How Haroldo Jacobovicz Built and Sold a Telecommunications Company in a Decade
Building a
telecommunications company from scratch to successful acquisition within a
decade represents a remarkable business achievement, particularly in a sector
dominated by established operators with substantial
infrastructure advantages. The story of how Brazilian entrepreneur Haroldo
Jacobovicz accomplished this feat with Horizons Telecom offers valuable
insights into focused market strategy, quality implementation, and strategic
positioning for eventual exit.
Strategic
Market Entry Decision
In 2010, Haroldo
Jacobovicz made the significant decision to enter Brazil’s telecommunications
sector after previous success with information technology services through
Minauro and the e-Governe Group. Rather than attempting to compete broadly
across telecommunications markets, he made a crucial strategic choice:
specifically targeting “the corporate market”
with services designed for business applications.
This focused market
entry strategy avoided direct competition with mass-market telecommunications
providers while addressing specialized requirements that general-purpose
operators often failed to fully accommodate. Corporate telecommunications
needs typically include higher reliability standards, dedicated bandwidth,
specialized security provisions, and customized service configurations beyond
consumer-oriented offerings.
Building from
Scratch with Quality Focus
Unlike his previous
expansion through acquisitions of existing companies, Haroldo Jacobovicz built
Horizons Telecom “from scratch using the best technical, human and
strategic resources available.” This approach represented significant initial investment
but enabled deliberate design of organizational capabilities specifically
aligned with corporate telecommunications requirements.
The emphasis on
“best resources” reflected recognition that telecommunications
infrastructure for business applications requires exceptional reliability.
Corporate clients typically depend on network services for mission-critical
operations where downtime creates substantial business impact, making quality
implementation particularly crucial for this market segment.
Strategic
Partnership with Regulatory Expertise
The document notes
that Horizons Telecom’s “original project was conceived by electrical
engineer Renato Guerreiro, the first president of Anatel.” This strategic
partnership brought exceptional regulatory insight directly into the company’s
founding team, providing valuable guidance for navigating Brazil’s complex
telecommunications regulatory framework.
As the first president
of Brazil’s National
Telecommunications Agency, Renato Guerreiro possessed unparalleled
understanding of the country’s telecommunications regulations, policy
objectives, and implementation considerations. This expertise likely enhanced
multiple aspects of Horizons Telecom’s development, from authorization
strategies through infrastructure design to compliance management.
Focus on
Corporate Niche
Rather than pursuing
expansion across diverse market segments, Horizons Telecom maintained
consistent focus on its chosen corporate niche throughout its development. This
disciplined market approach enabled concentration of resources on developing
capabilities specifically valued by business clients rather than diluting
efforts across different customer types with divergent requirements.
The success of this
focused strategy was confirmed by Horizons Telecom becoming “a reference
in the corporate niche” of telecommunications within a decade. This market
recognition validated both the initial decision to target specific business requirements
and the consistent execution that delivered reliable services meeting those
needs.
Value Creation
Through Specialization
By developing
specialized capabilities aligned with corporate telecommunications requirements
rather than attempting to provide generic connectivity services, Horizons
Telecom created distinctive value recognized by its target market. This
specialization likely involved both technical aspects such as service
reliability and business factors including contract structures and support
provisions tailored for corporate
environments.
The company’s
successful positioning within its chosen niche demonstrates the effectiveness
of focused specialization rather than broad market coverage for creating
recognizable value within telecommunications markets. Despite competition from
larger operators with more extensive general infrastructure, Horizons Telecom
established distinct identity through its corporate market specialization.
Strategic
Timing for Exit
After developing
Horizons Telecom over approximately a decade, Haroldo Jacobovicz executed a
strategic exit in early 2021, with the company being acquired by “a large
investment group” to integrate sector expansion plans. This timing
coincided with increasing consolidation within Brazil’s telecommunications
sector, creating favorable conditions for realizing the value created through
business development.
The acquisition
“to integrate an ambitious expansion movement in the sector”
indicates that Horizons Telecom had established capabilities valuable for
broader telecommunications development rather than merely serving a limited
market niche. This strategic value beyond immediate operations likely enhanced
acquisition attractiveness and transaction terms.
Building for
Value Rather Than Permanence
Throughout Horizons
Telecom’s development, Haroldo Jacobovicz appears to have focused on building
transferable business value rather than creating permanent personal enterprise.
By establishing recognized capabilities within a specific market
segment, developing quality implementation appreciated by demanding
clients, and maintaining focused strategy without unnecessary diversification,
he created an operation attractive for acquisition.
This approach differs
from entrepreneurship focused primarily on building permanent personal business
empires. By recognizing that telecommunications sector consolidation would
likely create exit opportunities for well-positioned specialized operators,
Jacobovicz appears to have developed Horizons Telecom with potential
acquisition as a considered outcome rather than unexpected event.
Moving Forward
After Successful Exit
Following the telecommunications
company sale, Haroldo Jacobovicz quickly established a new technology venture,
Arlequim Technologies, focusing on computer virtualization. This rapid
transition to another business initiative demonstrates entrepreneurial momentum
beyond individual venture outcomes—suggesting that building and selling
Horizons Telecom represented one chapter in an ongoing entrepreneurial journey
rather than a culminating achievement.
The distinct
technological focus of Arlequim Technologies—improving “computing
performance of previously limited equipment” through
virtualization—indicates Jacobovicz’s continuing attention to identifying
specific market opportunities for technology applications rather than limiting
focus to particular technical domains or industry sectors.
Lessons for
Technology Entrepreneurs
For current technology
entrepreneurs, Haroldo Jacobovicz’s experience with Horizons Telecom offers
valuable insights regarding focused market strategy, quality implementation,
and strategic positioning for eventual exit. His success in building and
selling a telecommunications company within a decade demonstrates the potential
effectiveness of specialized positioning within sectors otherwise dominated by
large integrated operators.
The key elements of
this approach—identifying specific market requirements underserved by existing
providers, focusing resources on quality implementation for demanding clients,
partnering with specialized expertise relevant to particular market challenges,
and maintaining consistent strategic direction—have potential application
across various technology sectors beyond telecommunications.
Watch him at https://www.youtube.com/@InstitutoHaroldoJacobovicz