Haroldo Jacobovicz: Building Companies at the Intersection of Technology and Timing
Market timing has defined much of what has worked—and what has not—in the business career of Haroldo Jacobovicz. The Brazilian entrepreneur has spent over three decades starting and growing technology companies, with outcomes that illustrate how external conditions can matter as much as the quality of an idea.
Curitiba Beginnings
Jacobovicz spent his formative years in Paraná’s capital city, where engineering shaped family conversations. His father Alfredo maintained dual roles as a working civil engineer and university lecturer. His mother Sarita had achieved something unusual for her generation: qualifying as a civil engineer when women in the profession were exceptionally rare. This environment made Jacobovicz’s own pursuit of a civil engineering degree at the Federal University of Paraná seem like a natural continuation of family tradition.
When Ideas Arrive Too Early
The emerging personal computer industry proved more interesting to Haroldo Jacobovicz than traditional engineering work. In 1983, he assembled a small team with programming abilities and founded Microsystem. The business aimed to sell computerised management systems to small retailers—automating tasks like stock control and sales recording that most shops handled with paper and pen.
But Brazilian commerce was not prepared for this shift. Shop owners showed little enthusiasm for investing in unfamiliar technology, and the broader infrastructure needed to support such services remained underdeveloped. Microsystem closed after two years, leaving Jacobovicz with firsthand knowledge of what happens when a product precedes its market.
Developing Business Instincts
The period after Microsystem saw Jacobovicz accumulating experience in different organisational settings. Employment at oil distributor Esso brought him through progressively senior positions, culminating in commercial planning responsibilities at national headquarters. Work at Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant followed, where he observed the bureaucratic challenges that slowed technology adoption in state-run enterprises.
These years provided education that entrepreneurship alone could not have offered—particularly regarding how large organisations make purchasing decisions and what obstacles public bodies face when modernising operations.
Enterprises Aligned with Market Realities
When Haroldo Jacobovicz returned to company-building, he structured his offerings around actual customer constraints. Minauro provided computer leasing to government agencies through contracts designed to work within public procurement rules. Equipment came with scheduled replacements and ongoing maintenance, addressing the specific pain points he had witnessed at Itaipu.
Growth led to acquisitions of software firms, and the combined operation became the e-Governe Group, serving local governments across Brazil. A later venture, Horizons Telecom, spent eleven years building a corporate telecommunications business before investors purchased it in 2021.
Current Pursuits
Today, Jacobovicz heads Arlequim Technologies, a virtualisation company formed after the Horizons sale. Its services promise to make ageing computers function more effectively through software enhancements, reducing the need for costly hardware replacements. The offering targets businesses, government clients, and individual consumers seeking affordable computing improvements.
Whether this venture matches the longevity of his previous successes will depend, as always, on whether the market is ready to receive what he is offering.
Market timing has defined much of what has worked—and what has not—in the business career of Haroldo Jacobovicz. The Brazilian entrepreneur has spent over three decades starting and growing technology companies, with outcomes that illustrate how external conditions can matter as much as the quality of an idea. Curitiba Beginnings Jacobovicz spent his formative years…