From Hacking to Unicorn: How Two Teens Built a $12B Empire! 💸

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Hey there, startup enthusiasts! 👋

Buckle up, because I'm about to share a story that'll make your jaw drop. Remember those "troublemaker" kids in school who were always too smart for their good? Well, two of them just built a $12 billion company! 🤯

This tech company grew 32,481%...

No, it's not Nvidia... It's Mode Mobile, 2023’s fastest-growing software company according to Deloitte.

Just as Uber turned vehicles into income-generating assets, Mode is turning smartphones into an easy passive income source, already helping 45M+ users earn $325M+ through simple, everyday use.

They’ve just been granted their stock ticker by the Nasdaq, and you can still invest in their pre-IPO offering at just $0.26/share.

Invest Now

*Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.
*The Deloitte rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period.
*Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com.

The Dynamic Duo's Origin Story 🦸‍♂️🦸‍♂️

Meet Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, two Brazilian wonder kids who prove that sometimes the "bad boys" of tech are the biggest winners!

Henrique: The Game-Changing Gamer 🎮

Picture this: You're 12 years old, what are you doing? Playing video games? Well, Henrique was too... except he was MAKING them!

• At 12: Downloaded college textbooks to teach himself programming (while we were struggling with middle school math! 😅)

• At 14: Cloned a popular Korean game called Ragnarok

• Made "tens of thousands" before getting shut down by copyright notices (Oops! 😬)

• Parents weren't exactly thrilled (Sorry, Mom! 🙈)

But here's where it gets interesting... 📚

Instead of blowing his game money on candy (like most of us would've), Henrique invested it in his NEXT big idea: a college application app for Brazilian teens wanting to study in the US. Talk about solving your own problems – Stanford was his dream school! The app EXPLODED to 800,000 users! 🎉 Sure, monetization was tricky and he eventually shut it down, but come on – 800K users while still in high school? That's insane!

Pedro: The iPhone Whisperer 📱

Meanwhile, another tech prodigy was making waves:

• At 11 (yes, ELEVEN!): Hacked Siri to speak Portuguese (before Apple even thought about it!)

• Became a software engineer while still in high school (Talk about an interesting summer job! 💼)

The Meet-Cute (Tech Style) 💻

Get this—these two actually met on Twitter—fighting! They were arguing about coding tools and IDEs (such a tech nerd thing to do!). The argument moved to Skype (old school! ), and suddenly, they were best friends! Who says social media can't create real connections?

The First Million-Dollar Move 💪

Their first venture together? Pagar.me – think Stripe, but for Brazil:

• Built it from scratch in 2013

• Grew it to 150 employees

• Processed a whopping $1.5B in transactions

• Sold it for "tens of millions" (Not bad for teenagers! 🎉)

Plot Twist: The Stanford Dropout Story 📚

Both got into Stanford (dream come true! ✨) but... plot twist:

• Lasted only 8 months

• Found it weird going from CEO life back to dorm life

• Decided real-world experience > college life

• Landed a spot at Y Combinator (who needs college when you've got YC? 😎)

The Birth of Brex 🌟

January 2017: Two 20-year-olds launch what would become a financial empire! Here's the timeline that'll blow your mind:

The Money Train 🚂

• 2017: Raised $7.5M to start

• April 2018: Snagged $47M (before even launching! Talk about confidence!)

• June 2018: Public launch 🎯

• First 18 months: Hit $100M revenue (Speed run to success! 🏃‍♂️)

• October 2018 - May 2022: Raised a MASSIVE $950M in funding rounds

• Latest valuation: $12.3B (That's BILLION with a B! 🤑)

The Secret Sauce: Building Different 🏗️

Here's what made Brex special:

• Built their ENTIRE credit card processing infrastructure from scratch (no shortcuts!)

• Offered something revolutionary: higher credit limits with NO personal guarantees

• Made it easier for startups to get credit (even with fat VC bank accounts, this was a pain point!)

• Result? Today, 25% of ALL US startups use Brex! 🎯

The Real Tea: Why They Won 🏆

1. Started young and weren't afraid to break rules (legally... mostly 😉)

2. Learned from their "mistakes" (remember that Ragnarok clone? 👀)

3. Spotted a real problem and fixed it

4. Built everything from scratch (no cutting corners!)

5. Moved FAST (like, speed-of-light fast!)

6. Never stopped innovating (from game clones to fintech thrones! 👑)

🚀 Lesson of the Day: Dream Big and Hustle Hard

Henrique and Pedro’s story proves that success doesn’t always follow the “normal” path. Sometimes, it’s about taking risks, challenging norms, and going all in on your passion. So if you have a big idea, take a page from Henrique and Pedro's playbook, and remember: the road to success might start with a bold idea and a little rule-breaking. 😜 Just maybe avoid those copyright lawsuits! 😉

So, what’s YOUR big idea? 🧠 Drop us a reply, and let’s talk dreams, hustle, and the path to your own unicorn startup!