Farewell Blues

It has been a little bit over a month since I shared my goodbyes with my fellow blues. Ending this last chapter of my life was not an easy decision for me but like most important decisions, it was one I felt compelled to do. In my professional experience, I’ve learned that people don’t decide to leave for a single reason, especially not an objective one. But they like to convince themselves of a simple and easy explanation that will ease their minds. I won’t take this route. That’s not me. I’m here to do what I love most in my work, to celebrate and share my gratitude for everyone who participated alongside me these past eight years. Such a task cannot be accomplished in a single text, but I’ll settle with this small tribute.

He guessed as well as he could and crawled along for a good way till suddenly, his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel. It was a turning point in his career, but he did not know it. He put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking; certainly, it did not seem of any particular use at the moment.
— The Hobbit

My story with bxblue felt just like when Bilbo was invited for an unexpected adventure. One that took me through uncharted territories, uncountable challenges, and memories thal cherish for my whole life. I did not fight a dragon nor find a mountain of gold. But my party was large and diverse in all the dimensions. I’m pretty sure I was a nice hobbit in amid such amazing beings that took part in this journey. It’s hard to recognize such pivotal moments in our lives while living them. Unfortunately, we can only fully appreciate them when we look behind.

— “Where did you go to, if I may ask?” said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along.

— “To look ahead,” said he.

— “And what brought you back in the nick of time?”

— “Looking behind,” said he.

— The Hobbit

One of the main drives of my work is doing so in the company of other amazing people. My journey with bxblue started long before it even had a name. Back in 2015, me, Roberto and Guga were long-time friends and saw an opportunity to do something together. We did not know what or how, but we wanted to do something. That was my call. Almost a decade later, I have much to thank these two. We accomplished a lot, sometimes less than we wanted, but in other ways, more than we thought possible. We grew a lot, both as people and professionals.

To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, walking-stick or say money, or anything that he usually took when he went out; leaving his second breakfast half-finished and quite unwashed-up
(…)
“Don’t be precise,” said Dwalin, “and don’t worry! You will have to manage without pocket-handkerchiefs, and a good many other things, before you get to the journey’s end
— The Hobbit

Being a founder is not an easy job. The merit of what we accomplished cannot be placed only on the three of us but on the hundreds of other people that joined us along the way. People that helped us build a fantastic product recognized by our clients, our partners, and the market in general. We managed to reach millions of users and transact billions of reais. When we started, everyone called us crazy, and by now, no one can believe the world worked in any other way (especially our users). We were the crazy trio trying to sell loans online in a completely offline market. We were the ones that managed to build the first available API of such. We were the ones that enabled our customers, for the first time in their lives, to purchase such a product from the comfort of their homes in a matter of minutes, not days. We lived through several changes in the market. The regulations changed, and the tax rates fluctuated. We secured a few funding rounds with some nice investors and became one of the first Brazilian companies to get into Y Combinator. The last step in this journey was crowned with an acquisition.

I have many people to thank along this path. But it’s impossible to do so without being unfair. Forgetting one person would make me feel terrible. Especially when so many people were involved, and still are, in delivering such a great experience. During this period, I was fortunate enough to work again with many people I wanted and meet new people I’ll carry in my heart for the rest of my life. I’m very happy and grateful for each and every one of them. I can say, without a doubt, that we were among the top 1% teams in the market.

Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.
— The Hobbit

Now the Theseus boat will leave one more of its passengers at the port. May good winds blow on your sails. Now just like Bilbo returned to the Shire, I prepare myself for what new adventures lie ahead. The red book still has a lot of pages left to write.

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
— Bilbo Baggins