Marcelo Lebre: the Story of Remote ($3 Billion+ Valuation)

In today’s episode of Unicorn Builders, we speak with Marcelo Lebre, COO and Co-founder of Remote, a global payroll, tax and HR compliance platform that’s raised nearly $500 Million in funding, about how supporting employers to recruit, hire and pay the best talent from across the world is building a better way of working for everyone. Their remote-first offering might have seemed outlandish just a few years ago, but in a post-pandemic economy it has quickly taken this young startup to unicorn status, a growth trend that sees no signs of slowing down any time soon.

We also speak about what it was like growing up as a tech-obsessed kid in a small rural town, how Marcelo’s family responded to his rapid success, why it’s sometimes hard for him to comprehend the scale of what remote has become, why anxiety can be a superpower as much as a ‘super problem,’ and why, at the end of the day, for Marcelo it all comes down to problem-solving.

Topics Discussed:

• The origins of remote, from a small village upbringing to a chance double date, and on to become a globally recognised brand
• Why working remotely means Marcelo sometimes struggles to get his head around the growth Remote has experienced in recent years
• How the COVID-19 pandemic supercharged the remote-work revolution, and how Marcelo’s vision put Remote ahead of the curve
• What it felt like to have friends and family recognise Remote’s astounding success
• Why Marcelo might call anxiety both a ‘super problem’ and superpower
• Why solving one problem after the next is still the main motivation for Marcelo to keep driving Remote forwards