Philipp Trauer built his investing perspective across almost seven years at independent VC firm Valor before leading Wayra Brazil, giving him a firsthand view of how pure VC differs from corporate VC—particularly the need for internal champions inside a company and a focus on how obsessed founders are with their customers, as seen in deals like Asaas where he prioritized connecting the startup to Vivo's stores, sales team, and app traffic. He also brings a distinct personal background to this work, having grown up with a Brazilian father and an American-German mother, studied at the University of Michigan, and spent about five years competing in amateur golf before turning to venture investing, all while maintaining a specific interest in Brazil's agricultural economy and describing Brazil as the world's testing ground for new business models.