Interview Summary
Carlos Wizard Martins explains how he was able to successfully grow and globalize his English-language teaching business Grupo Multi, which was eventually sold to Pearson PLC for $720 million in 2013. Based on his Speak English Within 24 Hours claim, Wizard segmented the customer market by developing a customized language teaching methodology which motivated executives and other students, while pursuing a unique franchising strategy which enabled the growth of the business both inside and beyond Brazil. The interview provides a compelling example of how a highly motivated business leader, who had begun learning English as a child with Mormon missionaries and who as a young man worked as a waiter in New Jersey, took advantage of Brazil’s opening to the global economy from the 1990s.
This is one of the secrets of success of Wizard… we really invested in the training of our teachers.
Additional Resources
Carlos Wizard Martins, Education, Leadership, and Success, Lecture at Harvard Business School, December 2015
Carlos Wizard Martins, Awaken the Millionaire Within: Lessons from Carlos Wizard Martins, the Professor who Became a Forbes Billionaire. 2014
“Pearson Conjures up a Deal with Wizard of Brazil,” Times (London), December 4, 2013
Carlos Wizard Martins, “Startups,” Veja, October 30, 2013
Carlos Wizard Martins, Desperte o milionário que há em você: Como gerar prosperidade mudando suas atitudes e postura mental. 2012
Carlos Wizard Martins, Meu Presente Mais Valioso. 2012
Carlos Wizard Martins, O Desejo De Vencer: Uma Formula Simples Para Você Crescer E Vencer. 2010
Carlos Wizard Martins, Como Sonhar E Realizar Seus Sonhos. 2010
Carlos Wizard Martins, 100 Pensamentos: Motivação, Liderança e Sucesso, vols. 1 and 2. 2010
Carlos Wizard Martins, Vencendo A Própria Crise. 2002
Economia e Negócios: Fátima Turci entrevista Carlos Wizard Martins
Video file of this interview available at Baker Library Historical Collections, histcollref+hbs.edu. Harvard ID holders can access the full-length video above.
Interview Citation Format
"Interview with Carlos Wizard Martins, interviewed by Thales S. Teixeira, October 7, 2015, Creating Emerging Markets Project, Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School, http://www.hbs.edu/creating-emerging-markets/."
