Startup Summit Floripa 2025: building from Brazil for the world
I spent three full days at Startup Summit in Florianópolis. It felt like a turning point. The vibe was builders first, global mindset always, and a healthy mix of people shipping quietly and people telling honest stories about what is working. The biggest pattern was clear. More Brazilian startups are pricing in USD, onboarding in English, and designing ops for customers outside Brazil. Not a dream, a decision. Not a tagline, execution.
I treated the event like a content sprint. Between sessions I recorded mini podcasts and short interviews with founders who are actually in the arena. Every conversation was tight, 15 to 20 minutes, one clear lesson, one action you can use now.
All episodes will be available on my YouTube channel, Paulo Castellano: youtube.com/@paulocastellano. For daily clips and behind the scenes, follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/paulocastellano.
Below are my field notes. What changed this year, the best conversations I had, the products that stood out, the patterns I saw, and a practical checklist to push your own product outward this month.
What felt different this year
Global first, by default. Founders scoped products for buyers outside Brazil. They chose categories where international customers are already comfortable paying in USD. Docs in English. SLAs that match North America and Europe. Billing that does not fight the sale. That single shift removes friction and widens the funnel.
Conversations with constraints. I kept every recording under 20 minutes and most hallway chats near 15. Short slots force clarity. You skip the fluff and land on the lesson, the metric, and the next step. It is also how real networking works. Less theater, more truth.
Networking with intent. I met friends, opened real paths with potential customers and partners, and left with a clean follow up list. Nothing random. I arrived with a few names I wanted to meet, two problems I wanted help with, and one useful thing I could offer in each chat. The quality of the event changes when you do this.
Mini podcasts recorded on site
Each episode runs 15 to 20 minutes with one sharp takeaway. All episodes will be on my YouTube channel, Paulo Castellano: youtube.com/@paulocastellano.
Paulo + Diego Carmona
Diego walks through the real Leadlovers story. What worked, what failed, what he would repeat, and what he would never do again. We focused on founder stamina, market timing, and how to keep shipping when things get messy. It is a straight talk about building, breaking, and rebuilding. If you are wrestling with pace and staying power, this will help.
Paulo + Inacio Nogueira
This one is about the jump itself. Inacio explains the transition from content creator to SaaS founder, the mindset shifts, how to choose the first problem, and how to protect audience trust while you change lanes. Fewer product details, more playbook for the change. If you have an audience and feel that itch to productize, start here.
Paulo + Diego + Alan Nicolas
Three founders with exits compare notes. Diego at Leadlovers, me at BoaConsulta, Alan at Neolife. We talk about what an exit changes in your head, how to avoid overbuilding afterward, and how to reset to zero with focus. Lessons we would tell our earlier selves. Clean, honest, useful.
Short interviews: what these founders are shipping
I also recorded quick interviews with founders who are delivering real outcomes right now.
Pedro — Templated.io. An API and editor for generating images and PDFs from reusable templates at scale. You design once, then render variations through API, spreadsheets, or no code automation. It turns repetitive promo and document work into a simple render call. If your team still opens design files for every banner, this is leverage.
Glauber — EasyRetro. A lightweight tool for agile retrospectives and team workshops. Create a board, collect feedback, vote, and turn insights into action items. It is intentionally simple, which is why teams adopt it and keep it. A focused product, pointed at a recurring ceremony, can compound for years.
Yuri — ValidaPix. Fraud prevention and payment control for Pix. Real time validation reduces scams and chargebacks. Clear tracking by store and collaborator. If you sell with Pix and worry about risk, this replaces spreadsheets and guesswork with guardrails.
Pedrique — Skald. Knowledge management with AI support. Skald connects scattered sources, helps teams find answers, and highlights gaps in docs. It also assists with writing and polishing internal documentation. The value is not the buzzword. It is keeping knowledge fresh and accessible where work already happens.
Elizeu and Rafa — Grit Softwares. A Brazilian software firm that turns business processes into digital products and internal tools. They ship custom software and no code accelerators with a bias toward measurable outcomes. The takeaway is how they treat execution as a repeatable process. Discover, scope, ship, measure, iterate.
I also kept fast, focused chats with other builders. One team is creating a fully automated call center SaaS to generate leads with no agents. Another is assembling the energy stack companies need to operate fleets of electric cars and trucks. Same pattern everywhere. Winners hide the mess and ship outcomes. No one wants another dashboard. People want a result with less pain and less risk.
The pattern behind the products
Same story across conversations. The best ideas bundle complexity into a clean outcome. Buyers do not wake up wanting more UI. They want something specific, done reliably and fast.
Templated.io sells the render, not a Figma file
EasyRetro runs the retro, not a new platform to learn
ValidaPix cuts fraud and chargebacks, not a feed of alerts
Skald finds answers and keeps knowledge current, not another silo
Grit delivers a working tool, not a document
Use that as a mirror for your own product. What exact outcome does the buyer pay for. How can you hide the complexity without hiding control. Which step can you delete completely instead of improving slightly.
A go global checklist you can run this week
If you want to push outward, make a few moves now. Price in USD and keep local rails as a secondary path if needed. Write in English first for website, docs, onboarding, and even error messages, then translate to Portuguese. Choose a value metric that grows with customer value, like seats, projects, or messages. Set a support SLA that matches your target time zones and publish it. Offer two entry points, self serve for smaller deals and guided for larger ones, and put a demo calendar with slots that fit California and London. Instrument the funnel. Track trial to paid, activation inside seven days, and first value delivered. Build a tiny partner group, two or three agencies or communities that already serve your buyer, with clear incentives and fast support.
You do not need a big team for this. You need focus, a few decisions that remove friction, and the habit of shipping every week.
Networking that actually moves the needle
Do the business, and make real friends. The best deals usually start with people who like each other. Be curious, remember the small stuff, show up even when you are not selling. People buy from people. Put your face on the brand. Sign emails with your name, send a quick Loom instead of a deck, jump on key demos. Lead with something useful, then follow up with one clear next step. Simple, human, and it works.
Each session I set up at the Summit was short, around 15 minutes, fast and to the point. In that small window I met founders working on bold, unconventional ideas. Those chats beat long meetings because everyone gets to the truth quickly. That is networking with intent. It is also how you turn a conference into momentum when you get back home.
From conversations to commitments
Events only matter if they change what you do next. Here is my plan for the next 30 days. Publish the mini podcasts and interviews. Convert two promising conversations into structured pilots for Pipeback, small scope, clear success criteria, quick decision. Turn three insights into product improvements, one for onboarding clarity, one for support automation, one for how we present value to USD buyers. Keep the network warm with five useful follow ups per day. Relationships compound when you invest consistently.
All episodes will be available on my YouTube channel youtube.com/@paulocastellano. Subscribe if you want the founder stories and the short, tactical lessons as they drop. For day to day notes, behind the scenes, and quick clips, follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/paulocastellano.
Three days in Floripa made one thing obvious. Building from Brazil for the world is not only possible, it can be your edge if you do it with intention. The talent is here. The products are sharper. The mindset is global. Start with one move this week. Switch your pricing to USD, publish your docs in English, or open a calendar slot that fits a buyer in California. Small moves create momentum. Momentum compounds.
If this sparked an idea or a question, reply and tell me what you are working on. I read every message.