How to make rejection suck, a little less
“We like you, but don't know if this is a fit for us”
😣Ouchh, we founders hate the sting of getting rejected by investors. Especially because most investors don't actually explicitly reject you.
Why you need to understand Investor herd dynamics?
Most founders don't succeed in fundraising because they don't understand the investor herd dynamics. Investors are social animals; they feel more comfortable being part of a group than being the lone wolf.
What I learned about entrepreneurship from selling guavas in my barrio in Santo Domingo
My first entrepreneurial calling involved street-vending the extra guavas that grew from two trees in our backyard. I’d set up a stand in front of our house along a moderately busy road with mostly motorbike taxis (motoconchos) and other traffic.
5 surprising things I've learned from 5 billionaires
There are 2000 billionaires in the world. I've had the great opportunity of working with 5, whom I met when each of them invested in my last startup.
Most founders don't know how to build relationships, here’s why
🏦Relationships are like bank accounts. The more you deposit, the more you can withdraw.
🤝I define “relationship” as a two or more people, relating and getting to know each other organically over time.
Losing my virginity by Richard Branson
Founder lessons I learned from losing my virginity…
No, not that virginity; “Losing My Virginity” was an autobiography by Richard Branson. He wrote this book, his very first one, at 42. My age now.
99% of startup advice on the internet will kill your startup, here’s why
1 - Most startup advice is written by spectators (i.e., academics, journalists, even VCs) of the startup sport, rather than the athletes (founders) of that sport,
High Output Management by Andrew Grove
I stole this book on management, and I'm not giving it back…
Well, I didn't really ‘steal it’. I borrowed it from a colleague at my last company; he left, and I forgot to give it back.
The best-misguided advice I ever got from Jack Dorsey
In the fall of 2013, I was a freshly minted YC alum. Having been the first Hispanic to ever complete Silicon Valley’s top accelerator, I felt equal parts pride and impostor syndrome. I talked about this to one of my investors, he kindly suggested chatting with a ‘friend CEO’, who also felt like an imposter at the beginning of his career. Who was that CEO? None other than Jack Doresy.
7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey
You’ve probably at least heard of the book by Stephen Covey . It sold 25 million copies. The original seven habits are: Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First, Think Win-Win, Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood, Synergize, Sharpen the Saw.
The best people to solve the diversity crisis in tech
In the fall of 2013, I was a freshly minted YC alum. Having been the first Hispanic to ever complete Silicon Valley’s top accelerator, I felt equal parts pride and impostor syndrome.
The subtle art of not giving a fuck by Mark Manson
What I learned about mental health from reading “The subtle art of not giving a fuck”...
When I was a founder, I kept looking for books about mental health, but most of them were generic and sounded like they were written by academics and not real people facing real problems.
What I learned about ‘doing things that don't scale’ in Washington Heights
In July 2013, we were in the middle of the YC batch, trying to figure out how to get our product off the ground. Then we had office hours with Paul Graham, and he gave us this advice:
Looking for a startup idea? Stop doing market research, do this instead
Figure out what problems you’ve had a lot of experience with, professionally or personally, and try to fix that.
Getting more by Stuart Diamond
As a founder, I did 100+ deals. I learned the most about negotiations from this one book…
I read ‘Getting More’ by Stuart Diamond while taking his class at The Wharton School.