Marcos Wettreich

Marcos Wettreich began creating companies when connecting computers within an office was still unusual. He later organized conferences, published magazines, founded a digital marketing consultancy and worked in e-commerce. Along the way, he also created the iBest Award, which accompanied the early years of Brazil’s commercial internet.

Not every project worked out as he expected. A publishing business left him with debts and forced him to bring in partners to straighten out its finances. Other companies found buyers and allowed him to fund new ventures.

Exame magazine called him “the serial entrepreneur.” The description fits a career involving more than fifteen companies established with different partners since the 1980s. Wettreich often sums up that inclination by saying his best business is the next one.

A company with university classmates

He was born in Rio de Janeiro. His father died when he was five, and he was raised by his mother, a Polish architect who had arrived in Brazil in 1938.

He studied electronic engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. He received a scholarship to study bioengineering at MIT but never used it: by then, he had started working on his own venture.

In 1985, at 22, he founded Saga with four university classmates. The company specialized in local computer networks, a market that was only beginning to develop in Brazil.

Two years later, the partners sold half the company to a French group for approximately US$500,000. Wettreich stayed until 1989. When he left, he received around US$17,000 and began preparing another venture.

Conferences and a publishing business that struggled

In 1990, he established Mantel, a corporate technology events company. He secured sponsorship from Itautec and Microsoft for its first major conference.

The business grew to generate annual revenue of approximately US$8 million. Bringing companies, specialists and prospective customers together proved profitable, and Wettreich decided to expand his presence in the sector.

In 1995, he launched MantelMedia, a publisher with four technology and telecommunications magazines. This time, the finances did not follow. The company accumulated approximately US$2.5 million in debt and brought in GP Investimentos and Latinvest as partners.

Wettreich later described experiencing anxiety, insomnia and working weeks of up to 75 hours. He had gone from running a profitable business to finding a way out for another that was consuming resources.

The arrival of investors allowed him to reorganize its finances. It also gave him experience in negotiations that would feature again in his subsequent companies.

The award that became a brand

In 1995, he created the iBest Award to recognize Brazil’s best websites. The commercial internet was taking its first steps, and the award helped users discover pages and services.

Over time, winning a category became a distinction that websites displayed to visitors. The iBest name also expanded beyond Brazil, reaching Spain and Mexico.

The brand eventually became an internet portal and access provider. Brasil Telecom became a shareholder and subsequently took control of the business.

Meanwhile, Wettreich had established MLab, a digital marketing consultancy. In 2001, he sold it to Neoris, associated with Mexico’s Cemex group, in a transaction estimated at US$35 million.

The award and the internet provider followed related but separate paths. The awards continued until 2008 and returned in 2020, once again led by Wettreich. The revival introduced categories for an internet now organized around apps, social networks and content creators.

Brasil/CT and e-commerce

In late 2010, he founded Brasil/CT. Its proposition was to operate online stores for other companies: developing the platform and handling tasks required to sell over the internet.

Brands that worked with the company included Avon, Santander, Whirlpool, Mattel, Samsung and Disney. The business addressed the needs of companies that wanted to sell online without building the entire operation themselves.

In 2015, Brasil/CT generated revenue of R$134 million. The following year, it received a R$35 million investment from Invest Tech, which became a minority shareholder. Wettreich retained control at that time through his holding company.

Those figures belong to that period of expansion. Brasil/CT was one venture in his career, rather than the latest: years later, he returned to iBest and its adaptation to the digital market.

Starting again

In interviews about his career, Wettreich acknowledges a greater aptitude for spotting opportunities and winning customers than for examining every financial detail. The publishing experience showed him the cost of growth unsupported by the accounts.

He also says he had not planned a career around becoming wealthy. Businesses emerged as he identified needs and brought partners together to try to address them.

At Saga, it was computer networking. At Mantel, it was bringing together an industry that needed opportunities to meet. MLab addressed digital marketing, while Brasil/CT handled e-commerce operations.

The return of iBest added something different: revisiting a brand he had created and making it work in a changed environment. The websites of the 1990s had given way to platforms, apps and social profiles. Wettreich returned to the project with those new categories, more than two decades after its first edition.