I grew up in “God's Country” which for those that are not informed is clearly North Carolina. My

parents were good down home (rural southern) people but had an incredibly open mind and

outlook given their background. They sent me to a school that was the “elite school in the area.”

I remember I asked my mother who was a public school teacher why she sent me to this school

and what she said was common sense, “the people with money (business owners, doctors,

lawyers, in her mind) and access to information (the Duke and UNC professors) send their kids

there so I will too.

My circumstances were somewhat different from many of my high school classmates.

Demographically, I stood out with higher pigmentation (gained at birth, no bleach needed) and

fewer economic resources (basically we paid tuition monthly - I watched the refrigerator balance

as I could feel the tuition). This “demographic” distinction became apparent during prom season.

I decided to find a date who shared my demographics and socio economic background, it was

just easier and more comfortable... or so I thought.

First Negotiation

To secure a date I had to find a prom that was a different day, I embarked on a 50-mile journey,

eventually finding someone to accompany me (I did not know her well so I coached her to act

like we were boyfriend girlfriend - I had to look cool, Captain of Basketball Team, President of

Student Body etc). However, during the back-and-forth travel (I had never driven 100 miles

before), I ran out of gas on St. Mary's Road in Orange County, North Carolina.

Many of you forgot about this life but in 1988 there were no cell phones - at least for normal

people. Running out of gas was a big deal. On a dark country road, one had to seek help from

nearby houses or walk to a gas station. In my case, I saw a house on a hill, and despite the late

hour (1:30am in the morning), I mustered the confidence to knock on the door - my options were

few!

What followed was both unsettling and transformative. The homeowner, upon seeing me,

reacted with immediate fear. He even uttered the words, "Martha, get the gun," which is not

what you want to hear at 1:30 in the morning in rural North Carolina. I watched nervously as he

held a shotgun, his finger precariously close to the trigger. The tension was palpable.

It is quite interesting how when you are faced in this situation, you literally go through all

options in your mind quickly. Option One was to run, however, he had a very large lighting

system and there was a good chance that he could get even more nervous and shoot. This was

a bad outcome. I was third in my state for private schools for the 200 meters but I did not

believe I could outrun a bullet. Option Two, was to work to calm him down, become his friend,

and somehow talk him down from fright. I did not have an option three.

In that precarious moment, I decided to pray. I spoke calmly to him about my life, my church

asked about him, my school and asked about where he sent his kids to school, and my faith,

seeking common ground as fellow Southerners. He started talking about his kids, they went to

St. Mary ́s School down the road which I knew well. We talked about Church etc.

Gratefully as our conversation evolved, his finger slowly released its grip on the trigger and he

even lowered the gun to his waistThe situation de-escalated, and he eventually asked me what I

wanted. I obviously wanted to call home and he called for me. As it was a long distance, he

called collect which made me want to laugh but one does not laugh at 1:30am when facing

someone with a gun. This was my first high stakes negotiation.

. This experience taught me the value of empathy and understanding the perspective of others,

especially in challenging situations. Most people are good! They really are and when bad things

happen it is often based on fear. I shudder to think had I ran from that porch in fear and what

his reaction may have been in fear.

Education and Exposure to the World

Following this incident, I continued my journey and second plane flight (first was to a church

convention in Biloxi, Mississippi) eventually attending Stanford, where my academic pursuits

were accompanied by entrepreneurial endeavors. Unlike the Mark Zuckerbergs (I got four kids

to try that path) of the world, I ventured into the fast-food delivery business, expanding from

pizzas to burgers, even securing a contract with Jack in the Box.

Academically, I started off in Electrical Engineering and was in shock that there were people that

cared more about EE and Physics than bodily hygiene. They actually slept in the Physics lab. I

had nightmares about EE classes for about ten years after graduation. The smartest people on

planet earth, no English on the board, and a TA from another country. It was the opposite of

that I expected in college.

I could not handle it, after another small successful entrepreneurial run, stopped out of school,

went skiing, and figured out my life plan. Came back to Stanford, finished in Industrial

Engineering, all people in that major cared about bodily hygiene, minored in Japanese and had

a three year experience post Stanford in Japan. Post Japan, I went to Harvard Business School.

OMG, Harvard Business School compared to EE was just heaven. I loved the classes, full bodily

hygiene, no sleeping in the physics library. It was what I thought college was going to be. Note

to students, top EE students from other countries are so motivated that showers are often

optional!

Hmm... If he can, why not me?

