{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Owner's Roundtable","title":"From Y2K to AI: Scaling Through Chaos with Rafael Krug of Zero-Defect","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2277,"description":"What does it take to build a business that survives economic collapse, a global pandemic, and a literal flood?In this episode of Owner’s Roundtable, Jeff McLarty sits down with Rafael Krug, founder of Zero-Defect, one of Brazil’s leading software quality assurance firms. They unpack a two-decade entrepreneurial journey that spans continents, and more than a few hard resets.From fixing Y2K bugs in Brazilian banks to scaling into a 70-person QA firm, navigating the 2008 financial crisis, surviving COVID shutdowns, and then rebuilding after catastrophic flooding in Porto Alegre, Rafael’s story is a wonder of resilience, adaptability, and long-term vision. Now based in Canada and loving the Canadian business landscape, Rafael shares why he chose to rebuild yet again, but this time with a global, product-driven future in mind.What You’ll Learn in This EpisodeHow a Y2K internship led to a lifelong career in software quality assuranceHow HP became Zero-Defect’s first major clientThe real challenges behind scaling from 3 people to 70What it’s like to lose half your company during an economic collapseHow COVID forced a full operational resetWhat happens when your entire office is submerged under two meters of floodwaterWhy Rafael believes people — not infrastructure — are the real assetKey differences between doing business in Brazil vs. CanadaWhy Zero-Defect is shifting from a services model to product-led growthAdvice for entrepreneurs facing setbacks that feel impossible to recover fromAbout Rafael KrugRafael Krug is the founder of Zero-Defect, a software quality assurance company specializing in functional, performance, security, and automated testing. Founded in Brazil in 2004, Zero-Defect grew into one of the country’s leading QA firms, supporting mission-critical systems for enterprise clients.Now based in Edmonton, Canada, Rafael is leading Zero-Defect’s expansion into North America while launching AI-driven testing tools designed to modernize how software quality...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/rzlj8TzuVYVktfPoUt5-bBHXADjNcknvabuetQFHRE8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8xZjNm/YWU5OTZlYTYxZGUy/YjZlNTAyZDhhMjUz/NTgxZi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}