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The Hidden Cultural Engine Behind Nubank's Rapid Rise
APRIL I 2025 I DEEP DIVE INSIDER PROFILES
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The origins of Nubank's distinctive culture trace directly to founder David Vélez's frustration with traditional Latin American banking—not just its customer experience but its entrenched organizational models. After experiencing the friction of Brazil's banking system firsthand, Vélez didn't just see an opportunity to build a better bank; he saw the necessity of building a fundamentally different kind of organization to achieve it. "David recognized that disrupting banking in Latin America wasn't just about technology," explains Carolina Soares, who joined during Nubank's early days and now leads talent initiatives. "It required dismantling the hierarchical decision structures and risk-averse mentality that made traditional banks so resistant to change. We couldn't just look different to customers—we had to operate differently internally."
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This insight led to the creation of "Nu Way"—a set of operating principles that directly challenge conventional banking culture. At its core sits "Data over HiPPO" (Highest Paid Person's Opinion), a framework that systematically redirects decision authority from senior leaders to those with the best information, regardless of their position. "In most financial organizations, decisions flow up to senior executives who often have the least proximity to customers and operational realities," reveals Rafael Campos, an engineering leader. "We've designed specific decision protocols that actually prevent executive overrides when data contradicts leadership opinions. Our executive team can be outvoted by data scientists and customer service representatives if their perspective is backed by stronger evidence."
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Radical Transparency Architecture
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The most distinctive aspect of Nubank's culture is their "transparency by default" system—a comprehensive approach that makes information sharing the standard rather than the exception. "We've built transparency into our actual operational infrastructure," explains Soares. "Our documentation, metrics dashboards, and even executive communications operate on an opt-out rather than opt-in model. Information is automatically shared with everyone unless there's a specific reason to restrict it."
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This philosophy manifests in Nubank's "Purple Forums"—regular company-wide sessions where employees can question any aspect of the business, including financial performance, strategic decisions, and leadership compensation. Questions are submitted anonymously and answered publicly, with no topics considered off-limits. "In my first month, I watched our CEO get grilled about a recent product decision that had received mixed customer feedback," shares Lucia Mendes, a product manager who joined from a traditional bank. "Instead of defensiveness, he openly acknowledged the missteps, shared the data showing the issue, and outlined the correction plan. That level of candor from leadership was shocking to me coming from a traditional financial institution."
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The transparency extends to Nubank's distinctive approach to performance management. The company practices "360° Radical Candor"—a feedback system where everyone receives direct, unfiltered perspective from colleagues across all levels of the organization.
"The feedback can be brutally honest, but it's always focused on impact rather than personalities," notes Campos. "My team once told me directly that my tendency to propose solutions before fully hearing their ideas was stifling creativity. That feedback was uncomfortable but actionable, and addressing it immediately improved our team dynamics." This transparency creates what Nubank calls a "trust acceleration loop"—the insight that honesty, even when difficult, builds trust more quickly than selective or diplomatic communication. This loop has proven particularly valuable in Nubank's rapid expansion across multiple countries.
The Autonomy Framework
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Nubank's culture is built around what they call "Maximum Appropriate Autonomy"—a system designed to push decision-making authority as close to the customer as possible while maintaining necessary controls for a financial institution. "The traditional banking model consolidates decision authority at the top, which creates safety but kills innovation and speed," explains Soares. "We've developed specific protocols that determine exactly how much autonomy is appropriate for different types of decisions based on their risk profile and reversibility." This framework manifests in Nubank's distinctive team structure. The company organizes around what they call "Full-Stack Squads"—small, cross-functional teams that own specific customer journeys from end to end. These squads have remarkable freedom in determining how to improve their metrics. "My squad owns the credit card activation experience," shares Mendes. "We have complete authority to redesign the flow, adjust messaging, create new features, or remove steps entirely—all without getting approval from product executives. Our only constraint is meeting our activation targets and maintaining our fraud prevention standards."
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What makes this autonomy work is Nubank's "Guardrail System"—a sophisticated set of automated monitoring tools that track risk indicators, customer impact, and financial outcomes in real-time. This system creates the safety to delegate significant authority while maintaining appropriate oversight.
"The guardrails aren't about controlling teams—they're about creating confidence to move quickly," explains Campos. "When an engineering team knows that risk monitoring systems will catch potential issues rapidly, they can implement changes much more boldly than in environments where each change requires multiple layers of manual review." This autonomy model has proven crucial to Nubank's ability to expand rapidly while maintaining their distinctive customer experience. By pushing authority to local teams in each market, they can adapt their approach to different regulatory environments and customer needs while preserving their core operating principles.
