Paulo Marchesan is a transformational business leader with over 25 years of executive experience driving operational excellence, growth strategy, and financial turnaround across restaurants, hospitality, franchise, and multi-unit service sectors. Fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, and with significant international exposure across Latin America—including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Costa Rica—Paulo brings a global mindset and proven ability to lead across diverse markets.
Most recently, Paulo served as President of the Portfolio Support Group at Percheron Capital, a $3B private equity firm focused on multi-unit essential service businesses. In this role, he structured and scaled the firm’s internal value creation team, recruited key leadership talent, and led operational strategies that delivered EBITDA growth across multiple portfolio companies. Notably, he led a profitability improvement program in regional car wash platform through both G&A reductions and unit-level performance improvements. He also spearheaded integration planning and CEO recruitment for several business in the portfolio.
Prior to that, Paulo was an Operating Partner at Butterfly Equity, where he drove strategic initiatives in restaurant, aquaculture, and consumer packaged goods businesses. His leadership enabled significant profitability gains and operational expansion. Paulo also has hands-on entrepreneurial experience, having grown a single Häagen-Dazs store into a 14-unit franchise across Florida and Arizona.
Paulo spent close to a decade with Restaurant Brands International (RBI), holding key leadership roles across franchising, people, development and franchising, and business strategy. As Head of Burger King’s North American business, he managed a network of over 7,400 franchised locations generating $10 billion in system sales and nearly $500 million in EBITDA. During his tenure, Burger King North America achieved a 3.5% year-over-year growth in sales, over 500 store remodels, improved guest satisfaction, and significant improvements in drive-thru times. Earlier at RBI, he served as Global Head of People, launching the organization’s operating model, reducing voluntary turnover and increasing the top talent retention of the organization.
Paulo began his career at McKinsey & Company, where he advised global clients on supply chain transformation, retail strategy, and pricing optimization. He later returned to McKinsey as a Senior External Advisor, supporting projects in restaurants, retail and consumer goods transformation.
Academically, Paulo holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he received the McKinsey Award Distinction and a fellowship from the Ling Institute. He also holds a master’s degree in Construction Management and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering—both with high honors—from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.
Outside of his professional achievements, Paulo still practices Triathlon and running. Over decades of racing, he has podium finishes in multiple Half-Ironman races, a Pan-American Triathlon Championship silver medal, and a personal best marathon time of 2:41. He also enjoys playing the guitar in his downtime. With a leadership style rooted in execution, adaptability, and strategic clarity, Paulo Marchesan is actively seeking board opportunities where he can leverage his deep expertise in operations, franchising, and business transformation to help companies scale sustainably and navigate complex inflection points.
Character: Paulo Marchesan exemplifies integrity, resilience, and a results-driven
mindset, consistently leading with purpose and accountability.
Knowledge: He possesses deep expertise in operations, franchising, business transformation, and private equity value creation.
Strategic: Paulo is a visionary thinker with a strong track record of designing and executing scalable growth and turnaround strategies.
Communication: He is a clear, persuasive communicator who excels at aligning cross-functional teams and engaging stakeholders at all levels
