Edeavor Brasil and Ernst & Young Terco, CEO Summit 2011.

Yesterday, Time Irado had the privilege to attend the 2011 Ernst & Young Terco and Endeavor Brasil (that's right they actually spell it with an "s" in Brazil)  CEO Summit in Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to the invite"

The CEO Summit is an event that gathers major entrepreneurs, investors, and top executives to share their innovation and discuss challenges and best management practices for high growth businesses."

Just like other large events that E&Y hosts back in the United States, it was a full production from start to finish. The event was largely planned by Endeavor and the SGM team here in Sao Paulo and they did a fantastic job. The event was held at the Unique Hotel which is truly a great name for this place, as it is Unique.

Hotel Unique at night in Sao Paulo

The event kicked off with an 8am breakfast and coffee before starting the first of eight sessions throughout the day. Rodrigo Teles, the General Manager of Endeavor, along with Andre Ferreira, E&Y Terco SGM Partner, were the hosts. Each session featured a panel or interview style discussion with a moderator that was knowledgeable on the topics. Those in attendance heard from top executives, mostly founders and CEO's, from MRV Engenharia (housing), Grupo Fleury, Arezzo (designer shoes), QualiCorp, Embraer (airplanes), Alpargatas (owns  Havianas, famous "flipflops" maker), Grupo Pao de Acucar (Grocery Stores), Social Metrix(Socia Media Analytics), Mercado Livre (similar to eBay), BuscaPe (online search engine), Editora Abril, Itau Bank (one of the worlds largest banks), J&F Holding (Meat Processing, among other things), and Natura (natural makeup company).

E&Y Terco SGM Partner Andre Ferreira

As you can imagine each Entrepreneur was cut from a different cloth so to speak, and saw the world through a different lens. We heard from the well educated philosopher type of entrepreneurs and also from the simple, but intelligent, businessman that built a billion dollar company from the ground up. Some of the key takeaways from the day were the following:  (paraphrased as the event was in Portuguese, which I don't speak, but key points were summarized by those who helped translate)


"The labor force is not the issue, the issue is in the training of the labor force" Rubens Menin, MRV Engenharia

"Today, be better than you were yesterday. Tomorrow, be better than you were today"Abilio Diniz, Pao de Acucar

"If you make mistakes, make new ones, not the same ones you did before" - Abilio Diniz, Pao de Acucar

There was also quite a few stories and jokes told throughout the day including a few responses to questions. A couple of my favorites:

Moderator & Ernst & Young Terco Partner, Paulo Sergio Dortas speaking to Anderson Birman, President of Arezzo (designer shoes)  "You don't need to keep making more nice shoes and other items, I have three girls in my house at home"

Moderator & Journalist Alexander Teixeira, speaking to Embraer (airplanes) and Alpargatas (Havianas flip flops) executives, "First you get money, then you can hire Ernst & Young to count it"

President of J&F Holding, Joesley Batista, responding to a question regarding why they would expand into the U.S. meat market  with the purchase of Swift & Co. without having knowledge of the U.S. meat market,  "Meat here, meat there, meat is meat anywhere"

The Brazil Corporate Responsibility Fellows also had the chance to do some networking with Herb Engert, Americas Strategic Growth Market Leader for Ernst & Young, to discuss some of the opportunities in Latin America and beyond.

L to R: Beatriz Guido (SGM Mgr, Sao Paulo), Tyler Schleich (Brazil Fellow - Tax Manager, Columbus), Jamie Schafer (Brazil Fellow, Advisory Sr. Manager, Detroit), Herb Engert (Americas SGM Leader), and Katie Duggan (Brazil Fellow - FIDS Sr. Manager, New York)

The event ended around 6pm and was immediately followed by a cocktail hour to mingle and network. I had the opportunity to meet many great entrepreneurs and consultants who after hearing of the E&Y Corporate Responsibility Fellowship Program, discussed how absolutely wonderful they thought it was. Not bad marketing skills if I do say so myself. Perhaps we will get a bonus in our next paycheck since we are now selling the brand! We were also able to catch a glimpse of the planning committee celebration which included Endeavor Brasil employees and the E&Y SGM team.

L to R: Lots of happy people

After the cocktail hour, we headed up to the world famous, Restaurante Skye, on the rooftop of the Unique Hotel. The views were amazing and again, not to downplay how beautiful the New York skyline is, but this was a 360 degree look at buildings that go on forever. See for yourself below.

Restaurante Skye, from the roof top of Unique Hotel, Sao Paulo

Restuarante Skye is a location where the Caipirinhnas flow like water and the peanuts just keep coming out in a bowl in front of you. If you get a chance to visit someday, I would recommend the pepperoni calzone and the tangerine caipirinhnas. After a credit card mix up (by mix up I mean they gave Katie's credit card to some guy who had a similar American Express Corporate Card), it was back to the hotel to get ready to take on Friday and plan our adventures for the weekend.

                       And finally, this blog post was brought to you by the 2011 CEO Summit Sponsors.