During an internship at DLJ (Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette), Wayne Huzenga came to New

York. It has been a while but I think he was raising money for a water filtration company. I

watched him raise a PILE of cash. In complete and utter arrogance, I said if this guy can raise

X, I can raise 1/10X - which was absurd thinking about it that way but these are the facts.

The Search Fund and Scaling Up

I learned about the Search Fund model while at HBS and decided that this was my destiny.

With a business partner from my Section (80 students are divided into groups the first year), we

went out and raised US$500K to fund the search for a company. This was the most intense

sales process of my life. Fortunately or unfortunately, I realized that I am perhaps one of the

only people on planet earth who likes cold calls.

I called 1114 people, 512 conversations, 114 meetings, and 12 investors. It was street hustle

sales but it taught me so many lessons of sales and candidly the ability to accept and embrace

rejection. You fall down, you get up!

Eventually, my business partner and I purchased a staircase business in Atlanta, Georgia, a

significant entrepreneurial milestone that I accomplished by raising funds and harnessing my

education. I scaled this business from $4 million to $65 million in sales, employing 500

individuals, and all seemed to be going perfectly.

However, life took an unexpected turn with the tragic illness and passing of my parents within

six weeks apart. As an only child with no wife or children at that time, who was very close to

both parents, this was beyond devastating. The housing crisis of 2008 compounded the

challenges, my company was directly tied to housing starts which effectively collapsed

subsequent to my parents passing, causing my business to experience a dramatic downturn. I

faced difficult decisions, including laying off 322 employees and navigating all the complications

of that type of situation at the same time I was experiencing deep personal grief

In the aftermath of this challenging period, I fully admit I was a highly imperfect person and at

times engaged in self-destructive behaviors and reckless actions. Suicidal would be the wrong

word but doing things that could have cost my life was the reality of my existence for about six

months to a year. My life had taken a significant toll; however, through God’s grace I eventually

realized the need for change and recovery. I decided that holidays were too hard in the USA

and if I was a totally independent soul with no nuclear family that it was important to try to make

lemonade out of lemons and start a life that I likely would not have done had my parents lived

an old age. I decided to start anew, relocating to Brazil and put a big challenge to myself as a

non-swimmer – I would start my new life in Brazil with an Ironman Triathlon which I did complete

🙂 Brazil God takes care of babies and fools. One could say that I am a fairly good sales person and

have raised capital for various business ventures. In Brazil, I decided to raise capital for real

estate developers because I understood the basics of the industry through leading a company in

the USA that sold stair installation and stair rail systems to the large tract homebuilders in the USA.

In Brazil, I began advising sovereign wealth and hedge funds to invest in Brazil’s residential and

commercial real estate industry. We actually executed some of the largest transactions in the

real estate sector during two distinct phases of Brazil’s economy from 2010 to 2020. One

specific transaction was wildly successful with a 40%+ IRR.

In addition during this period, I was blessed to meet my wife. We started dating and as she was

capable, available, and cheap as she worked on her PhD, she took over the finances of the

company. She now runs operations and has been a total lifesaver. More importantly, we have

had four kids together (all home births with three of the births with just me, the wife, and the

kids.) She was the core of restarting my life and I could not be happier with this large team.

Meeting Brazil Where It is At!

Upon the successful transaction mentioned above, my business partner and wife Beatriz was

very forceful that we need to build a recurring revenue business. We studied various industries

in Brazil and elsewhere including but not limited to solar energy and data centers. However, at

the end of the day, we decided that we had to shift our focus to Brazil's competitive and strategic

advantages, agriculture. As we moved the family to Spain right before Covid, we also desired to

build a business that could tie Europe to Brazil in a meaningful way.

AgDev

This evolution resulted in AgDev. There is a significant desire among climate-oriented investors

to prevent deforestation. There are unique financing opportunities, largely in credit, to

export-oriented farmers in Brazil to finance the expansion of their production to meet global

demand. The bridge to make this happen is our degraded pasture finance program where we

loan money to farmers to restore degraded pasture and the farmer pledges to not clear native

vegetation. While this is a business I am passionate about and I believe will scale, I am certain

that it would not have occurred without the above meandering journey. In addition, in my

entrepreneurial career it is the first business where I can truly say it has global impact as

large-scale prevention of deforestation while at the same time meeting the global demand for

calories has real meaning, impact, and legacy value.

Throughout my journey, I've learned valuable lessons about resilience, perseverance, and the

importance of adapting to life's challenges. My experiences have shaped me into the person I

am today, and I'm committed to making a positive impact on the world through my endeavors.

About

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