plan better.
Today, Breno shares his career journey and the diverse cultures that have moulded him into the person he is today.
Links
- Website: https://boto.io/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenoca/
Quotes
- “Being embarrassed and regretting something is the point where you will move, change and improve.”
- “If you don’t regret and look back at something that make you uncomfortable, and say, I’m embarrassed of having that, then sometimes you go back to that. You don’t evolve.”
- “When people have equity in the company, they align their goals with it because in a sense, they have ownership.”
- “If you want to have a voice, get responsibilities in a smaller company. You’re more likely to get those rights.”
Takeaways
Childhood Incidents
A huge part of who we are results from how we grew up. For Breno, his lineage has a lot of entrepreneurs. He saw his grandmother, mother, and father run their businesses. They all tried different things and Breno was fortunate enough to get involved. At the age of 13, his mother declared bankruptcy for her business. He watched her start everything again from scratch, which taught him we can always try again regardless of the situation.
Influential groups
In Brazil, people are highly social. Breno believes being Brazilian made him a social being. He thinks he would be reclusive if born and raised in Nordic countries.
At a tender age, Breno was regularly exposed to poverty. He grew up seeing children needing things that they couldn’t have. Through these experiences, Breno always vowed to be fair, which is one of his core values.
Temperament and Personality Influences
Efficiency is a big part of Breno’s life. Since childhood, Breno has always been focused and loves getting things done. One of the things that he views as his temperament is a love of arguing, especially arguing about logical concepts and ideas. In life however arguing doesn’t always facilitate interpersonal relations especially in contexts where it is seen as culturally unacceptable.
Cultural Epiphanies
If you come from a country where people are friendly, going to Europe will give you culture shock because people are more reserved. When Breno moved to Switzerland, he could not understand why he couldn’t see his friends whenever he wanted to. He had to book them in advance. He also couldn’t wrap his head around why restaurants and supermarkets didn’t open on Sundays when weekends are when people have time to shop and eat out. Breno learned that if you go to Europe, you must learn to plan ahead.
Thriving Moments
To bring out the best of Breno, be efficient. He appreciates it when people communicate effectively with him. He doesn’t enjoy a long story without a clear point.
Breno loves working with people who take initiative and ownership.
Soap Box Moment
If you are into blockchain technology and web3, Breno invites you to check out boto.ai and try creating different things. The site has a free package and other premium tiers so it is easy to find what suits your needs.
Extro
From his early childhood, Breno Araujo learned to code and build software in a tiny apartment in Brazil, that he shared with seven other family members. His Brazilian background and culture helped him to see the importance of people in tech. But putting that into practice was not that easy for him. His tendency to argue combined with an ability to learn at top speed caused him to be impatient. Yet his desire to encourage others rather than shut them down, together with self-awareness and effort helped him to smooth out the rough edges of his original approach. Something I found particularly interesting about Breno’s story is how he overcame the challenge of dyslexia by understanding deeply and memorizing things he couldn’t read or write down. When he started his own tech company, he put his people learnings right next to his tech expertise, hiring a manager of community to keep the customer and employee relationships strong. I really enjoyed Breno’s honest self-appraisal, and his enthusiasm and passion for his work.
