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ENTREPRENEUR: MARCELO LACERDA (int'l edition)Brazilians call Marcelo Lacerda the Bill Gates of their fledgling information-technology industry. They may be right. His Internet access provider was one of the country's first, and today it has 120,000 customers in scores of Brazilian cities. Lacerda's company, Nutec, also acts as a consultant to Brazilian companies on the Internet. Lacerda, 38, was a computer whiz in Brazil when the industry was in its infancy. In 1986, at 26, he coordinated a software program for an Italian- Brazilian jet-fighter project while working on contract for the government. He founded Nutec in 1988. A year later, he had developed an office software program that soon became the standard for Brazilian banks and small businesses. Brazil was then closed to information-technology imports, so local talent had no help from abroad--and no rivals. The restrictions ''gave us a belief in ourselves,'' he says. ''We were convinced we could build up Brazil's computer industry on our own.'' The government opened up the market in 1992, and Lacerda now welcomes competition. Lacerda has faced his share of tough times, almost going broke shortly after starting Nutec. In 1996, he and partner Sergio Pretto sold control of Nutec to Brazilian communications company Rede Brasil Sul, although Lacerda still manages Nutec and maintains a 9% stake. The company estimates its sales will total $25 million this year. Even with Brazil's ongoing economic troubles, the number of Net users is expected to soar from 1 million last year to 16 million in 2003. With growth like that, tech experts such as Lacerda will be in high demand.
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Updated Oct. 15, 1998 by bwwebmaster
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