Venture Capitalist, Author and Speaker

Alexandre Lazarow is an author, speaker, and global venture capitalist. Alex is the Founder & Managing Partner of Fluent Ventures. His debut book Out-Innovate: How Global Entrepreneurs – from Delhi to Detroit – Are Rewriting the Rules of Silicon Valley was published by HBR Press.

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Fluent Ventures

Global venture capital firm focused on geographic alpha.

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Out-Innovate

Learn more about my book and where to get your copy.

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Speaking

Active keynote speaker on global innovation trends and best practice

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Starting, Scaling and Supporting innovation is my life's work.
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Speaking

I have keynoted and spoken at hundreds of events, podcasts, universities and conferences, covering global innovation best practice and startup trends. Here is a recent Ted Talk.
The Great Diffusion: Venture capitalist Alexandre Lazarow explores the coming wave of technological progress that will reverse 150 years of consolidation

Out-Innovate

Beyond the Valley: Global Entrepreneurs Out-Innovate

The traditional playbook for startup success is being rewritten. Discover how entrepreneurs in emerging economies are innovating in unique ways, forging new paths to global impact and outperforming Silicon Valley's norms.

Buy the Book

As featured in

My Favourites

My Global Innovation Library: Alex's Curated Reads

Insights from the Frontier: Handpicked Books & Articles on Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship

All Favourites

Leonardo Da Vinci Leonardo Da Vinci is considered perhaps one of the greatest geniuses of all time. I enjoyed reading his biography by Walter Isaacson.

Atomic Adventures: Secret Islands, Forgotten N-Rays, and Isotope Murder Atomic Adventures: Secret Islands, Forgotten N-Rays, and Isotope Murder - A journey into the wild world of nuclear science.

Investing

Alex has been a long-time global venture capitalist, and most recently became the Founder and Managing Partner of Fluent Ventures.

Fluent Ventures

Unicorns backed

*includes historical portfolio, noting maximum valuation reached.

Continents represented

*Antarctica remains illusive, for now.

50+

Unicorn and exited founders as LPs

100%

Deals completed with community input

My Podcasts

My Own Words: Alex Behind the Mic

A personal journey through the swirling tapestry of ideas, lived experiences, and raw, unfiltered thoughts—where every episode peels back another layer of truth, curiosity, and the ever-evolving story behind the voice.

All PodcastsBook as Guest

Alex Lazarow on Emerging Markets Fintech Quo Vadis

On this episode Pat brings back Alex Lazarow, Managing Partner of Fluent Ventures to talk about where Fintech in emerging markets has been going and where we are heading.

Scale Stories from Delhi to Detroit

Alex Lazarow comes from the small city of Winnipeg in Canada. Coming from this small town, having a first hand view of m-pesa's growth and working in Venture Capital with the likes of Omdiyar network gave him a perspective about startup playbooks.

Testimonials

“Silicon Valley is a source of inspiration for many tech entrepreneurs around the world, but innovation coming from emerging countries, Africa, and other locales beyond the Valley is now raising the game. In his captivating book, Alex Lazarow vividly describes this changing context and the strategies required to succeed within it.”

Sacha Poignonnec

co-founder and co-CEO, Jumia

“Out-Innovate is replete with inspiring and instructive stories of innovation from around the world. Whether in middle America or middle Africa, it’s a go-to book for anyone with an idea for starting and scaling a business.”

Diana Farrell

founding president and CEO of the JPMorgan Chase Institute

“In Out-Innovate, Alex Lazarow has perfectly captured Silicon Valley’s ‘Detroit Moment’—the realization that Asia and other emerging markets aren’t simply generating local clones of American startups, but raising the bar for innovation and product quality on a global basis. Brilliant.”

Nick Nash

co-founder and managing partner, Asia Partners; retired Group President, Sea Limited

“The wide world of innovation does not always look and act like Silicon Valley. In fact, among rising markets in particular, there is a shared experience entrepreneurs and investors navigate—regardless of history, culture, language, or geography—where the Silicon Valley model is only part of the story. This important book articulates rich new models for local and global entrepreneurs looking to engage on those markets’ terms. This book could not be more timely.“

Christopher Schroeder

co-founder, Next Billion Ventures; advisor and venture investor; and author, Startup Rising

“Lazarow’s book will not only inspire you with its global stories of innovation, it will give you real models to follow. Wherever you are, if you have an entrepreneurial idea, you need to read Out-Innovate.”

Mudassir Sheikha

co-founder and CEO, Careem

“If disruption is about moving fast and breaking things, Lazarow zooms us out of the Valley, beyond borders and buzzwords. Out-Innovate is the new global playbook for how to observe different and create different.”

Scott Hartley

author, The Fuzzy and the Techie

“Alex Lazarow draws on his vast global experience to shed light on the models and practices of startups all over the world. In doing so, he articulates one of the great promises of today’s high-tech world: that access to innovation is no longer the exclusive right of a select few locations. Anyone, anywhere, who is interested in innovation will benefit from reading this book.”

Yossi Vardi

one of Israel’s early entrepreneurs

“Alex Lazarow has provided us with an up-to-date map of the fast-moving world of innovation: how it works now and where it is headed. Out-Innovate is a must-read for all current and prospective entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and every business leader with a plan to grow.”

Bill Draper

cochair and co-founder, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation; founder, Sutter Hill Ventures; former President and Chairman, Export-Import Bank of the United States; and author, The Startup Game

“Alex Lazarow’s incisive and much-needed book tells a story that has long been ignored: Innovation is thriving globally, from Bangalore to Beijing, yet often looks different than in Silicon Valley. The global lessons in Out-Innovate are paramount for entrepreneurs everywhere.”

Nandan Nilekani

Non executive Chairman and co-founder, Infosys; founding Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)

“As President Obama’s point person on entrepreneurship, I’ve seen firsthand diverse models, grounded in unique local strengths, for building innovation ecosystems and supporting entrepreneurial success. In Out-Innovate, Alex Lazarow provides an outstanding perspective on how startups and entrepreneurs can succeed no matter where they originate—in a mega city like Chicago or a more rural environment like Cedar Rapids.”

Penny Pritzker

former United States Secretary of Commerce

“Some of the most exciting venture-investment possibilities over the next decades are sure to come from emerging economies. In Out-Innovate, Alex Lazarow illustrates this immense opportunity in great detail and explains the critical strategies necessary to capture it.”

David Vélez

Founder and CEO, Nubank

“Out-Innovate proves that frontier entrepreneurs face entirely different challenges than their Silicon Valley peers and that the canon of the Valley should no longer be taken as gospel. This book is a must-read for any entrepreneur building a business and any VC who doesn’t want to be left behind.”

Linda Rottenberg,

Co-founder and CEO, Endeavor; author, Crazy Is a Compliment

“Startups are one of the most important forces for change. But far too many regions have fixated on the Silicon Valley model as the only way to build a startup ecosystem. Out-Innovate takes you on a tour of innovative entrepreneurs and companies around the globe, to provide a guidebook on how to successfully start and scale world-changing businesses wherever you might be.”