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The Anti-Hierarchy Immune System
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Perhaps the most unusual aspect of Nubank's culture is what they call their "Hierarchy Immune System"—a set of practices explicitly designed to prevent the emergence of traditional power structures as the company grows. "We observed that most startups begin with flat, meritocratic cultures but gradually develop hierarchical behaviors as they scale," notes Soares. "We've built specific antibodies to resist that pattern and maintain our founder culture even at our current size."
These "antibodies" include Nubank's distinctive "Decision Disaggregation" practice. Rather than having managers accumulate decision rights across multiple domains, the company deliberately separates authority for different types of decisions based on expertise rather than position.
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"I might lead our engineering team, but I don't automatically get to decide our technology investments," explains Campos. "Those decisions are made by a group that includes engineers from across different levels and functions who have demonstrated relevant expertise. My title gives me input but not control. This prevents the authority accumulation that typically creates hierarchy."
This approach extends to how Nubank handles disagreements between teams. The company practices what they call "Productive Conflict"—a structured approach to resolving tensions that prioritizes data and customer impact over organizational politics.
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"When two teams disagree about a product direction, we don't escalate to their common manager," shares Mendes. "Instead, we run an evidence-based resolution process where both sides present their case based on customer data, technical considerations, and business impact. The strength of the argument determines the outcome, not the seniority of who's making it." This commitment to merit over hierarchy manifests most visibly in Nubank's approach to career advancement. The company has created dual career tracks with equal compensation and influence potential—one for individual contributors and one for people managers—removing the pressure to pursue management to advance.
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"I've been promoted twice while remaining a hands-on designer," reveals Thiago Costa, a senior product designer. "I have the same compensation and influence as peers who manage teams, which means my expertise is valued equally to managerial responsibilities. This structure prevents the creation of unnecessary management layers that typically emerge as companies grow."
The Constant Reinvention Engine
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As Nubank has grown from startup to publicly-traded company with over 70 million customers, they've maintained their distinctive culture through what they call "Active Cultural Evolution"—a deliberate approach to preserving core principles while adapting practices to their expanding scale.
"Most companies try to preserve their culture by maintaining specific practices that worked when they were smaller," explains Soares. "We focus instead on preserving the outcomes those practices created while continuously evolving the methods to fit our current size."
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This philosophy manifests in Nubank's quarterly "Culture Calibration" sessions—structured workshops where teams evaluate whether existing practices still serve their intended purpose or need redesign. These sessions produce specific changes to decision protocols, communication channels, and team structures. "Last quarter, we recognized that our weekly all-hands meetings were no longer serving their purpose of maintaining alignment," shares Campos. "At our current size, they had become more performative than informative. So we completely redesigned our communication architecture—replacing the all-hands with targeted team sessions and an asynchronous update system that better serves a global organization."
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The cultural evolution extends to how Nubank handles their expansion across Latin America. Rather than imposing their Brazilian practices on new markets, they've developed what they call "Principle-Based Adaptation"—an approach that preserves core values while allowing for local customization.
"When we entered Mexico, we didn't simply export our Brazilian operating model," notes Mendes, who supported the expansion. "We identified which elements of our culture were principle-based and which were practice-based. The principles transferred directly, but we redesigned many practices to fit the Mexican context, creating a hybrid that preserved our DNA while respecting local dynamics."
The Authentic Challenges
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Behind Nubank's impressive growth metrics lies a candid acknowledgment that their cultural approach creates distinctive challenges alongside its advantages. Team members speak openly about these tensions and how they navigate them. "Our radical transparency and autonomous framework creates incredible speed and innovation, but it can also be intensely demanding," acknowledges Soares. "We've found that about 20% of people who join us ultimately decide the environment isn't right for them—usually because the constant feedback and ambiguity require a specific tolerance for discomfort that not everyone wants in their work life."
The autonomy and meritocracy can also create challenges for those accustomed to more structured environments. Nubank lacks many of the guardrails and guidance that traditional organizations provide, requiring a high degree of self-direction.
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"People sometimes join us expecting freedom but not understanding the accompanying responsibility," shares Costa. "The same autonomy that allows you to implement your ideas without bureaucratic approval also means you're fully accountable for outcomes with minimal direction. That combination is energizing for some and anxiety-producing for others." The company has recognized these challenges and developed specific onboarding systems to help new team members adapt. Their "Cultural Integration" program includes structured exercises and mentorship to build the skills needed to thrive in their distinctive environment.
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"We've learned that our culture isn't inherently better or worse than others—it's optimized for rapid innovation in an industry that desperately needs it," concludes Campos. "The key is being transparent about these realities so people can make informed decisions about whether this environment is right for them."
This balanced perspective reveals perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Nubank's culture: their willingness to continuously examine and evolve not just what they build, but how they build it—applying the same innovative spirit to their organizational design that they bring to their financial products.
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