Aged only 28, Murilo Duarte has already achieved what many dream of throughout their lives: to accumulate their first million and surpass this value.
He did this after creating, together with his friend Vinicius Silva, the profile Favelado Investidor, which has over 640 thousand followers on Instagram and 340 thousand subscribers on YouTube.
Murilo´s story is proof that it was never due to luck. Raised by his mother, Juceli, and his grandmother, Dalva, he lived in the favela Jardim João XXIII, in the west zone of São Paulo, and always witnessed how hard the two of them worked to provide for their family.
Set on giving them a better life, Murilo chose the path of financial education. In this interview, carried out by Renan L. B., currently in the final year of high school, he tells us how he managed to achieve his objectives and make his dreams come true.
How do you define what you do today?
The Favelado Investidor was born with the objective of financially educating Brazilians. I want to get all the know how that I have and spread it in the most didactic way possible.
How did you start to become interested in the world of investments?
It was curiosity. When I would hear “so and so is an investor”, I would think that that person had a lot of money. Until I started studying the subject. In 2015, I was a young apprentice in a registry office — my salary was 680 reais, almost the same value as my university course, which cost 640 reais. One month, I got these 40 reais that were left and I bought my first book ever, it was about Tesouro Direto (Direct Treasury). I had heard that Tesouro Direto was the new savings account, and, for me, a savings account was an investment. So, this was the analogy that I made to choose the book. I didn´t understand much, because the book had a lot of technical parts, but it explained about how to open an account at a brokers. It took me about three months to make my first investment. I remember I did it inside a packed bus, with butterflies in my stomach, because it was all the money I had.
What made you reach where you are today?
I made some difficult choices in the past, but they were necessary for me to reap at least some fruits today. I chose to study and, at University, I experienced the difference in world view. There I learnt how to really read and study, not only read and
not understand. I managed an internship at Bradesco and later I went to KPMG, a multinational. This change in environment certainly added a lot, as I was together with people who wanted to grow and prosper.
Have you already got into debt?
I got into debt when my salary went from 680 reais to 2.500 reais. I wasn’t ready to deal with this amount of money. I started to spend a lot on clothes, I bought an iPhone, tennis shoes for going out, to go to bailes and pay drinks for other people, all with my credit card, to be the cool guy. That was how I got a 5 thousand reais debt, which became 20 thousand. To get out of this situation, together with Vinicius, who was also in debt, we began to sell clothes and accessories on Instagram. We paid our debts in one year and restarted from square one.
Is there a secret for success?
I believe there is. People have to be aware that life happens according to what we think and do. If someone wants to have a YouTube channel with one million followers, he/she must think what type of person he/she has to be to have one million followers. If he/she imagines that they would have to be a productive person, that know the subject well, is communicative, creates screenplays and becomes viral, he/she has to do his/her part and act this way. In 2016, I was at a baile in Paraisópolis and I began to think about life. Dreaming high, the image of Flávio Augusto came to mind, who I already followed and whose books I had read. I thought, “Flávio Augusto came from the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro and became a billionaire. Would he be here at the baile? No! He would be studying, reading, working, developing himself. That same moment I set aside my glass of whisky and headed home. I never set foot in a baile again, because the person that I wanted to become would not be there.
What was it like to be listed among the top entrepreneurs under the age of 30 by Forbes magazine?
I came out in the Forbes Under 30 in December 2020, which was one of the best years of my life to date. Vinicius and I used to write down our plans and objectives on our cell phones at the beginning of the year. In 2020, among our goals was to reach 100 thousand subscribers on YouTube and Instagram and, I swear, get on the Forbes list. At the end of the year, one day over lunch, we looked at the list of our objectives for that year. “This is all that’s left,” I said to Vinicius. We went away and, five minutes later, he called me and said, “Check your email”. When I saw it, there was a message from the magazine requesting an interview. After 15 days, there was my photo, wearing a cap, Juliet sunglasses and a t-shirt written Favelado & Investidor. I was one of the greatest recognitions I have ever received.
