Pedro Moura, Flourish: Building the tech infrastructure to help people make better financial decisions, Ep 144

Crossing Borders with Nathan Lustig

Pedro Moura, Flourish: Building the tech infrastructure to help people make better financial decisions, Ep 144

Pedro Moura moved from Natal, Brazil to the US at a young age, overcoming many challenges while always trying to build a better future for himself, his family and his region. His perseverance and grit guided him to create a company that he is truly passionate about. In this episode of Crossing Borders, Pedro tells the story of his career path and how taking a risk on what he really believed in led him to found Flourish, a B2B SaaS company that empowers people to establish positive money habits.

In this episode, I sat down with Pedro to discuss how he landed on the idea for Flourish, what companies can do to attract foreign talent, and how to think of a business from a global perspective.

Finding a fit in financial inclusion

Pedro’s story is truly inspirational. He moved to Northern California from Brazil when he was young, and his mother worked tirelessly for the family. Pedro attended UC Davis, studying Economics and International Relations, then venturing into Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley. However, he soon realized the position was not the best fit for him. After joining Opportun, a startup dedicated to making financial services more accessible, Pedro realized his passion for financial inclusion and decided to start Flourish.

Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about Pedro’s career path and what led him to Flourish.

Attracting talent overseas

A key part of Pedro’s story was his decision to ‘cross a border’ to build something great. With talent today more mobile than ever before, some countries are still more hesitant than others to recruit from out-of-country. Despite political immigration boundaries, the culture of international collaboration is healthy and thriving.

Find out more about the opportunities that lie in hiring across borders in this episode of Crossing Borders.

Chasing your passion

While Pedro was still working at the bank, he saw a TV program that inspired him to learn more about companies that were driven by social issues: specifically, the disparity between the Latin American community and the world of financial services spoke to him. This experience sparked Pedro’s curiosity and led him to Opportun and then to founding Flourish.

Learn more about how Pedro discovered his passion in this episode of Crossing Borders.

Pedro Moura’s story is inspiring in more ways than one. Adapting to a new environment at a young age and thriving required perseverance and hard work. By following his passion, he took several career risks to serve the Latin American community. Join us to learn his story and what he is building at Flourish.

Show Notes:

• [1:90] - About Flourish
• [3:35] - Pedro’s move to the US
• [7:00] - Adapting to a new culture at a young age
• [8:30] - Advice on attracting talent
• [12:30] - From wealth management to Oportun
• [16:30] - Why starting a company was the natural next step
• [18:30] - How geography plays a part in the business
• [22:10] - What is Flourish’s next step
• [23:20] - What advice would you offer your younger self?
• [25:30] - Where do you see Flourish 2 years from now?

Resources & people mentioned:

• Pedro Moura
• Flourish
• Book: The Brain That Changes Itself