Why I believe in visionary underdogs

A very common knowledge in the industry is that  90%  of Startups fail in Silicon Valley. This is a scary metric, intended to bring awareness to outsiders of venture to beware of the risk they are taking while investing or doing a startup. If the odds are daunting in the Valley, what do you call it in a place with no safety net?

When I did my first startup I was in the city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras (the 101st economy by GDP), I was 18, and had a budget of ~50 USD a month that I used to survive in college. I was creating “GoWorldNow”, yet another event app without knowing how to code. I only managed to buy the domain because, in what felt like a calling from God, I found 10 bucks flying in the wind.

I had no money, no connections, no experience, and no idea what I was doing. I dropped out of college (who cares about being graduated from the public university of Honduras, anyway). The next years I did a delivery app, a microlending platform in crypto, a community of coders, an NFT collection to fundraise for climate change, ran an accelerator in my country (the only one that has ever existed in Honduras), and even tried to do a startup in the metaverse (I know, I know, cringe). I failed at most of them, but I learned a lot.

Now 9 years later, and several failures & some successes under a belt, here I am in Silicon Valley, having the blessing to have met some of the biggest leaders of the industry: Thiel, Draper, Brian Armstrong, Balaji…  (pretty sure they just remember me as “that dude with the crazy curly hair” if at all, but y’know I think it is an honest benchmark considering where I started) 

Me with Tim Draper, I generally don't ask for pics from famous people because I'm cool like that but cut me some slack guys, it's Tim Draper!

And I am not the only such case. My good friends Kevin & David have been pushing for years their startup  Elevate, fully bootstrapped, pivoting every so often but keeping themselves afloat in the honduran market. Jose who managed to bring his app  Doctor7, to 8 different markets by, as a doctor, learning to code himself. Adi, an Argentinian friend, who I have seen pushing the boundaries of bio 3d printers through LifeSI time and time again, having instant noodles for lunch.

The best returns don’t just come from credentialed teams—they come from founders who’ve fought for every inch. I back them because nothing compounds like resourcefulness and grit. Visionary underdogs are untireable. They are not in it for the money. It is the pride that comes from being the plant that blooms in the middle of the desert. If it’s necessary they will take no salary & work 12 hours a day Monday through Sunday to show the world what they’re made of. Failure is just not an option when you are the underdog.

If you are an underdog pushing  the frontiers of what is possible, contact me, I want to know your story.