3G Capital: Culture, Cost, and the Limits of Concentration
Episode #02 ・ 19 June 2026
Show Notes
In 1971, three young Brazilians started a brokerage in Rio de Janeiro with no inherited wealth, no guaranteed clients, and no safety net. What they had was a simple belief: hire the best people, give them ownership, run lean, and wait. Their names were Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles, and Beto Sicupira. Their firm became 3G Capital — and over the next 50 years, that belief produced one of the most remarkable investment track records in business history.
This episode is a biography of 3G Capital, based on the book Dream Big by Christiane Correa. It traces their journey from a small Rio brokerage called Garantia, through the turnaround of Brahma beer, the creation of AB InBev, and the acquisitions of Burger King and Heinz — all driven by the same repeatable playbook: dream big, hire PSDs, install meritocracy, cut costs to zero, and give people real ownership.
Reyburn connects the 3G story to his own question as a founder: what is our Brahma — the foundational investment that could define the next 30 years?
More on the episode
Links
- Dream Big by Christiane Correa
- Jim Collins' foreword to Dream Big
- Built to Last by Jim Collins & Jerry Porras
- Made in America by Sam Walton
- Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy
- Carlos Brito interviews on the AB InBev operating model
- Alex Behring interview on the Burger King acquisition and 3G approach
Carve Outs
- Dream Big by Christiane Correa (the book itself — worth re-reading)
- Jim Collins foreword — read it repeatedly, especially the top 10 lessons
- Yale School of Management interview with Jorge Paulo Lemann
- Martin Escobari (General Atlantic) on spearfishing as a metaphor for patient investing
- 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer
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