bannister

The Bannister Effect

When someone like you breaks through, you're next.

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C

carlos_sp

First-gen college · Self-taught · São Paulo

Business

Favela kid got into Y Combinator.

I grew up in Paraisopolis, one of the largest favelas in São Paulo. My school had 60 kids per classroom. The library had 200 books, most of them damaged. I learned English from American TV shows with subtitles. I learned finance from a secondhand economics textbook I found at a market. I learned to code from free courses on my phone using the wifi at McDonald's. I built PixPay, a tool that helps small vendors in favelas accept digital payments …

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In 1954, nobody had run a four-minute mile. Roger Bannister did it. Within two years, 37 others followed. The barrier was never physical. It was belief. That's what we're building here.

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12 breakthroughs so far. 26 barriers set. 12 communities.