From Investment Banking to Sports: Rodolfo Morais' Path
Before turning to entrepreneurship, the executive navigated Brazil's IPO boom and helped pioneer sports advisory at XP.
Rodolfo Morais reflects on his economics background at Insper and his years in financial markets at XP. The executive discusses working on IPOs and structuring soccer SAF transactions in Brazil before deciding to launch his own venture.
Rodolfo Morais' business career began far outside the sports ecosystem. Originally from Goiânia, he moved to São Paulo in 2015 at age 17 to study economics at Insper. It was during his undergraduate studies that he met his project collaborator and future business partner, JP Perpétuo. While sharing coursework and mutual friends, Rodolfo held a clear objective: building a career in the financial markets.
Joining XP and the Investment Banking Years
His formal entry into the industry came at XP, joining the Investment Banking division—a unit focused on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and equity capital markets (ECM). Rodolfo started as an intern in 2019 and became an analyst in early 2020, just a week before pandemic lockdown orders took effect. His entire initial training on the deal desk took place remotely.
Between 2020 and 2022, Brazilian capital markets experienced a historic liquidity cycle, driven by an IPO boom and follow-on equity offerings. During this stretch, Rodolfo worked sector-agnostically, covering companies across healthcare, education, and real estate.
Pioneering Football SAFs and Sports Advisory
A strategic shift followed the passage of the Brazilian Football Corporation (SAF) Law. Recognizing the potential of a market structure already established across Europe and the United States—where clubs operate as commercial corporations or are owned by investment funds—XP created a pioneering sports advisory unit led by Pedro Mesquita and Gui Ávila.
Rodolfo gradually transitioned to this sports and entertainment desk, participating in SAF transactions for clubs such as Cruzeiro, Botafogo, and Coritiba, as well as the structuring of Liga Forte União (LFU) for broadcasting rights sales. The group's mandate also encompassed betting operators, multipurpose arenas, and sports media firms.
Deciding to Leave the Corporate Market
Despite his progression within investment banking, the long-standing goal of building a business alongside JP resurfaced. With upcoming personal milestones approaching, Rodolfo concluded that remaining in corporate banking would make an eventual transition more difficult. Choosing to take the leap and build an independent company closed his banking tenure and launched a new professional chapter.